The painting below had a tricky
beginning. I'd forgotten my double-dipper so had to paint with pure white
spirit and no oil medium - the cold and fine snow seemed to affect the texture
of the paint so it felt quite dry despite liberally using the wet spirits.
Cows at the
watertank in snow, and Willow Trees
The following day, going back to do a little more to
the above, the cows proved a problem. They came right up to the
two-strand electric fence, gazing curiously at me and bellowing frequently. A
bull with a ring in his nose and steaming nostrils joined them and when he
bellowed he had a destinct tenor tembre to his, whereas the cows and full blown
bass voices. Odd that!
Looking towards
Little Cheverell
All this was unerving and I couldn't really
concentrate standing two feet from the fence, with 20 ton of cattle steaming so
close to my elbow, so I did the painting above, moving off about 20 ft (observing the 1ft per 1ton, safety rule:) and standing with my back to them - still unerving
and checking behind me every now and then!! This time mislaid my rigger, an essential brush, for lines and detail, so the painting hasn't reached a successful conclusion.
Then I was facinated, watching a small flock of starlings
flying back and forth, like they weren't sure where best to settle. It looked a
primal landscape, more like from a Bruegel painting, hardly like England.
There was quite a delay before I could get there but I think I made it just in time and
found the trees with flowering blossom. This little tree caught my eye and appropriately it is seen against a backdrop
of the Apple Store, building on the left, and some of the cottages on
the Estate. Amazingly it was a beautiful fresh day after the dire
wet cold month we've been having ( yes I know the rain is much needed) so I really
enjoyed the sun on my back, getting quite hot at times.
Bach's Chaconne for solo Violin played Hilary Hahn.1/2
(good music to paint to)
Joshua Bell playing the Chaconne in Washington Metro subway
It's odd
how subjects select you. I was going to paint an adjacent row of
trees, see in the video, but this field in bloom insisted I painted it; so, how to use a
half a tube of yellow without really trying.(I got a dose of nasty spring
hayfever too!:(
Learning some basic editing .... three takes in a 3min video, at a 'blocking in' stage: quickly working at blank
areas, of the painting. It can be interesting watching other painters at work but
actually quite alarming to see oneself painting - normally the brain is in freeflow and one is oblivious of much else and has little sense of time.
Captured without looking through the viewfinder,
so not seeing the framing hence dipping to the mixing palette, camera in
my right hand. This is in real time though I did discard a few seconds
of mixing on the palette and another short clip in the sequence which was badly framed. Also I should have set camera to a wider image format.
Music: Var. no.2 of The Goldberg Variations, JS Bach courtesy of a great facility I discovered recently- www.musopen.com - I thought that better than adding dialogue here.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Hooray! I just sold three of these late evening sky paintings, they'll be framed together and hung one above the other.
Just looking at this batch of 8 I did almost a year ago. I'm trying to devise a catalog system, an inventory to keep track of my paintings so each is numbered and named. i.e. these are "Lavington skies with Jet Trails" (no's 1- 8) but 81-88 in the main list. Does anyone recommend a good system of cataloging?
And it was whilst doing this series , some differ slightly in size, that I realized I had to make a
better effort at standardizing sizes so bought a big batch of ready cut
board, all primed now and ready to go.
I'm doing a Plein Air teaching day on Saturday 14th April at Urchfont Manor, in Wiltshire.
Some experience with oils is helpful but not essential. Starting with a
short introduction and discussion on methods, the idea is to work
outside in the garden, painting en plein air, where spontaneity often
produces surprising and rewarding results. Hopefully the weather will be
kind.
Emphasis will be on working quickly to produce several pieces. A
short equipment list will be available to applicants, but bring any of
your own equipment as well.
Limited places left (last time I checked) so book soon so not to be disappointed. If they are fully booked you can contact me via my website as I'll be organizing more painting days in the summer .
WE were blessed with a fantastic sunny day when the UK Plein Air Society met in Salisbury on 27th Nov. The group is the brain-child of Anthony Bridge, the idea being we meet up on the last Sunday of the Month in a prearranged town/city. If anyone would like to know future venues and dates don't hesitate to ask.
Moonlighting ---- instead of settling down to paint like everyone else, for a while I was captivated by the river in Salisbury meadows behind the Cathedral, shallow clear running water; so took a few snippets of video of leaves coursing along in the current. Eventually I did a quick painting of a tree reflecting in the river.
Oil on canvas 20" x 16" Working on a larger format, 'en plein air'.
The edge of Salisbury plain, looking West, with strange light/colour effects in the sky ..... There's a also a compositional challenge here ... I wanted to convey something of the richness of a roadside verge, some sunlight hitting a patch of brambles etc.. Below shows the progression of the work.
All Saints Church, Steeple Ashton, over a new wheat field. (telephone lines now been added!). An impressive and ornate building for such a rural setting. I was aiming to catch something of the weather and light this April 2011. We have had amazing weather, warmer and drier than any recorded previously since records began. "This good weather has lasted longer than any summer I can remember!" says my son. He can't be far wrong as far as UK sunshine goes.
You can see the unisual geological folds in the hills to the right above Westbury, and to the left these are the heights above Edington where King Alfred fought and beat the danes in 878 AD, in a final battle before making peace.
View over the Lavingtons from Strawberry Hill. Capturing something of the unprescedented warm weather this April. A three week gap between starting and finishing this one. In the meantime all the foliage and rape seed had grown so had to update with a lot of colour. You can see the two church towers of both villages
Painting in progress. It was completed in two sessions.
Below the start of the painting two weeks earlier
View of Roundway Hill above Devizes, Where the Battle of Roundway took place in the Civil War.
A very recognisable landmark from all directions. The wide open aspect of this hill and colour somehow remind me of Africa particularly when nearer to it. The clouds were changing light patterns by the minute so it was a challenge to paint and set the light/shadow areas.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
APRIL EVENING SKY OVER GT CHEVERALL,
A warm evening at last
WESTBURY TOWARDS BRADFORD, From White Horse Hill. Spent longer than usual on this this morning. Just over 2 hours, Initially there were just those distant clouds. More clouds rolled in and covered most of the sky - shadows kept changing dramatically over the landscape.
I added the near clouds at the end The main quality of the view was the gradating sky so I thought that's a mistake, but now it seems to work and gives a 3D effect, leading one into the painting.