The marine painting of Condell leaving Portsmouth by Gordon Frickers.

The frigate Condell marine painting went down a real treat. The Chileans were very impressed and Capt Cruz the commanding officer was over the moon and said he was going to have it welded to the wardroom bulkhead so none of the Admirals, and there were six Chilean Admirals present, could get their fingers on it!” wrote Captain John Simkins a director, the Chief Executive, Disposal Services Agency of the Ministry of Defence after the presentation of the completed piece of marine art commission .Condell__ship_detail_IMG_4640_wp.jpg

The origin, this marine painting  was commissioned by

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Portsmouth, HMS Victory and Pickle

Tom_Cunliffe_IMG_6481_wp.jpg

Just back from an awesome visit to Portsmouth brought about by one of my “icon” marine paintings, “I have urgent dispatches”  http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/urgent_dispatches.html,  WOT! you don’t have a copy in your collection yet? and it is going to be shown on TV? ~ available exclusively from this site as a limited signed edition.

Yesterday morning I joined Tom Cunliffe and the Forum Film team boarding HMS Victory at 07.30 to film part of an episode of “The boats that built Britain“,  and was pinching myself by 08.00 in the Admiral’s great cabin wondering if this was really happening…  The_great_cabin_IMG_6492_d.jpg

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Two large barrels?

An easy to understand formulae is ‘no masts = no sailing ship’.

O f H M Sloop Racehorse ~ Requested by Peter Goodwin’s editor, for the book ‘Nelson’s Arctic Voyage‘ which he has almost completed, due out next Spring [subject to climate change?].

A ‘line drawing’ to show more clearly what is meant by the log entry ‘put preventer gammoning on bowsprit‘. 

Graphite of crew gammoning
 
The seemingly routine log entry refers to a dramatic situation during a full gale at sea.
The rigging, in those far off days made of hemp, had due to weeks of strong gales seriously stretched thus endangering the masts.
Hence my reference to an easy to understand formulae, ‘no masts = no sailing ship’.
 
Therefor an important requirement is to tension the rigging. 

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Commissioning the creative process

Pete Goss, the renowned small craft sailor (look him up on you tube etc) wrote:

I have always admired that painting (“Roaring Forties“, more on that below… was commissioned by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston)  as it is one of the few paintings that for me captures the Southern Ocean in a small boat.
I would love a painting as George (Skinner) has suggested but don’t want to start something
that is beyond my budget and ends up dashing all our hopes. D1903_Roaring_Forties15.03.05.jpg

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Cutting edge, have your say…

I’m working on a large marine painting (30″ x 40″ = 762x1016mm), marine ish that is, of the Bay of Antibes at sunset viewed from Cap Antibes near the lighthouse.

I’ve been struggling to find the lighting effect in the sky and land that I have in my vision.

To my surprise a visiting friend who used to help run the renowned Painting School of Montmiral said “Stop!”

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Search and research

Today, I have been looking at several subjects as the current group of paintings is almost complete.

I have the marine painting “Cattewater Plymouth, Australia bound emigrants prepare to board the clipper ship Samuel Plimsoll” 98% finished, here is a detail, I’ll show you this complete major painting on this blog any day noPlymouth_Cattewater__emigrants_bound_for_Australia__detail_IMG_7400_d.jpgw.

I have been looking for good photographs of HM Submarine Unique. I found a link that took me to the Submariners Association only the page was blank.

Or was it? I am reminded of the joke about the model of a stealth ship in a museum, it goes some what like this, “The models were wonderful, so detailed until I got to the Stealth ship, the case was empty… or was it?”

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