Webmaster's comment: "Here are a couple of photos of the 'finished' painting"
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We'd been looking at a virgin sheet of Saunders Waterford as Roger chatted: - about the choice between two nondescript (his word) photos that he had taken at the R A C Headquarters smoking room, Pall Mall, where he'd had a commission. He left the choice to us; - about how he prefers to look for movement rather than for a static "focal point". We were shown lines, rhythms, interesting shapes; - and about his oil-painterly approach to watercolour - "I hardly distinguish between gouache and normal w/c". He used both. Then, "shock horror", his 2-inch car-boot brush slopped vivid orange, vermillion and blue, wet-into-wet, all over the paper: "to break the ice". |
 Ten to eight. By the way, please excuse the focus - too much of a hurry, Sam Dauncey |
 Painting very fast, still wet into wet, he established verticals, horizontals, the diagonal shadows and, above all, coherence by having the same colours in all parts of the picture. The window was darkened . . . |
 . . . and then lightened again (a lovely smokey bluey green with touches of yellow, with a textured feel where the dark showed through). The pale red of the lamps and then the outside blues are brought inside the room as reflections and highlights . The scene was atmospheric, cosy yet grand. |
 Coffeetime. Chalk marks were added to guide the next stages. Highlights continued to appear like fire flies, common colours hinted at all over - red on the furniture edges, purples, oranges and sky. The pthalo green card table top was lightened with yellow and white (pure white makes it too grey). |
 The exterior was further lightened (and carried into the floor). But further darks were also being added. Such dark vibrant colours, almost into blacks, brought out the warmth of the lights. More details are added with water-soluble crayon, |
 "Card Table in the RAC Headquarters Smoking Room" ( It was a last minute decision to add the waitress on the left. More finishing touches may be made over the next few weeks. It was MAGIC absolute MAGIC - watching an artist working at the top of his powers - thank you Roger. This text is a collaborative product of Sam Dauncey and Helen Davies |
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 1. Initial shapes |
 2. A general progress shot ... |
 3. An upside down phase to check overall balance. Roger concentrated of the top left (here - bottom right when the right way up) to improve the area that he was not happy with. |
 4. Finishing touches. |
 "Rain Over the Thames" (End of demo. More finishing touches may be made over the next few weeks |
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