Marine and coastal scenes
In the second article in his current series, Steve Hall explores the English coastline, where he finds plenty of inspiration for favoured subject matter, alongside an opportunity to make use of vibrant pastel colours
It often seems to me that the coast is where we find the most dramatic skies; weather, and its drama, has always attracted artists. As a traditional watercolour painter, I have been enthralled by the new opportunities that my venture into pastel painting has offered.
Pin Mill, which is situated on the river Orwell, a few miles south of Ipswich, is one of my favourite haunts. The river here is quite wide and, at high tide, can accommodate ocean-going container vessels, but it is the small boat yards and, in particular, the Thames barges that are moored here that have inspired generations of painters.
Another area where I have spent many happy hours painting and teaching is the north Norfolk coast at Blakeney. In my painting Boats at Blakeney (above right) I was particularly attracted to the sharp – almost mirror – images of the reflections of two moored boats alongside Blakeney quay.
Finally, the Kennet and Avon canal, near my studio at Bradford on Avon, is the setting for Canal Life (page 33). This was painted for the pure fun of using vibrant colour. In addition to the strong colour, there are two important design aspects to this painting, the use of the diagonal smoke and the splash of red
on the side of the barge; both take the eye to the centre of interest.
Brilliant colour
The pastel medium provides not only brilliant colour but also the opportunity for subtle blending and shading with the most delicate of tonal variations. In watercolour I have always found that some skies, such as sunsets, have the potential to look gaudy and amateurish but when carefully handled, pastel can produce some stunning effects, as shown in Sunset over the Marsh (left).
Over the years I have painted many times in the county of Norfolk, including the small villages tucked behind the sand dunes on the northeast coast. One of these villages, Waxham, was a favourite haunt of both Edward Seago and Edward Wesson and I have followed in their footsteps on numerous occasions. Norfolk is famous for its churches and, viewed from the dunes, Waxham church makes a magnificent subject. In my picture (below) I have combined the view of the church (slightly exaggerated) with storm clouds coming in over the North Sea.
With the exception of Storm Clouds over Waxham (below), all the pictures here were painted on UART black sanded paper 400 grade. The pastels were exclusively Unison colour. I have a box containing about 200 hues so it is impossible to recall exactly what colours were used – I selected colours at random as the feeling took me.