Making Waves: Dunstanburgh Castle monotype paintings
- Rebecca Vincent
- Jun 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 12
These monotype paintings of Dunstanburgh Castle complete my recent series of Northumberland castle panoramas in a new, more expressive style. Without a doubt, Dunstanburgh was the most difficult. I moved away from the water reflections I'd used for Bamburgh and Lindisfarne Castles and opted for a focus on the waves with this classic view of an iconic landmark. I wanted a brooding, romantic vision that captured the sense of permanence of the castle, battling the elements as it once defended the coast.
Things were definitely not plain sailing as I realised that I had no visual tool-kit for how to interpret the interface between the rocks and the waves in the monotype medium which uses negative mark-making. I ended up with six iterations of the same composition, making adjustments each time. There was no way to foresee what would happen without going through the process of making mistakes and responding to them.
I also made changes to the outlines of the rocks, sometimes using stencils and collage, but finally settling on a combination of wiping and splashing with white spirit, which dissolves the oil-based ink. But this can easily get out of hand and dissolve your whole image!
This video of the making of "Watching the Waves" shows me building up the layers of headlands using paper stencils. This is a method I'm familiar with and it gives good, crisp outlines. But on subsequent attempts, I only used the stencil for the castle, abandoning even that for "The Stones Remember" (at top). Wiping and dissolving the dark ink that represents the rocks, gave me something more expressive and organic - the feeling I was searching for.
By printing the rocks and the water separately, I was able to improvise with some lively mark-making to suggest the waves licking around and splashing the rocks. But this expressive approach was governed by an underlying single-point perspective that I'd laid out on the plastic sheet I work on. This meant that I had some guidelines for the direction and size of the marks so that they support the sense of space rather than work against it.
Grading the headlands tonally from the light castle to the dark foreground rocks also works to give a sense of recession. Tone, colour and scale all work together to give the illusion of space.
With the skies, I was on more familiar ground (!) with my wiping-away-with-a-cloth method, but it was hard to get the tone right: by choosing to have the castle quite pale, I couldn't then drown it out with strong, dark clouds so some subtlety was called for. I'd like to try another version where the castle is a strong black then I can really go for it with stormy clouds!
When all the key dark areas were printed, I turned my attention to "lighting" the composition with some translucent colour. I began with my trademark gold and pink skies, but it didn't feel right for the weather conditions, so I opted for more restrained blues and greens. The waves called for subtle colour, and after a few trials, I settled on a wash of pale green in the foreground that gradually shifts into a cool blue as it recedes into the distance. I really wanted that lovely, greeny turquoise you see at the coast.
I think the rocks and waves were really informed by the drawings I did at the coast last summer. I didn't look at them again, but a memory learnt through the experience was in the back of my mind. It's so interesting how different experiences and approaches feed into one's artistic style. It's a great encouragement to put yourself out of your usual comfort zone. I'm signed up for two courses this summer including one out of doors at the coast - I'll be sure to write up my experiences on my blog.
I've tentatively numbered these pieces so you can see the approximate order of work (it wasn't always a linear progression as I work on a number of pieces simultaneously), but I want you to see how one piece informs the next. Number 1 is the earliest and number 6 the last one in the series.
Monotype is an inherently unpredictable medium, so I've taken to making different versions of the same composition so that my eggs aren't all in one basket! It takes the pressure off and allows for the mistakes and dead ends that are a natural part of the creative process. I used to worry about wasting paper and time, but I've learnt over the years that it doesn't matter! I can always use the back of the paper for painting and time learning from mistakes and experimenting is never wasted!
I have my personal favourites but I know that sometimes other people see and appreciate artworks differently. Let me know your favourites in the comments below.
These Dunstanburgh Castle original monotype paintings are available for sale - just phone/text on +447717256169 or email info@rebecca-vincent.co.uk if you wish to make a purchase or discuss framing options.
If you liked these pieces, you may enjoy this version of Dunstanburgh (view from the other side) https://www.rebecca-vincent.co.uk/product-page/dunstanburgh-sunrise-printthat is now available as a limited edition print:
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