The new marine painting “Racing Yachts” featuring Swan Nautor type yachts is almost complete.

Based on my experiences producing the Yachting World Prize for previous Swan European Regattas the new painting will be offered for a modest £1,000.00

The Gordon Frickers Yachting World prize caused quite a stire and was much admired by the competitors.

http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/alvine_xii.html

One recipient was kind enough to say (and allow me to quote him) “I have won a few prizes in my racing career but I can assure you this will be one I treasure most“, M.J. Leadbetter.

More about Mike Leadbetter’s marine painting on page ~ http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/k_6888.html

Anyone know the name of Mike Ledbetter’s yacht, I have mislaid my record of her?

(UK) 01865 522435 (International: +44 1865 522435)

I made good progress today on the Gibraltar and the small Cattewater marine paintings, both are historical port scenes.

The Gibraltar painting now has most of Minerve’s crew painted Horatio Nelson is now recognisable (just!) and the beginnings of the back ground details.

The Cattewater, Plymouth (small version) today had the final paint applied to the sky and further work completed on the sea hills and buildings.

Further work was also carried out on the hull of the large sailing ship lying off Phoenix Wharf, the ship will become the famous clipper “Samuel Plimsoll“  which in turn was named for and launched by the very remarkable Mr. Samuel Plimsoll.

Both these new marine paintings, shown in earlier blogs this year will re appear ion this blog soon in almost finished mode.

It will be interesting to see if the follow Talthybius and sell in less than a month, see blog entries 07.02.10 and 03.03.10 ~ anyone taking bets?

For those who can’t manage this Easter, Claire assures me,  there will be MANY Art WORKSHOPS ALL YEAR ROUND.

If you might be interested contact this blog or direct to Claire at de Soissons tel: 00 33 (0)5 63 33 28 63 http://clairedesoissons.blogspot.com for a brochure or enrollment.BULLETIN ~ D’INSCRIPTION

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This afternoon, went shopping in Toulouse,  for Pesuach.

I was surprised to see fresh snow en route and more in Toulouse.

Toulouse is the 4th largest city in France, some thing of a boom town, the shopping centers not shown here, are excellent.

Toulouse also enjoys a wide range of small specialist shops.

Founded by the Romans, the fortunes of modern Toulouse are built around the Airbus and space industries.

Consequently Toulouse attracts an international population including many British and the university is very popular.

The city enjoys a very vibrant cultural life partly driven by a large student population.

It was also sad to see a lot of beggars…

~

Tectona

This was always   fine painting, the first where I’d used only a knife to paint the sea.

However, as it remains unsold and my knowledge has moved on I decided to make some changes mostly to the sky.

It took 4 attempts to achieve the new result which included having to make other minor changes because to alter one part of a painting always effects the balance of other areas.

Tectona originally built in India as a yacht (hence the name, Tectona is a type of Teak) is for fully written up on page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/tectona_bolt_head.html.

Tectona has a fascinating history having worked as a sail training vessel firstly for Plymouth Polytechnic (now Plymouth University) department of maritime studies and later in the Med.

She was thought lost.

Partly via this web site Tectona was re discovered and has returned to work with young people based again on Plymouth.

Tectona’s fuller story can be found on the page given above including links to her new owner’s web site.

Tectona sails on doing good work into we hope a bright future.

I will re price this splendid marine painting at £1,000.00 on the web site.

I am yet to find a camera or film that always makes a good job of this even under ideal conditions and worse, some paintings are more difficult to copy than others, why?

I have just re photographed two of the largest major marine paintings in my collection, “Ice Maiden” ( see page http://www.frickers.co.uk/prints.html for a limited edition copy) and “Yamaha“, also the new painting “Racing Yachts“.

So where is the problem?The problem is accurate colour, cameras, Photoshop version nine billon or what ever it is up to can’t hack it.

More of this issue and bit of a giggle below.

~

First the new painting Racing Yachts is nearing completion, based on no particular event, rather memories of the times I worked with the Rolex Nautor Swan European Regatta Fleets to provuide a painting of the winner for presentation that evening.

There are several examples from those days on the web site, pages http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/alvine_xii.html and http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/k_6888.html will give you a taste.

If you taste is for cool art, have a good look at Ice Maiden.

Now, here is a fabulous large painting 762 x 1016mm (30″ x 40″) and an ideal gift, inspiration the for  professional woman.

You may recall, the Maiden Team were the first all women team to race round the world?

They effectively broke a “glass ceiling” by winning two legs of the race.

This painting was requested by the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich for their racing yacht collection but as it is such a stunner I have managed to keep it thus far for special exhibitions.

The photograph on the web site was taken probably 18 or more years ago and was digitalised 11 years ago hence time for an update!

That said, make me an offer I can’t refuse and I’ll think about selling “Ice Maiden“.

Yamaha, this painting also has special story.

It is one of a pair I produced when Yamaha won the Whitbread Round the World Race.

The pictures were painted because of a commission from Mitusi Machinery (who were the Yamaha importer).

The (Japanese) directors wished to give the painting to the President in Japan as a token of success, they called the painting “One Race One Victory”.

I interviewed the crew and inspected the boat the day they finished at Southampton then prepared two paintings.

The Company duly bought one for their President but refused to be tempted by the other for the UK offices.

Consequently I loaned this powerful marine painting first to the Royal Southampton Yacht Club and later to the Mount Batten Water Sport Centre from which I recovered the painting last November and at last we have had a day on which I can photograph this fine marine painting.

I intend to keep this fine example in reserve for significant exhibitions where I wish to show the full force of my work, unless some one makes me an offer I can’t refuse?

I hope not it is hard work producing paintings like this!

~

On the subject of photography…

Speaking with a local, Great you cry, ask him! Err yess…

Not so simple.

This part of the problem is my friend is expert with photoshop which has effectively replaced  the role a darkroom used to fulfill.

I was taught at Uni, best to do the work infront of the camera not behind it.

Does this rule still stand firm?

My original training included photograph to museum qualities (yes I have City & Guilds 344 and a degree) so you can guess I know more about this than your average happy snapper.

Photographing marine paintings, any paintings, can be difficult for many reasons.

Anyone who says differently does not fully understand the issues and is in my view likely to be settling for second best or is copying paintings which copy very easily…

Some colour combinations are very difficult for cameras to copy.

This is not important for 90 % of photography.

As long as the result is pleasing it is acceptable.

This is reflected in the experience we have all had, the photo looks good but it is not as we remember the colours.

Of course usually the result is not critical, not compared with the original scene.

However in subjects such as still life (I worked on many including in advertising studios in Central London) and paintings the colour, contrast  and tonal  balance is critical, food clothing are obvious examples.

You can probably think of more examples?

Light direction, balance, colour temperature, the lens, the colours of the picture and proportions of those colours, any cast in the camera or film (most are not balanced) any back ground (which some people later crop out thinking wrongly it has had no effect); all plus other factors can and usually do affect a critical copy.

We used to test film  batches then filter to compensate, this with the full co operation of Kodak Professional Department.

This time I with my paintings was able to get quite close to the original colours having very carefully chosen my day light and the spot to photograph the paintings, a place with very bright shade, lots of reflected light and a slightly warm colour to the light.

One of the reasons I paint is because one can “do” more with colour, painting, than is possible with photography.

It is also possible to paint, anticipating how the picture will reproduce, allowing for the colour shifts so the final prints look superb.

Unfortunaely the converse is possible and we have found a number of paintings simply would not print well.

There was one exception where the colours are wildly wrong, a super yachts at dusk scene.

The result is highly miss leading when compared with the original unfinished painting.

My painting “Red Bales” is another example, http://www.frickers.co.uk/landscape/red_bales_5.html.

in that case the camera using a Kodak  100 ASA print film has failed to pick out the subtle orange colours, turning them red, or picked out the oranges at the expense of the browns and Khaki colours.

Re photographing with different film failed to solve the issue.

While most camera and printer  manufactures publicity assure us the results  the results from their equipment will be marvelous they also when producing new equipment tell us the new is even better, why?

I could write a lot on this subject, the problems cameras and camera lenses encounter,  why cameras can’t record true colour and what the manufactures are doing about that … but now is not the time, later maybe.

Anyway I tried to discuss this with our local expert.

He absolutely insisted an accurate exposure is not important because ~ you can do everything in Photoshop!

Better, he offered to set up my monitor for a mear 100 Euros, what a nice chap.

He also assured me that I know nothing about reproducing paintings for web sites and printing;  that he does not know plus he knows heaps and heaps that I don’t know and I can buy this info from him: I’m so lucky,  wonderful!

He also assures me absolutely that he can make perfect prints from any good desktop printer, wow , brilliant so all that time and money I spent on giclee and developing Prestige prints  is now obsolete as is my printer’s life time printing and 250,000 investment in printing equipment, fabulous.

Over the years besides photographic printing, I have worked with several excellent and one bad printer including national names like De Montfort and Solomon and Whitehead so have some experience to contribute.

Or have we missed some thing here?

Slight problem… if the original exposure is “wrong” you will never have a fully processed image so how can you hope to produce a better image on photoshop?

Maybe he knows some thing I don’t?

Maybe one of us is wrong?

Maybe the truth is some where in the middle ground?

Unfortunately with a very adamant person a discussion is impossible.

So with whom can this be discussed rationally with both parties contributing their experience, maybe my excellent printer at Adaptgraphics of Plymouth also having a say?

He has after all, 45 years experience of printing.

I simply don’t see how photoshop can be more than a damage limitation exercise in this case where as close to the original image is required.

I think there is here a fundamental miss understanding of how cameras work and how accurate image reproduction can be.

I’d like to be proven wrong.

To expect to make a perfect image from a poor exposure which inevitably means  poor colour, saturation, sharpness etc.

Sure Photoshop works well when copying is not critical but surely it must work better given a “best possible” exposure.

My friend has a good eye for these issues however having seen work he accepts as perfect, I disagree and say it is at best no more accuarte than my results.

Possibly a physiological is included problem here, I remain open minded and open for further discussion.

Ideally I’d like to talk with specialists of a major camera manufacturer as their role has largely superseded that of film emulsion manufactures.

So, sweet dreams…

I’d like to discuss the copy issue  with Canon Camerashoi’s cameras I have mostly used for soem 40 years, but with whom?

It has been a bit extreme for me work wise as well with less time for painting and learning French than I’d like.

The weather week opened with mild sunny days and has finished with snow and – 8 C  nights, happily my work has produced some great results.

My week has seen a tough article (fun though) to write, prints of The Port of Chester to remarque and post to clients ( you can find the info and order securely online from page

http://www.frickers.co.uk/prints.html

The new painting of the blue funnel steamer, “Talthybius ” painted as an exhibition piece for me to not exactly keep but well, hand on to, was sold, quite a bit of work involved there and given a day of ideal light I was able to re photograph some large paintings, see the entry for 6th of March.

I had to start the week writing a second draft of an article on Super yachts 2010 on the cote d’azur, the South of France.

I have writen for journals  before  of course but it is not my training so I find this extremely draining…

2000 words on such a great subject, wot so few?

I strayed some what over the 2000 limit but wrote in a format which will make life easy for the editior as each parragraph has a stand alone quality.

~

The 2010 cote d’azur super yacht “season” starts at Antibes in April.

Yachting is non stop on the cote d’azur for craft of all types however here is a taste of the life of Les grande célébrations du yachting – the great yacht events of 2010.

The cote d’azur is one of the “natural” habitats of the super yacht breed.

Your correspondant visited to the cote d’azur last year which included 11 days based at Antibes and the Monaco Yacht Show.

To write the new piece (for Sea Breezes) I was able to use material and stories I’d collected last year as the base but the fun bit was to contact some of the brilliant people I met last year and ask “Hey wotsnew?”

Very charmingly, several one way and another hoped I’d be back on the cote d’azur again this year and visit them. One, Johan  Pizzardini of the Monaco Yacht Show kindly suggested a possible subject.

The  Monaco Oceanographic museum will celebrate their 100 year in 2010; would that be an opportunity for Gordon Frickers to paint a new subject?

Nice idea great subject, who to get in touch with???

Another, correspondent showed interest in having a painting of her yacht transport ships.

This would be a wonderful subject for me, state of the art working ships carrying leisure boats.

I’ll write a piece for this blog on the cote d’azur yacht shows, in a day or to.

Given people asking to see me and the chance of some wonderful subjects for marine painting, I am considering more seriously, attending the first big event of the season, The Antibes Yacht Show

It is also sold.

Drat!

Now I only have one “Blue Flue” marine art left… http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/agapenor_bombay.html

The Blue Funnel steamer Talthybius is not even on the web site yet, sold in less than a month so I’ll show you am few details below.

The Blue Funnel ship Talthybius was  painted on speculation as a possible exhibition piece for the proposed one man show at the European Parliament.

Also because I wanted to look again at the possibilities offered by moonlight:

because I am also working on another moonlight scene, this one being in the form of two paintings of the same subject, one large one small, Plymouth Cattewater by moonlight.

The story of this major new painting is emerging elsewhere on this blog…

An offer was made, an offer which I could not refuse by a delightful gentleman who’s emails had me laughing several times,

Now I only have one Blue Flue marine painting and may have to paint another for the show.

Any Ideas for a subject?
I have two ideas, how about you, a favourite ship worth recording in a marine painting?

Meanwhile I only have Agapenor at Bombay left in my reserve collection.

I guess I had better add another Blue Funnel ship to the growing list of paintings I should get on with.

Next though will be a new version of Trafalgar Dawn, the French perspective and a new painting of the voayage of the French discoverer Laperouse plus I also need examples of new cruise and cargo ships but which to choose?

There have been some significant developments in this marine painting  including Gordon Frickers is able to be the first, here to show  some results of collaboration, new research into the quality of the bright yellow preferred by Nelson on his ships, more on that below…

This new marine painting is beginning to come to life with the basic structure now complete.

The ships are anchoured and moored much as they would have been following research into the original charts of the time by the artist with special thanks to the staff of H.M. Hydrographic Office Taunton for their very generous welcome and full co operation.

Still to be added, many more people, the port of Gibraltar we can safely guess,  was a busy place in Nelson’s day?

The sea still needs much work, the artist’s intention being to show a calm sea with a S W swell entering the bay, the wind having backed to a light N.E. breeze.

The harbour is yet to be populated with numerous busy small craft some under sail others under oar including some of distinctively Mediterranean types.

Plus if you used the pop up facility clicking on the picture above, I doubt if the facts escaped your notice re the lack of rigging on the ships show?

~

Following research by Peter Goodwin, Keeper and Curator of HMS Victory and author of much merit, a “recipe” was found recently in a letter from Horatio Nelson for the mix of Nelson’s bright yellow.

We may be seeing the correct colour for the first time since living memory; which means the ship Victory may have her stripes repainted.

You may be aware, following the dry docking of the then rather rotten HMS Victory and her first 20th century major overhaul in 1921/2 (partly paid for by the excellent Society of Nautical Research) HMS Victory had her white “Victorian Navy” stripes painted bright yellow because the people of the time referred to her bright yellow warlike stripes.

Fine except bright yellow in 1922 was a chrome yellow not available until about 1820 by which time you may have already deduced, Horatio Nelson had had his last day…

During the 1990’s and following a long discussion between this artist and Peter Goodwin on the origins and nature of paint, not as anorak ish as it first sounds because this was to influence a sight seen by a million plus visitors to HM Historic Dockyard Portsmouth per year,  Peter was eventually able to convince the authorities and experts that  they used the wrong yellow.

Peter is a very remarkable man who has to deal with ministries, government departments, old guard, know alls, jobworths etc.

How he does that is a story in its self!

Happily he does have some first rate colleagues who given sufficient evidence will support his some times “radical” discoveries and requests.

HMS Victory may be in for another repaint soon, can you guess why?

I’d had a problem with this yellow business for a long time.

I’d noticed a remark of Nelson’s which requested his captains immediately before Trafalgar to paint the bands on their masts black to distinguish their ships (in the smoke and confusion of battle ) from the French who guess what, had white masts…

Now why would Nelson write that if the mast of the British fleet were yellow?

I have not yet spoken again with Peter about this side issue given his latest discover re the yellow used but I have a theory for Peter…

~

The change of subject for the original sketch was suggested by Chris Boddington after he saw a Gordon Frickers original sketch in 2009.

The original sketch that inspired this marine painting was drawn one evening in 1998 in the lounge of the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club where incidentally there are two fine original examples of Gordon Frickers marine art in that lounge commissioned by and owned by the club.

The original sketch was exploring ideas for a scene during the voyage of the French explorer, navigator and discoverer, Laperouse.

In particular his visit to Botany Bay, Australia, a subject I am soon to return to having recently completed much extensive research and become a member last year of L’Association Laperouse, which is based on Laperouse home town of Albi in S W France…

Still not settled is which yachts to include, open to suggestions, do you have any in mind?

For the sailing yacht in the background Maltese Falcon is being considered but I don’t have any decent reference pictures for her.

The motor yacht is currently based on the 5 deck 3250 tons Sarafsa which I know well having previously painted her for her builders, Devonport Royal Dockyard, Plymouth.

She was shown departing Plymouth, early morning, with Plymouth Hoe for a back ground.

I’d like to show a super yacht of similar size but rather one which is chartered because more people would be interested in her and it might help the charterers, a friendly thing to do and demonstrating a value in the painting.

That said, the primary reason for the painting is as an exhibition piece.

I have several tentative offers of significant exhibitions and of course there is the invitation to exhibit at the European Parliament, now postponed until next year as they could not offer the dates my patron (an MEP) wished for.

Josephine prépare 2 expositions, en Mai à la Galerie Mourlot à Marseille, en Novembre à la galerie El Borj à Tunis…..

Gordon Frickers is also connected to Joesephine via LinkedIn Status, a valuable way for professionals to keep in touch with each other and find appropriate business contacts.

If you are not connected to Gordon Frickers and his net work via Linkedin, maybe you should be?

You can ask via this blog.

You can also contact Josephine via:

Atelier des Capucins
74 rue Longue des Capucins
13001 Marseille

+33 (0) 6 10 17 00 75.

Thus, no marine painting last week.

I’d been to the south of Brittany before but some how previously managed to miss the best bits!

My departure was delayed 24 hours by more snow which made the hill out of Itzac impassable even to 4 x 4 ’s.

However, the 13th dawned and proved to be the first of a series of beautiful sunny days so I left as early as I could, slightly delayed by a frozen rear lock on myVauxhall Vectra the temperture being – 8 C.