Second Group Paint-Out of 2011

We got a fairly pleasant spring day here yesterday, so at short notice, we managed to get five artists out for a group paint-out. I felt a bit rusty and my first was a wipe out. However, I got a lot down in about an hour or so for my second one,  before rushing home to watch Ireland v Scotland in the "Six Nations" rugby championship (and we won, but only just!). Finished it in the studio this morning, just brightened it up a little and softened a few edges here and there.

Low Tide, South Slob, Wexford
(12" x 10" Oil on Board)

This is a photo of the scene, taken before I started painting:-

SEPA Group Paint-Out February 13th

Our local plein air group, South East Plein Air (SEPA) had its second outing of 2011 yesterday to the picturesque village of Blackwater. Unfortunately, most of the day was dull and grey with occasional rain, making the village rather dull and lifeless as a result. I decided to go to nearby Ballyconnigar Beach instead in the morning and then joined the others on the banks of the Blackwater River about a mile downstream of the village in the afternoon.

It was wet and windy at the seaside, but their was great wave action, so I decided to do a little study of the water.

Rough Sea, Ballyconnigar
(10" x 12" Oil on Canvas)

The river was in flood and it was overcast in the afternoon, so I had to look hard to find some interesting patterns in the water. But there was some nice magenta colour in the bare background trees which worked well against the dull green of the water.


Winter Flood, River Blackwater, Wexford
(12" x 10" Oil on Board)

The photos show that I had to work hard to find some colour, but of course the camera usually fails miserably to capture the colours of nature.