Ship paintings

[Vegaskip]

3 hours ago, allanyed said:

Super congratulations Jim!    I have been back to the Academy quite a few times since graduation, but not recently.  Wish I had known about your event and could have timed one of my business trips to NY to coincide.    Did you happen to get a copy of the book and if yes, is it a good read?    Cheers

Allan   

I was emailed the manuscript, which I read. Then discussed by email the scenes to be depicted.

Here is my copy of the book

[Vegaskip]

On 3/27/2020 at 12:24 PM, allanyed said:

Super congratulations Jim!    I have been back to the Academy quite a few times since graduation, but not recently.  Wish I had known about your event and could have timed one of my business trips to NY to coincide.    Did you happen to get a copy of the book and if yes, is it a good read?    Cheers

Allan   

 Depot ship HMS WOLFE , two T class submarines, a TID Tug and a Rescue Tug
W/C 14” X 10”

[Vegaskip]

Update

+Swordfish with Seaboots

[G.L.]

I already thought that something was missing on the previous painting 😁. Beautiful work!

[SJSoane]

Jim,

 

I don't know how I missed your postings all these years. These are first rate paintings, well composed, dramatic content, expressive craftsmanship. I used to teach drawing to architects, but we were always drawing buildings. Seascapes and ships are infinitely more challenging, in my view, and watercolor makes it even more so. As you well know, but others may not, the challenge of watercolor is that one has to think in reverse, leaving things white at the very start and working towards the darks. And it is very difficult to fix mistakes. One has to have a great deal of confidence to just "lay it down" without hesitation, to keep it fresh. You are a master at this! I hope you are considering producing a book of your paintings.

 

Any progress on the Trafalgar scene with a submarine?🙂

 

Mark

[Vegaskip]

1 hour ago, SJSoane said:

Jim,

 

I don't know how I missed your postings all these years. These are first rate paintings, well composed, dramatic content, expressive craftsmanship. I used to teach drawing to architects, but we were always drawing buildings. Seascapes and ships are infinitely more challenging, in my view, and watercolor makes it even more so. As you well know, but others may not, the challenge of watercolor is that one has to think in reverse, leaving things white at the very start and working towards the darks. And it is very difficult to fix mistakes. One has to have a great deal of confidence to just "lay it down" without hesitation, to keep it fresh. You are a master at this! I hope you are considering producing a book of your paintings.

 

Any progress on the Trafalgar scene with a submarine?🙂

 

Mark

No, the Trafalgar one was just a joke. Thanks for the above post.

I'm not really a ‘Watercolourist' in the proper traditional way . I paint with watercolour paints, yes I use the transparency at times but for white, I use Gouache. I know 'zilch' about the technical side of things, all the fancy names for different colours. To me, I use for eg. dark blue, middle and light blue. . I paint using what I call my 'Spitfire' method. If it looks right it probably is. I’m a great believer in drawing. I draw the Subject then 'colour it in. I have the idea for the painting, draw it then paint it, sometimes changing it as I go. As it was here. It was just this afternoon 24hrs after I finished the original that I decided to put in the Swordfish. It was a toss up between it and a Catalina. There is an idea for a Cat. Lurking in my mind.

Jim

 

[allanyed]

Jim

I believe you are in very good company using gouache and watercolors, including at least two of my all time favorites, Carl Evers and Andrew Wyeth, both of whom used this combination extensively.   

Allan

[Vegaskip]

Contact 

HMS Alisma  drops a pattern of Depth charges
w/c 11” X 9”
Jim

[G.L.]

Jim, your paintings remind me of the sea stories of Douglas Reeman that I devoured over thirty years ago. Now that the libraries are locked down I looked them up again from down the bookcase and reread them.

[Vegaskip]

Minesweeping Trawlers 'Ben Dearg' and 'Cardiff Castle' return to Base. 
W/C 11” X 9”

[Vegaskip]

Fear Nothing

HMS Dreadnought docking assisted by Tugs
14” X 10” watercolour
Jim

[Vegaskip]

Afternoon Quickie 
Cutty Sark drying her sails. In the days before becoming a tourist attraction she was a hard working vessel in the Tea and wool trade.
19” X 7”
Jim
 

[Beckmann]

This "afternoon quicky" is a masterpiece Jim. You should publish your watercolours. They are marvellous. 

Matthias

[Vegaskip]

Thanks, couldn’t afford it. Jim

[Louie da fly]

How about as an e-book? Almost no outlay to publish . . .

 

Steven

[Vegaskip]

Wouldn’t know how to. Anyway it would just be the same as on here, where you can see them all here for free!

jim

Edited April 21, 2020 by Vegaskip

[Vegaskip]

Thoroughbred to Carthorse 

Once a crack Tea Clipper 'Cutty Sark' seen here as 'Ferreira' a Barquentine in Portuguese service. Now restored and preserved at Greenwich on the River Thames
w/c 14” X 10”

[ccoyle]

3 hours ago, Vegaskip said:

Thoroughbred to Carthorse 

The history of sailing merchantmen in the 20th century can be quite interesting. Back then, those old carthorses weren't romanticized like they are today -- they were worked hard and intended to make money for their owners (of course you knew all this already). Part of the reason they were worked as hard as they were was because of the inherent perils of moving cargo by wind power alone; a LOT of sailing merchantmen were lost due to collisions, foundering, stranding, burning, or simply disappearing without a trace. Owners needed to recoup their investments quickly.

[Vegaskip]

HMS GLENAVON. Paddle Minesweepers head out for the morning 'sweep' passed a 'Bar Boat' working on moorings. 
W/C 15” X10”
Jim

[Edwardkenway]

Nice subject, makes a change for someone to paint the smaller working ships  instead of the famous and well known. I especially like this one as my dad served on a bar boat. 

As always great painting. 

[Vegaskip]

Thanks. It’s the smaller ships I prefer, Battleships don’t do a lot other than fire guns. Destroyers down, have fun and go to places that BBs don’t. 
jim

[ccoyle]

2 hours ago, Vegaskip said:

It’s the smaller ships I prefer

I had a conversation last week with a coworker about a relative I recently found in my family tree. The relative served on two destroyer tenders and a barge during WWII. We talked about how most of the jobs in the service are not particularly glamorous, but of course a fleet couldn't function without a plethora of support vessels and shore-based postings.

[Vegaskip]

Royal Navy Brig HMS Black Joke intercepts a Spanish 'Slaver' off the west coast of Africa. 'Black Joke', probably built in Baltimore, was captured by the British and became part of the 'West Africa' squadron suppressing the Slave Trade. She went on to become one of the most successful ships in the Squadron, freeing hundreds of Slaves.
Watercolour 14” X 10”
Jim 
 

[Tony Hunt]

On 4/25/2020 at 10:54 PM, Vegaskip said:

Thanks. It’s the smaller ships I prefer, Battleships don’t do a lot other than fire guns. Destroyers down, have fun and go to places that BBs don’t. 
jim

So true. Have you read "Endless Story", by "Taffrail"?  It contains scores of tales of amazing exploits by the RN destroyer flotillas in WW1.

[Vegaskip]

I read some Taffrail books, but that was many, many years ago.

jim

[Vegaskip]

AMC Otranto
Afternoon Quickie. L to R HM Ships Glasgow, Otranto and Good Hope. Just before the Battle of Coronel
W/C 14” X 10”

[Vegaskip]

White Star Liner Corinthic in 'Dazzle' camouflage 
Watercolour 14” X 10”

[Vegaskip]

Sunday afternoon lock down session. Samson Class Fleet Tug
Watercolour 10”X 7.5”
Jim
 

[Vegaskip]

Morning breeze clearing a fog bank in an estuary early 20th century
W/C 14” X 10”
Jim 

[wefalck]

You make me envious with your skills ...