Monday, May 9, 2011

The Last Day!

Well Day 5 of my West Kerry painting trip! And what a day it turned out to be, not a cloud in the sky all day, and the Atlantic looking a Mediterranean turquoise blue. I arrived at Coumeenole at about 8-00am, and did this one looking South over the beach.

Going Surfing, Coumeenoole
(12" x 10" Oil on Board)



I just walked over to the far side of Dunmore Head for my second one, but brought two panels with me, since I planned to complete two before returning to my car. I was amazed at the colour of the sea - I don't think I've ever seen the sea this colour in Ireland.

Towards Dunquin (From Dunmore Head)
(10" x 12" Oil on Board)









Things went a bit downhill after that. For some reason which escapes me, I decided to walk right out to the Western tip of Dunmore Head (that means climbing as well as walking), lugging all my gear plus a wet painting. When I got out there, it wasn't particularly inspiring, so I just settled for painting what was in front of me (rarely a good idea). A couple of hours later, I realised that I now had quite a long hike back, this time with two wet painting (and no carrier box)! I must have been a sorry sight trudging towards my car about an hour later! This was not quite the end to the week I had in mind, but a well deserved pint of Guinness when I got home cheered me up a bit!

I tried to "rescue" the painting by adding the figures later, but it is still probably the weakest of the series. I like the title though.

"The End", Dunmore Head
(10" x 12" Oil on Board)









Here are some photos of the scenes:-





















4 comments:

Unknown said...

I've just loved the whole of this series. Your depiction of the varying moods matched with clever colour choices has created a unique glimpse of what there is to experience in the West.

One little query, why did you edit out the line of rocks that appear half way along the beach in your first photograph?

Michael McGuire said...

Glad you enjoyed it, Mick. My guess is that I felt that the scene would have become a little too fussy if I left that in. Also, I don't like stuff which cuts across the viewer's path into the painting. But I still left a hint of it in the nearer part of the beach which is where it would have been with a slightly different viewing angle (just in case it's a local landmark). There's a similar rock on a beach in Wexford, called the Monkey's Rock, and I daren't leave that out!

Thanks for looking and commenting, Mick. Hope you make it over to Wexford sometime.

Unknown said...

awesome work this week,Michael, all winners..

Michael McGuire said...

Thanks Dominic. I must do something like this more often. It's too easy to get caught in a rut when you get overly-familar with favoured painting spots.