New Canvas Works

I am continuing to work on the ideas from my mindfulness sketchbook pages.  I am still working on the boundaries in the landscape subject and the sketchbook pages are an extension of that. 

I am specifically looking at the shapes that fields form, I love how no matter how hard the farmer tries, they are never square due to things like hillocks, burns, buildings, pylons, rocks, uneven ground.  The shapes of the fields are endlessly fascinating to me.

So drawing those shapes and expanding on them became a great exercise in meditation and the results are now creeping into my everyday work.

It is harder to go bigger, so I am doing it gradually, from 6 or 7 inch square in my previous post to one that is 10inches square and one that is 16inches square.  I am challenging myself with the square format to see how the shapes work.  I don't want them plonked in the middle, so I am experimenting with the placement of them as well.  I also want to do some long thin formats too.

More ideas than time, as usual!

The first one is more or less finished, it is 10"x10" and very precise.  I worked in a very strict, planned manner, drawing things out before transferring them to the canvas and keeping the paint as even as I could.

The second one, is still in progress, sorry for the slightly fuzzy photo, even though we have daylight until the wee hours here in Scotland, we do have cloud and that has reduced the light quality. 

Here I have worked in a much more intuitive way, applying paint, oil pastel and charcoal and letting the shapes form themselves.  I am also applying the paint in a more textured manner.  Although much harder to work this way, I do find it more satisfying and more painterly.

I still have a way to go with this, but I like how it is progressing.

Summer of Colour - Wk 1

The colours for this week are two blues and a green.  I was afraid this was a bit unexciting for me, but by mixing my own blues and by making a nice bright green, I felt the colour addict within me was satisfied.

I mixed ultramarine blue with a little paynes grey for the darker blue, then I  mixed cerulean blue with a little white for a contrasting blue.  For the green, I used pthalo turquoise with lemon yellow.

Sketchbook - Finished

I decided to work in my sketchbook and on a small canvas (10" x 15"), the sketchbook is finished, but the canvas has more work to be done on it.

The Canvas - Work in Progress

Serendipity in Art

It is great to let go of the control-freak inside (well, sometimes).  I was prepping some paper ready for painting and just love what happened here. 

What I am trying to achieve is a sense of perspective in this painting.  You have to imagine it upside down for this, I wanted texture of cracks and creases, with finer ones in the distance (top of the painting) and I wanted harder, larger ones in the foreground (bottom of the painting), so I used tissue for the finer ones and dug out an old fax roll for the harder creases.

Pleased with that aspect of the work, I then applied some lettering through a stencil using texture paste.  Now, texture paste takes ages to dry and I am impatient, I wanted to get started asap, so I blasted it with the hairdryer.  (sidenote here, I have managed to blow out one hairdryer in six months by using it in the studio, but it was an old one).

As I moved the hairdryer over the lettering, I noticed that the fax paper was beginning to darken, even after I stopped.

I thought it looked rather interesting like this, but even so, I will be painting over it.  At least I know how to achieve this effect if I ever want to!

Another Progress Shot

Although I have only been able to work in small portions of time, a little progress has been made on my painting, I still have much to do.

Hopefully, I will find a bit more time at the weekend and get around your blogs too.

Gone Painting

Actually, in truth I will be away for a few days visiting family and celebrating my birthday and although my sketchbook will be coming with me, I am quite certain, not much art will get done.  I am even not taking my DSLR nor laptop!

I will take my new-fangled mobile phone with me which will keep me entertained during the (long) train journey when I shall be reading and commenting on all of your blogs.

I had intended to finish my panoramic landscape, but after a bit more reworking of the foreground fields it is too wet to finish the sheep I had painted in,  those few touches will get finished on my return.  I had intended to show you this image of the stages at the end, but thought I would post it now instead.

When I get back, I am going to start a big landscape project I have in mind, but I shall talk more about that in a future post.

See you soon!

Landscape Progress

Just a quick update and an apology to everyone for my slackness in replying and commenting on blogs - it has been very busy here these past few days and I am just beginning to catch up now.

I managed a little amount of time on my landscape and here is where I am at currently:

I still have the foreground fields to work on, a bit of reworking in the sky and some other highlights to be added.

It is nearing completion!

Thank you very much for stopping by my blog and for taking the time to comment, it really means a lot to me to have your encouragement.

More Progress and a New One

Thanks for the lovely comments on my landscape piece, it is still coming along nicely and I am really enjoying working on it.  Here it is as of last night:

There is much more I need to do on this still.  As it is quite large, I am working from top to bottom rather than all over like I usually do and I still have much of the foreground to put in.  Once it has dried enough I shall work all over it again, refining it further.  

On Saturday, I was unable to work on it once I had got some colour in, so I began my next painting, here it is just sketched in with a burnt sienna wash:

As I don't like to use solvents or any other quick drying medium, just linseed if I need the paint to spread easier, drying time is a bit longer, so something else to work on may help my productivity.  

Having said that, I feel that having a larger piece may mean that I can work on different areas while the other dries. 

A Bit More Progress

I managed a bit more on the landscape, I worked a fair bit on the sky but it still needs some attention, plus I blocked in some of the fields and trees.  It is now beginning to look a little less purple!

Tomorrow, I may post the beginnings of another similar format painting that I have begun to draw out.  I need something else to work on while the layers dry.

Panorama Landscape WIP2

Thankyou very much all of you who have left such positive feedback on my newest landscape.

Here is a bit more work on it, I completely changed the sky as I thought the clouds were a bit too pointy and unrealistic.

This is it just blocked in and I will add the lighter parts of the clouds in a day or two.  I am having great time working at this size and format - and on canvas, for a change!

New Painting on the Easel

I have begun the next painting and got the underpainting all blocked in.  Once it is dry I can begin to get working on it straight away.

It is on canvas for a change and is 30cm x 100cm (1foot x 3feet).  I am using purple as the under colour so it shows through in the shadows (I hope).