Sunday 11 September 2011

The Guildhall, Bath, summer afternoon

Here is an other painting I just finished with the aim to enter it in the Bath Prize competition which has a special prize for a painting of the Guildhall. It's such a beautiful building that it wasn't difficult to convince myself to give it a try.


The Guildhall, Bath, summer afternoon   12"x12"   oil on board


Close up of the building

Again for this one I worked from photograph because this is a very busy spot and I would have found it very difficult to cope with the amount of people and cars around.

One of the reference photographs

Below is the preliminary sketch I did. Although I never used a square frame before, for some reasons it seemed it was the most appropriate format for this subject and the best way to focus on the main part of the building while showing enough of the sky and the foreground.


8 comments:

  1. I enjoy how you show the photo with your paintings. I can honestly say that your paintings always make the buildings look better and have more of a glow than they do in real life. I'm painting a church here in Fort Worth and I keep asking myself, "How would Valerie paint this? Sadly, it looks nothing like how you would paint it but I am liking it. So some parts are working

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  2. Hi Valerie.
    Brilliant painting. I agree with Douglas above, I also love seeing the photos of the subject. But i`m afraid of showing them myself for the fear of comparison. My efforts might not look anything like the original. All the best Valerie.
    Vic.

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  3. Very nice. I like the warmth you brought to the building.

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  4. Thanks Douglas, Victor and Susan for your nice comments. Ok I must confess that I tend to add drama to building and exaggerate some light effect for aesthetic reasons;-) I always try to give a quick impression of a scene rather than painting exactly what's there to keep things exciting.

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  5. Sorry to swear but bloody hell Val you are brilliant!!!! I love your latest works, and the way you draw out your paintings is amazing, your preliminary sketches are works of art...how did I not know just how amazing you were when we worked together?!?! xx

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  6. Flipping hell this is a nice comment Susie!! You can swear as much as you want if it's to give me compliments;) Specially coming from a talented artist who lives with an other talented artist! You didn't notice much my paintings when we worked together as I was too busy drawing stars and little hearts on greeting cards! Glad you like my work. Hope you're well and to see you soon. x

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