Gift Certificate Commission

Simon Hammond commissioned this piece after his wife, Pat bought him one of my gift certificates as a Christmas present.

Simon and Pat had spent some time in Cambodia before Christmas and had taken lots of photos. Simon was taken with the idea of commissioning a piece based on one or more of these photos. He came up with a shortlist from the hundreds that he had taken and over a cup of coffee we decided on which ones would work best as a piece of artwork. Once the final pictures were chosen, the other considerations were the size and the style or medium of the piece. The size was somewhat dictated by Simon and Pat’s unique living arrangements in that their home is a narrow boat and the available wall space is at a premium. In terms of the style, Simon was happy to give me total creative freedom to interpret the pictures in whichever way I felt appropriate - my perfect kind of customer!

The photo’s were based around water. Densely populated dwellings built on stilts a few feet above the water. Boats being used by fisherman going about their business. Plenty of bright and vibrant colours all exaggerated by the direct sunlight and the dark shadows cast by the buildings and canopies.

The aim of the painting was not just to reproduce the photograph but to try and tell the story of the subject matter. In the top painting, the complex criss-crossing of the stilts that support the dwellings drew my attention - the way each stilt appeared incredibly dark against the brightness of the background. The architecture is in sharp focus - you can clearly see the building materials that were used and the way they are structured to create the various living spaces. It seems at first glance like a very fragile construction but maybe there is hidden strength in there?

The middle painting is very different. A story is being told of the natural environment supporting a man and his family. A fisherman is at work, poised just inches above the surface of the water. His crouching position gives me the impression that he is very focussed on what he is doing. I imagine that the skills and knowledge built up over the generations all combine in this one moment. The boat looks as if it’s literally millimeters above the surface - such fine lines between success and failure in his business. In the distance you can make out other pieces of equipment - poles and orange netting. Maybe they’re all part of his operation?

The third painting is a busy picture of fisherman in the foreground going out to or returning from work against the backdrop of a vast array of colour made up of individual dwellings on stilts, washing hanging out to dry and canopies reflecting the brightness of the sunlight. It brings together in one image the two themes of the overall piece of family life and working life in this part of the world. I wanted to make sure the boat didn’t get lost against the background. I achieved this by using the highlights of the figures and the boat iteslf against the dark background. Just a small detail but I particularly like the rectangular white highlights which appear on the left hand side of the boat.

One of my overall aims was to create a piece of work which, at first glance, looked like a photograph but then upon closer inspection you are able to see the craftsmanship that has gone into building up the painting through the brush strokes and different washes of watercolour. I’m really pleased with the finished result. A watercolour painting which really captures the atmosphere and tells the story of the location.

So most importantly, what did Simon and Pat make of the painting?

“Wow, wow, wow !!!!!! You have captured everything we wanted and more...it is beautiful.
Thank you soooo much!”

Springwood Primary School Commission

 

I was recently commissioned by staff at Springwood Primary School in Liverpool to paint a watercolour of the old school building for the retiring head teacher.

When I was initially contacted and shown the photographs that I was to work from, I asked if any more could be taken from a slightly different angle and if possible, on a sunny day. I was informed that this was not possible as the building no longer existed and had since made way for a new building!

Fortunately, I was able to use a little ‘artistic license’ and work with what I had to produce a painting from the desired angle in the right light conditions. 

This was the viewpoint that I wanted to use as a basis for the painting (below). I broke up the overcast sky with some blue sky breaking through the clouds. I felt that the railings in the foreground didn’t necessarily need to be there, so removed them. I decided to include the yellow road markings as these are a feature of many schools. The only other adjustment was to add the cherry blossom to the tree to bring in a dash of colour.

This was the only photograph I could find of the old school entrance. I could just make out enough detail to use it as a reference for extending the main image to the left.

This is a close up of the date stone which was positioned over the window on the far right. Quite a significant feature which was to be included in the panting.

Here is the finished watercolour. I was very happy with how it worked out and hopefully will be a lovely memento of the school for the retiring Head Teacher.

Are you looking for a gift to mark a special occasion? I'd love to hear from you - get in touch to find out more about the process of commissioning a piece of original artwork...  

Call me on 07792 553 273 or send an e mail to peter_chapple@hotmail.com

Home in Tockwith

I will often ask the people that I meet if they would like to commission a picture of their present home as a sort of memento. Very often, this is an attractive proposition especially in homes that has been in the family for some time in which children have been raised in and all the memories that go along with family life.

When I met Andy Bolton and his wife, Viv, in Tockwith recently, they not only wanted a painting of their current house, which they had moved into within the last year but they also enquired if there was a way that all of their five previous homes could be captured in some way.

My suggestion was to produce a single piece of artwork made up of all five properties. It would need to be a reasonable size, about A3, to fit all the images. After sitting down together to go over the finer details, it was decided not to include one of the properties, an apartment, which didn’t particularly lend itself to the project. So we were left with four properties which fitted more comfortably together within the piece.

Fortunately Andy, had kept all of the sales particulars from each of his previous homes and I was able to scan the photographs from each document. I produced a mock up of the layout in photoshop to give an idea of the final presentation, which was agreed upon and then I was all set to get painting.

The painting of the present home in Tockwith was an A3 watercolour painted on to Bockingford 300gsm NOT paper. The photo I worked from was taken by myself on a bright morning with the sun illuminating the facade of the property, casting shadows which is always good for adding definition to the various details. A little artistic license was used to bring the ash trees on the left into leaf as it was still only February when I took the pictures. The previous properties were painted in the same medium. Starting by soaking the paper and adding the base colours which I allowed to bleed into one another to create those soft edges between each image. I love this effect that you can achieve in watercolour. Multiple washes of colour were added, getting darker as I went along until I arrived at the finished result.

Looking at the completed pieces, I’m delighted with how they look together. It really is an imaginative and effective way of capturing the various houses that have been lived in over a couples life time.

This is what Viv had to say about the process:

“Pete impressed us from the start with his professionalism, quiet charm, easy manner and obvious talent. We were so delighted by his early sketches of our home that we commissioned a second painting from him to feature the many houses we have lived in over 35 years.

Pete worked from photographs he took of our present house and from images we supplied of our previous homes, then emailed us his sketches for comments and approval. The whole process from first visit to finished product took just three weeks.

We now have two original works of art which not only look beautiful but evoke lovely memories. Thank you, Pete.”

What next? After spending a bit of time in Tockwith I was able to take some more general photos of the village such as the village hall, the pub and the church and I’m hoping to capture the essence of the village through a series of sketches. Watch this space!

The Great Lake, Castle Howard

Watercolour Technique. The Great Lake, Castle Howard

This watercolour - completed from a photograph taken early in the morning in March 2017 at one of my favourite locations - Castle Howard in North Yorkshire. From this side of the great lake you can look up to the right to make out the house in the distance. The heads of the reeds catching the sun on the left was a striking effect against the dark background of the distant trees. The different tonal values reflecting of the surface of the water made for added interest into the picture.

The Process.
1. Working on Arches 300gsm NOT surface Watercolour Paper. Started with a wash of yellow ochre, adding more pigment to certain areas while still wet and bringing in some cerulean blue in to the sky.

2. A mixture of yellow ochre, burnt umber, ultramarine and paynes grey added over the distant trees, darker parts of the lake and the foreground. While still wet, added much more ppigment to distinguish between the darker and the lighter values. Actually adding much more pigment than you think necessary as the colour dulls as it drys.

Force-dry with a hairdryer - this drastically reduces drying time allowing to work quickly.



4. Pick out details such as visible branches in the distance

5. Foreground just add sap green and crimson to previous mixture. Applying plenty of pigment to increase the intensity of the colour as moving closer to the foreground.

6. Pick out individual reeds and stems in the foreground using the darkest mixture of pigments. Dry.

7. I used a blade to Scratch out with a few highlights on the surface of the water and some foreground highlights.

8. Done.

A Cheshire House Portrait

In the summer of 2016 Mark & Donna Thatcher commissioned the artist, Pete Chapple to produce a watercolour painting of their home in Tiverton, near Tarporley. It was purchased in a state of some disrepair and extensive plans were drawn up to renovate the property.

To look at it now, the change is remarkable. It has been transformed.

The brief was to capture the property in its finished state, including the garden as well as the house. In addition, Pete wanted to capture it in its original state as well. The two pieces of artwork next to each other really highlight the difference in the ‘before’ and the ‘after’.

The Process

Pete starts by visiting the location to gather photographs and preliminary sketches.

“You can get a much better feel for the place by physically visiting the subject than just by looking at photographs. As with all of my work, I try and convey a sense of the atmosphere and ‘feel’ of the place - I’m trying to tell a story of what it is like to be stood viewing the property through the painting.”

Mark and Donna were asked about the main features that they wanted to incorporate within the painting. This gave Pete a good idea as to what they were looking for and how the finished piece would look. The photo that he used for the final piece was actually one that Mark had taken previously which included more of the garden (pictured above). One distinctive feature is the fox and hare which have been sculpted into the thatch right at the top of the house - this had to be quite visible. The colour in the garden was to be exaggerated slightly from the photograph but not to over-do it. 

The finished piece (pictured right) captures both the house and the garden in the same painting. The property has the appearance of the typical english country cottage with colour and areas of interest in the garden.

Upon receiving the finished painting, Mark and Donna commented. “After a few months, Pete showed us his work and we were delighted with it! He managed to capture a snapshot of our home that we will treasure for years to come. It has added significance due to the amount of work that we have put into it since we bought it.”

The ‘before’ painting (pictured above)  was a piece that Pete wanted to paint for himself. Instead of depicting the whole property, he was given a photograph of just a small section of it looking over the front door up to the roof. Usually, taking photographs directly into the sunlight is to be avoided but in this instance it works well. The bright sunlight creates huge contrast between light and shade making for a striking painting. Pete states that he was able to be a little more relaxed in my approach, less worried about the details and so was able to paint with a lot more freedom which comes across in the finished piece.

Mark & Donna also commissioned a winter scene to be used as a Christmas card. Created from the photo that Pete worked from for the original but with a touch of artistic license. The trees lost their leaves and a thick blanket of snow was applied not forgetting the smoke from the chimney. The lights on in the lounge created the impression of a very cosy looking house amid the cold winter conditions on the outside. The finished result is a much lighter and sparse painting given the season compared to the summer scene.