Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Clarke Quay, Singapore

I haven't been painting much for the past two months as I has been terribly busy at work, involving in some projects that required working over the weekends. So, it was with great pleasure that I was able to get back to painting last Sunday when a few artist friends of mine gathered on the highest level of Liang Court Hotel car park, near Clarke Quay to provide us a beautiful bird's eye view of the scene.



It was difficult to decide on one composition. Most people would naturally compose a landscape/horizontal view given that the main building (Riverside Point) stretches along the river as shown by the picture above. But I tried to be different and by making use of the sharp pointy roof and the tall modern buildings as the backdrop, I decided to use a portrait/vertical composition.

I've also recently bought Schmincke's Translucent Orange and decided to put this glowing colour into good use. You can definitely see its effect on the roof and a more diluted wash on the walls of the building. This gave the main subject a warm treatment, contrasting against the cool blue on the sky and the water.

Here's the painting...

Clarke Quay, Singapore (15" x 11")
SOLD

and here are some close-up shots...




Surprisingly, I've shrinked from full sheet in my home studio, to half sheet during my past plein air sessions... and now I'm painting only small 1/4 sheet... mainly because it's easier to carry around and I find myself having more time to think what would I do next. I still spend the same 2-3 hours for this 1/4 sheet but I don't need to rush myself to finish off the painting, like I do half-sheets, although I love the freedom and brush-movement that I get in painting bigger size.

I always use Fabriano Artistico Rough watercolour paper, painted with W&N, Rembrandt, Schmincke, M.Graham Artist Watercolour Paints.

Comments and Critiques are welcome as usual.

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