Picture of the day

" Boat building in Essaouira", watercolour on paper

This picture along with three others is to be exhibited at the Queens Gallery, Dundee, Scotland - opening Friday June 16th 2006. The exhibition is an annual charity event held on behalf of Dundee Heritage Trust.

http://www.queensgallery.co.uk/

An artist friend of mine, Douglas Robertson said when he saw it, "You went all the way to Morocco to paint a subject you could do here" (Scotland). I think that, that, is the point. When we visit places, in particular to work, we impose our viewpoint and see the things that matter to us, regardless of where we happen to be. So I paint old crumbly walls, doors, windows, boats, etc whether its Dundee, Los Angeles or Venice.

What I see is what I see.

Douglas Robertson's work can be found at;

http://www.douglasrobertson.co.uk/

Capturing the Essence

Sketch outside San Marco, Venice

Brevity, not necessarily speed, is the way to capture the essence of your subject. You should come away from the subject feeling you have enough information to be able to make sense of it later.

Finished Painting, watercolour 5" x 7"

Drawing as a starting point

Capturing the essence of your subject has to be your main objective when time; weather (primarily the changing light), unwelcome observers (I have had sketchbooks plucked out of my hands while in china, so they could have a better look.) and patience is limited.

Working fairly quickly isn’t necessarily the answer, brevity is. Your role as an artist is to capture the image with as many, or as few, well placed lines as possible. To reduce the image in front of you to as much information as you need in order to either develop the work later by using your sketch as a starting point or as inspiration in a more considered piece/s back in the comfort of your studio.

The beauty of a sketch compared to that of a drawing (which may well be extremely well crafted and accurate), is the complete ease and lack of pretension exhibited, the ability to get to the nub of the matter and to ignore frippery and unwanted detail. It is this, which you want to be made aware of, when you go to develop that sketch.

What was it that originally attracted me to the subject? This is the question you should always ask yourself, as forgetting this, means the image loses its focus and power.

Mists on the grand canal

Fishmarket lantern. venice

Finished watercolour

More Kew

"Pagoda tree", graphite on paper

Here are a few more images related to the "Artists Kew" project, which is still on display at Kew gardens, London. The above image was produced on site and the following painting was developed back in the studio from a variety of references.

"Pagoda tree", watercolour

The "Dukes garden" was the 4th in the series of "Artists Kew" paintings. This picture was also produced while working on site in Kew. The painting had the added advantage of some colour notes, as it was really the colour that interested me in the subject to begin with.

"The Dukes Garden", watercolour

Artists Kew

"Industrial growth", watercolour

College artist’s blooming good show!

The world famous Kew Gardens is being offered a helping hand from a Dundee College artist.

Angus McEwan has produced four works for the Artists KEW exhibition to be held in London in a bid to boost funds to support the Royal Botanic Gardens plans to construct a purpose-built gallery to display Kew’s unrivalled collection of botanic art.

Angus is one of 50 artists supporting this venture.

One of the pieces the lecturer painted for Artists KEW has already proved a success; “Industrial Heritage” has been made into a print by Macdonald Fine Art.

The same piece has also won a finalist award in the April/May edition of International Artist magazine.

“To say that I am excited about this project would be an understatement,” commented Angus.

“I am really chuffed to have been approached by the Artist KEW organisers to take part in this exhibition and equally pleased that ‘Industrial Heritage’ is already attracting so much positive attention – before the exhibition has even opened!”

It is thanks to a previous success that Angus was approached by the organisers.

“Evidently the organisers saw some of my work in the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour (RI) Annual Exhibition in London’s Mall Galleries at the tail end of last year and were so impressed they approached me to submit work for Artists KEW.”

Artists KEW opens at the Kew Gardens Gallery on May 9 and runs till June 18. A selection of the works, including one of Angus’s pieces, go on show in a preview exhibition in Messum’s of London from April 25-27.

For those who can not actually visit the exhibition, Kew Gardens are producing a hard-back catalogue of the exhibition with a foreword by Sir Roy Strong and an epiloque by Lord Selbourne in his capacity as both chairman of Kew’s trustees and a patron of Artists KEW.

"Lasting Impression", Watercolour

Danger - Artist at work

Angus McEwan RSW

This Blog will allow me to keep those interested in my work up to date with current projects and allow feedback if you feel so inclined.

The painting above was produced after returning from Morocco in October 2005. I am currently working on a number of images connected to this trip which will be Exhibited in the Open Eye Gallery, in September 2006.