Painting 'William IV Gate' in Brighton England Today FINE ART/PLEIN AIR PAINTING
‘William IV Gate’
Hello everyone.
This is my plein air sketch today in Brighton at the William IV Gate, Royal Pavilion.
I met the caretaker/manager of this lookout as he stepped outside, he invited me in to have a look and told me about the history of the building, it once being a lookout entry for the royal guards I think in the 1800’s.
You might have seen me if you walked past this afternoon.
I painted this with watercolour & gouache.
The giant brass door handle to the gate door.
The early stages to the painting. This is where I applied the first wash of yellow ocre mixed with a tiny bit of red, diluted down with water. This provides the painting with a vibrant background to build on, and the warmth comes through quiet strongly in the finished painting.
And the finished study. At this point I was really cold and to pack away my materials fast!
But it was all so worth it.
Thank you all for reading and have a great weekend!
Robbie
This is awesome, what a well presented post. The plein air painting turned out great and it is fun to see the view you were seeing as you painted it. What a door knocker/handle! Old buildings with tons of history are fascinating, that is cool you got to talk to the caretaker. Cheers
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 30/35 - need recharge?)
@carlgnash thank you! It was a challenge painting that small, but I was happy with the result in the end. I was really lucky with the timing to meet the caretaker and be shown around, he came out about 30 seconds after I had turned up!
Yeah I totally agree, England and Europe has so much of this which I'm really grateful for. I think a lot of people take it for granted and don't even notice beautiful things like that around them.
Thank you for the comment!
I can barely work that small with a pencil, no idea how you would do it with a brush XD Do you do the masking tape on site or before you leave? (completely random thing to be curious about). Love the colours you picked especially on the ground :)
@ryivhnn I had to use some small brushes and a very steady hand!
Yeah I use an 'artist's tape' or 'draftsmen tape' it's better than normal masking tape, because masking tape can tear the paper. If you go to a good art shop and ask for 'artist tape' they should have a few options. The most satisfying thing is pulling it off at the end to reveal a nice clean white border :) I put it on before I left the house.
Thank you for the comment!
Think that's something my daughter would get a kick out of, she likes aesthetic things like that XD