"Castle Heights" Painting Lewes castle

Lewes castle from the mount

I live just a few miles from the town of Lewes. The county town of Sussex.
Situated within the slopes of the South Downs it is steeped in history and wonderful architecture.
Over the past few years I have  painted  2 of the views overlooking the rooftops

Two of my previous paintings of Lewes

This time I wanted to paint the castle and some of the surrounding buildings. After much thought I decided on the view from the Mount near the Priory ruins. No one really seems to know what the mount actually is but there are some great views from the top and further information about it here  The Mount, Lewes
I went up it last year but unfortunately trees obscured the view  . However on a recent visit I noticed that the trees had been felled ....happy me!  The view was just what I was hoping for! It took a lot of work to paint but I enjoyed every brush stroke .

                                                   "Castle Heights" 
                                    Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18" 

"Castle Heights" Painting of Lewes Castle

 

Mermaid Street Rye.

Mermaid Street ,Rye, East Sussex 

A recent trip took me to the old Cinque port of  Rye . A lovely old town  renowned for it's smuggling history.
You can't visit without taking a walk down Mermaid Street . A steep cobbled lane lined with enchanting and picturesque old buildings including the well known Mermaid Inn.

Mermaid Street

 

  The houses have wonderful names like
 "The House With Two Front Doors"
   and
"The House Opposite"
 It's hard to imagine that it was once a poor and disreputable area!
A rich assortment of crooked old architecture adorned with flowers and foliage.
I do like a painting challenge!!!    :)

                                      "Down Mermaid Street"
                                 Acrylic on canvas 24"x 18" 

Painting of Mermaid Street in Rye,East Sussex

 
 

"Lunch in the Lanes" Painting The Lanes, Brighton

The Lanes, Brighton

I have decided to give myself a challenge and paint a Summer time scene from one of my visits to The Lanes in Brighton.
The Lanes  were once part of a small fishing village. Then the Victorians sought the therapeutic benefits of sea-water and the popularity of Brighton expanded into the town we know today .

There is an intricate maze of twisting alleyways, with a wonderful mix of history, shops,pubs and cafes. The atmosphere in the Summer sunshine is positively bubbling .
I have chosen a scene that contains many different elements , architecture, shops, cafe, trees and flowers...

Work in progress...
                                              "Lunch in the Lanes"
                                                    Acrylic on canvas 18"x 24"

Day 2 of painting The Lanes in Brighton

So far I have spent 13 hours on the composition. There are some awkward angles to get right and plenty of detail ahead. For now though I need to build up the base colours, it's time consuming but worth the effort !

Day 3 of painting The Lanes

 I am pleased to sat that I made good progress today. I've been flitting about painting a bit here and there and have made a good start on the foliage and flowers as well .

Day 4 and 5, starting to add the detail

 The weekend's progress has been much slower. I'm now working with very small brushes and gradually adding some of the detail. All going well so far and I'm enjoying painting process. It has a lot of different things in it which keeps me enthusiastic to add something new each day .

Well, with progress on the slow side I decided not to post  any more works in progress. It would be very boring to see so little change! It has taken a lot of work to complete but it has been fun !

                                            "Lunch in the Lanes"

"Lunch in the Lanes" Acrylic on canvas  (Brighton)

 

Painting "Brighton Pavilion" and deckchairs on the beach

Brighton Pavilion

After a lot of thought and a moment of madness,  I have decided that my Sussex by the Sea series would not be complete without a painting of  Brighton Pavilion.

In 1815, George, the Prince Regent,  commissioned John Nash to transform his modest seaside villa into a wonderful oriental palace.
It has survived fires, storms and wartime damage but it's magnificent architecture remains just as wonderful today as when it was built.

It's going to be a challenge, but I think it deserves to be captured on canvas and because there is so much detail  it will be bigger than my previous paintings ....
                                               "Brighton Pavilion"
                              Acrylic on box canvas 32"x 16"x 1.5"
Everything was sketched out using a grid to make sure the perspective was correct, with so many different angles it would be easy to get confused ! I then painted in the sky and first layer of grass, this made the composition much clearer to work on.

Starting to paint Brighton pavilion

Starting from the center I have painted in some of the first layers of colour, as they dry I can then begin to build up the tones with thin washes of blues and purples.

Starting to paint in the sides of the building

Gradually I start to add the detail. Today it seemed like slow progress but it helps to photograph it step by step as I can clearly see how it's developing.

About a third of the way through painting Brighton Pavilion

I have been using very tiny brushes today and very thin washes which means that it doesn't really look like I have achieved much. but I'm happy with it so far and I havn't gone mad yet!

 Today I  have concentrated on the left hand side. There will eventually be shaded trees there so I needed to get the background in before I can start adding them. I have also nearly finished the rooftops, once they are dry I can start adding the highlights....
.....well it's now 3 days later and today I managed to complete the painting. It's not been as difficult as I had imagined and I'm happy with the blue and purple shading as it gives it a wonderful regal look :)
                                                    "Brighton Pavilion"
                                Acrylic on box canvas 32"x 16"x 1.5"

Painting of Brighton pavilion

 

Close up and wall views of "Brighton Pavilion"

                                                                             *****
Of course a trip the seaside just wouldn't be complete without colourful deckchairs, their canvas seats billowing in the warm sea breeze like the sails of seaward ships.....
                                                        "Summer Sea Breeze"
                                 Acrylic on stretched canvas 24"x 18"x 0.5"

Deckchair in the breeze at Seaford

 

                    Paintings for sale at https://www.artgallery.co.uk/artist/paula_oakley_2

Painting the "Chapel Hill Rooftops" of Lewes, Sussex

Chapel Hill, Lewes, Sussex

On a recently sunny day we decided to head for the Southerham nature reserve at Lewes. It's an area well known for it's butterflies and wild flowers. It's also very high up! Although the weather was lovely it was also very misty so we missed out on the extensive views from the top. I intend to return in the Summer when the area will be at it's best and hopefully get some wonderful photos!

Southerham nature reserve, Lewes

Reaching the reserve requires a very steep climb up Chapel Hill, not for the faint hearted but the views are spectacular over the town and far beyond. It's certainly  well worth the effort..

Views from Chapel Hill, Lewes

It was the hill that became the subject of my painting. The houses are very old and the view over the rooftops of the town is wonderful, such a lovely mix of architecture!
 Just a short way up the lane stands a bent lamp post that seems to fit the scene perfectly. I would love to know how it ended up that way, perhaps the result of drunken revelry from  bonfire nights past?
With so many buildings in the view it was quite a challenging composition and has taken a while to complete. But I'm glad I chose it :)
                                             "Chapel Hill Rooftops"
                                              Acrylic on box canvas 24"x 18"x 1.5" 

The view from Chapel Hill, Lewes