Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Close To Home - Benwick


Hope Cottage, Benwick © Anita Davies

You may remember the plans I made for my Summer Project entitled 'Close To Home'. If not, you can read all about it HERE.

As planned, I have began my journey sketching through neighbouring villages starting with Benwick and the home of Adam Keppel-Garner, webmaster of the Lilyholt Road website.

I tried a couple of different formats and decided I liked the fading out sketch best of all.

I'm using an Arches Satine HP watercolour block to produce works mounted at size 10x8" for this project, along with my Schmincke watercolour pans.

The aim is to keep them as plein air 'sketches' and not become too fiddly just because I plan to exhibit, publish and sell them.

I'm contemplating publishing them in monochrome to give them a nostalgic feel and to keep the cost of printing down making the books more affordable...What do you think?

18 comments:

Leslie said...

Beautiful, Anita! I have no idea which would sell better in the UK, but my personal preference is for color. If I'm going to buy a book for the artwork, I'd much rather it be in color.

Anonymous said...

It is great!! I like the fact that the whole house is white, and not got the peeling paint which it actually should have!

Thanks for starting with my house!

Sandy said...

Very charming, I am going to enjoy this series tremendously!

Spinneretta said...

When I was 10, I bought a book of my local town with illustrations of the historical sites there, and a small amount of text about them.
I LOVED that book until it fell apart from being read so much!!
All the illustrations were monochrome

Anyway, I wanted to say that if you want to go Monochrome, I think you'd be better off just working in pen and ink, because the watercolours just look better in colour!

If I were local, I'd be willing to buy either though (especially if my house were in it. Just my opinion.

Anita Davies said...

Thanks for the feedback Leslie, most appreciated.

LOL...Adam there are a few feint peelings there I assure you...Just a few mind! ;)

Thank you Sandy!

Judybec said...

Very exciting Anita!!! This is like the birth of a baby... so fresh!
I too vote for printing in color if your originals are done in color.

Anonymous said...

This is a great first rendering! I think momochrome would be nice, especially if it was in a sepia.. but the color is lovely as well... deni.......;)

Anonymous said...

Nooooo! The color is so fabulous - so lightly done and beautifully enhancing of the structure. I bet that the colors of each region are also slightly different and will add to the charm - especially since you will move slightly through the seasons as you do them.

Ann said...

This is lovely Anita! This is really an exciting project. I agree though with the others. Although the monochrome is very nice, the color is nicer since it is watercolor and pen and ink sketches would probably lend themselves more to monochrome illustrations.

Anita Davies said...

Thanx Spinneretta, most encouraging to read that your book fell apart because it was loved so much.

Thanks Judy, I have to admit I am enjoying the project and it does feel like an adventure.

Thanks Deni :)

LOL...Good point shirley, thank you!

Thank you Ann!

E-J said...

I understand the concern about keeping costs down, but I have to say that the colour version works better, simply because it was, after all, seen and created in colour - so some subtleties would inevitably be lost.

mARTa said...

I've been finishing up my projects and assignments due tomorrow...but wanted to come by for a second to tell you how much I've been enjoying all your posts...and my vote is for color...This watercolor is just beautiful..I think it great that you've begun your adventure!

Anetka said...

amazing sketch:)
I prefer colour...for the book:)

can't wait to see more...

Linda Kay said...

I really love this cottage house and your watch is great...
Linda Kay

Anonymous said...

to linda kay...

yes my cottage house is brilliant lol :)

Joan Sandford-Cook said...

Sorry at the end of 15 comments -Ive as usual been over to Lauras for few days, then dental work again and of course the lovely sunshine meant I decided to have a couple of days resting in the garden - oooh how I needed it. Its done my back the world of good. Anyway, over to your lovely HOPE COTTAGE (Oh sorry I mean yours Adam) what a start to the project. A delightful building - beautifully executed -
beautiful in colour.
WHAT A PROJECT . You're going to get people banging on your door to paint their house for them.

Anonymous said...

Do you have a photo of this house? I cannot get my head around the shape, somehow. There seems to be something quite Escher-ish about the white wall to the right of the picture with the two rooftops going off in what seem to be different directions. Is that white wall at a 45 deg angle to those roofs? Is it not as flat as it seems? Please put me out of my misery at natalie [at] natalieford {dot} com ! ;-p

Other than that and my inability to parse the image (likely to be my brain's fault!), this is a great painting and I agree with many above, I like it in colour for a book but the sepia/grey-scale version would make a good postcard, notelet or greetings card.

Capt Elaine Magliacane said...

I'd love color too... you could produce an e-book in color... pdf format or something that way folks on this side of the pond could avoid shipping costs (and you'd avoid printing cost too)... just an idea for you. Amazon will allow you to sell e-books via their website.