One for Sorrow Two for Joy

'One for Sorrow' is a painting of Rathbone Point on Nightingale Estate Point as seen from my flat in Fulke House.

My idea of painting from life usually involves a very in depth observation of the subject. I like to see how the light changes throughout the day before I decide on what will be the final effect.

I have often considered painting the view from the back windows of my flat. For a long time I thought this view was too mundane to make a picture from asides from that the architectural details are very complicated. Despite these reservations early last year I began work on this picture and then another painting called ‘Two for Joy’ which is also  painted from life.

The view consists of a plane tree with some street buildings and the distant tower of Rathbone Point on the Nightingale Estate. The plane tree is quite amazing, it must be at least a hundred years old and it’s gone feral set as it is in an out of the way place its branches have never been trimmed, asides from that it much taller than the four-storey block of flats where I live. As I worked on the painting I couldn’t help but become aware of the activities of the local wild life. Squirrels run up and down the twisty boughs of the old plane tree and use them as a springboard to gain access to the roof. The occasional cat patrols the wall below and sometimes a fox will be seen slinking towards the rubbish bins. But mostly it’s the birds, there are pigeons, seagulls, magpies, crows, sparrows, blackbirds, the occasional finch and a pair of yellow tits which are my favourites.

As this is a looking down painting the eye level is very high and as usual I’ve included more space than I can see without moving my head up and down. This makes for an interesting composition with the trunk of the plane tree outside of the picture and a long drop from the top of the distant tower to the overgrown gardens below. The rather drab buildings are framed by a pattern of branches and shadows that seem to want to burst out of the picture. And just to exaggerate the space further I’ve painted in a magpie hovering just outside the picture plane.

By the way there are four squirrels in this picture can you spot them?

'Two for Joy' is my second picture featuring the old plane tree it's painted entirely from life. In this picture I've chosen to show the tree and the background buildings at twilight, a time of day which I particularly like. This picture was painted in winter whereas 'One for Sorrow' was painted in the spring and like its predecessor it has a very high eye level with the magpies flying in the space outside of the picture plane.

This picture is entirely painted from life