Painting in Bath

I'm lucky to live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Bath never fails to inspire me. I recently went painting the Bath views from Alexandra Park, one of my favourite places in Bath. As usual, I tried to simplify the scenery and capture the essence of it. 

Bath views from Alexandra Park in the morning   12"x10"  oil on board
Available for sale here

Detail

The challenge was to cope with moving clouds constantly changing what is in the sunlight and what is in the shade. I had to make a decision and stick to it. 

I had a great time painting this and spoke to a few people passing by. There was a couple of lovely dutch ladies who were on holiday sightseeing, and said they wouldn't mind if they grabbed an english husband at the same time! I told them there is not better place to do it, I talk from experience! I fell in love with Bath 12 years ago when I came as a tourist, and conveniently met my husband at the same time which resulted in me staying in this beautiful city! Clever me!

in progress

Check out issue 12 of Paint & Draw magazine where I will be writing a full step by step feature about this painting. You can find the magazine in WH Smiths and some supermarkets in UK and you can subscribe here.

Issue 10 is out now and has a step by step of my painting 'The pond at Victoria Park'. 

For info an other painting I did of Alexandra Park is currently exhibited at the Victoria Art Gallery for the Bath Society of Artists show which is on until 15 July. Fantastic show, don't miss it if you're in Bath.

Finally, here is below a painting of the Royal Crescent I recently done. I sat under the big tree to shelter from the rain to come, and painted the Crescent through the foliage. It had been raining a lot the days before so the grass was of a flashy green colour.

The Royal Crescent through the foliage  10"x7"   oil on board
Available here

Detail

Here are a few steps of the progress:

This painting is currently exhibited at Number 1 Royal Crescent at the exhibition A View of the Crescent until November 19 (more info here) alongside my other painting of the Royal Crescent (which they have used for the poster, very happy about that!)

I have been out and about painting recently and I'll post them soon so watch this space. 

If you want to see all my available paintings go to this page:

www.valeriepirlot.com/availablepaintings

And don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list for all the latest news:

www.valeriepirlot.com/mailinglist 

Painting against the elements...

Here is a little oil sketch of the Bath views from Alexandra Park in Bath. This painting might look similar to my other paintings. However, there is something quite special about it: it seems it wasn't meant to be painted. Let me explain: sometimes, you feel that all the elements are against you and that only the willpower of a superhero will get the job done. Well, that was the case here. See below for the full story.

Cold winter day, Alexandra Park  10"x8" oil on board - click here to buy this painting

Here is what happened: I got up at 7am on a saturday morning and by the time I took care of my daughter, prepared my painting kit, got wrapped up for this cold day (7 layers of clothes in total!), drove to the park, set up my kit and was ready to paint, it was already 11am (I'm a slow starter I know). As I was inspired and ready to put my first brushstroke on the canvas, I suddenly realised that I forgot my paints tubes home! Every painter's nightmare! I packed my stuff, got back home and then realised I didn't have my home keys on me. Fortunately I caught my husband just as he was leaving the house. I got my paints, put them in my rucksack and gave a lift to my husband and daughter on my way back to the painting spot. I waved them goodbye and then 2 minutes later realised my husband took my rucksack by mistake! I wanted to ring him but my phone was in there too (alongside my paints!). So I parked the car and ran around town like a mad woman looking for him ! Fortunately it all ended well: I finally found him, got my bag back and could get ready to paint again (it was 12.30 by then...). It was a bitterly cold day but I managed to finish this little painting and was quite pleased with it, maybe because I had to work harder to get it... I like the abstract quality of it, probably because I had to stop adding details before my fingers froze!

Here is below the view from Alexandra Park. I was painting the middle right section, with the train tracks going pass Widcombe.

This is me with my 7 layers of clothes and looking ridiculous as always:

Here are below the various steps of the painting. One passer by looked at the painting at that point and kept looking at the view with a confused look wondering what on earth I was painting. I tried to explain this is just the start so it is normal if it looks like a two years old's drawing at this stage!

The finished painting with the view:

A couple of close up details below:

Detail

Detail

This painting is available for sale on the link below:

Cold winter day, Alexandra Park  10"x8" oil on board

Before I end this post, I need to tell you that I will have a painting for sale at the charity Art sale organised by renowned painter Tim Benson to raise funds for those affected by Ebola in Sierra Leone. 

The event will be held at the Mall Galleries, London on the evening of 10th December from 5-8pm. All work is donated by the artists and funds raised from the sale of works will go directly to the Ebola survivors and the frontline healthcare workers who he met on his recent trip to Sierra Leone.

Below is my painting that will be on sale at the show:

Looking up to Gay Street, October afternoon  oil on board 8"x10"

Click here for more info:

http://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/whats-on/events/art-sale-support-those-affected-ebola

If you wish to reserve/purchase the painting please contact directly Tim Benson by email at tim@timbensonart.co.uk. And if you can, have a look at the show on 10th December, which promises to include some great work, including some paintings by Tim himself.

Finally, just a quick note to remind you about all my products for sale directly from my shiny new website (calendars, postcards, prints, and original paintings) which can make great Christmas presents to my humble and neutral opinion :-)

Click here to have a look.

Bath views from Alexandra Park

I have been living in Bath for almost 10 years, and still, I only discovered a few days ago one of the best view point of the city. This is the view from Alexandra Park which is only 5 minutes drive from my house. The scenery is just breathtaking. I painted this a week ago on a sunny afternoon and found it really inspiring. I surely will be back soon!

Bath views from Alexandra Park - April afternoon  10"x12"  oil on board

My set up before I started painting

Detail

Here are below a few stages of the painting. As you can see, the sky and light is constantly changing which means some buildings are sometimes in the shade, sometimes in the sun. The tricky part is to make a decision about which part you want to keep sunny/in the shadow, and stick to it, otherwise you would spend your time painting over it again and again and end up with a big mess!

Talking about mess, look below at my first stage of the painting...

Stage 1 - blocking in the background

Stage 2 - starting to add the buildings and greens

Stage 3 - posing while someone takes my picture and pretending I'm painting and haven't noticed them

Stage 4 - adding highlights and contrasts

Detail

My next post will be about my forthcoming show in Bradford on Avon (2-4 May) at the West Barn, so watch this space for more info!