Day out painting in Bristol

Last Saturday I headed to Bristol for a day out painting with the Plein Air Society (a group of plein air painters meeting every month in a different city). We were so lucky with the weather as the sun was shining all day, which has become pretty rare here in rainy England! After meeting for a quick coffee we headed for the top of Clifton with views of the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Here is my first painting of the day (click on all pictures to enlarge):

Clifton Suspension Bridge in the morning   12"x10"  oil on board

Below you can see my set up. We were painting in "contre jour", facing the sun, which was quite blinding but it gave interesting contrasts in the painting:

That's me, towards the end of the painting session:

I loved the variety of greens getting cooler and more purple as they recede in the distance:

Detail1

I must admit I added the bridge railing details back in the studio as my hand was too shaky and it was a bit too windy on the spot to be able to draw a straight line!

I loved the sun reflection shining on the water:

Detail2

As you can see below, I was surrounded by two talented painters on that day - (click on the name for website): Wayne Attwood from Birmingham and Tom Hughes from Bristol. They both produced great work on the day and were rather well equipped. In fact, they were both showing off a bit with their sun umbrella but it was so windy that after only a few minutes Tom's got broken and Wayne's flew over the edge! Nature always has the last word!

Tom Hughes in action

Wayne Attwood working on his little gem

Andrew Taylor (below left) arrived a bit later but managed to do a quick painting of the view. Ian Mood (not pictured) was sketching a few meters away.

After a quick lunch break we decided to turn around and paint the beautiful view over the Avon Gorge which was bathed on that day by a lovely pink light:

Leigh Woods and The Avon Gorge, Bristol, September afternoon   16"x9"  oil on board

Here we are, all lined up (And someone is still not giving up on the umbrella):

My painting after around 30 minutes:

and towards the end...

I confirm there is an actual view of the gorge behind that bush,
I'm not just imagining this scene from the view of the bush... 

Detail

Andrew at work

Tom

Wayne

After we finished that sitting, it was around 5.30 and we all felt like maybe we could squeeze a last quick painting before calling it a day. I decided to turn around again and paint the view towards the Suspension Bridge with the tree in the foreground:

I was well into it when I realised that I was the only one painting and the other painters were just relaxing on the bench and waiting to go to the pub. A bit of pressure for me to do this one very quickly then!

I was painting a lady on the bench but she moved away before I got a chance to paint her properly so I wiped her off and Andrew kindly sat for me. He kept moving so one could hear me shouting every 3 minutes "Stop moving Andrew!". I did this in about 30 minutes and spent an other 20 minutes at home adding a few details as I ran out of time since the pub was calling for us!

Andrew on a bench playing with his camera,
Clifton Suspension Bridge, September evening
10"x7"  oil on board

Detail1

Detail2

My paintings are available for sale directly from me or through a gallery and can be shipped worldwide. Prices depends on size and subject and generally range from £100 to £500. Please email me to check prices and availability at valpirlot1@hotmail.com