INTRODUCTION
Many people find Canal Art a fascinating subject from a historical and practical point of view. This leads to many questions about the subject, especially when it comes to taking up the art/craft. I hope the following will go some way to answering those question. The answers and information were put together with the help of members from the Canal Art-Roses & Castles Facebook Group.
1 What are the best reference books?
The general opinion as to the best books about the history of canal people and canal art are 'Flowers Afloat-Folk Artists of the Canals' by Tony Lewery (David & Charles) and 'A Canal People' by Sonia Rolt (Sutton). For the practicalities of canal art the best books are said to be, 'From Stem to Stern' by J. M. Hill (The Boat Museum) and 'Roses & Castles' by Jane Marshall (Canal Book Shop.) Other books too look out for are: 'Narrow Boat Painting' by Tony Lewery (David & Charles), 'Simple Steps to Roses and Castles' by Shirley Ginger (Canal Book Shop), 'Paint Roses & Castles' by Anne Young (David & Charles), 'Colours Of The Cut' by Edward Paget-Tomlinson (Landmark Publishing) and 'Colours For Cruisers' by John M. Hill. It's not always easy to find some of the above and they may only be available second hand. There are some general Folk Art books that have sections on canal art but the limited space does not allow for much detail.
2 Are there Canal Art demonstration on screen?
The best way to develop the skills of painting is to watch someone who you can interact with on a one to one basis or, by joining others on a course. If this is not possible then look for on-screen demonstrations. Youtube can be a source for instruction but the quality of filming and instruction can vary. Watching a DVD is better as the filming and commentary are often more professional and although you are not able to ask questions, you can rewind! There are only a few DVDs available as far as I am aware and they may not be available from new. ‘To The Point’: ‘No. 1 Roses, No. 2: Castles and No. 3 Signwriting, all by Phil Speight. ‘Traditional Narrowboat Painting’ presented by Tony Lewery which was originally produced on two videos. The newest is ‘Paint Canal Art Roses’ by Stuart P. Garfoot.
3 Are there recommended museums for Canal Art?
Museums are a good place to find traditionally painted canal art artefacts. When visiting its worth asking if there are items in storage as there may be more to see in store than are on display. It seems that the top place to start is the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, followed by the Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne and the National Waterways Museum at Gloucester Docks. More information about these museums can be found at https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/ There are a number of other museums and exhibitions of canal art in locations such as the museum at Stone, The London Canal Museum, the Black Country Living Museum, the Anderton Boat Lift, etc. It's also an idea to look out for temporary exhibitions of canal art. For example, in the 1970s, the V & A in London, held an exhibition of canal art and as part of that also showed a series of old waterway related films.
4 What are the best events for viewing traditional narrow boats?
Three events were put forward as the best for seeing large numbers of traditionally painted working narrow boats. The Ellesmere Port Easter Historic Boat Gathering. The IWA Canalway Cavalcade, Little Venice which is held during the early May Bank Holiday weekend. Braunston Historical Boat Rally in June each year.
There are other events, such as the IWA National Rally held at a different location each year; Alvecote Historic Boat Gathering over the August Bank Holiday and the Crick Boat Show which is a more commercial gathering. All have varying numbers of traditional narrow boats that can be seen and its worth looking out for local events. Look for details in such magazines as ‘Canal Boat’, ‘Waterways World’ or the ‘Waterways World’ Annual.
5 Are there such things as Canal Art Courses?
Canal art courses happen at various locations but are not always easy to find as they tend to be locally advertised. There used to be a few weekend and five to seven day courses but sadly those seem to have stopped, as have evening classes that used to happen. Most courses now only seem to be one day at a time. Places to look for information are the waterway museum websites, adverts in waterways magazines or by searching on-line platforms. Names that kept coming up was Phil Speight or Dave Moore. Others are ‘The Heritage Crafter’ and Terence Edge For signwriting courses, Joby Carter comes to mind.
6 Who are/were the best painters to study?
When starting out on a study of canal art you are likely to be influenced by the person who teaches you, the person you watch on screen or what you read in a book. This should lead you to developing your own style of painting but to get a real flavour of traditional canal art its suggested looking at the work of past painters such as:
Isash & Jim Atkins
Bill Hodgson
Ron Hough
Frank Jones
Frank Nurser,
Herbert Tooley,
Or the work of current painters such as:
Dave Moore
Tony Lewery
Phil Speight
For more information about specific painters, consult ‘Flowers Afloat: Folk Artists of the Canals’ by Tony Lewery.
7 Where to start painting?
The first question that people often ask is should you start with the flowers or castle picture? Almost everyone who answered recommended starting with the flowers. The first course I attended was a weeks residential course where the first item we painted was a pre-prepared jam jar for roses. We then moved on to a castle picture which was painted on a wall tile that had already been base coated. We had all taken items with us to decorate and mine was a stall that I had made myself. It’s the brown one shown in the picture. Having a week meant we could do a bit of everything, as well as a talks about the canals and free time to explore the local area.
When starting its best to go on a course as you can’t really see what's going on by looking at a book. Practising brush strokes on boards or card is a useful way to start but can became tedious. I suggest jumping right in by decorating an item. However it turns out, you are likely to be pleased with your first attempt and its usually your second item that you are not so happy with as you tend to try to hard! Remember that it's often said it takes 100,000 hours to become proficient at a new skill. Things to decorate could be a: card sample, jug, bucket, watering can, stool, dipper, bread board, tea tray, wooden spoon, enamel ware, flower pots, etc.
8 What are the best background colours to set off the decoration?
Background colours are sometimes referred to a base coats and are often applied to a surface that has already had a primer coat. In a proportion of 2 to 1 most people seemed to prefer a matt background colour. That means using a coloured undercoat although the choice of these is rather limited unless you mix your own. Craftmaster Paints produce high build colours of which the most suitable are black, dark blue, dark green, dark red, mid blue, mid green, and mid red. A matt background is said to give a better key for the decoration and can help the blending process. The decorative colour is also said to dry quicker on a matt surface. Traditionally painters only used matt paint and varnished everything at the end.
There is nothing to stop you using a gloss paint as a background and the advantage is that you have a greater variety of colours but the traditional colours were limited to red, green and blue. Wood graining was often used as a background for interiors. Most people who expressed an opinion seemed too preferred a dark green for their background colour.
9 What types of Brushes are best for Canal Art Decoration?
The general opinion seems to be that sable brushes are the best. It's said that they hold the most paint and give long service if carefully looked after. The best of these is said to be the hand made sable brushes but these can be expensive.
There are also a variety of synthetic materials that will do the job but some can develop hooked ends over time and this is almost impossible to get rid of. The main factor when choosing a brush is probable going to be your budget, so its worth trying different types to see what suits you best. Its not worth buying cheap brushes as you get what you pay for and cheap ones make the job more difficult. Don't forget the brush is your main tool, so you should buy the best you can afford.
10 Whats the best way of keeping brushes in good condition?
After use, clean your brushes white sprit. Swish them around in a decent amount of white spirit without bending the bristles on the bottom of the container as this could distort the shape. Some people follow this by washing the brushes in warm soapy water. Then grease the brushes with something like vaseline (I knew someone who used tallow.) This helps keep the shape and bind the bristles together until their next use. This also prevents the brushes from drying out. If brushes dry out they tend to go hard at the base of the bristles or ‘fillings’ and this shortens their life. The general opinion is to store brushes flat on a board held in place using an elastic band. You could use a purpose made brush case although this will cost more money. Keeping brushes this way helps protect them, especially for transportation, and helps you to more easily spot the bush you are looking for!
11 Can you prevent skin forming on opened tins of paint?
There were a number of ideas put forward as to how you can prevent paint skinning over, in part used tins of paint. Make sure the lid is put on properly and then store up side down. Put some cling film over the top of the paint before putting the lid on. Decant the paint into smaller containers to minimise the effect. Put a drop off turps on the paint before closing the lid. All those ideas are worth trying but you probably can’t avoid getting skin on the paint the further down the tin you go.
12 Whats the advice on mixing and preparing paint?
Containers or surfaces for mixing paint seemed to generate the greatest variety of answers but overall it seemed that people didn't want to spend money on purpose made mixing trays or pallets. The answers for what to mix paint on included jar lids, a square of hardboard, cup cake baking trays, an old grill tray, ice cube tray, pill docket boxes and cutting the base of a milk carton.
The suggestions for mixing paint also had a variety of answers including a broad bladed screwdriver, blunt end of a pencil, garden canes, fast food drinks stirrers, a small length of wire coat hanger with the end bent over, a short lengths of dowel or an old brush. A brush seemed the preferred choice for final preparation prior to actual painting.
I joined a Dave Moore signwriting course on one occasion and he used an artists palette for mixing on. He said he found that was the best way to brush out the paint to obtain the perfect consistency prior to painting. ‘The brush should feel that it just glides through properly mixed paint.’ Then you have a proper palette to hold if you are painting a boat.
If a quantity of one colour is required, it can be mixed in a 35 mm film canister where it can also be stored for a time. I know no one uses 35 mm film now but you can still buy the containers on-line. When the paint has dried in the container, it can usually be pealed off and the container re-used. Other people store small amounts of mixed paint in baby food jars, plastic vitamin pots or small Wilkin & Sons jam jars. Others preferred to mix what is required and anything left over is discarded.
