The Name Game.

"Skipool"

By James Swanson / Traveler Spudmonkey
14" X 18" Oil on Linen Panel

The journey of this painting.

What do you get when you cross a monkey with a potato? A Spudmonkey!

New Traveler Spudmonkey - a photo of his.

Not a very funny joke, but it does bring us to our new friend and next Traveler of the same name, Spudmonkey. It seems a lot of people like to make up monikers for themselves when they are online. And our Traveler Spudmonkey has one of my favorite ones.

A photo taken during his walk.

That's pretty much how I came across Spud, I liked the name in the photo group that I'm in and thought I'd take a look at his photo albums.

And I'm glad I did. Take a look- Spudmonkey.

Another photo taken during his walk near Skipool.

Traveler Spudmonkey's Story: Seems a while ago since I took the photo! What made me go down there was the old boats in different states of repair or disrepair. It looked like a graveyard for boats. It would have been around 2pm in the afternoon and we had the dog with us. Who finished the walk wet and muddy.

Spudmonkey's dog Hollie.

It just seemed everything had been left untended for years. The boathouses were pretty rundown and the piers leading to them looked very unsturdy and unsafe! even the grasses growing around them could have done with a good chopping down. I think I stopped at this boat in particular because I enjoyed the light and color on the scene at that particular moment! hope this has been some help my friend!

The photo that I will be using for the painting.

The Traveler Painting: "Skipool" Spudmonkey who's real name is Rob- but I like the SM better- has been a UK walker for a long while and ever since finding him I've wanted to paint something of his. Not just because he takes some lovely shots, but also to say that I've worked with monkeys. Thanks Rob.

The Sketch: As always a rough sketch helps me get my barrings. I really liked everything about the photo of SM. But I thought the bottom of the one boat in front was too much. It wasn't needed, and getting it to read would be a problem.


The Canvas Sketch. I'm working on a oil primed linen panel that I've rubbed with a paint mixture of Burnt Seana and oil. I have roughly sketched in the composition of the painting and am ready to go to work.

Dark colors are then painted in next. This helps me find my way around the painting quickly, so adding the other colors to the painting is easier. Painting can be hard enough, so anything that helps make it a little simpler is welcomed.

Next comes the sky. I put the sky in to help balance off the painting at this point. The sky plays such a big part of this painting - color and design wise- that I also felt I shouldn't be left until the end.

Painting in the boats. I wanted to capture the boats a simple and as fast as I could trying to stay with the feeling of the photo. To do this I used very simple long and to the point brush strokes. Leaving the paint thick and thin in the right spots.

After that putting in the grasses and dock were easy. The real fun part of this painting was painting the shack on the dock. It was fun because I left a lot of the under painting show through and the paint just seemed to find it's own way on to the canvas.

Details from the Painting

Done and Framed

"Skipool"
By James Swanson / Traveler Spudmonkey
14" X 18" Oil on Linen Panel

Thanks goes out to Traveler Rod, alias The Spudmonkey for the use of his photo in the project. I do hope to paint something else of the Spudmonkey sometime. Oh, and why Spudmonkey you ask? Rob just likes potatoes that's all, and of coarse it sounds funny. It tells us a lot about Rob.

And "Skipool" for the name? It is where Rob took the photo, and I liked the funny name.

Now I'm off to another painting adventure, if you would like to join in the fun send me a line at www.theArtistandTheTraveler.org
So long until next time.