DOI Heft:
No. 29 (August, 1895)
DOI Artikel:Richards, Frank: Newyln as a sketching ground
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17294#0195
Newlyn as a Sketching Ground
of strong men, whose capabilities are almost end- blown garments lashing and flapping as they go—
less, one is bound to look for and to expect more shouting, beckoning, and straining their eyes in
at their hands, for they do know what's what ! It is eager watching for some smack that is caught in
strange that there are hundreds of painters who the storm, for whose safety they fear; a perfect
would not consider anything as belonging to the whirlwind of anxiety, excitement, and often sorrow,
Newlyn school unless its square brushwork were very then prevails for a short or long duration of time
marked a la mode Messrs. Forbes and Bramley, as the case may be: the hurried tramp of the
heavy sea-boots splashing to
right and left; the occasional
shrieks and hysterics of
frighted wives, mothers and
sisters, all with craned necks
and misty eyes ; the bumping
of crafts at their moorings, the
rattle and clatter of rigging,
tackle and chains—all add to
the turmoil of the scene; one
knows not whether to join in
the hustle and " do," or to
stand transfixed, as it were, in
a long wakeful dream until the
storm is past, and one finds
oneself wet through to the
skin, sadder for that if for
nothing more serious.
The " Lowestofters," or, as
the fisher-folk call them, " the
East Countrymen," are, in my
opinion, a finer set than their
Cornish brothers; they are
more robust and hardy, and
more what one would expect
of men whose lives are spent
on the sea in all weathers;
they are not prim, dainty and
clean as are so many of the
West Country fishermen—they
are grimy and gritty, stalwart
and strong, and more often
than not their faces are " as
black as your hat." From all
accounts they have to rough
it, and they look like it; I
[From an oil painting in possession of Robert Cooper, Esq.) know for a fact that some go
out for a three months' cruise,
or its subject one of the aforesaid " quilts," and during that time never change their thick wool-
" candlesticks," "geese," or "moon-rises," &c. len or worsted stockings ; and when the time does
But no matter—Newlyn will live ! come to take them off, it is bit by bit that they rid
Mount's Bay from an artistic point of view is themselves of them. This, though not the rule, is
most picturesque ; except on a foggy day, there is a common occurrence, and only serves to prove
always something happening of interest to the what hardships they have to endure at sea, when, as
painter. It is at its best in stormy weather, when they say, there is little time and use in changing
everything is full of labour and excitement, when on any of their clothing. Their boats, too, bear
the shore men are rushing to and fro, their wind- exactly the same comparison with the Penzance
176
A PORTRAIT STUDY BY FRANK RICHARDS
of strong men, whose capabilities are almost end- blown garments lashing and flapping as they go—
less, one is bound to look for and to expect more shouting, beckoning, and straining their eyes in
at their hands, for they do know what's what ! It is eager watching for some smack that is caught in
strange that there are hundreds of painters who the storm, for whose safety they fear; a perfect
would not consider anything as belonging to the whirlwind of anxiety, excitement, and often sorrow,
Newlyn school unless its square brushwork were very then prevails for a short or long duration of time
marked a la mode Messrs. Forbes and Bramley, as the case may be: the hurried tramp of the
heavy sea-boots splashing to
right and left; the occasional
shrieks and hysterics of
frighted wives, mothers and
sisters, all with craned necks
and misty eyes ; the bumping
of crafts at their moorings, the
rattle and clatter of rigging,
tackle and chains—all add to
the turmoil of the scene; one
knows not whether to join in
the hustle and " do," or to
stand transfixed, as it were, in
a long wakeful dream until the
storm is past, and one finds
oneself wet through to the
skin, sadder for that if for
nothing more serious.
The " Lowestofters," or, as
the fisher-folk call them, " the
East Countrymen," are, in my
opinion, a finer set than their
Cornish brothers; they are
more robust and hardy, and
more what one would expect
of men whose lives are spent
on the sea in all weathers;
they are not prim, dainty and
clean as are so many of the
West Country fishermen—they
are grimy and gritty, stalwart
and strong, and more often
than not their faces are " as
black as your hat." From all
accounts they have to rough
it, and they look like it; I
[From an oil painting in possession of Robert Cooper, Esq.) know for a fact that some go
out for a three months' cruise,
or its subject one of the aforesaid " quilts," and during that time never change their thick wool-
" candlesticks," "geese," or "moon-rises," &c. len or worsted stockings ; and when the time does
But no matter—Newlyn will live ! come to take them off, it is bit by bit that they rid
Mount's Bay from an artistic point of view is themselves of them. This, though not the rule, is
most picturesque ; except on a foggy day, there is a common occurrence, and only serves to prove
always something happening of interest to the what hardships they have to endure at sea, when, as
painter. It is at its best in stormy weather, when they say, there is little time and use in changing
everything is full of labour and excitement, when on any of their clothing. Their boats, too, bear
the shore men are rushing to and fro, their wind- exactly the same comparison with the Penzance
176
A PORTRAIT STUDY BY FRANK RICHARDS