An afternoon at Muizenberg

Posted by Stephen Quirke on January 25, 2010 under Art, en plein air, painting, seascape, watercolor, watercolour | 8 Comments to Read

Here is a painting I did in Muizenberg at the end of last week when I drove through to pick up my board which had been fixed by the guys at the Lifestyle Surf Shop.
It felt really good to have it with me again but I could not surf as they had just sighted another Great White.

You can see the cottage from the last time I painted here as well as the power cables for the False Bay line.

  • artiseternal said,

    Hi Stephen,
    I enlarged this one to take a good look at the detail. Very,very nice! It’s a departure from your usual colour schemes – a lot more purple of some sort. Do you mix it or do you use one of the violet colours?
    K

  • Stephen Quirke said,

    Hi K
    Thanks – there were a lot of darks on the right – I have a windsor newton set with 12 colours so the greys and purples are all mixed – probably ultramarine blue with Alizarin crimson and some cadmium yellow and cobalt blue – I don’t usually think much about what I am mixing. (o: – Cheers hey

  • Isabelle said,

    I agree, these colors are fantastic. Is it my imagination, or are they more intense than in the past ??
    Yes, the picture is a bit small. How about making it a bit larger ??
    I also love the little house with the pointed roof in the back: it gives the piece such a mysterious interest…

  • Stephen Quirke said,

    Hi Isabelle – yes I think I am using more saturated colours at the moment, though I am moderating in the pipe paintings – S

  • artiseternal said,

    That’s a to-die-for sky! Personally, I love the way the sky has “bled” it helps it to feel fresh and rigorous.
    You can just feel the wind and storm in this one.
    At first I thought those large shapes in the sky were sea birds playing in the wind, but then your comment explained them as kites.
    Nice work!
    K

  • Stephen Quirke said,

    Hi K
    thanks – the kite surfers come out in the strong onshore winds and the kites are so full of colour – it is a fun subject. Cheers hey S

  • sonya chasey said,

    I like the colours here.Looks like your weather has turned cooler. Interesting to hear about your colour mixing. Many years ago I used to use watercolours much more strongly & then I got into optically mixing them which was very interesting but takes a long time to build up although it can give a very luminous & delicate result.Is the fact you’re using more saturated colours because you are physically mixing them?

    And make sure that that shark is well away before you get back in the water!

  • Stephen Quirke said,

    Hi Sonya
    I have seen the effects of optical mixing of which you speak – these beautiful luminous paintings of banana leaves and palm leaves. But as I read I realised it really does take a long time. I am trying to take an alla prima approach – working in each area only once and then its finished. I don’t get it right all the time and sometimes rework some places. But I try to get the final colour saturation down in one go. And I try to get the colours to mix on the paper though I am less adept at that and usually mix on my palette.

    We have had a few shark scares and incidents lately so I am quite cautious. But the attraction to the waves is so powerful that we don’t talk much about sharks.

    Cheers hey

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