Winter hedges

Winter hedges  © Peter Gander

Inspired by the very straight-cut and graphic hedges I saw on a foggy dog walk last week, my interpretation. Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm grain fin paper.

Happy Birthday Fiona!

Our bench © Peter Gander

It’s Fiona’s birthday today and this card that I painted for her is of a sailboat-shaped bench found on the shore at Whitstable, where we sat after our first date about 4 years ago. Winsor & Newton watercolour on 300gsm Jackson’s (UK) Eco Cotton Rag (medium rough).

Seasalter relics II (• SOLD)

Seasalter relics II © Peter Gander

One of my favourite sea-fishing (and painting) spots. The concrete boulders and remnants of old breakers make excellent tables for fishing and painting stuff! Far enough away too from the madding crowd to be peaceful, close enough to The Sportsman pub, for well, a civilised pint of ale! Phil and Emma in fact, who run the renowned food lovers’ pub, recently informed me that I will be exhibiting here next November and December (2012), another good reason to get painting locally! Winsor and Newton watercolour on The Langton 300gsm (rough) paper. (• SOLD July 2011)

Seasalter relics I

Seasalter relics I © Peter Gander

Seasalter, west of Whitstable is so-named after sea salt was collected here centuries ago in large, shallow, copper pans which allowed the water to evaporate after the tide receeded, leaving the precious commodity behind. These old groynes have been left behind too, pointing their battered skeletal forms towards the isle of Sheppey, to the north-west. Winsor & Newton watercolour on The Langton 300gsm (rough) paper.

Ye Olde Yew Tree Inn, Westbere, Kent

Ye Olde Yew Tree Inn, Westbere © Peter Gander

Easter Monday today and wife Fiona and I took the VW Beetle out for a spin and the dog for a walk round the 200 acre lake near the Ye Olde Yew Tree Inn, Westbere, about 6 miles east of Canterbury. I hadn’t been here since my college days about thirty years ago and the place has changed little. The Inn was built in 1348 and it’s the oldest pub in Kent. Queen Anne and the Archbishop of Canterbury are reputed to have stayed here, and Dick Turpin is purported to have evaded capture from the law by jumping from a first floor window. The pub was also used as a hospital to treat wounded soldiers during the civil war and two ghosts live here (so the website says) - “a man and a small woman”. More importantly, they sell Harvey’s Sussex Bitter here, which slipped down nicely whilst painting the postcard above. Winsor & Newton watercolours on 300gsm rough watercolour postcard. UPDATE: (May 2011) The owners Mark and Anna now have the painting inside the pub. Thanks for the Harveys you two!

The Kent Cultural Baton, painting 2/5

Old boat, Margate Harbour © Peter Gander

Using a bolder Pentel this time, I sketched this neglected boat, draped in a mesh over its front end that reminded me of a sheet over a dead body. Certainly this boat has long been forgotten, but gets an extra bit of attention today. My son Jack (10) said “Even an old boat looks good when it’s painted!” True enough. Pentel waterproof pen and Winsor & Newton watercolour (half pans) on Langton 100% cotton mould made 300gsm paper.

Misty Reculver Towers

Misty Reculver Towers © Peter Gander

A short distance from home are Bishopstone Cliffs, somewhere I like to take our dog Stanley, for walks. Beyond this to the east in the painting are the ruins of Reculver Towers, once on land when built in Roman times, but now bolstered up by a rocky apron to protect it from the encroaching sea. At low tide you can walk between the two spots like these walkers were doing, but at high tide the sea comes right up to the cliff in the painting, cutting off the route. Winsor & Newton watercolour on Cotman 300gsm cold-pressed (NOT) grain paper.

Sketched in the city: Victoria Railway Station, London

Victoria Station, London © Peter Gander

There’s not a great deal of time beyond a soup or a sarnie at lunchtime to spend sketching, especially when I am trying to be conscientious now I am employed as a freelancer. No more two hour lunches! Thus today I found myself with about half an hour, long enough to do the line drawing for this painting. Believe it or not, I painted it on my return journey home after work to Kent on the train, as I have more than an hour’s trip. I had to wait until the train lost a few passengers, however, as initially it was rather cramped. I referred to a photo I had taken on my phone for colours and tone. The linework was scratched in with a fine Edding waterproof pen. I say scratched in as I don’t really enjoy the very un-smooth sensation such pens convey. I could have used a pencil, of course, but didn’t have one on me. I like subtelty sometimes and you can’t be subtle with a single weight pen. However, after a mix of good old Winsor & Newton Payne’s grey (I use haf-pans when out and about) a touch of black, Prussian blue and some warm, earthy colours, it looked a treat. I only had my travel brush with me, a big filbert, and was glad of the lack of choice it gave me, so I was bold with my brushtrokes. Abstaining from the temptation to fill in the background meant I preserved a good balance of light and dark, essential to keep the essence of what it was that struck me by the scene in the first place. Winsor & Newton watercolour on Grain Fin NOT 150 gsm paper.