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Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, 15" x 11".
A central square in the city of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. The figures, tree trunks and parasols were carefully painted around here with the dark background. Then their faces were painted in first, then some of their tops painted in lightly and legs were given a loose approach. The whole sketch was completed in about an hour. The nearest figure is important to join the foreground shadow with the middle ground.
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Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, 15" x 11".
A sunny street corner in the city of Las Palmas. A tricky scene with a couple of motorbikes parked here. The approach was for great simplification. Looking closely at what you are painting and just look for shapes. Then paint this object in as fewer strokes as possible. In this case I touched up the wheels and front forks with a bit of white gouache for highlights. The background was also left a little out of focus and very simple and subdued.
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Cambrils, Spain, 22" x 15".
A double size painting of the same scene I did a little while back, and this time with a few changes of figures. As regards the composition, I am trying to balance the large yellow figure on the right with the side of the boat and smaller figures on the left. Plus I try to connect all the shapes through the background or foreground shadows. The last stage of the painting was to use sparingly, some white gouache for ropes and masts.
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Porthleven, Cornwall, 15" x 11".
A small car park behind a row of houses in Porthleven, Cornwall. Quite a simple scene with just a few cars. a van and a limited range of colours - mainly ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. The building on the left was quite bright and I decided to 'dull' it down a bit - a touch of weak yellow (I use cadmium yellow in my palette). The shadows on the right had some clear water dropped in while still damp, to create those runs from the car and building.
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Porthleven, Cornwall, 22" x 15".
The Ship Inn, located at the mouth of the harbour, and the church on the other side of the harbour in the background. Very often for greens, I have mixed yellow ochre and cerulean blue or cobalt turquoise. It makes the greens a bit softer. Also in this painting, I often am mixing colours in the wash as it is still wet - more so towards the foreground here. The pub tables and chairs on the right, well they were 'picnic' tables, are very much understated.
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Porthleven, Cornwall, 15" x 11".
On the western side of the harbour, looking towards town. Ahead was a very complex scene of rows of house in the background - different angles and lines, and roof tops. So this was greatly simplified. And that dark side contrasts with the light side. I have a row of parked cars, leading your eyes into the composition, and a couple of figures added as an afterthought, but I think they blend in okay in a loose kind of way.
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