I also have a large double portrait in oils of the Sheriff of Huntingdon and her husband to complete.

Teaching continues also. I teach three classes a week at the Lothbury centre near Newmarket. Portrait painting,  oils and acrylics, and of course my own paintings for pleasure.  I also run day schools on portraits or life drawing and painting, at Grantchester and Barrow. These are held on a Saturday or Sunday and last from 10-4

Something else which is proving popular is one to one tuition whereby I ask any student to bring along samples of their work for review. We then work on a project together and I set ‘homework’ for the following session.

Bookings for me to demonstrate to art groups continue to come in for next year.  The latest are for a landscape demo to the Comberton art group and a watercolour portrait demo to the Bury Art Society.

Next September, 3-10 th, I will be teaching during the Art Holiday for Inspiration Holidays in Menorca.

If you are interested in any of the above art holidays, art classes, painting workshops or art demonstrations please contact me on 01284 810 460 or e-mail me at   john@gloverart.co.uk

Exhibits are not only in pure watercolour, but also include any water based medium such as gouache , acrylics, or pen ink and wash.  The subjects are very diverse  -  from East Anglian seascapes and landscapes to further afield.  Abstracts, animal portraits, flower paintings, and architectural interiors are also included. Below are  a few examples of the paintings on show.

“Pretty Prawn”  by Tessa Shedley Jordan

“Swimmer”   by Gillian Marklew

The “Prospect of Whitby” by Les Williams

“Old Hulks, Pin Mill” by John Glover

The exhibition is in the Palace House Mews Gallery

and runs until the 18th October.

Technically, it is a medium which is much more difficult to hande than oils. Originally, the painting was done directly on to wet plaster (true fresco) though frequently was retouched when dry (fresco secco). The craftsmanship and discipline required in the mixing of the pigments and preparation of the surfaces to be worked on  is highly demanding.

A brief recipe will demonstrate that it is not a process which can be rushed.

Soak a yoghurt potful of rabbitskin glue in 2pints of water for 24 hours. Heat this in a double boiler and stir in 64 tablespoons of whiting. Let it absorb and leave overnight.

To prepare the panels ( e.g.M.D.F.) size with a weak gesso. (4-8 layers) Both sides of the panel have to be painted to avoid warping. With each successive coat change the direction of the brushstrokes. After this leave for a fortnight to season.

To smooth the boards, a cabinet scraper should be used. Dust charcoal on to show any raised portions which can then be polished with a linen cloth dipped in ionized water.

Pigments now have to be ground using distilled water and a muller (in a figure of eight motion.) When smooth,  the colours should be placed in a small jar and covered with a layer of distilled water. When the time for painting comes, egg yolk is the binding medium. Use a fresh, free range egg. Separate the yolk from the white. This yolk is squeezed into a reservoir on the palette . An equal volume of pigment and egg are mixed together , adding distilled water as necessary.

In my brief foray into tempera painting , I choose a couple of portraits by Andrew Wyeth to copy. These are incomplete , but they will demonstrate some techniques and the effects that can be achieved.

It is a slow and methodical process building up successive layers with tiny strokes. It has to be done in this way as the pigment dries instantly so the smooth blending of an oil cannot be achieved. A close up should demonstrate  the technique.

As I said these studies were unfinished and would have taken hours more work to achieve the finish require, despite the fact they are only about 5 inches high.

Tempera is most definitely a lovely medium for those with patience and a love of craftsmanship.

To recap:

The start of the painting.

Stage two.            At this point the painting had to be abandoned due to rain and wind!

Fortunately, I have since returned for another few hours to work on the painting and then complete it in the studio.

The finished painting.

Detail of finished painting.

As will be seen, a great deal of work has been done on the barges etc and on the water where I was hoping to capture the play of light and the patterns of reflections. At times I  used hogs hair brushes, at others, softer synthetic ones which allowed me to blend much more easily. At the end I was using tiny sable brushes, to do areas such as the rigging.

As I said in my previous blog, working en plein air can be both exhilarating and challenging. If you haven’t already tried it , have a go!

In a later blog,  I will discuss both the history and techniques of tempera painting.

Today the weather was forecast as changeable with bright periods and heavy showers. The sky was dramatic, at one minute bright fluffy clouds were racing across it, the next it was

dark and brooding. What a challenge to try to capture something of this on canvas.

The above painting, in gouache and measuring 24″x 18″, was painted on the spot in under two hours. The clouds, and the patterns of light on the landscape were constantly changing. You certainly have to paint boldly in such circumstances. But what an adrenalin rush it gives!

I have already shown the beginning and intermediate stages of the paintings, so I won’t dwell on lengthy explanations. ( For those see previous blogs)

The beginning of the painting.

Intermediate stage of the gouache painting.

The finished painting.

As you will see, all areas have been worked on. The sky has been softened and blended. The distant shore has had more detail added. Small yachts have been introduced. The bulk of the work has been done on the hulks, scumbling to achieve the texture of the timbers or rust then working with a fine sable brush on top when more precision was required. Masts have been altered and rigging added. With large hog’s hair brushes, I painted the foreground fairly freely, and on occasions even employed a palette knife.

As I have said in previous blogs, gouache is a wonderful medium for working out of doors. It dries instantly, but remains water soluble. It is opaque and is therefore very forgiving. Any mistakes can be instantly obliterated. It has a lovely chalky quality about it , ideal for atmospheric effects. Its disadvantages? You can’t glaze with it and blending is difficult. A technique akin to tempera has to be adopted. But overall, its good points far outweigh such difficulties.

The block- in stage was complete. Now it was time to focus on more detail. Obviously,  work was required on the barges and distant horizon. I also wanted to capture the reflections and play of light on the water.

But as Robert burns said  ” The best- laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft a-gley”. Unfortunately, good light stopped play. Instead of the brooding sky of the previous day, I was confronted by bright blue sky and white fluffy clouds! There was absolutely no way I could continue with the painting above . Everything was different, from the light to the colour, shadows and reflections! Painting en plein air can be very frustrating!

And so I had to move to plan B. Fortunately, I had come prepared to start another painting. Beyond the barges and houseboats, there are some marvellous old rotting hulks which appeal greatly. I love the decaying  moss- covered timbers , the flaking paint , the rusting metalwork. Not the picture postcard view of Pin Mill , but equally fascinating.

My medium was still gouache, but this time I chose to work on a rough surfaced watercolour board (N.O.T.) The subject just cried out for it with all that decay and texture. As before, I went straight in with a large brush, geting the basic outlines and main masses. The pigment is still fluid. Olive green, ultramarine, burnt sienna and white were the colours used at this stage.

I move rapidly on to painting the sky, indicating the distant trees on the other side of the river, and ,of course the river itself. ( I am aware the horizon dips steeply to the left, but this will be corrected later) I have already indicated the foreground mud but decide to leave it and see what happens when the tide starts to come in. I concentrate on drawing the boats ( a tricky piece of perspective) looking at scale and shape. I begin to start painting thickly in places to suggest the texture of the timbers or flaking rust. Gouache is an ideal medium for this . It dries instantly and retains its impasto. But it remains water soluble and can thus be painted back into or even sponged off if required. A very forgiving medium indeed.

By now, after about 2 hours painting, the tide is rapidly moving in to engulf both the hulks and the artist! Suddenly, the subject becomes alive with the image of thes old boats, abandoned and  stranded atop the sandbank. I very quickly indicate the approaching water and reflections on it.

It is now time to pack up paints and easel and retreat to dry land.

As before , I am now left with another unfinished painting, but the excitement of that initial  image is still there.

With both these paintings I will go back and do more work en plein air as well as finishing off in the studio. I will show the completed works in a later blog.

Tips.

Working from photographs can not replace the excitement or energy required when painting on the spot. You are at the mercy of the elements and have to work at breackneck speed. You simply do not have time to fiddle around.

Be prepared for frustrations and always have a plan B, if not C at the ready.

My preferred choice of medium was gouache and I worked on a watercolour board ( Hot pressed). It was a fairly grey day, but there were occasional hints of sunlight trying to break through the leaden sky. As always when working out of doors one has to work very rapidly. The clouds were  fairly scudding across the sky and I was aware that the tide which was high when I started , was very soon going to ebb.

I began by very rapidly blocking in the sky using a 1″ hog’s hair brush and diluting the paint with lots of water.  Raw umber, yellow ochre, ultramarine , cobalt blue and titanium white were the colours used. There was no time for fiddling around as the sky seemed to be getting darker by the moment.

Still using large brushes and fluid pigment I add the distant horizon, trees and a suggestion of barges and houseboats. I begin to try to capture the play of light and reflections on the water. At times the light on the water is disturbed by tiny ripples as the wind starts to rise . In the foreground there is an almost heavy swell with deeper purple and brown shadows  broken up by the pale green of the water reeds. The temptation is to focus on one section but “time and tide wait for no man”.

I now tackle the barges and houseboats. At this point a little more precision is required as I check the scale of them to the landscape and each other as well as height of masts etc. I begin to suggest the rigging using a very fine sable.

The tide is now on the turn and mud replaces what a moment ago was shimmering light. It also starts to rain. It is clearly time to call it a day. So far the painting has taken just over two hours.

It has been both exciting and frustrating. Just as one is beginning to get somewhere, tide, light and rain stop- play. What to do?

Tomorrow I will revisit the scene in the hope that similar conditions will prevail. But I will also err on the cautious side and take another board in case I have to start a different painting!

As can be seen if you compare this with my previous blog, I have begun to paint her headdress and necklace in much greater detail. Each particular section (e.g. orange) I painted in a slightly darker tone . With a fine sable, I then outlined the rows of beads . Then it was time to apply a mid tone , before flicking in little pinpoints of light.  My original dark tone acts as the shadow area between the beads. All that remains, when this is dry, is to  indicate individual shadows on the beads. The triangular metal piece on her head dress (which indicates she is a married woman) still requires some light, shade and reflection to be added. The white strings are simply blocked in at the moment and also need a bit more definition and shadow.

A close up detail of her necklace illustrating the technique described above.

I have also been working on other areas of the costume, and blocking in the large patterns. It is indeed time consuming but there is no way it can be rushed. With her cloak, I am beginning to suggest the folds and creases. These will have to be completed before I superimpose patterns of little black dots.

I have also added at this stage a very colourful bangle and belt.

During our sitting today, I focused on her face, looking at the cool bluish reflection on the left, trying to correct the modelling in her neck, chin and around her mouth. The hair had to be adjusted also.

The background I have also started. Initially, I thought of a bold bright colour like pale blue. But i have now decided to apply gold instead, with all its connotations. The photograph, however,  does not convey the richness of it.

This is how the portrait now looks at the end of the third sitting.

Keep watching my blog to see how the painting develops and how it looks when completed.