Isle of Sheppey Storms I & III

I’ve been recently commissioned to paint some local Kent seascapes for a couple near the Kent coastal town of Whitstable. Visible from the shore there to the west is the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames estuary. Anxious to please, I did a trio of alternative paintings, initially for myself, but took them along unframed to the buyers so they could make a choice. The one they went for is being framed as we speak, so isn't here to show, but was in a similar vein. The sky is a mixture of wet-into-wet and dry techniques applied therafter. Incidentally, I always use BIG brushes. My favourite in fact is a Kolinsky blue squirrel size 26 mop! It holds water like no other and has a fine point should I be feeling in a delicate mood, which is rarely.
On the paper front, it was interesting to see how differently a heavier-weight paper behaved with the water too. This is 400gsm rough and took substantially longer to dry compared to a more commonplace 300gsm paper. The benefit of that of course, is a longer working time, which can be useful. Sheppey Storm I in particular is a good example of the spreading pigments creatinga rainy effect as one colour imposes upon others in the dramatic billowing cloud effects. The rough-textured surfaceI’m very pleased with these, clouds were made for watercolours. The rough-textured surface also lends itself well to dragging a dry brush (with a little pure pigment on) across the sea or sandy foreshore, to great effect. £95 each, inc P&P (UK only). • UPDATE: Friday 6 August 2010 - SHEPPEY STORM is now SOLD. Only Sheppey Storm III remains. Email me for non-UK postage.