A Bit More Colour

I felt that I had become a little too tonal in some of my recent plein air paintings, so I deliberately pushed myself to see the colours in the close to neutral greys this morning, and then pushed those differences a little. Fairly pleased with the results.

For the first one, I just got out of my car and the light stopped me in my tracks looking up towards this local landmark. I think it was possibly a "mass rock" during the the Irish "penal laws" when Catholic services were deemed illegal. There are still occasional religious services held there - must find out more - so the title is temporary.

Mystic Morning, Forth Mountain
(10" x 12" Oil on Board)

For my second, I went further up the track and painted a rock outcrop I've done several times before, but the hazy backlight made it really striking, so I was happy to paint it yet again.

Hazy Morning, Forth Mountain
(10" x 12" Oil on Board)

These are photos of both scenes:-

A Couple of Larger Plein Airs

Our plein air group returned to the beautiful little village of Clonegal, Co Carlow yesterday, partly because it is such a beautiful location, but also because Ireland's main TV station was doing a piece on us for an upcoming show. Yours truly, being a modest fellow, shunned the camera and basically hid in the bushes, but they may have caught me munching on a sandwich at lunch! It was an overcast, but dry and calm day, so I decided to go for my seasonal larger plein airs. The driveway up to the castle still looked impressive in the overcast conditions, so I did that first, adding a few figures for interest.

Towards the Castle, Clonegal
(16" x 20" oil on Canvas)

In the afternoon most of us went up to the main gardens in Huntington Castle. The sun made an effort to peep through so I went for a sort of non-directional hazy light effect with my second. I must find out why there is something that obviously housed a bell on top of what is now just a shed at the back of the castle. Regardless, it was the colour on the roof that caught my eye here.

Wild Flowers, Huntington Castle Estate, Clonegal
(18" x 14" Oil on Canvas)

Here are a couple of photos of both scenes:-

JFK Arboretum Paint-Out

Our plein air group had a paint-out yesterday to JFK Arboretum (near the ancestral home of President John F Kennedy in South West Wexford). A beautiful place when you get a lovely sunny day like yesterday. It also has the advantage of having the more windswept and rugged Sliabh Coillte park nearby. We got a really good turn-out for mid-April and it was great to have quite a few new artists join our group.

I decided to capture some of the beautiful spring colour in the arboretum for my first.

Spring Colour, JFK Arboretum 
(14" x 11" Oil on Board)

I went across the road to Sliabh Coillte in the afternoon, and wasted a lot of time just looking for something to paint that I hadn't done there recently. Eventually, I settled for this panoramic view looking West from the summit. I had to re-arrange the foreground somewhat more than usual, but the perfect scene can be hard to find sometimes.

Down Towards the Barrow, Sliabh Coillte
(11" x 14" Oil on Board)

Here are some photos of both scenes:-

Website Update

I'd much prefer to be painting, but my website needed a bit of an overaul, so I've spent almost two days updating it.

I've added a lot of recent work and have also added a new collection "Field Studies", mostly stuff painted quickly plein air, with the sole intention of capturing light effects for subsequent studio paintings. The latter are very keenly priced compared to my other original work. It is also now possible to purchase paintings electronically through the website (my website uses Paypal, but you don't need a Paypal account to make a purchase; most major credit cards are accepted).

Take a look at http://www.michaelmcguireart.com/.

Paint-Out in Clonegal

Our plein air group SEPA, had a paint-out in the picturesque little village of Clonegal yesterday. We were fortunate to get a beautiful sunny day, once the morning fog cleared. We had a lot of new faces at the paint-out, so our little group grows from strength to strength. I took it easy and just did two paintings, but I'm fairly pleased with both of them.

I did the first one at the river bank, facing the sun. Almost went blind with the sparkle on the water when the sun came out fully!

The Bridge, Clonegal
(12" x 10" Oil on Board)

The owners of the Castle in Clonegal were kind enough to allow us paint in the fabulous grounds, so I decided to "paint the obvious" in the afternoon. But it was really the strong backlighting which grabbed my attention.

Huntington Castle, Clonegal
(14" x 11" Oil on Board)

These are photos of both scenes:-

Sliabh Coillte Again!

Our fine settled spell of weather is still with us, so I decided to head to Sliabh Coillte for another panoramic painting. Much more hazy today and it was morning with the sun to my left, so a little less atmospheric bluing with distance. I worked on a larger canvas than last time so as to have better control. These kind of scenes require very subtle separation of values and chroma between and within masses, and it is easier to do on a larger canvas as opposed to a pochade size panel.

Spring Morning, Sliabh Coillte
(12" x 16" Oil on Canvas)

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

A Summer's Day in March!

Yesterday was just beautiful here, clear blue sky all day, and barely a breeze. Temepratures not too bad either, got up to about 10C (50F). So I made the best of the conditions and drove to place called "Sliabh Coillte" about a half hour drive from my home. Great views from there on a clear day, but if it's windy, not the place to spend a day painting! I got three almost finished on location, and then spent about twenty minutes or so on each of them in the studio this afternoon.

I couldn't resist these old farm buildings enhanced by the strong backlighting:-

Morning Glow, Near Sliabh Coillte
(10" x 12" Oil on Canvas)

For my second, I drove about half way up the hill, and this patchwork of fields dissappearing into the afternoon haze caught my eye:-


Afternoon Haze, Sliabh Coillte
(10" x 12" Oil on Canvas)

I was on my way home when this view on the way down tempted me into doing a third one:-

Evening Shadows, Sliabh Coillte
(10" x 12" Oil on Canvas)

These are photos of the three scenes taken before I started painting:-