Something a little different.

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Wayland

Hárbarðr
Bargeware-I.jpg


A quick snapshot of my workbench at the moment.

Three finished, three in progress and another ready to start.
 
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tombear

On a new journey
Jul 9, 2004
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Rossendale, Lancashire
Lovely stuff!
having to rewrite this as I can see you have one of them already,(D'oh!) on the off chance you don't have the one on the right if you would find it useful? They are in the to get rid of pile so I thought I'd give you first refusal.

wFeZDM3.jpg


"Paint Roses & Castles" by Anne Young I see you have " Narrow Boat Painting" by A J Lewery, Both have lots of photos of originals. If it's no use to you they are both up for grabs, happy to post to anywhere in the UK,,

ATB

Tom
 
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Mesquite

It is what it is.
Mar 5, 2008
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~Hemel Hempstead~
Cool! and on that recommendation does anyone else have the urge? if not they are off to the charity shop from whence they came!

Go on Tom, I'll have them if no one else has asked privately.

I might not end up actually doing any painting but I do enjoy learning about stuff like that so they'll be an interesting read :)
 
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Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
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Exmoor
What paints do you use Wayland? I'm guessing the little pots of humbrol the sort we used to paint airfix models?
I've got a couple of items that I'd love to try my skills on... not that I have any barge style painting skills... but it would be a great winter project on my enamel coffee pot and mug. I also have a lamp identical to your large one. Not that I would be up to your standard mind!
 
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Wayland

Hárbarðr
Yes indeed. The Humbrol type gloss enamels are ideal and that is what I'm using. Mostly with round synthetic brushes between sizes 1 - 00 ( a flat brush is also useful if you need to lay down a background )

The Anne Young book mentioned above is a great place to start and used copies are pretty cheap on Amazon.

I'm no great artist, that's why I took up photography instead. The process is broken down, layer by layer in the book and once you have three or four flowers and the leaves worked out the designs are all variations on the same theme.

In all honesty, the process is far simpler than the results might suggest.
 

Wayland

Hárbarðr
So good to see pairs formed from individual items which are similar, not the same but nevertheless complement one another to achieve a new sense of unity and an obvious labour of love: a metaphor which appeals to my romantic nature. Truly beautiful.

Staying within the traditional range of blooms forces you to improvise with the designs which creates the differences but inevitably results in similar themes.

Individual artists had their own styles which appear to be identifiable to those in the know. I suspect many amateurs like me will be identifiable only by the fact that we have copied the styles presented in Anne Young's book.

Perhaps if I do enough of this work, my own variations will start to surface. The main innovation I have made above is the sunflowers on the lid of the coffee pot, which I noticed on an old original design and had to work out how to do by myself.

The "labour of love" aspect is important in all craft work in my opinion. I do some craftwork by necessity to create or repair my living history equipment and I used to make stuff for a living but most of what I make these days is just for my own enjoyment.
 
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Wayland

Hárbarðr
A week of rain makes a gloomy, wet and cold camp.
These things would be cheerful necessities to break the nasty spell.

It's easy to see why this kind of work was popular with the barge folk. Much of the canal network grew through an early industrial landscape of mills and mines. A touch of colour in their living quarters must have been a welcome relief.
 
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Wayland

Hárbarðr
Bargeware-VII.jpg


Another update.

As you can see, most of the pieces are pretty well finished now apart from the large churn at the back. The sprays of roses and leaves require a lot more layers and progress a lot slower because you have to wait for paint to dry so you don't smear it working on the next bit.

The coffee pot is a present for somebody but the other bits will go into my kit boxes.
 

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