28 August 2012

Painting the Lady Hopetoun


I was amazed how difficult it was to paint the Lady Hopetoun at an angle, as her nose was nearly touching the wharf and it is difficult to get a good place to stand because of the forest of iron pipes that stand on the wharf in front of her...



Anyway I found a little 'inlet' and set up my easel and got to work getting her lovely lines onto my board.  I was going great guns when the wind that was forecast came up and knocked  over my easel, and paints  and all my dirty painting water over the painting as well as over my clothes. That's when I packed up.




I was lucky I had taken a photo of her beautiful reflections before the wind came up, as they were needed to balance the composition. I was also lucky that I managed to fit her prow into the picture without foreshortening her, as I just started my composition with the lovely black chimney and hoped for the best.

A volunteer brought a little barge that he was balancing on whilst touching up her side, but when I included him in the work, the reflections were lost, so I took him out again.