Braye Bay, Alderney - watercolour on paper.
When I got this commission over a month ago, I thought 'yeah, this I can do, it will be a doddle' - famous last words! When it came down to it, firstly drawing buildings has never been my strong point. Perspective and I are not good friends. So I drew everything else and wondered how on earth I was going to get that line of houses correctly. The paper was far too big to use my light box and each attempt to draw them by eye resulted in failure. In the end, my partner suggested I get the reference photograph up on my computer screen and fiddle about with zooming in/out until it matched the rest of my sketch and then trace the buildings. Which, thankfully, worked a treat!
Secondly, the sky was fun to paint but so very time consuming! I was constantly worried that I would mess up the effect of the golden light so had to be very careful and paint each little cloud one at a time - no big splashy washes for this one!
Then there was the business of adding in the client's children - she'd Photoshopped them in but put one child in the water, which would have meant the girl would have to be ten feet tall to have matched the spot where she was. So I had to tinker about with the drawing to place them together on the breakwater and hope that the girl was taller than the boy in real life!
In the middle of all this, my partner fell ill and had to be rushed to hospital by ambulance, where he stayed for three days. Turned out he had a very severe case of vertigo, caused by an imbalance in the ears which can come on with no warning and no reason at any time, and is totally debilitating. That was all extremely worrying and for the first few days after his return home, I was basically his carer as he was very insteady on his feet.
Finally this week I got the time to devote to finishing it off, just within the deadline. It was a very challenging painting but I really did enjoy it - I know this beach so well, having lived in Alderney throughout my teenage years and have holidayed there frequently more recently.
Next up - another bear!
