Newlyn, July
I was in Cornwall last week teaching my 4 day plein air course at the Newlyn School of Art. I arrived a couple of days early so I could do some of my own work and headed to Mousehole. It was hot and bright, but not sweltering like Bristol. These heat waves are getting quite tedious, I’m not a fan of anything over about 24 centigrade!
I set up on the step at the edge of the harbour with some lovely small boats in front of me and the sun behind. I am fascinated with how reflections and shadows interact in water and there is no better subject matter than small boats to geek-out on this phenomena! I did a couple of 9 × 7” studies, then a vertical 12 × 6”. It was great fun and the only way to get the mast in! The tide went out fast, but I got the water painted first!
I also had the pleasure of meeting a Texan called Baron, who had rented the cottage immediately behind me at my painting spot in Mousehole. He was sketching all day from his table and chair outside the cottage and sketched me painting my boats! He got every detail in; the concrete bollard, the brushwasher, the perfect angle of my painting box and the bandana under my cap to stop my sunburn getting more sunburned! We talked for a couple of hours about painting and drawing, lovely bloke.
It's only when you leave the studio and work outside that these random events occur... one of the best things about painting outside is meeting new people.
The teaching went well - Day 1 was in St Loy woods, out of the sun and surrounded by dappled light and glowing green leaves. There's a lot going on in the woods, detail everywhere and a global, glowing green hue. We focussed on painting transparent, with no titanium white to get that glassy, deep colour and a shortcut to texture and detail.
Day 2 was back to Mousehole, I wanted to do a variety of subject matter over the course, so it was nice to paint some boats with the group along with the woods and a coastal scene. The concrete platform had space for all 10 of us and there was plenty of boats to choose from.
Day 3 we went to Cape Cornwall and had the whole place to ourselves. There was a cool breeze and very consistent light. We focussed on the importance of colour temperature in shadows and leveraging the sandy tone of the board to help describe dry grass. Everyone was locked in, concentrating hard and I don't think any of us wanted to stop painting!
