A Cold Day at the South Slobs

Our first group paint-out of 2013 yesterday. It was reasonably mild and sunny for February, but there was a strong and quited cold South East wind coming off the Irish Sea. Since the Slobs are very exposed, it was far from pleasant out there! Still it was great to get back out painting again (I have become a little too fond of warm studios!).

Just the one little painting then, before the cold went through me. I had to play around quite a lot with the puddles/tractor ruts to make and interesting lead-in pattern.

Winter Morning, South Slobs, Wexford
(11" x 14" Oil on MDF Board)

 

 

 

 

This is a photo of the not overly-impressive scene:-

 

 

Yesterday's Lifedrawing Long Pose

Great to get a chance to paint a live model for a almost three hours yesterday afternoon. I will get back to plein air landscape work soon, but I'm really beginning to enjoy this genre too.

Catherine at the "Swallows Nest Studio"
(20" x 15" Oil on Board)

Back Out There Again

After a few weeks break from plein air painting, I finally was persuaded to get back out there yesterday. I joined a few friends at historic Tintern Abbey for a very enjoyable morning. It was overcastr and cool but not really that cold (6-7C). I love winter scenes like this one, as I feel they are more representative of the Irish winter (at least of the ones we used to get) than those with the dreaded white stuff that we've been getting a little too aften lately!

I discovered also that the Irish midge is quite happy at temperatures of 6-7C. When I got home I discovered a line of bites along my forehead, and I assume also on other parts of my anatomy which are harder to see in a mirror!

Winter Morning, Tintern Abbey
(10" x 12" Oil on MDF Board)

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

When is a Painting Finished?

Well I have a smart answer to that, which goes "When it's sold"! But then again, for most painters, I suppose there's some truth in it, and, in my case, quite a lot. I've often returned to a painting months after I initially deemed it finished and gone on to make significant changes. But usually they are only fairly minor tweaks. In the case of the one below, I've fallen somewhere in the middle following some constructive critique from painting frineds.

So hopefully, I find a buyer quickly, because I think I've tweaked this one enough!

Finished - at Last!

I started working on this painting in the lobby of Cedars Hotel, Rosslare, while exhibiting there in September. I sort of lost interest in it then, but eventually returned to it yesterday and today. I think I'm finished, but I'll probably still see something that needs tweaking tomorrow!

Towards The Great Blasket, Dunquin
(20" x 24" Oil on Canvas)

 

 

 

Here are a couple of close-ups:-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, this is the original plein air painting I used for reference purposes. I felt that it needed some sunlight to add sufficient impact for a larger painting, so I brightened it up quite a bit here and there:-

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plein Air and "Plein Stable"!

I've been neglecting my blog a bit recently, so hopefully, my little band of followers have not lost interest in me! Got out to paint on Saturday morning which was bright and sunny and then again yesterday in the pouring rain! I got down to my favourite seaside spot on Saturday to paint this view of the cliffs at Baginbun Head:-

Sunlit Cliffs, Baginbun Head
(12" x 10" Oil on MDF Board)

 

 

 

I got some shelter just inside the stable door at Ballycross Apple Farm yesterday, and painted these two little guys - just a fun sketch really:-

 

Stable Mates

(12" x 10" Oil on MDF Board)

 

 

 

Solo Exhibition, Cedars Hotel, Rosslare

I decided to generate some interest in this exhibition by painting in the lobby of the hotel occasionally. I've been working on a fairly large (20" x 24") painting, based on a small plein air study I did in West Kerry last summer (that was the last week of April - the monsoon season set in after that!).

This is where I got to after my first session (approx 3 hours):-

 

 

 

And (after spending most of the afternoon talking!), this is where I got last week (about another hour or so working on the background):-

 

 

 

And this is where I got to this afternoon, after about another two hours or so. Thanks to everyone who cam along to watch. Painting, especially studio work can be a very solitary experience, so it was nice to have company for a change. The colour has come a little too warm in this photo - the true colour is somewhere between this and last week's image.

 

 

 



 

I'll either finish this next time, or start something else - won't be able to make it next Wednesday, so probably Wednesday 19th September then.