Hop on a bus

Dan Randall

Dan Randall

Western Thunderer
That RT interior is astoundingly good, so good, it looks like a photograph! :thumbs:

It also brings back happy memories of having experienced that very same environment - I can remember travelling from Beaconsfield to Slough on the 441 service one cold Friday night (Autumn, circa 1975), having attended the Beaconsfield Model Railway Club with Pete Fitzwater (bogusman on WT). We were sat on the left hand side, right at the front of the lower deck as per Peter's illustration and after shivering at the bus stop in Beaconsfield for what seemed like an eternity, the warmth from the heater and the cosy tungsten lighting was a joy to behold.

Oh for a time machine....


Regards

Dan
 
M

markjj

Western Thunderer
I just showed it to my partner she thought it was a photograph she doesn't normally miss a trick so credit where credit is due Pete your work Is just amazing....
 
Scale7JB

Scale7JB

Western Thunderer
Impeccable work.

I think I recognise where the second picture is, on the main road between Gants Hill and Ilford?

JB.
 
Thirtysecond

Thirtysecond

Western Thunderer
markjj said:
I just showed it to my partner she thought it was a photograph she doesn't normally miss a trick so credit where credit is due Pete your work Is just amazing....
Click to expand...

Actually it would be nigh on impossible, without spending hours on Photoshop, to get these shots as photographs. Lenses by their very nature impose depth of focus problems on any shot and all of them distort the image to some extent, particularly wide angle ones. In addition getting the balance between internal and external exposure of photos taken inside looking outside is very difficult. The skill of the artist is to give us a view exactly as seen "in our heads" - perfect light levels, perfect focus and no distortion. Pete does that better than anyone.
 
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Peter Insole

Peter Insole

Western Thunderer
Thanks everyone for your compliments. I'm glad the pictures bring back happy memories! I had wanted to do them both as they represent the favourite views for so many Londoners, but it took many years to pluck up the courage and tackle what proved to be particularly complicated images!

By the way, well spotted Jonathan, Cranbrook Road it is indeed. There is even a clue in the picture that could reveal which route I had in mind too!

Now I could tell a few stories...?

C23pop_102_6309.JPG


Pete.
 
Scale7JB

Scale7JB

Western Thunderer
I couldn't tell you the route, but the triple curb stones on the left are a dead giveaway, especially as I lived less than a 1/4 mile away on The Drive almost opposite the large PLA ground. Ridden up and down those pavements on my bike many times.. Those were the days..

I should add, after the days or RT's and RM's..

JB.
 
Dan Randall

Dan Randall

Western Thunderer
Oooh, a BR street direction sign - lovely! I have one that used to point the way to Handsworth & Smethwick station. :thumbs:


Regards

Dan
 
Peter Insole

Peter Insole

Western Thunderer
I will tell a tale of that sign:

It used to hang on a lamppost at the junction of The Drive on Cranbrook Road. My regular childhood bus journeys in the early 1960's from Hainault to Ilford on route 150 passed there, and I recall it amused me somewhat that it didn't actually point towards the station itself, but directly at a public lavatory and a gate into Valentines Park on the opposite side of the road! The sign was still there in 1980 when I rented a flat in Empress Avenue (first turning off The Drive). Shortly after moving in, the sign disappeared. Oh dear, I thought, it's finally gone and too late to acquire now!

One evening, several weeks later I decided to take a walk up to Gants Hill, and as I passed "The Wash"; an open air part of the Alder Brook just in front of the Telephone Exchange, there it was, lying barely visible in the muddy water. I resolved to rescue it straight away. As the stream was fairly shallow I reckoned that wellies might be adequate, so borrowed a pair from a friend. What I hadn't considered was the depth of the accumulated mud! The moment my boots sunk into the stuff a terrible stink almost overwhelmed me! I had to hold my breath as I cautiously moved further out and managed to grab the sign, at which point the foul water poured in over the welly tops! Oh yuk!

It must have looked as if some disgusting, evil creature had emerged from the swamp and slithered round the corner over night for anyone passing there a while later?!

As you can see, the sign cleaned up splendidly, but getting rid of the lingering pong from my friend's boots was an absolute nightmare!

Pete.
 
Dan Randall

Dan Randall

Western Thunderer
You lucky so and so Peter - you got yours for free, whereas I paid £180 for mine and that was over twenty years ago! Great story though, with a very happy ending. :thumbs:


Regards

Dan
 
Peter Insole

Peter Insole

Western Thunderer
I have been doing a bit of work on Bagshot, but a busy rush on the day job and Love Lane have been taking up quite a bit of time, so not much to post.

Meanwhile, as we are on the bus thread and Ilford theme, I thought I would will put the old WIP file up!

C23pop_102_5803.JPG

Looks a bit like painting-by-numbers is going on here?

I like to make all my mistakes on thin, white paper first, before committing myself to the nice quality stuff! Many pictures have gone wrong, and there is little room for recovery with this medium!

C23pop_102_5798.JPG C23pop_102_5799.JPG

Quite a bit of underpainting with gouache to give opacity and depth before working over with pencil for texture where required.

C23pop_102_5801.JPG

Here are some of those granite kerbs that I have been bashing up in wood for Love Lane. They take quite a bit longer with pencil on paper!

C23pop_102_5802.JPG

But then, I don't have to stick all the foliage on the trees, only the side that shows!

C23pop_102_5800.JPG C23pop_102_5996.JPG

More in second post soon.

Pete.
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
There isn't a suitable emoticon for sitting here slack-jawed with admiration and wonder.

Peter, is there a reason for choosing the dark paper for the work?
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
Peter

Thank you for the 'behind the scenes' of your artwork. I must admit I've never previously seen artworks in coloured pencil until your masterpieces here of which the LT pieces bring back my own memories of London.
 
Peter Insole

Peter Insole

Western Thunderer
Thank you Heather and Dave. I will try to answer your question.

White paper is a rather neutral background. As most paints, and definitely coloured pencil are not nearly opaque enough, all applied colours will appear very bright, but uniformly so. I find that I cannot obtain sufficient "depth" in shadows or subtlety of shades.

There is also a thing that I refer to as "ambient" light. Depending on the scene, there is always a dominant colour that will be reflected off of every surface in sight.

In painting, to make a light brighter, you have to make everything around it darker. Starting on a dark background means that all the highlights will get lovely and "punchy", hopefully giving a better sense of scale, shape, and form.

I have found the very dark green is naturally perfect for spring, early summer and autumn views, but never cease to be surprised at how well some other colours work!

Pete.
 
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adrian

adrian

Flying Squad
Simply stunning - thank you very much for posting the WIP, I find it fascinating to see how the drawing developed. Not only the attention to detail, the wear for the tyre tracks in the road, the different states of trim on the hedges so many aspects to soak in, but also the colour variations in the gloss colours (especially the black and red) to suggest the 3D nature of the subject is brilliant.hat-tip-smiley-emoticon.gif
 
Giles

Giles

Western Thunderer
Absolutely beautiful - and a privilege to see it 'in progress'. It simply doesn't get better than this.....

Thank you.
 
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