Night watch from the house, night walks around the harbour, strung with coloured lights; reflections, startling blue...
The final mark the white curve that implies the harbour extending beyond the paintings edge. A big thank-you to Antonia Glynne-Jones for the suggestion of the title -perfect - bringing the unintended resonance between the llght and shade of Porthleven and the chiaroscuro of Rembrandt's 1642 masterpiece 'The Night Watch'. Rembrandt's painting lost three figures when it was moved, mine lost two clocktowers during the making!
Light and dark: black baulks thumping, black waves pushing, pounding.....night forces. The sense of being followed: figures lurking in the dark outside the studio, after a night time visit, and then again around by the clocktower. This was after the painting - night paranoia - everything made sense.
Nearly...
After a restless night, an early morning session, where transparent purples and blues eradicate the yellow - almost - allowing the darks to dominate. Animated 'redrawing' blue on the left and framing line brings precision and contrast, clarity and focus to the still centre (above). 'Battenburg' - a considered title, but too flippant.! A painting about the flat planes of colour in the gap between piers. Later, Ollie thought the harbour at this point looked like a nuclear bomb - Fat Man - I'm glad I moved on with the painting!
Beginnings
Looking for harbour-shape, looking for composition, looking for colour-resonance, looking for meaning...