Painting: Riverside

 Painting: Riverside

Introduction

Riverside (final painting)

I have continued with my large oil paintings (3 feet by four feet). Since the initial outline sketches I have been working on each painting one by one. I have found this to be a better approach. I can concentrate on each individual painting and really focus on the composition, layering aspects, negative space and abstract shapes.

As I said in an earlier post, the architecture of the former warehouses sparked my imagination and I was inspired to create a painting of them. They depict a number of intriguing doorways and elaborate decoration. Part of the group includes the old Trinity House Buoy Shed.  A coat of arms stands over one doorway and depicts an anchor (for a safe anchorage), three stars  (representing the Trinity) a helm with the Admiralty Oar ( representing nautical justice). The Latin motto "Spes Super Sydera)means 'Hope beyond the stars'. The building served as a buoy shed for Hull Trinity House, an ancient institution that from the mid-15th century was responsible for navigation buoys and lights on the Humber Estuary. It has more recently been a workshop for  a Northern Divers. The wooden staging posts below are still used for the tying up of vessels.

At low tide the wooden posts are revealed along with the interesting shapes of the mud left behind by the receding tide. The shapes of the buildings and the view below allowed me to play with the use of negative space. On my side of the river there was a walkway with interesting metal railings and a gate with some bent spikes. This feature added further scope for inventive use of line. Nettles and buddleia provide some natural foliage along the river bank.

Process

As previously explained, my first sketch included a boat which was tied up along the frontages. However, I reflected on the composition and decided that the boat detracted from the scene and dominated the view. As I altered the composition and removed the boat it opened up more possibilities to engage with the interesting negatives shapes.

First sketch

With the boat removed and negative shapes created

I then re-designed the bottom half of the picture to reveal the staging below. I also added my side of the bank in the foreground and the metal railings and gate.

Wooden staging added

As I began to add colour to the painting the shapes began to come alive.

Use of colour

I mixed the colours to reflect the actual colours of the buildings themselves which emphasise the contrast between old and new. The mud at low tide provided further opportunities to make interesting shapes and create different tones.

Detail added with more colours

I then went on to paint the gate, walkway, plants and foliage. finally, I added the ropes which dangled from the moorings, waiting to be put into use.

Detail

Summary

I think that the grey background suited the subject matter. It allowed me to make use of, and emphasise, the colours within the picture plane. The buildings stand out against the grey backdrop and the negative space comes to the fore. If I had used brown as the background it would have been more difficult for me to emphasise the different tones of the wooden staging and mud.

I decided to make sure that there was a strong contrast between the light and dark tones of the space below the walkway. In doing so, the empty space below ground level leaves a cavernous void which I created with the use of a very dark mix of black (made up of burnt umber and ultramarine).

The composition works well. I used "artistic licence" to create the scene. The objects are balanced in shape and size and there are contrasting features, such as the linear fence in the background and gate in the foreground.

Finally, I think that it was a very good idea to remove the boat from the scene. It opened up all sorts of opportunities for me to make use of my imagination and to be inventive. I pushed myself in this work to be more creative.

  Riverside (final painting)