Wet Road, Woldgate

Wet Road, Woldgate

I love Yorkshire and am proud to be a Yorkshireman. I was born in the West Riding, spent sixteen years in the North Riding and have now lived here in the East Riding for the past seven years. They all have their own attractions but there is one thing in common. Sometimes it rains. Yes I have to admit that the sun does not always shine on God's Own county. But of course rain does not mean an artist can't find some wonderful things to paint. Woldgate is the road made famous by David Hockney in his 'Bigger Picture' at the Royal Academy.I have travelled on it many times and it never fails to inspire. This was the scene between heavy showers when the overcast sky and reflections in the road transformed this fairly mundane scene into something special. I worked with a very limited palette and subdued tones to try and capture the sogginess of the afternoon. I think I succeeded and hope it encourages you to see things differently on your next rainy day.

Click to see more paintings - some wet some dry!

Why Paint?

"North Yorkshire Moors at Twilight"

This is the introduction for my six week watercolour course for beginners called 'The Magic of Watercolour':

Why Paint?

"It seems to me that making marks or painting has been a fundamental part of the human experience since the dawn of time. Even the old caveman took time off from making grunting noises and dragging his wife round by her hair (do NOT try this at home!!!) to make exquisite paintings on cave walls that have survived to this day. Using basic materials and simple colours they recorded what was going on around them and the animals they depended on for survival. So people have always painted and always will I hope. In pre-camera times painters used to record events and places in paint but even back then the vast majority of people painted not for posterity but for enjoyment. Today more people than ever before paint for pleasure and you are now one of them. Obviously there are many factors but one of the main reasons for painting has to be that its fun. We are here to enjoy ourselves. Please, please promise me that you will never forget that. When all is said and done it is only a piece of paper. Winston Churchill painted for fun as a pleasant antidote to the weighty responsibilities he carried on his shoulders and he famously remarked – “I could shout at it, curse it, screw it into a ball, throw it in a bin and it never once did anything back to me…it is just a piece of paper!”. This is a very good lesson to remember unless of course you really want to live and paint in a cold attic, drink absinthe and maybe even cut your ear off to be a ‘proper’ artist." 

 I have reproduced it because I think it is so important to establish the 'fun' principle right from the start. If we enjoy doing the painting then people will enjoy looking at it. It is important to remember the principle when things don't turn out as we would like them to. It is all part and parcel of the process and providing we learn from our mistakes then we can still enjoy the experience. So whatever stage you are in your painting journey...relax and have fun!

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Bluebells in Sewerby Park

"Bluebells in Sewerby Wood"

I went for a lovely stroll this morning through the woods in Sewerby Park which is just across the road from us. We go there just about every day and it has been exciting seeing the walk change from week to week. We had an abundance of daffodils and wood sorrell but the aconite has had a poor year. Now though it is the turn of the bluebells who seemed to appear overnight. I have had a few attempts at painting this iconic symbol of spring but they are quite tricky to do justice to. Despite being blue and congregating in large groups they are well camouflaged under the green canopy. This is last year's effort painted just after they first appeared and before their proliferation. I concentrated on just a few in the foreground and did the rest of the painting in a loose impressionistic style. It's not bad but I still think I can improve on it. Happily today has inspired me to have another go and I will let you see the result in due course....maybe this will be the one I am finally satisfied with!

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Light Out to Sea

Light Out to Sea from Sewerby Cliffs

Working with a very limited palette is a very useful teaching aid as you have to concentrate on getting the tones right to create the illusion of space and depth in your painting. This was one of the techniques I demonstrated recently at a workshop at Driffield Art Club. I have been several times and always enjoy it. They are a great bunch and very competent painters too so I have to be on my mettle. I used two colours for the demonstration – French ultramarine and brown madder – and completed it in about twenty minutes. That’s the joy of watercolour as it does most of the work for you. I masked the sea line and then worked wet in wet down to the foreground using different mixes of the same colours. When it was dry all I had to do was remove the mask and quickly work in the foreground and a nice little painting appeared – the magic of watercolour!

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When I was Younger.....

"Lakeside View"

No we are not talking Estate Agent speak – this really is a lakeside view. The lake in question is actually a reservoir situated in the Yorkshire Dales and is called Grimwith. Do not let this rather forbidding name put you off. It is well worth a visit. This is another of my recently discovered paintings and formed part of a series of views around the perimeter of the lake. Back when I painted this I could easily manage a stroll round but although it is relatively easy it might be more difficult for me now. Never mind – thanks to this recent discovery I now have another aide-memoire for this lovely location. Wouldn't it be nice to stumble across some of the others? This is a simple though evocative scene and I painted it using my ‘rainbow’ technique. This was the name given by Merice to the paintings where I applied washes of yellow, red and blue (in that order) to create these lovely blends of colour. Now composition has never my strongest point, especially back when I painted this, so it must be based on one of Merice’s reference photos. It has always been a blessing for me to have such a talented artist in her own right as my wife. She has never charged me copyright fees either……..yet! We are planning to revisit Grimwith even though we are a lot further away now but I hope I will have many more happy memories soon ready to commit to paintings.

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Solitude, Sunset and Survival.........

"Sunset on Rosedale Head"

OK - you have had plenty of practice at painting in your nice warm house where no one can see you but finally it's time to become a 'proper' artist and actually paint outdoors or 'plein air' as your "Watercolours in Easy Lessons" calls it. That was the situation I found myself in a good few years ago. The only problem is that I knew I wasn't very good at that stage so was a bit embarrassed about setting up to paint in front of other people. But a simple solution presented itself - find a location where nobody else would be. So what better than a remote part of the North Yorks Moors National Park. A quick tour lead me to a sign that read 'Dale Head Only'.....perfect. The road soon petered out to a grassy unused track and my confidence began to grow as my old 4 x 4 laboured on. Finally the perfect spot - miles away from anywhere and no one in sight at all. So I set up and eagerly set to work. I did my drawing and added a few washes but it gradually began to dawn on me that working outdoors was a lot different than working in a studio. Bits of grass and other debris kept landing on the paper which dried too quickly anyway with the inevitable result that instead of the envisaged masterpiece I had produced a complete mess. It was at this stage that a crowd of happy walkers appeared as if from nowhere. I say a crowd and I mean a crowd - must have been the annual day out for a walking club. Naturally they were curious and asked if they could have a look. Soon I was surrounded by a group of hikers pressing in all around me and my exposed easel. Fortunately - and I mean no disrespect to anyone - they were all English. Of course I knew it was rubbish and so did they but being English they were invariably polite and uttered phrases like "Looking good", "Coming along nicely" and the classic"I'd love to see it when it's finished". Thankfully the excruciating encounter finished and off they trundled leaving a very chastened painter behind. I could have been put off but it's part of the learning experience of course. The next time I went 'plein air' I was a lot more prepared. Gradually I built up more experience and more confidence and once you get to that stage painting on site outdoors is a marvellous experience that I still enjoy to this day. From my early experiences however I have developed a theory. If for any reason whatsoever you find yourself totally lost and cut off in a wilderness don't panic. Forget the fancy (and expensive!) survival kits - just get out your paints and paper and within minutes you are guaranteed to be surrounded by a whole bunch of would be rescuers! So please do not be put off - get out and paint - you will not regret it. 

'Sunset on Rosedale Head' was not painted outdoors and is an example of multi coloured layers to create the illusion of space and depth in the painting.

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'Heading Home' by Glenn Marshall

"Heading Home"

I painted this several years ago and to be frank I haven’t a clue what happened to the original so let’s hope it sold for a good price. You can imagine then how pleased I am to find this image to show you.  Regular readers will know just how much I admire the old Victorian watercolour painters and this scene would definitely have interested them as much as it interested me. In fact it could well be based on an old painting but I can’t remember which one for the life of me so any ideas would be most welcome. There is no doubt though that it is a typical Victorian composition and I have even included a ‘Grimshaw’ lady though for once she is walking in daylight and can see where she is going especially as she has that rickety old bridge to cross on her way home. It might be a traditional scene but I have used a few modern techniques to do it. There’s a bit of masking fluid, some flicking and scratching, and a bit of 'rainbow' painting out though the outcome has that old fashioned look I love.

Click to see more paintings by Glenn Marshall