David Pilgrim - art blog

Weekend sunshine

2012-02-28T00:11:00.001+11:30

I managed to get out a couple of times this weekend in the sunshine. It feels like Spring already! On Friday I took the day off work and headed into Oxford for a spot of urban work. In the morning it was overcast and half way through the painting the sun burst through. Yes, I was the insane guy in the street shaking make fist at the sun :) I decided to leave that one and come back on a cloudy day but was determined to get something 'in the bag'. I headed to a nice spot outside the gates of Trinity college where I've painted before. This time round I focused on a slightly different angle which made use of the dark tree to frame some of the architecture. That sandstone really glows in the full glare of the sun and I wanted to capture something of it whilst it lasted.

Gates of Trinity College, 10x13in, oil on board

The clouds came back after an hour or so which meant for the last half an hour I was pulling things together and working partly from memory. I figured it best to do this on the spot though whilst it was all fresh. I liked the contrast of the feathery little tree on the right with the solidity of the stonework (admittedly the little tree is further to the right but I wanted it in the painting).

On Sunday I opted for the open countryside at Ivinghoe Beacon. I'm quite taken with the airy atmosphere you get on clear days and wanted to see if I could get a sense of being perched up there and looking into the distant haze. It's not easy finding a spot where there are enough compositional elements to latch onto but after wandereing around the slopes I settled on a portrait format.

West from Ivinghoe Beacon, 8x14in, oil on board

The tonal range was quite narrow and I didn't want to destroy the 'cushion of atmosphere' as Ken Howard calls it. There's not a huge amount to latch onto but I like the challenge of working with the open space and the subtle shifts in tone/colour. The rhythms of the roads and fields is quite tricky to manage and I move them about to try and make the composition work better. If nothing else it's a good learning curve that might open up other avenues. Maybe the clouds need a bit more tonal adjustment but I'll let it rest for a while. I still haven't decided if the foreground trees would be better in or out......

VERY, VERY cold!

2012-02-14T00:03:00.002+11:30

It was -11C when I stepped out of the door on Saturday morning and there was freezing fog everywhere. Eventually it cleared to leave a brief window where I could catch the remaining snow and a bit of sun. By this time I was getting a little cold but thought I'd give it a go and lasted just over an hour before common sense got the better of me :)

Snow remains, Stony Stratford (13x10 - oil on board)

The painting has certain things that work and others that I'm not happy with (some of the colours/tones bother me and the composition could be better) but hey ho, that's the way it sometimes goes with plein air in those sort of temperatures I can perhaps cut myself a little slack :) Perhaps a bigger studio version with some amendments will be an option. A few useful lessons learnt during the process though and useful to have the reference from direct observation.

Snowy Sunday

2012-02-09T04:08:00.002+11:30

We had a decent covering of snow on Sunday which allowed me to spend much of the day out with the pochade box, trying to capture something before it all melted away. In fact, by the afternoon it had already started thinning out so there was no option but to seize the moment! I set out on foot around my local area (Stony Stratford) at around 9:30am and finally got home to defrost at around 4:30pm. Luckily I had plenty of layers and a flask of milky coffee to keep me warm.

Anyway, the first effort of the day was just down the road at Passenham Mill.

Red Door at Passenham Mill, 12x16in oil on canvas board

I had a go at this in the snow last year but this time went in for a closer view. I really wanted to avoid making it too 'twee' and thought the strong note of colour offered by the door would lift an otherwise generally grey scene. The mill is actually the sandstone building on the left but I really wanted to focus on that door! The surface was a rather absorbent stained canvas board so my initial strokes seemed to barely register. Somewhat discouraged I thought about stopping but decided to push on with juicier strokes of positively applied paint. I enjoyed working in this way and liked the handling of the surface once the oil started to build up a little.

I find the problem with using oils too thinly on an absorbent surface is that the surface becomes lifeless once it has dried and the colours sink in, losing their initial vibrancy. I still reserve a thin application for the extreme darks though as a degree of transparency gives them more depth and interest. I could smell the wood burner smoke coming from the chimney (actually it was coming out of the other one!) and there was a blissful air of silence. The painting is still wet and I'm inclined to leave it as it is....of the moment and nothing more.

For the afternoon's effort I wandered back into Stony in search of more colour to punctuate the prevailing greyness. I quite fancied doing something with the Victorian red brick stonework and liked the way it constrasted with the snow.

Mill Lane in the snow, Stony Straford 10x13in, oil on board

The snow was already starting to melt as you can tell by the foreground slush in the road. I liked the sharp contrasts thrown up by the white roof, the cars and the figures and tried to hold onto this tonal clarity in the painting. I wanted to keep the colours as clean and decisive as possible too. It was interesting to see an evergreen plant in full bloom and whilst the leaves were quite yellow but I decided to play this down for the sake of retaining an overall harmony. I may need to tidy up a couple of the figures (I was starting to flag a little towards the end) and sort out one or two wayward verticals but again, would rather keep this to a minimum. More snow is a possibility for the weekend so fingers crossed for a fresh covering :o)

Sunny and cold

2012-01-19T06:14:00.002+11:30

The weather was beautiful at the weekend....clear, cold and crisp with completely clear skies. On Saturday I headed for Ivinghoe Beacon and spent a fair bit of time scouting around before settling on a couple of studies. This one was done on the slopes just after taking a tumble with all my kit. That'll teach me! I was cold at this point and just looking to get cracking and as a result the painting didn't quite match expectations. I was drawn to the distant hills and how they almost merged with the sky but it's tricky finding anything to latch on to in terms of the composition with big panoramas. I've learnt a few things for next time anyway.

Hill haze, Ivinghoe Beacon 8x12in, oil on board

My next effort was right at the end of the day and I nearly just packed up after feeling rather cold and a little weary. I thought it would be worth a shot as was a bit more satisfied having captured the heavy frost which hadn't left the shaded slopes all day. I was conscious of the extreme temperature shifts and realised that this was largely due to the fact that the shaded areas still had the frost which reflected a lot of blue from the sky. The frost had melted in the sunlit areas which meant they looked even warmer in relation to the shady sections. The contrasts seem almost unreal when you're looking at them and I tried to get some sort of a balance.

Frost and sun, Ivinghoe Beacon - 10x13in oil on board

I think my favourite from the weekend was my final effort shown below. I'd started a scene around the corner of a mill by the river but it just all seemed too civilised and after a few brushstrokes I started to lose interest. With the frost melting I searched for another spot and found these nice looking trees against the early sunlight. The frost was still there for a while but started to melt after about half an hour or so. Frost is quite tricky because it's like a half way house between snow and nothing at all. Temperature and colour shifts can be quite jolting in areas where there is and isn't any frost. As with the previous piece, I tried to harmonize everything as best as I could and shifted the spacing between the trees to make a better composition on the panel I had with me. I had to work darn fast but I liked the light together with the rhythms created by the tree shapes. There's a bit of glare on the left of the shot but it hopefully gives you an idea.

Three trees, morning frost - 8x16in oil on panel

Kicking off the new year

2012-01-11T07:52:00.000+11:30

Happy new year to everyone! I got the ball rolling on my birthday (2nd Jan) with a little plein air study over at Ivinghoe Beacon in the Chilterns. It's a great spot and only about half and hour or so by car from where I live. It has one of the highest vantage points in the region with views stretching for miles on a clear day. Anyway, here's the finished study:

'Looking west from Ivinghoe Beacon', 10x12in oil

It was pretty grey and mild over the festive period so I was pleased to get some fresh winter sunshine on the day I headed out. It was VERY cold though and I had to defrost in the car afterwards, despite having several layers on including thermals! The wind was whipping up the path right in front of me and I had to brace the tripod mounted Open Box M between my knees for additional support:

The sun kept coming in and out but it didn't matter too much as I mapped out the lit areas at the start and pretty much stuck to them. I paid close attention to the tones, temperature contrasts and made a conscious effort to avoid the dreaded 'veil of drabness' that could so easily creep in with those muted winter colours. I chose to work on a 12x10 linen board which I don't use that often. You can see patches of unpainted canvas surface in certain places, particularly the grey gravel in the foreground track. I like the idea of varying the surface quality as it helps to create another level of visual interest and energy. I really enjoyed painting this one and am looking forward to a return visit :o)

Associate Membership of the ROI

2011-12-21T08:59:00.000+11:30

I'm absolutely delighted to have been made an Associate member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters! Standards are very high so it's a real honour to be elected. I'm really looking forward to being a part of the society. The annual ROI exhibition is always a great spectacle and this year was no exception. So many great paintings on display....it was a real treat. The ROI paint evening is held during the exhibition and provides the opportunity to paint portraits with members in the main gallery. Many people come along to watch the artists in action and enjoy the atmosphere. It was a great night and I enjoyed painting the ROI president Peter Wileman who was one of the sitters.

Below are my 4 paintings that were accepted into this year's exhibition, along with a few of shots of the paint evening held during the exhibition. Looking forward to lots more painting action in 2012 :o)

Punt Station, Magdalen Bridge (Oxford), oil on panel - SOLD

High Sun, Sennen Cove (10x13, oil on panel)

Sunrise, Onley (6x8 - oil on panel)

Kelling Birch (9x10, oil on panel)

Action from the paint evening

Tim King paints alongside members Lucy Mckie and David Curtis

Adebanji Alade, enjoying every moment!

My portrait setup, flanked by newly elected full member Tim Benson (left) and David Newens

My finished portrait of ROI President Peter Wileman!

Venice

2011-12-19T22:46:00.000+11:30

I've recently returned from a fabulous few days painting with friends in Venice. We were there for 5 nights and there were 11 of us hitting the streets. It's an amazing city and I very much hope to return for some more easel action. To be honest, almost everywhere you look there's amazing subject matter. The architecture, light, water and general atmosphere....all incredible!

We were quite lucky with the weather. A bit of rain here and there but not too bad considering it's December. It seems a good time of year to visit because there are less tourists. In the hot summer months with crowded streets and bridges I can imagine it would be much more difficult to find a painting pitch. You soon get used to the idea of using boats and footpaths to get around. In fact, it's suprising how normal it feels after a few days. Certianly didn't miss the presence of the motor car.....at night there's a blissful silence in the air...just the sound of lapping water! Speaking of the water, it has a unique milky green colour (as described by fellow painting friend Tim King). Even on grey days it veers towards this green. Lovely!

Anyway, here are some of the studies I made. I'll call them studies because some appear quite sketchy. With the weather, light and crowds there's not much scope for doing anything too detailed. I was more interested in trying to get the basic tones and colours to work rather than getting hooked up on architectural detail (much easier said than done!). That said, the architecture does demand a lot of focused attention and subjects like the Basilca (St Mark's church) are a real challenge at 8am in the morning! I found my new Open Box M kit very easy to use and it's very lightweight for carrying on the plane (we had a 20kg weight limit to hit). I had some hassle at airport security getting my paints through the hand luggage checkpoint, despite having a letter of clearance to do so from Easyjet. After a rather heated exchange with the airline my paints were eventually checked into the hold, along with the rest of my hand luggage. Lesson learned.....never take paints in the hand luggage...whatever the airline tells you!

I'll post a few more paintings and action shots from the trip in the near future. I did 14 panels in total. Some need a bit of tidying up but I don't like to fiddle with them too much in the studio. I'd rather start a new study and use the original as reference.

San Giorgio chuch from Dogana

St Mark's in the rain

St Mark's, cloudy early morning

La Salute, across the Grand Canal from the Gondala station

Colleoni's statue, against teh light

La Salute from the foot of the Accademia bridge

La Salute, from the Accademia bridge

Grand Canal, from the foot of the Rialto (where Sargent stood!)

San Giorgio and Doge's palace, rainy morning

Painting on the Accademia bridge

Sporting a Scott of the Antarctic look in St Mark's Square

ROI annual exhibtion 2011

2011-11-14T00:05:00.001+11:30

I was delighted to discover I've had the maximum of four paintings accepted into this years Royal Institute of Oil Painter's annual exhibition. The standards are high and the selection panel was made up of ROI members whom I greatly admire so that made it even more satisfying! This will be my 6th consecutive year in the ROI show and it opens on December 6th at the presitgious Mall Galleries in central London. I was also pleased to hear that the 3 other members of the Plein Air Brotherhood who submitted work also got accepted. Well done to Roy Connelly, John Dobbs and Adebanji Alade. Congratulations to my friend Tim King who also got work accepted.

The current ING Discerning Eye show at the Mall Galleries is well worth a visit. I really enjoyed the range of work with a mix of contemporary and more traditional approaches and subject matter. Round the corner at the National Gallery the queues for the Da Vinci show were unbelievable....snaking and doubling up around the building's perimeter! I'll have to try and work out when might be the quietest time to go and see that one. The Degas show at the Royal Academy is also on my 'must see' list.

The virus that gave me vertigo and hearing problems has come back again and I've been out of easel action for a while as a result. I hope to have some pictures to post once things settle down and I can get a bit of painting done, not least to try and get back into the groove before heading out to Venice for several days painting with friends in a few weeks time. Very excited about that :o)

A few from north Norfolk

2011-10-28T02:09:00.004+11:30

I recently spent a relaxing few days on a holiday with my parents on the north Norfolk coast. It was much needed having spent the last few weeks stuck at home. I wasn't too sure if I'd be able to do much painting but the sea air seemed to give me a boost, along with the fine weather! Over the 4 days it was mostly sunny and there were even some surfers braving the cooler temperatures (I think it was 11 degrees that day) at Cromer.

Being slightly out of peak season meant it was less crowded and easier to get about and park. This is my third outing along the north norfolk coast and I'm starting to get a feel for the place in terms of painting. It's not just about the views, there's the time of day, type of light and tidal patterns to consider amongst other things. The great thing about going back to familiar areas is that you don't waste lots of time trying to hunt around for subject matter that sparks and interest. For me, that spark has to be there otherwise it's difficult to connect with the moment.

I managed to get six pieces done. They might need a bit of tidying up but I thought I'd post them fresh from the easel (or pochade box!). I've posted them in the order they were painted

Cley Mill from the bridge (west side) 10x9in

I liked the slightly unsual view of the famous windmill and Cley-Next-The-Sea. My first plein air effort for several weeks! I enjoyed working with the subtle variations of colour and tone in the reeds and trying to gently steer the eye through them towards the windmill.

Cromer pier, morning light (11x14in)

This was the next morning in Cromer. The pier is a great feature of the sea front and the colours of the sea made for an interesting study. I was working from an elevated position and standing in the shade of the buildings behind me (this made it rather cold!). I put a couple of surfers in at the very least to show they were there! I liked the way the sun lit up the pier and the rusty legs on which it stands. This contrasted nicely with the deep, intense blue of the distant water (yes, it really did seem that blue!). The tide moved quickly and by the end of the session the beach had disappeared.

Cley Mill, 10x22in

This was done in the afternoon (on the same day as the Cromer piece). I almost went back to base camp but the light was too good to resist. On a previous trip I'd painted from a similar position but was disappointed with the end result. Having learnt a few lessons (and making mistakes can often be the best way of doing this) I was happier with the outcome this time, not leaast because I opted to work on quite a large (for me) canvas using the French easel. It was that last 1.5 hours of sunshine so the light shifted fast. It's quite hard balancing the tones when the colour temperatures contrasts are so striking but I think I got away with it. I might tidy this up a bit or leave it as is and use it as a colour study for a studio piece.

Morston, 11x14in

This was the only painting from day 3. It was a greyer day and the photo seems to have distorted the lights and darks a bit but hopefully it gives idea. The light kept popping in and out and I tried to catch the light on the foreground boat in an 'out' moment. I liked the vertical contrast of the wooden mooring posts and the red sail came up as a bonus about half way through the painting. Thank you whoever was sailing that vessel :o) I was actucally sat on a mooring platform like the one painted and had to be careful not to drop any brushes otherwise they would have dropped through the wooden planks into the thick mud below!

Beached vessel, Brancaster Staithes (11x14in)

I really enjoyed painting this one. An unsual composition just begging to be painted. As with the others, it was pretty cold so thermals were needed along with the trusty hat with built in ear muffs. Brancaster Staithes is a great place to paint, along with the nearby Burham Overy Staithes. I find it better painting boats out of the water as they don't move so much. The ones in the water seem to constantly spin around in the tidal movements!

Autumn light, Blakeney (6x8in)

This was a little bonus study I was able to do on the last day of my break. It was trickier than I imagined as it was a small panel and the light/water were moving at a fast pace. Just enough time to get the essentials down. The building on the right was actually further away from the boat but I moved it closer to give a sort of L-shaped or triangular composition. The angles of the masts bring a nice set of dynamic lines to the piece. Not more than 45 mins on this one.

A great place to paint and hopefully I'll be back there again sometime soon.

Getting mobile

2011-10-26T22:49:00.001+11:30

Bit of a techie post this one but it's hopefully of some use/relevance to anyone with an art website. I've been becoming increasingly conscious of the fact that the gallery on my website is a Flash based solution and that meant it wouldn't work on a number of mobile devices ( e.g ipad).This could become quite a problem as more and more people are getting connected with hand held devices and I have indeed have a number of people mention that they can't view the site so well on their handheld devices. Gone are the days where a website developer just needed to worry about whether a site worked in just a handful of browsers. We now have to be mindful of the plethora of hardware being used too!

I actually use Slideshowpro (which I rate very highly) for my gallery so I decided to see if I could get things properly 'mobilised'. After reviewing the options I also decided it was best to rework the main theme for the whole website at the same time so that it would all display in a better way on mobile devices. I won't bore you with the technical stuff but will mention that I'm now using SlideshowPro Director which is an excellent content management application that makes gallery authoring MUCH easier. It also has an HTML5 viewer which the user can see if they're on a mobile device. The switch between the HTML5 and Flash viewers is automatically handled, depending on the device being used. It does take a bit of setting up but I think it's worth the effort. I don't mind paying a relatively small fee for these types of products because they make the development and maintenance of the website so much easier and efficient. In the long run, less time working on the website means more time at the easel :o)

In terms of creating an overall mobile theme for the site I would thoroughly recommend using the Opera mobile emulator which you can install on your computer and use to simulate your site being viewed on a range of mobile devices. I've tried to get the theme to reorganise page content into a single cascading column for mobile devices. Since I'm using Blogger as my blog I've had to comprimise slightly on the mobile view as it doesn't include the top navigation. Apart from that it seems to generally hold up. If you are using Blogger and switch to the new Blogger interface you'll find that you can set a mobile theme for your blog. I'm using the 'custom theme' option which tries to adapt your main theme into something sensible on a mobile device. Alternatively you can just use one of Blogger's preset mobile themes but it may not match the look and feel of your website if you connect the two up (as I do).

Sorry to overload on technical detail but hopefully it's useful info. If anyone does happen to view my site/blog on a mobile do let me know how you get on with it. There may well be a few creases that still need ironing out :o)

Down but (hopefully) not out

2011-10-07T19:04:00.002+11:30

Well, I've been ill with a virus for the last month or so and am still trying to shake the darn thing off. I suppose that dampens the spirits somewhat. Not being able to paint has been a frustration too and I wasn't fit enough to get anything entered for the Bath Prize. Disappointingly, I've also just found out all 4 entries I put in for the New English Art Club's annual open weren't accepted. Bit of a blow that one. The entries are shown below:

The seascape (Porthchapel cove, Cornwall) is an acrylic, a plein air piece with a touch of studio tweaking done on paper with a canvas texture. The rest are all oil 'plein airs' but the Oxford one needed a bit of studio attention to tidy it up too.

It does knock the confidence a bit but there's no doubt there's stiff competition when entering these things. I suppose that's the problem when you don't get in....you're left wondering 'why?'. As artists we have to take setbacks on the chin and press on regardless, otherwise we'd just grind to a halt I suppose. Maybe the answer is to get straight back on the horse....or should we invest energy in taking stock and reflecting on these things? Onwards and....well...onwards anyway :O)

Head spin

2011-09-21T03:38:00.001+11:30

I've not posted for a while, primarily as I'm currently laid up with a nasty little virus that causes vertigo/sickness and a few other things. I think the worst thing is the vertigo though which, at its worst, makes you feel like you're on a horrible fairground ride that you can't get off...even when you're lying still. Sheeesh, all down to some little blighters in the inner ear apparently! Anyway, thought I'd try posting something because daytime TV is driving me nuts!! Here's a little evening study I did about 12 days ago after work as the light was fading. The cows were all gathered round at the start but by the time I'd finished they'd disappeared, along with the sun. I barely got 30 minutes on this little 6x8 but it was still worth it, I think!

Admittedly, it lacks detail and refinement but I was more interested in quality of light and judging the tones/temperatures. Let's call it a sketch...yes...that's what it is. If you squint at it the basics do seem to hold together. Couldn't really expect much more in half and hour or so I guess. I think it might have been Ken Howard who said that the best paintings can seem to emit their own light. Not an easy thing to do with pigment but relatively speaking I guess we can arrive at an equivalent if we get things 'right'.

Below....nice to be the centre of attention for a moment...even if the audience is a bunch of cows :o) I swear the light coloured one was trying to challenge me to a stare out. See the slash of light at the top, that's what I wanted to get down before it faded. The scene I chose was just to the left of this view. No time to dither!

Below is the scene after about 35 minutes.....where's the light....where's the cows....something I said?

US magazine article published

2011-09-01T02:17:00.000+11:30

I've just received a digital version (Fall edition) of the US magazine 'Plein Air' and was very pleased to see that they had published an article I'd written on our plein air painting adventures in Cornwall earlier this year!
Anthony Bridge is a fellow member of Plein Air Brotherhood and is on the advisory panel for the magazine so thanks to Ant we were able to get some material over to the editor. Cheers Ant :o)

I'd certainly recommend a copy if anyone can get hold of one. There's some great shots of the crew! The magazine is always a great read for plein air enthusiasts!

Front cover!

2011-08-25T21:53:00.000+11:30

I'm not really into self promotion but I couldn't hold back on mentioning that I've been pictured on the front page of The Artist magazine (September edition)! Roy Connelly has written a 5 page article on the Plein Air Brotherhood, of which I'm a member. It's a really interesting read (well written too) and I've got a few shots and quotes in the article.

The article also mentions our first 'inaugural' exhibition which opens next week in Harpenden at the A&K Wilson Gallery. All members of the 'Brotherhood' will have work on show and it's looking set up to be a cracker!! The private view is September 1st from 6-8pm (all are welcome) and runs until September 30th.

New studies from Bath

2011-08-22T08:09:00.002+11:30

Last weekend saw the opening of the exhibition with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in Bath at Gallery Le Fort. I've got several works on show and managed to sell these two on the night.

'Low Tide, Wells-next-the-sea' - oil on board (6x8)

'Sunshine at the Radcliffe Camera', Oxford - 10x16 - oil on board

Funnily enough, neither are of Bath but I'm hoping the Bath scenes will attract some red dots as the exhibition progresses :o) It was lovely to see everyone at the preview night and I was lucky enough to have a nice chat with the gentleman who kindly bought my painting of Wells. It's great when you can meet the buyer as you get a real sense of the connection they have with the painting :o) My friends and painting pals Tim King and Valerie Pirlot joined me at the show and we headed out for some easel action the following day.

The main session was done at the allotments on Sion Hill. This is a great little spot, well away from the crowds and on a slope that looks over towards distant hills. Tim and I had been hunting around fruitlessly for a while and weren't overly inspired as the light was really flat. We took a turn off Lansdown Crescent and stumbled across Sion Hill. I seemed to remember Peter Brown had done something down there so I thought it would be worth checking out. When we arrived we were greeted by a feast of green and other colours from the allotment. Perfect! I chose a tall slim format and it was quite a decent size, 10x16in I think. The sun kept coming in and out but I stuck to my guns and made it predominantly 'in' but with the distant hills lit up a bit. Valerie joined us not long after we'd started and we all happily painted away, enjoying the tranquility....even the distant chimes of church bells could be heard. Lovely. Valerie and Tim both did the scene full justice with their paintings. This is my effort from the session.

Tim and I headed for the Crescent as last effort to find a subject to paint. We were both a bit tired but had a go, vowing to approach it as a quick sketch more than anything. For some reason the wind really picked up and we ended up having to hold our easels with our free hand!

Believe me, you almost need sunglasses to look at the grass. It really was a bright, acid yellow/green. This is quite toned down, believe it or not! I wish I'd shifted things a little so the tree was a bit further left but hey ho, in the heat of the moment with the wind buffeting the easel you have to make fast decisions. I was more interested in getting the tones and colours judged accurately. I made a conscious effort to simplify the buildings and not have it descend into an commentary on Georgian windows! The sky is a little bleached in the photo...there's more tone to be seen in the painting.

Whaddon sunset studies

2011-08-01T08:20:00.000+11:30

I've been really busy lately getting work prepped for upcoming exhibtions so I've not been able to post much onto the blog. I have been trying to get out when I can with the easel and started a little series of paintings from the same location in a nearby village called Whaddon. The view looks west and across a valley and I'm particularly interested in trying to capture the different stages as the sun sets.

I knew it would be tricky because the light moves so fast at sunset. It's a reasonably simple subject in terms of the drawing so that makes things easier to handle. For now I've been starting from scratch on each study but I might be tempted to map out the basic compostion on future efforts to save time when in front of the subject. Apart from the time issues, one of the hardest things is trying to find an equivalent in paint for the brilliant light and colours. I end up having to work part observation and part memory as the subject changes so rapidly. What I try to avoid is 'chasing' the light but it's inevitable to a certain extent. In some ways it's not such a bad thing since I want the painting to serve as an account of the whole experience of being there, not merely a snapshot. It's a fine balance. After about 30-40mins the subject will have changed so much it's probably best to start another one but I'm sometimes guilty of carrying on a bit longer than I really should!

Anyway, the three paintings...in the order they were painted (each done on separate evenings after work):

First effort above, earlier in the evening, not so exciting but it got me familar with the scene and the light was a bit more steady compared to later on.

This one above was done earlier in the evening with a higher sun. I don't know what possessed me but I went with an 8x20in board....rather ambitious for such a fast changing scene and it reminded me to keep things smaller for next time!

This was a better size (about 5x13in) and worked out quite nicely in terms of composition and balance of light. I was guilty of chasing the light a bit in this but it seemed worth it as every time I looked up the scene just got better and better!

Detail showing brushwork and sky colours of the above painting

All of the above are as they were when they came off the easel. As you can see, they're rough around the edges but far more valuable in terms of information than any photograph could give me. I might be tempted to do a larger studio piece based on these 'sketches'. I put the detail shot in as it shows the marks, colour choices etc. I couldn't really look at the sun as it was so bright so it's more a case of trying to make a judgment whilst it's in my peripheral vision. Clearly, the sun is many times brighter than the yellow paint I used so it's interesting to see how an equivalent is arrived at. It's important to try and keep colour mixes clean so I get through plenty of brushes (saves time on cleaning them whilst in action).

Reference photos:

My palette for this one had less cadmiums as the colours in the early evening were less intense

I had the idea of doing two in succession but only managed one on this occasion. I'll use the spare as a starting point for next time.

See how the camera lies!!

Final few from Cornwall

2011-06-20T23:07:00.000+11:30

I think this is possibly one of my favourite pieces from the trip to Sennen. The reason being that it seems to get to the 'essence' of the subject with minimal fuss. I feel as though I really connected with moment and the painting (for me anyway) encapsulates the experience of being there. Much of the foreground sand is actually the colour of the ground I painted on and I like the slightly unfinished effect. I'm hoping to do a larger version of this in the studio with the explicit intention of trying to retain that fleeting effect and not labouring the surface. It will be interesting to see how it pans out as it will no doubt develop a life/presence of it's own. The marks will be different and appropriate to the revised scale. I painted this one alongside Tim King in the afternoon sun and enjoyed every minute of it!

'High sun at Sennen', 13x10in, oil on board

I also did three acrylics on location where I felt the subject lent itself to a change of medium. There's something about the area around Pendeen and similiar cliffscapes that make me inclined to favour using acrylics on occasions. I find I can build up the rocks and sea with thin glazes worked over with more opaque marks. This seems to give the darker, shadowy areas a bit more life and energy. Up on the cliffs I like to use acrylics on primed mount card attached to an MDF board. I sit on a camping stool and have the board on the grasss in front of me, propped at a slight angle to avoid glare etc. I use Winsor and Newton slow drying gel which is essential in the absence of a 'stay wet' palette which I'm not a fan of. I also add Winsor and Newton flow improver to the water I use to thin the paint for 'glazing'. This ensures the richness of the thinned colour is retained and doesn't go slightly chalky (as I find happens with just plain water).

'Morning sun, Botallack', 12x16in, acrylic on card

'The Enys from Pendeen cliff ', 16x20in, acrylic on card

'Looking down at The Enys', 14x18in, acrylic on card

When using the acrylics I tend to work slightlly larger and more vigorously. I still have the same sort of timeframe, around 1.5 hours, before the light has changed too much. As they're bigger, I try to get the essentials down as much as I can but it meant they needed a bit of tidying up and resolving back in the studio afterwards. I didn't want to fiddle too much though as unlike oils, once a mark is down it dries quickly and the underliying location work would be lost. With this in mind, the paintings are resolved to the extent where the gaps are filled in and any oversights corrected as opposed to taking the work in another direction. I'll save that sort of thing for any new versions I might to do from a location piece.

Finally, a couple of small studies done on the more overcast days when I thought it might be worth using some of the colours offered by the wild flowers

'Wild flowers, Cot Valley' - 6x8in, oil on board

'Tree, gorse, bluebells and sea' - 10x8in, oil on board

Moments from Mousehole

2011-06-08T21:29:00.000+11:30

Whilst staying a Sennen we paid a few visits to Mousehole which is a beautiful harbour on the more sheltered southern side of the Lands End penninsula. It provided a nice contrast to the more wilder reaches of the north and west coasts. That said, I found it quite a challenge to tune into the mass of information that presents itself in the busy and bustling harbour. The tide and light have a strong impact on the subject and the water level moves quickly! There's a lot going on with buildings and boats which is quite different to the cliffs and beaches where broader, more general statements are often more appropriate. Whilst in Mousehole we chatted at length about Ken Howard who has a studio there in a converted school house. His masterful works are a constant source of inspiration and he had an incredible painting on show in a local gallery window. The kind of painting that demands your attention...just the shear beauty of the colours and tones was enough to make your jaw drop. Amazing!

'The Gap, Mousehole harbour' - 6x10in, oil on board

We all were drawn to 'The Gap'. It's quite a feature of the harbour but it needs the right light and tide level to make it worthwhile. The sun was high and the the colours muted so it was a delicate balancing act. I was conscious of not over darkening the harbour walls, want to leave some of the ground showing through to give a touch of colour vibration. I used a pinkish stain on the ground which ended up being too insistent so I had to calm things down in the studio afterwards.

'High tide, Moushole harbour' -13x10in, oil on board

All the basic tones and colours were mapped in on site with a bit of tidying up back at home whilst the scene was relatively fresh in my mind. The blue boat in the middle distance was added afterwards to help with the sense of depth.

'Receding waters, Moushole harbour' - 13x10in, oil on board

This was a busy scene with lots of detail. The key was to judge the tones and colours without getting too bogged down with anything fiddly. The buildings and trees in the background were hinted at rather than described in full so they didn't compete for attention with the rest of the painting. It was fun working with all those ropes and I love the way they catch the light against the shadowy wall in the distance.

'Late afternoon, Mousehole harbour' -10x8in, oil on board

This was the brightest day in the harbour and I pushed the colours a bit more. I had to tidy this one up in the studio as the boats were a bit scruffy. If I do need to make an adjustment I try to keep it minimal so as not to move away from the original moment that was captured. If it'slikely to benefit the painting then I think it's well worth it.

A few more Cornwall studies

2011-06-08T07:51:00.001+11:30

'The Irish Lady', 8x10in, oil on board

This was painted whilst perched on some rocks facing towards Land's End. The rock is known as the Irish Lady and is apparently haunted! It was really windy so I had to tidy up a few of the brushstrokes afterwards. I wanted to capture the sense of the foaming swell around the rocks and used a couple of trusty seagulls to comment on the scale.

'The Enys, Pendeen' - 13x10in, oil on board

Quite possibly my favourite Cornish location. I love the heavy seas around Pendeen and the huge Enys that juts out from the cliff. It's tricky trying to capture a sense of the sheer ruggedness of the place with an oil study on the spot but hopefully it conveys something of the place. These sorts of paintings can't be overworked otherwise you end up with a muddy/chalky mashup. One hit, working fast in the blustery wind, sink or swim (not literally!)....giving it my best shot at the time. That's all you can ask really, even if the end result doesn't quite hit the heights of expectation.

I painted some acrylics up at Pendeen and will post them another time. I was pleased to have had a go at Pendeen in oils as I knew it wouldn't be easy! For some reason, with certain subjects I feel more inclined to work in acrylics and Pendeen is one of them.

'Marazion beach, breeze and sunshine', 8x10in, oil on board

Painted on the beach at Marazion, the sun kept flashing in and out which made things tricky. I had four others from the plein air crew painting their own versions of the scene alongside me which was great fun! No time for snacks Tim.....there's some serious work to be done here :o)

'Marazion beach 2, scudding cloud', 7x10in, oil on board

'Surfs up! Towards Aire point, Sennen' - 13x10in, oil on board

It's not easy painting waves. You have to tune in and try to distill what's going on. There's the colours, tones, rhythms, lines, edges, shadows, lights, reflected lights.....I could go on :o) Everything is moving and once again the light was in and out! Not that I'm complaining, it's all part and parcel of the whole experience.....trying to give a sense of the moment. I must admit, I do enjoy that experience of zoning into the moment.

'Sennen jetty at sunset' - 6x8in, oil on board

I painted this alongside Tim on his last day in Sennen. I wasn't going to do a painting as I was feeling tired but who could resist a sunset like that! I whipped out a little 6x8 and rapidly tried to take things down as the light faded. Every time we looked up the sky and water were changing! This kind of speedy work could be likened to taking notes I guess....my excuse for producing something that could arguably be classed as unfinished or a little rough round the edges!

'Fast fade, Sennen jetty at sun down' - 4x10in, oil on board

Painted alongside Roy on our last evening in Sennen. The speed at which we had to paint was like nothing I've encountered. We're talking a handful of minutes to get this down!

'Sunset moment, Sennen jetty' - 6x8in, oil on board

Ditto for this little sunset too. Barely 10 mins of painting really but I was eager to get something down having just painted a 'wipe down' on the cliff at Land's End.

'Silver light at Sennen', 9x10in, oil on board

This was the first painting of the trip and I painted it alongside Mike in the late afternoon sun. As it was pretty much a contre jour subject the colours were very subdued and it was all about the tonal contrasts. That said, I had to be careful with the colour temperatures (which don't come out very well in the photo).

More paintings from Cornwall (part 2)

2011-06-03T09:00:00.003+11:30

Here are a few more plein air paintings from the recent trip to Cornwall.

'Porthchapel Cove', 13x10in, oil on board

I loved the patterns created by the water marks in the sand, the lines of seaweed and the white foam. Nice rhythms to work with. I had to be quite careful and not overdo it though in order to keep everything balanced. I think I just about got away with it. With the waves moving all the time I had to try and tune in to the essence of what was there. Tricky but fun!

'Stamps an Jowl Zawn – Natural Arch', 13x10in, oil on board

This was a great spot perched on the cliffs near Botallack Head. I'd just done an acrylic of a nearby cliff and went back to the car to fetch the art gear. I'm glad I did because I knew it would be a challenge not to overwork the oils and make the rocks too dark......and I like a challenge :o) The natural arch is amazing! A couple of seagulls add a bit of scale, without hopefully descending into tweesville. I wanted to say something about the wilderness and sense of power you get from the waves and rocks (even on a relatively calm day!).

'Surfing in the zone - Sennen' , 8x10in, oil on board

Tim King and I couldn't resist this coloured flag reflecting in the puddles. As with many of the water subjects we encountered, it changed within minutes (the tide was going out) so I had to rely partly on memory to make it happen. With regards to the surfers, a mere hint was all that was needed. I didn't want to make it too busy.

'Bright and breezy - towards Penzance', 5x11in, oil on linen canvas board

This was more complex to paint than I imagined with some soft and subtle tones/colours and a tricky compositional balancing act. The passing little one man boat came in very handy! I remember the sun kept going in and out which made things a bit awkward but I tell myself 'there's no use complaining Pilgrim....just get on with it!'

'Purcella Point - Porthcurno', 8x10in, oil on board

I loved painting this one with Tim, perched on the cliffs above Porthcurno, right next to the Minack theatre. I wasn't too happy with the painting afterwards though and have done my best to try and make it behave. Still not sure if it's quite finished.

'Into the light, looking down on Sennen Cove', 8x10in, oil on board

I painted this view of the bay alongside Anthony Bridge and Valerie Pirlot and the light was pretty intense. You could barely look at the water! I wanted to make sure the land wouldn't descend into drabness (which I've been guilty of on previous occasions) as it's easy to overcompensate with the darks. I suppose it's all part of the learning curve though. I tried to judge the relative values as best as possible, knowing full well I couldn't get close to the actual brightness of the light. It's an interesting little zig-zag composition although at the time I didn't consciously think 'there's a nice zig-zag'. I just had a feeling it might be worth a go!

'Lifeguard hut in the drizzle - Sennen Cove', 5x8in, on board

This was painted on the only day we had rain/drizzle. I quite enjoyed painting Sennen in different conditions and had Anthony painting alongside me from the high vantage point. The lifeguard hut and a hint of figures gives some sort of sense of scale. I liked the close toned greys and the gentle diagonal sweep of the tide patterns.

'Distant Crowns - towards Botallack', 13x10in, oil on board

Painted on a breezy day looking towards Botallack Head. I wanted to try and capture some suggestion of the wild flowers which we were lucky to have.

More Cornwall paintings to follow, including Mousehole harbour and a few Sennen sunsets :o)

Plein air paintings - Cornwall 2011 (part 1!)

2011-05-30T20:06:00.013+11:30

A thoroughly enjoyable and productive painting trip to Sennen in Cornwall. We were lucky to have pretty decent weather and all the wild flowers were out which provided plenty of painting options. The wind was a bit tricky to contend with on the clifftops but we all found ways to cope with it. I found that sitting on the ground helped, using the pochade like a laptop in front of me. Most of the paintings were done in oils but I couldn't resist the temptation to do one or two acrylics on the cliffs.

'Kynance Cove' - 13x10in, oil on board

I loved painting this one and was pleased with the outcome. I was a bit unsure as to whether it would be too busy but it seemed to hold up OK. I painted it perched on the cliff above Kynance Cove. When I first arrived it was cloudy but the skies cleared revealing the amazing colours in the water. The tide was out too which meant the sand banks were visible. Perfect! On the left (with the yellow crest) is 'Gull Rock' which attracts lots of seagulls.

'The Bishop', Kynance Cove '- 10x8in, oil on board

Another nice one to paint at Kynance Cove. Since 'The Bishop' points to the right it seems to balance up the composition. The surfers flirt with danger with the nearby rocks but they appeared to be enjoying themselves. Just to the left from where I was sitting was a cafe which has to have one of the best cafe views in the world! They serve a nice pasty too which went down well with a well earned cup of tea :o) I got a little sunburnt whilst painting this, making the mistake of rolling up my sleeves after applying the sun cream!

The colours in the water are stunning to look at and it's hard to avoid the temptation to exaggerate them. One thing I noticed whilst down there was the amount of crimson/purple in the water, often more so towards the horizon. I used plenty of mixes with viridian, permanent alizarin crimson and cobalt blue as the starting points. It's interesting how the sky affects the colours in the water and the way the waves create certain tones with their cast shadows and highlights. I could watch those waves for hours.....sure beats reality TV :o)

'Westwards from Kynance Cove' - 6x8in, oil on board

I'd pretty much had it after painting the two previous pictures but heading back up the steep path I spotted Mike Richardson painting from this spot. Revived after a quick chat and an oaty snack bar I felt it would silly not to try to get something down. It was painted very quickly and I didn't wanted to make those rocks too dark, even though the light was almost behind them. Otherwise, they would have a 'drab' feeling which was the last thing I wanted. Just goes to show if you sense the moment needs to be captured then it's worth a go, even if weariness is starting to set in.

'Taking the plunge, Whitesands Bay' 10x8in, oil on board

This was painted on one of those days where the sun kept popping in and out. In an ideal world, I'd have 2 panels side by side and paint on one when the sun was out and the other when it was in. However, sometimes it's more straightforward to crack on with the same piece and rely on the moments when the conditions are steady together with a bit of memory work. It certainly sharpens the senses! A nice family who I chatted to afterwards decided to take a dip in the sea in the perfect spot and the two children had pink hats which provided a handy little note of colour. I wanted to keep things loose, clean and fresh without working the paint too heavily.

'Towards The Brisons, surfers at Sennen', 4x8in, oil on board

I painted this whilst perched on my bonnet in the car park on Sennen seafront. I couldn't resist the colours. Amazingly, the sun was properly out but there were still blues, mauves and greens to be seen everywhere! I bumped into Carole Baker whilst painting this too. She is a talented artist from the West Midlands and had just sketched her way round the bay that morning from Cape Cornwall (a good 5 miles or so!).

My aim was to try to get as close as I could to the essence of the landscape. I wanted to try and capture a sense of 'being there' so I was careful not to get lured in by detail and general fussiness. It's quite absorbing and intense working in this way as it's important to try and tune in and get to the heart of the subject. It's a one hit scenario where things can go right....or wrong! I like that tension though, it keeps me on my toes and makes it all the more satisfying when a painting works out. There seem to be a host of factors that influence the outcome of a plein air painting - the weather, changing light, things moving, tide getting too close to the easel etc! It's important to be focused and embrace the whole experience. After all, for me anyway, plein air painting is as much about the experience of being out there painting in the great outdoors as it is the end results. Even better when you can enjoy it all with a cracking of fellow plein air enthusiasts :o) More paintings to follow.

Plein air adventures from Cornwall

2011-05-23T08:46:00.000+11:30

Just returned from a 2 week painting trip to Sennen in Cornwall with a crew of plein air painting friends. What a trip! I'll post up shots of the paintings once I've had a chance to photograph them but have added a few action shots to give a flavour of the experience.

Such a treat to paint alongside fellow plein air enthusiasts and to see such amazing painting being produced 'in the moment'. It took a bit of planning but was well worth the effort and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Hopefully the first of many more group expeditions!

No time like the present - getting stuck in on the beach after driving down on day 1

The half day of drizzle offered up some interesting misty views of the bay!

Squinting for those tones!

Above - Tim King painting a little beauty on the cliff at Porthcurno

Above - finding some respite from the breezy clifftops at Mousehole harbour

Above - Tim in Ray Mears mode at Botallack :o)

Above - Valerie Pirlot paints a cracking spot near Botallack with a nice hole in the rock on the left!

Above - Valerie and Tim compare notes after catching some great scenes of the wilderness between Zennor Head and St Ives

Check out the sunset with lifeboat launch!

Above - David Bachman and Mike Richardson contentedly hard at work near Marazion. I never look that relaxed when I'm painting!

Tim indulges in a sneaky snack break whilst the others aren't looking!

Above - Anthony Bridge painting with intent!

Above - Somewhere in the distance it's Mike with his easel....'don't look down Mike!!'

David and Roy Connelly painting 'the gap' at Mousehole harbour

Ant and David with all the gear after a good plein air session on the beach and cliffs around Sennen

Mike at work on another cracker...this time from the cliffs at Kynance Cove.

'Where's my bloody prunes?' was a constant cry during week 1. Thankfully Mike found them at the back of the cupboard and we all breathed a sigh of relief :o)

Roy's a happy chappy with this scene in front of him.....moments like this make plein air painting feel so darn good...just the small matter of getting something down before it all disappears!!

One or two more

2011-05-08T09:18:00.000+11:30

It's been rather hectic lately but I have been trying to keep the momentum going whenever possible. This is a little rework of a previous plein air study I did of Blakeney harbour. I wasn't sold on the original compostion and feel this is a stronger design. I wanted to retain the sense of immediacy in the paint handling as if it had been done on location. It was painted alla prima in the studio one evening after work.

'Boats at Blakeney', 6x8, oil on board

I got up for this one before dawn and literally had about 15 mins to paint it before the sun burst fully over the horizon. Even with a 6x8 it seemed to be asking a lot but worth a shot. I thought the result was OK and have decided to work up a bigger version (14x18in) and ironing out some of the creases along the way (I feel the subtle balance of colours needs adjusting slightly). It's still only half painted so I'll leave the bigger piece for another post. The cows made a nice point of interest but I walked to the distant fields afterwards and got chased by a huge beast down the hill! He shoved his head into my rucksack a couple of times and luckily the slippery slope of the hillside deterred him from chasing me any further. Clearly an unwilling model!

Sunrise from Olney, 6x8, oil on board

I also managed to get a study of George Street done in Bath. It was all a bit of a blur as I'd had a long drive, it was pretty hot and really busy. Still, I thought I'd have a go and here's the result. By the time I'd finished the light had totally moved round an the distant buildings were in full sunlight.

Bluebells

2011-05-08T09:04:00.000+11:30

It's that time of year when the Blubells are out in full glory. I popped over to Ashridge near Ivinghoe Beacon to do a couple of colour studies. Looking at them now I think they might need a little tlc to get them fully resolved but I think the basics are there OK. I thought it might be worth showing a couple of pieces that weren't finished as such. I had some of Klimt's tree studies in the back of my mind when considering the compositional possibilities.

My main aim though was to avoid the 'chocolate box' view and give a sense of being there at that moment. It was the colours, lines and patterns of light that sparked my interest more than anything. The place was teaming with tourists and I had to work partly from observation and partly from memory as the light kept changing all the time. One minute a tree was lit up and the next it would be in full shadow!

inSPIREd by Oxford

2011-04-06T07:50:00.000+11:30

Those Oxford spires have lured me back over the last couple of weekends, helped along by some decent weather and a meet up with the UK Plein Air Society. It was great to meet up with the crew, compare notes over coffee and paint out together!

Oxford is such a great place to paint. The warm sun on the sandstone spires is superb, although it moves fast as it creeps over the buildings! It makes me realise how important it is to try and keep up with regular (daily) drawing so that there is little hesitation when making judgements at speed out in the field. I'm not aiming for detail, more the 'essence' of the place at that moment. It's tricky....sometimes elusive....but more satisftying than the purely literal (in my view anyway).

Hopefully I've managed to capture something worthwhile. Sometimes I feel like I've nailed it but others can fall short of expectations. It's par for the course though with plein air painting....one moment....one hit.....give it your best shot and you can't ask for any more than that!

This was REALLY tricky to paint. Such a busy scene with people, light and boats all moving and changing. Still, in for a penny and all that. I think I managed to simplify certain things without getting too fussy.....certainly no time for that! Whilst the subject is quite genteel, Tim and I were actually standing amongst an assortment of dubious litter and debris on the river bank opposite.

Outside the entrance to Christ Church College. The light was good, although moving swiftly. The guard seemed intrigued as to what I was up to (sorry about the light catching on the photo)

Looking towards the Radcliffe camera

Looking towards the church down Turl Street. I was keen not to overpitch the shadow values to prevent the dreaded 'veil of drabness' creeping in. Perhaps I should have pitched deeper but one can but try!

Evening light by the Randolph/Asmolean museum, 6x8in. This had to be done at speed but it was all about the tonal values. I wasn't too fussed about detail but I really wanted to try and judge the balance of tones in order to get the sense of light and atmosphere. The crazy thing was it took all of 40 minutes and the sun started behind the Randolph on the left and finished behind the Ashmolean on the right!

A couple of shots of me in action (thanks for taking them Valerie)

The umbrella stops the sun shining on the canvas which helps to stop me over compensating by making the darks too dark

Above: Getting my eye level sorted! You can see my little improvised panel raiser on the easel since the easel doesn't seem to account too well for taller artists :o)

A day out in Oxford

2011-03-15T09:26:00.001+11:30

On Saturday I headed to Oxford and was delighted to be joined by my friend Tim King. It makes quite a difference when you're out there with a fellow painter. Thankfully the sun was out and the place was teaming with tourists and visitors collecting students for the end of term. I think we chose one of the busiest spots in the city for the first piece, outside the gates of Trinity College. I found a nice angle looking across the road with Tim painting at the foot of the gates. The sun kept bobbing in and out but it didn't seem too bad with the easel umbrella providing shade for the work surface (otherwise the sun would have been fully on the painting). This is me painting the scene ( I had to stoop under the umbrella which was a tad tricky)

and this is Tim across the road...the view I was looking at

and with the sun out towards the end (by which time Tim had decided to start painting me painting him!)

The painting ended up like this

After some refreshments we then wandered around looking for somewhere a bit quieter. We eventually stumbled across a little back street near Pembroke college (Pembroke Square). It's just of the main street near the entrance to Christ Church college.I liked the light through a thin little alley and Tim fancied the view towards the main street with me painting in the foreground. It was a tricky subject as the light started to fade quite rapidly and I was feeling a bit tired. This is me setting up

and this was the view of the alley

I wish I'd included the red face of the foreground wall as I think it adds an interesting note of colour but at the time I was focused on the shapes created by the light bouncing onto the wall. I also wanted to say something about the amazing window on what I assume is Pembroke College in the distance. Here's how it ended up after about 90 mins (sorry about the glare on the drainpipe which is actually darker).

The leaning wall was quite a feature and made it feel much less contrived. Otherwise I suspect there would have been too many repititions of rectangles. This is why painting older cities is such a treat and even more so when you can do it alongside a painting buddy. It's hard to say whether what you've captured has hit the mark but one can only set up, have a go and enjoy being there in the moment. That's what it's all about for me.

Fruit and flowers.....

2011-03-15T09:01:00.000+11:30

I fancied a bit of a change of subject and thought I'd have a crack at a couple of little still life studies whilst the evenings are still rather dark. I can't wait to get out to catch a sunset or two after work!

I like to keep it simple and try to focus on the basics as I didn't really have the time to set up elaborate arrangments. Just something that sparks an interest and catches my attention. First up was a couple of conference pears done under a daylight lamp

I simply wanted to enjoy exploring the subject, looking at values, hues, edges, shapes etc. I was also trying to think about the nature of the marks on the surface and the impact they had on the painting. A good little exercise, whatever the outcome I guess. Check out some of the detail....

I then had a go at some snowdrops. A good job too as they'd wilted by the next morning! That was a little reminder to me that if something captures an interest then it's best to go for it there and then. I was a bit jaded after a day in the office but thought it would be worth a shot. Again, the emphasis was on studying the essentials and not fussing with detail. The light was different and the table really WAS that colour! I'm not sure if I'm totally sold on it but I did like the depth of contrast with the bright flowers

Heading back out....

2011-02-28T21:45:00.001+11:30

I thought it was high time I headed back outdoors to do some painting having spent the last couple of weeks 'wrestling' with some studio pieces. For me, painting outside is the ultimate in being connected to the moment. In the studio it can often feel like the plug has been disconnected. It's as though I need the energy of the subject to feed. It feels much more natural, instinctive and things seem to 'flow'. I'm looking forward to heading out more and more as the spring weather improves.

This was done in the rain yesterday on the bank of the river Ouse at Buckingham. I thought the weir was interesting but knew it would be tricky to make it balance with the rest of the piece. I searched for a spot that wasn't dependent on the sunshine as I knew there was some wet stuff heading in. It started raining after about 20 mins so I left the painting by a tree, went back to the car to get the easel umbrella and came back to carry on the session.

Passers by kept looking down at me from the bridge. 'Look at that crazy guy trying to paint in the rain' I could imagine them saying. One had a lovely red umbrella which I couldn't resist. It's such a great thing when little incidentals like that pop up. Little did they know they provided a nice focal point :o) I had to be careful with values and temperature. The balance is much more refined in overcast conditions. The trickiest part was probably the bridge, owing to the local colour of the bricks which were warm but in the cool light had to be carefully controlled. I wanted it to sit comfortably within its surroundings and try to say something about the moist veil of atmosphere.

The foaming water was also interesting and I was surprised by the amount of yellow there was under the frothy waves. It must come from the base of the river. I was pleased in the end that the painting had a coherence and I'd avoided the dreaded 'drabness' that can easily descend. This, unlike some of my recent studio pieces, will thankfully not be filed in the bin :o)

Reading and reflecting

2011-02-15T18:42:00.000+11:30

I've recently been using the winter weather and new studio as an opportunity to focus and reflect on my studio practice and work up a few pieces from my plein air studies. I should be able to post up some shots fairly soon. I think it's useful to balance studio work with painting outdoors as they can be quite different experiences. Outside, you end up getting absorbed in the motif and the moment and (for me anyway) the empahsis tends to be on observing the subject and translating into paint. It's important to have an idea or 'spark' though so that it's not just an exercise in copying what's there. Otherwise the results will sometimes be quite dull.

I've been reading a quite brilliant book by John F Carlson recently (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Landscape-Painting-J-F-Carlson/dp/0486229270/ref=pd_ys_iyr_img) and in it he says:

"We must not train our eyes to copy tone for tone but think of the bearing of such colors and harmonies upon the main idea of our picture"

This perhaps seems obvious but it can be easily forgotten when working on a painting, especially in the heat of the moment on location. Studio practice always seems to be more reflective wheras plein air painting is more instinctive. However, I think it is the quality of thinking that underpins the quality of the outcome in both cases. Technique almost becomes secondary, a tool to be used when called upon. Of course, good technique is important but I don't think it should be the entire story behind a painting. If the right thoughts can inform the right decisions then a better outcome is much more likely.

Provisional membership - Royal Institute of Oil Painters

2011-01-25T09:29:00.000+11:30

I was really chuffed to discover I'd been elected as a provisional member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters following on from the annual open exhibition in December. It's a great honour and I look forward to being an active member throughout the year. I've exhibited at the ROI show for the last 5 years in a row and enjoyed every one of them. It's a great motivator and certainly keeps me on my toes when attempting to have work selected from such a high quality field.

The likes of Whistler, Sickert, Fantin Latour and Rodin are past members and the current membership has a formidable spread of talent. No pressure then! Actually, I thrive on the challenge of producing better and better work. It's what draws me into painting....the process of developing and evolving. It's easy to get stuck and fall into a comfort zone but those ruts can be hard to escape from. Equipped with forethought, knowledge and experience it's about being immersed in the moment and making the very best I can of that moment.

Shiny new studio!

2011-01-17T10:23:00.000+11:30

This week I decided to blitz the studio and give it a re-vamp. Given how murky the weather is at the moment it seemed like a good use of time. I painted the walls in a paint that is designed to maximise the light (it has reflective particles!) and it's made a huge difference. The new shelving and picture rails are a real bonus too. I'm now looking forward to getting back to some proper painting (i.e. canvas instead of walls). Check out the video....my first posting of this type. It's quite overcast and daylight was fading fast so the studio doesn't look at it's brightest but it gives you an idea. I clearly need to work on my production/narration skills though!

Snowtime

2010-12-31T08:05:00.000+11:30

I was lucky to be able to catch a bit of snow action and am keeping my fingers crossed for more! I think the coldest session was done at about -4 degrees.....that was quite cold enough for me. I don't mind if it's snowing at the time as long as the flakes don't get onto the palette and painting and emulsify everything. Speaking of palettes, this is my current winter selection:

It's quite an 'earthy' mix, suited to the generally overcast conditions and loosely based on the palette used by Ricard Schmid. I've added raw umber and naples yellow as I find them really useful. Here I'm using my small pochade, built by my Dad, which is mounted onto a tripod. In the sicy conditions I found it better standing up to paint as it kept the feet warmer by moving around a bit.

The setup above was used in front of this scene below:

The camera doesn't really show what I saw in terms of colours/tones. For my painting I took a slightly closer view and in some ways I wish I'd had the French easel as I could have done a slightly wider format to get more in. Nevertheless, I got something down....no time to be fussy....

This was done nearby at Passenham, just a 10 minute walk from my house. It was overcast and VERY cold. I'd had enough after about 75 mins and tidied it up for an hour or so in the studio afterwards (once I'd defrosted!). The foreground was tricky because I wanted the eye to move into the distance without being distracted by the bits of undergrowth which, in reality, was more dense than I've depicted

I really made a conscious effort to try and pick up on the colours without making them seem too exaggerated. With the overcast conditions, it's easy to slip into a drab grey mode. I kept saying to myself....don't make it drab, keep the colours clean and fresh. Admittedly, my brush cleaning was a little more undisciplined than usual, owing to the conditions, but I used a large collection of brushes to compensate, swapping them over rather than messing about with too much cleaning.

The next one was just across the road at Calverton. Everywhere else was foggy but the faint sun tried it's best to make a brief appearance before the scene went really dull. Still, I tried to make the most of things and worked on a slightly bigger panel (roughly 8x14in).

Above, blocking in with an earthy mix to set the design in place. I've got the panel propped on a custom platform on the French easel as I find it doesn't stretch high enough when I'm standing up....I wish they made them go higher!!

and the painting....with a cameo from the car with headlights on the right

Finally, this one was done on Boxing day at Sawbridge in Warwickshire. I just drove out from Rugby to 'find somewhere rural'. Annoyingly, it had been glorious sunshine the day before but the clouds returned once more although a few slithers of light did make a short appearance to make things a bit more interesting. I liked the simplicity of the scene and the fact that the sheep looked so brown against the snow. There was a black sheep too which really stood out (I had to tone it down otherwise it would have stood out too much). This was a small 6x8, done standing up so a little fiddly to deal with.

Compare with the photo which doesn't tell the true story!

Blog makeover!

2010-12-28T09:33:00.000+11:30

This is the new, shiny 'Blogger' version of the blog which I've now updated with messages from the previous version. Google's Blogger looks pretty neat so hopefully it'll make things a bit easier for everyone, especially when it comes to adding comments and following the blog......hint....nudge...hint :o)

Snow (without sunshine!)

2010-12-08T08:14:00.000+11:30

We got off lightly with the snow here in Stony Stratford but I was determined to try to capture something before it all got washed away by the rain. I took a half day off work and nipped out to a local rural spot down the road from where I live (Passenham). It was freezing cold (-2 degrees) and I had to keep an eye on the hands and feet. Thermals were essential. It was overcast but that offers many advantages with the subtle colours and tones. I was keen not to exaggerate the colours and went for harmony as the key objective. I enjoyed the puff of smoke coming from the cottage chimney. This is the result after about 90 mins in the icy conditions!

The following day (Saturday) the forecast was for rain coming in so I thought I'd try to catch the last of the snow before it melted away. Just up the road towards Calverton I found a spot where the snow was clinging on and just as I squeezed the paint out it started raining! Luckily, I had the easel umbrella in the car so I hooked it up and painted like a madman before the light disappeared. Some interesting geometry in the this one and once again it was interesting to focus on the subtle colours and tones. There was an added bonus as the streetlights came on with a slow glow and a few cars with headlight reflections in the wet road. To complete the scene, a walker strolled by towards the end with a nice note of colour in his scarf :o) I only had about 75mins on this one before I was beaten by the light

Meat market with Art Convoy

2010-12-06T08:32:00.000+11:30

I recently spent a chilly Sunday painting at a spot down at Smithfield's meat market in London with a group known as Art Convoy who I came across on Facebook. They're a very nice bunch and it makes a refreshing change to be outside painting alongside other fellow artists. Hopefully there will be more outings to come in the future.

The piece I did was an interesting composition with radical shifts of light. I liked the cool light gently filtering in through the skylights in the roof curves. I also thought the puddles helped draw the sky down through the composition. I was conscious of trying to balance those shifts and make sure I got as close as I could with the colour temperatures. The phone boxes offered a bit of a challenge because their intense colour could easily have stole the show. Hopefully I got the balance somewhere near the right sort of level, tempered with a touch of viridian and ultramarine to knock it back slightly. It was great to see how the other artists approached the same subject. The somewhat 'unifinished' look I attribute to the grittier nature of the subject :o)

Compare my study with the photo below. Those telephone boxes don't half scream at you which is why I toned them down by adding Viridian. Notice too how the lights are totally bleached out by the camera. This is one of the reasons I much prefer painting directly from the subject. Couple that with the fact that I find working from photos a pretty dull affair. The energy of the moment is what guides me. I find the camera often kills the subject but it can be handy for reminders of details.

HMS Belfast

2010-12-06T08:25:00.000+11:30

I recently managed a visit to London and thought I'd head for Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast (something I've fancied painting for a while). I was limited with the kit I could carry so had to keep the scale reasonably small with the pochade (as opposed to French easel). It was a grey day but I find grey days can offer just as much if not more interest, especially in terms of colour which isn't cast into deep shadow or bleached out by the sun. To add a bit of spice to the challenge, HMS Belfast is painted with camouflage colours which make it blend with the surroundings......now there's a nice little painterly problem to solve.

It was more detailed than I imagined but I still tried to simplifiy things down. I didn't want to end up with a technical maritime piece...more a study of the subtle tone and colours. Hopefully I got some way there...it was cold though...the November wind really funnels along the Thames!

ROI 2010

2010-11-15T08:47:00.000+11:30

I'm really pleased to have had three paintings accepted into the Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2010 exhibition. Two snow scenes and a small summer twilight study got in! It always proves to be a top show and opens with a private view on December 7th.

Norfolk, Bath and a few more

2010-11-15T08:39:00.000+11:30

I've been trying to get out with the pochade/easel whilst the weather's been half decent. I managed to get a few pieces done along the north Norfolk coast recently (see Gallery 1 in the Gallery), together with a few done at the opening weekend on the The Bath Prize (Gallery 3 in the Gallery). Yesterday I popped to London and did a little study along the Thames which I'll post up once it's dry enough to photograph!

Recent ones I really enjoyed:

Above - Birch trees painted on Kelling Heath in Norfolk just over a week ago. Couldn't resist the white bark against the autumn colours. It was interesting to do because it needed a good deal of concentration to simplify the shapes and colours without getting bogged down in any detail. The sun kept coming in and out too which made it tricky!

Above, Blakeney in November! Didn't even need the thermals :o)

Above, Weybourne looking inland from the pebble beach on a grey day. Lovely subtle colours to work with and the added bonus of the Sherringham steam train passing in the distance....a nice stroke of luck

Golden umbrella!

2010-10-08T07:48:00.000+11:30

A picture of me, my painting and the 'Golden umbrella' I received at The Bath Prize (no, it wasn't raining inside). Thanks to Adebanji, last year's plein air award winner and one of thi-s year's judges, for taking the shot!

Bath Prize winner!

2010-09-29T08:15:00.000+11:30

Chuffed to discover I'd won 2 prizes at the Bath Prize. It was great to be at the prize giving on Friday and meet all the artists. I entered 7 plein air pieces in total and won 'Best Plein Air' with this piece:

Rainy day down Broad Street (oil on board, plein air)

and this one won 'Best Small Painting':

Sharp Showers, Laura Place (oil on board, plein air)

Funny how both the ones done in the pouring rain did so well! Thankfully I had my easel umbrella. In recognition of battling with the elements I was also awarded the amusingly titled 'golden umbrella'!

Personally, I think there's a strong swell of plein air painting emerging in this country. It's about time we showed what we can acheive. It was great to see artists such as Adebanji Aladeand Roy Connelly there, both of whom are highly skilled plein air artists.

The show is on at the Octagon in Bath until October 9th. Well worth a visit if you can get to Bath with loads of top quality works based on Bath. Here's my other entries for the show:

Looking down on London Road (oil on board, plein air)

Roman Baths from Swallow Street (oil on board, plein air)

Evening light, Lansdown Road (oil on board, plein air)

Camden Crescent (oil on board, plein air)

Amongst the veg

2010-08-27T19:46:00.000+11:30

I really like the allotments at Wing. It's one of the few plots that has public access running through it and there are some nice distant views of the Aylesbury Vale. I could think of worse places to grow your onions. This painting focused on a single plot on a cloudy day so the light was cool and steady.

Fruity

2010-08-26T19:51:00.000+11:30

Too good to eat...

Back to Whaddon

2010-08-26T19:50:00.000+11:30

This spot caught my eye and the sunset was quite hazy. This meant I could look at it without being blinded by the sun too much! I painted the ground first and waited until the sky became a bit more interesting.

Twilight

2010-07-16T19:53:00.000+11:30

I was keen to do a small, wide format of the view from Whaddon at twilight, whilst the fields were nice and ripe. It was quite a challenge to get the balance of colours and values. As ever, the light seemed to change almost every time I looked up but the hardest part was getting the sky colours to read sensibly as paint. I found I didn't need to actually paint the sun as bright as it is (which would be impossible anyway!) by controlling the colours around it.

Paint till the cows come home....

2010-07-12T19:55:00.000+11:30

End of the day, warm sunlight, itching to get out and paint, thought it would be a nice challenge to paint the moving cows and fading light! Actually, it was fun, high energy stuff. Rough round the edges, perhaps a little crude but who cares! Soaking up the moment, that's what it's all about. Check out the strokes in the grass.

...and as this pair of curious moos came towards me I couldn't resist....

Summer evening

2010-06-15T19:59:00.000+11:30

After the hustle and bustle of London it's nice to get out amongst the fields and enjoy the fresh air. This was a quick one as the light kept changing evey few minutes. It was looking west from Whaddon in Bucks and I stumbled across it after heading out in the car from Stony Stratford. I tried to keep in mind a particular cloud structure otherwise I'd have ended up repainting it several times. I liked the heavy clouds contrasting against the warm light and the yellow flowers offered some nice interest in the foreground. I tried my best to keep the colours clean/fresh whilst working fast. The yellow flowers were mainly painted before the grass so they retained their colour strength and didn't get 'infected' by the surrounding green.

I used a small 6x8 textured linen panel, kindly given to me by my artist friend Karl Terry. Nice surface to work on and not too absorbent (unlike a other kinds of textured panels). I thought it would be peaceful but it was right next to a sheep station and they made a heck of a din. Still, at least there weren't any cockerels!!

Inspired by London

2010-06-07T20:08:00.000+11:30

I've recently become interested in London and what it has to offer in terms of light and architecture. It lends itself well to 'tonal' painting which I seem to veer towards. I took the week off work and spent 4 days in the capital last week. It was great! Really hot and the heavy backpack was a bit of a burden but it was well worth the effort.

I made a point of indentifying potential locations in advance so that I wouldn't expend too much energy searching around for a subject. First off, I hit the area around Bank and the Royal Exchange, following in the footsteps of my 'hero' Ken Howard!

I was lucky to be there on a Bank holiday when all the city workers were away. This one was done round the corner opposite the Bank of England...

The drawing is deceptively complex but there's no time to dither. After doing quick thumbnail sketch in my sketchpad to work out the basic coposition I want I go straight in with a thin wash to map out the position of the key elements. Then it's a question of establishing relationships...colour, tone etc. I try to get in the zone where I forget what I'm painting and see it in more abstract terms, attempting to pull things together to make a coherent whole. I really enjoyed painting these and will certainly be back for many more.

Tower bridge

2010-06-07T20:04:00.000+11:30

This was a roasting hot day but I knew the light would be good in the afternoon. The first one was done at about 3pm and because of the full sun the colours were quite strong. I've seen Ken Howard paint from this sort of position and wanted to give it a go myself. I was quite conscious of making the composition asymetrical despite there being a strong inherent symmetry to the twin towered bridge

I was really roasting after the first painting but on my way back I bumped into 3 guys from the Wapping Group who were out painting from a spot a bit closer to the bridge. The light was getting quite interesting and I decided to seize the moment and paint alongside fellow artists! It was a good decision. Really enjoyed it, despite feeling a little jaded.

The scene became almost monochromatic as the sun moved round but I stuck with the initial impression I got at the start otherwise I would have ended up painting a new scene over the old one! The key to getting the light to register on the water was to pitch the general tone of the river low enough to contrast against it.

Hammersmith bridge

2010-06-07T20:02:00.000+11:30

This was my third day of the week down in London. Once again it was roasting hot but after a bit of time surveying the area I found a nice spot that was semi shaded. I wanted a composition that would make the most of the thrusting geometry created by the bridge and was fortunate that the light was good.

The painting was done at about 1pm and I got some positive comments from passers by. Even though the sun was high it moved quickly and the shadow cast under the bridge changed it's position quite dramatically as I worked. As with the other paintings, I made sure the canvas was turned away from the sun so that I didn't have direct sun shining on the surface. This can skew your value judgements and you end up overcompensating, making darks darker than they should be. I was pleased with the result and hope to do a bigger version at some point. I might return to the spot with a larger canvas to start things off.

Evening light

2010-06-06T20:12:00.000+11:30

I love those warm, clear summer evenings when the landscape is bathed in the fast fading sunlight. This little study was done in some nearby field by the road just outside the village of Castlethorpe. I had to work at lightning speed. The scene seemed to change every 5 minutes. It was a bit of a frenzy but I really enjoyed the challenge of it all. I tried to be as decisive about the colours/tones as possible so that I didn't have to keep revising what I'd put down. This helps keep things clean and fresh (to a point, anyway). After 25 minutes or so the sun had moved from one side of the tree to the outside of the other!

I'm hoping to work up a bigger version based on this one back in the studio. I actually find that much more difficult as I don't have the energy of the subject to feed off. My mark making and colour mixing are more instictive when working on location. Nevertheless, I think I'll still give it a go as the subject is so enticing.

More sketches

2010-04-23T20:15:00.000+11:30

A few recent sketches. I much prefer the small, rapid studies but sometimes I get pulled back into more detail. My ultimate aim is to aim for the essence of the moment captured with a burst of intense focus. Can be hit and miss but full of energy!

(Another lunch hour mini sketch from the refectory at work)

(Trafalgar Square in a matter of minutes!)

(lunch hour study of a street in Woburn Sands)

and then the usual stuff I get drawn into sometimes...

Me and my scarf

2010-04-11T20:22:00.000+11:30

Funny how a small prop can add a new dimension to an image. I love the way artists like Sargent used scarves and collars to make dynamic compositions. I can assure you these drawings aren't motivated by vanity :o)

The kind of drawings I actually prefer doing these days are the rapid, 'snatched' moments where I don't get much time to think. It's all about being aborbed in the here and now, focused, uninhibited by doubt or hesitation. Who was it who said 'Our doubts are our traitors'? The results can be hit and miss but the process is far more rewarding

Saturday stream

2010-02-27T08:11:00.000+11:30

Managed to get out into the sunshine on Saturday and painted a nearby stream which feeds into the Ouse. It was cold but so nice to be outdoors amongst the elements. A little furry creature swam across the water a couple of times but I'm not sure what it was. It didn't seem to mind me hanging around for a while anyway.

I liked the lines/shapes of the overhanging branch and reflections. The sun kept popping in and out which made it tricky but sometimes you have to rely on a bit of memory. The key is to observe with intent so that you have the information safely tucked away! This isn't something I've mastered but practicing is certainly the best way to improve. Anyway, here's the pics....

and here's the furry friend....

Self reflection

2010-02-01T08:20:00.000+11:30

A few more self portraits...practice, practice, practice....

Snow paintings emerging

2010-02-01T08:12:00.000+11:30

Well, I've been tackling a few of the snow studies and hope to get them wrapped up soon. I don't find the rural landscape so interesting at this time of year (lots of dreary browns) so it's nice to have all the light and colour to work with.

I've tried my best to keep things loose and fresh but I find it quite tricky. I'm determined to persevere because I don't want to be a slave to detail and have to 'render' everything. It's not that I'm lazy...it's just that I don't think it's so important anymore. Proof will be in the pudding I guess!

This was a cloudier day but I stumbled across this little scene and enjoyed the more subdued light. The sheep made a little cameo at the top of the hill for a nice ending touch! The original location study is shown below and hopefully you'll agree the studio piece (above) has ironed out a few of the compositional creases (in my defence it was so cold I didn't have much time to think about the composition on the day!)

and finally for now, a scene with light through the trees by the river. I did another location study of these trees before the snow arrived and thought it would be interestng to contrast the two. I'm hoping to work up both pieces into more resolved pieces at some point but hopefully you can get an idea from these pieces.

Still life

2009-12-25T09:05:00.000+11:30

Following on from thoughts of Manet and his fruit...a little sketch of a pear and banana to show. Nothing special or profound but an interesting study to have a go at. I find these little observational pieces quite relaxing to do. I liked the shapes, particularly the negative spaces, using the tombow pens to wash in tone together with pencil work for quick hatching and some cleaner lines....

You looking at me?

2009-12-25T08:38:00.000+11:30

A few self portrait exercises to stop the art brain getting flabby! To be honest, I'd rather sketch other people but I'm a very patient model :O)

and a couple of quickfire lunchtime studies for good measure...

It's snow time!

2009-12-25T08:33:00.000+11:30

Wow. The snow in the sun was amazing but the weather closed in fast. Just a small window of opportunity to get something down. Forgot to put a card in my camera so I'll have to rely on these oil sketches and memory for any new versions. Probably not a bad thing....photos have a habit of leading me astray!

This is my favourite and the least, erm, polished. Just goes to show you don't need lots of detail to achieve an end result. Less is certainly more in this case. I had about 30 minutes to get it down having just painted a panel facing the other direction (see below). I wasn't sure whether to bother but I'm glad I did. The colours were amazing and seemed to change every time I looked!

This one worked quite well (facing the other way before the sun started going down) and I enjoyed working on a linen canvas panel. The sheep made a nice point of interest and they're definitely less white than you'd think!

The composition on this one wasn't so strong but I think I can tweak the format and use the sketch to work up something more balanced (in terms of shape and colour/value distribution). It was REALLY cold when I did this one...2 pairs of gloves were needed towards the end! Thankfully I had a flask of milky coffee.

ROI Paint evening

2009-11-12T08:44:00.000+11:30

Great to see all the artists doing their stuff. The heady smell of turps in the air. You can learn a great deal from just watching (as I did...although I couldn't resist getting the skebook out). Enjoyed meeting the likes of Adebanji Adelade. He paints with great energy.

(David Curtis had a good position and really 'caught' the model)

I also discovered I'd sold both paintings which was a bonus. We love red stickers :o)

and I really liked these winter scenes from the Winsor and Newton under 35's category...

A few drawings

2009-11-09T08:52:00.000+11:30

Sketching makes me happy :o)

New home!

2009-01-25T09:03:00.000+11:30

I seem to be buying a house. Not sure how it happened but a nice little Victorian terrace 2 doors up came back on the market and the next thing I know I'm applying for a mortgage! It needs loads of work (e.g. no heating at present, bedroom converting to bathroom and much more) so I suspect I won't get nearly as much painting done as I would like in the coming months :o(

Even so, the painting and drawing will certainly be continuing, not least serving as a welcome relief from all the renovation mayhem. I've got a handful of paintings to finish off and they'll be going up on the site soon. I've been reading an interesting book on Manet recently (Manet by himself - Wilson-Bareau). I LOVE his still lifes of flowers. They are so delicate and sensitive. The book is full of his own quotes/thoughts and that gives such an insight into the artist, not unlike the way a blog can! Anyway, I liked one of his quotes:

"An artist can say everything with fruit or flowers, or simply with clouds...."

How very true. Grand images do not have to be grand subjects!