An Almost Alla Prima

I am sorry not to have posted more or to visit any blogs for what seems like an age.  I have had a nasty virus that knocked me sideways as well as a lot of demands on my time. 

It is very frustrating when things conspire against me to keep me away from the paintings and makes it very difficult to get back into a painting.

The two was working on from old sketches are still being worked on in my usual layer by layer approach which suits the small blocks of time that I usually have available.  But yesterday I had a whole day free to paint and decided to retry one of them on a larger scale and in a looser way, with lots of paint and large brushes.

It is oil on board and is 16 x 16".  I was aiming to finish it in one session, but I had so much paint on it and it got so wet that I have to leave it to dry enough for additionall touches, particularly in the sky area.  Even today it is too wet!

Almost There!

Well, I thought I had finished this, but I hid it from myself for a while and then took a long, hard, critical look at it this morning.

I want to do a few more things to it (not much) and then call it done - it is on its way to the framers on Tuesday ready for exhibiting next month.

In 50 Years - Progress

I have had another busy time of it - mostly social, but also work-related.  I have worked some more on my painting and here is where I am at now, ready to start painting some more of the detail and establishing the light areas.

After Saturday's obligation is over, my diary will finally free up for some serious painting, which is just as well as I have many exhibtions and commitments to fulfill over the next 6 months.

In 50 Years - let us begin

I have blocked in my next painting in the theme of "In 50 Years" - it is a local view that one day in the distant future may be developed with housing and/or windfarms.


It is another 3 foot wide painting, and I have just put in the larger blocks of colour for now.  Can hardly wait to develop it some more (although, oddly, I rather like it at this flat stage).

One Finished and New Ones to Start

Since returning from my holiday to visit family, I have been busy at work (one always pays for time off, I find) and I have also had an unexpected visitor staying, so my painting time has suffered slightly.


I did manage to finish my Panorama landscape and it is up on my wall awaiting final touches and varnishing:

 

I hinted that I may be starting another big project and I have been quietly gathering my thoughts and resources, sketching out ideas and making Plans for this project.  It is to tie in with my Art Journal and the subject title is "In 50 Years".  I plan to do some landscapes on the subject of changes over the past 50 years and possible changes over the next 50 years (exploring threats to the environment, in particular).  The body of work is to include sketches, photos and paintings (maybe even some film/sound pieces) and I am very excited to get started on this proper.  I have some promised paintings and commissions to clear out of the way, but will begin to post my ideas on this blog soon.

In the meantime, autumn is beginning to happen here in Scotland and I know I shall have to get out in the countryside for some plein air painting as the colours will be irresistable.  

On this subject, I painted this scene from my back window in spring and feel I would enjoy painting an autumn scene now that the colours are changing.  This is a week ago and already the changes are beginning to show.

The rest of today, I shall be painting, but this evening I shall visit your blogs to catch up on your posts!

Book Review - Painting Light in Oils by Peter Wileman & Malcolm Allsop

Painting Light in Oils
Peter Wileman & Malcolm Allsop
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Batsford 
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1906388725
ISBN-13: 978-1906388720
10.1 x 9.1 x 0.7 inches

This beautifully illustrated book arrived while I was away and was a great treat to return home to.

Peter Wileman shows his way of working and how he managed to get such beautiful light in his glorious paintings.

Here is a page showing how he pre-mixes his colours and places them around his palette.

It is a delightful and informative book and I can recommend it to anyone who wants to capture light.

The book is stunning and shows a mixture of landscape, seascape, portrait and even some still-life paintings.

Edited to add (Sun 28th Aug):  The Royal Institute of Oil Painters have a much better review on their blog with lots of clear photos of some of the paintings!

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. 

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!

Bluebell Woods, Finished

I am so pleased to have this painting finished, it was a lot of work, with many twists and turns and a heck of a lot of learning in it!

The scene is of some beautiful traditional bluebell woods in Murthly, Perthshire, made famous by the pre-raphaelites, in particular, John Everett Millais who painted in Murthly.

And here it is in all its stages, missing out the scraped off, one step forward and two back, stages!