Kirkcaldy Railway Station around 1910 – Indian ink on a regular Moleskine Renefijten has described, in his last two posts, how he makes a sketch which describes the tones and values before his final painting. This is something I am guilty in NOT doing and should be, of course, a good habit to get into. I decided, therefore, to try this on my drawing describing the station in the town I was brought up in. If you look to the rear of this effort you can see the factory belonging to Barry, Ostler and Shepherd. Kirkcaldy had many such factories belching out smoke as in this one. The town was famous for the production of linoleum floor covering and the whole place stank of linseed oil. There is a famous poem which describes a young boy’s growing anticipation, of visiting his grandmother’s house, there. Part of the last verse says: I’ll sune be ringin’ ma Gran’ma’s bell, She’ll cry, ‘Come ben, my laddie’, For I ken mysel’ by the queer-like smell That the next stop’s Kirkcaddy! The boy in the Train – Mary Campbell Smith Although the whole area has now been modernised, it was, incredibly, just like this when Margaret and got engaged, in 1971 and I took her to visit my parents for the first time. The poor girl must have wondered what she had got herself into.
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2009Feb 8
tags: Kirkcaldy | Scotland
Sophie Brown 2:42 am on February 9, 2009 | #
I like the simplicity. Then when you pick the right details to stick in it really works well. Then for example with the building being dark–there’s still the element of simplicity even though things are getting more varied THAT WAY too, and then it becomes more richly textured but without being busy. I think the black and white is a good choice, maybe with nature scenes it wouldn’t work as well, but the “old photo” thing maybe works better for buildings and stuff. But the contrast is good and then the light touch with the details and it’s interesting. In a good way.
trebor61 5:45 am on February 9, 2009 | #
Thank you very much for this, Sophie. I have to admit to “sketching by the seat of my pants”, without thinking too much about the final outcome. Really, all I did was to start with the darkest tones. I then added/altered the lightest and assumed that, what was left, would have to be the mid tones – toned down from the darks, as it were. Anything I added was an effort to add some interest to various areas. Your technical description is quite interesting and I’ll bear your points in mind when I next attempt something like this. Thanks for your interesting comment.
Margie 9:51 am on February 13, 2009 | #
I love the starkness of this.
trebor61 1:38 pm on February 14, 2009 | #
Again, Margie, thank you. All of these kind comments just make me want to submit more. Believe it or not, Kirkcaldy, where I grew up in the 50′s and 60′s had many factories like this. Both my father and his father worked in such places. I suppose I became the black sheep of the family training to become a schoolteacher. Whenever I hear people moan about how life treats them I want to show them scenes like this. I have been extremely lucky in avoiding such an industrial career. many of my peers did not.