The art of Michael Lees
Painting in action - the painting begins
I am painting the village of Clovelly - a small North Devon fishing village where the roads are too steep for cars. I am painting from the sea with the ketch the Hobah moored in the foreground and the village sloping steeply away up the hillside behind.
I first start with a warm background colour and a sketch of the scene and the curve of the wood at the head of the valley in the background.
Then comes the blocked in shape of the houses and the chimnies as I concentrate on the background. Followed by the detail of the woods and the houses - this takes hours!
I sketch the houses in more detail as I come down the hill, and you can see some of the detail on the right
I now have a golden glow of light from the sun shining across the valley and in the woods behind.
so I can now start painting the foreground - and will show you the lower third of the canvas on the next page and the completion of the painting
