A New Approach

It appears to me that pretty much all artist's blogs consist of finished paintings, and then only those that are successful in the eyes of the artist. Even the most successful artists rarely exhibit more than 50% of the work. That's not to say that the other 50% is poor, but it is not deemed to be as good as the rest. Of course what happens, as all artists develop, is that the standard by which they measure their work gets higher, so the rejected 50% is probably much better than their best efforts some years previously. What doesn't change, however, is the variability, i.e. there will always be significant variance between an artist's best and worst work at any stage in their career, because a large element of painting is "black art" (please pardon the pun) and that is ultimately what makes it so intriguing.

Thinking about the above has led me to the conclusion that a more "honest" approach might make an artist's blog more interesting for followers. So from today, I will start blogging work-in-progress for all my studio work. Please forgive the fact that the entries will be non-linear, i.e. I usually start a studio painting and then move onto something else, before returning to the painting some days later and then moving on again. This is not down to moods or temperament (well perhaps partly!), but rather because some techniques work better when the underpainting has dried a little. But if a painting isn't working out I will say so and try to explain why, before moving on to something else.

So here goes then. I've been playing around with some photos taken while visiting Skellig Michael in September. As usual the photos completely fail to capture the steepness and sheer beauty of the place, but this one, especially with the figures in the distance, has I feel some potential as a basis for a painting.

Nature usually provides both value and complimentary colour contrast, but the camera usually fails to capture the latter, while the human eye enhances it. So I felt the scene here could be helped by playing up the complimentary contrast between the land and sea, i.e. making the land more orange and the sea bluer.

Having decided on a closer crop, I blocked in the colour of the main masses very quickly (canvas is 16" x 20").

I then did some work on the sea, just to establish the overall colours more accurately and just some hint of the direction of the waves. I also did a little work on the middleground and foreground. I'm happy enough at this stage that the painting is heading in the direction I had envisaged at the outset.

There are already some issues emerging. I plan to paint the figures pretty much where they are in the photo. To make them stand out I may change the colour of their clothing and will blur the wave action in that area. But I also want to capture the "silvery" look of the sunlit sea in the right hand side nearest to the sun. If I overdo this it will draw the eye there more than I want, but if I blur it I will fail to capture that blinding silvery look (value contrast and sharp edges are the key to achieving that effect). I suspect a little trial and error may be required in that area - we shall see. I'm also unsure whether or not to include the boat in the top left. The advantage is that it will give a strong clue as to distance and scale, but it is introducing a third area of interest - perhaps too much.

Tomorrow promises to be pretty good weatherwise, so I may do some plein air work instead. If not I'll start another studio work, because I need this to dry a little before doing further work. Sometimes the initial issues resolves themselves immediately when returning to a painting, so that's another reason for taking a break.

Skellig Glow

I've been working on this studio painting for a couple of weeks. It is based on some photos I took of the Skellig Islands while on vacation in Valentia (South West Ireland) in September. I was really taken by the rugged beauty and almost mystical quality of the place and had this idea of using the cloud formations and wake of the boat to "frame" the smaller of the two islands. Part of my thinking was that it must have been a view the monks had as they made their way past the Small Skellig on their way to Skellig Michael, and it must have inspired them to live in such a remote and treacherous place (Skellig Michael was a monastic settlement between approx 600 and 1300 AD).

Skellig Glow
(24" x 24" Oil on Canvas)

Since this a large painting, I've posted a few close-up images below to give some idea of texture and brushwork:-

I also took a lot of progress shots while painting this one. Here are some of them:-

Finally, here is one of my reference photos:-

Misty Day at Edenvale

A few of us got together to paint in Edenvale last Monday. The weather forecast had promised sunny weather, but instead we got overcast and misty conditions. However, the light was very consistent until it eventually started to get too wet to paint. I did two paintings of the little river that runs through the forest. There was some spectacular colour in the autumn foliage even in the dull conditions and I did my best to capture that.


A Quiet Spot, Edenvale
(14" x 11" Oil on Board)

Autumn Gold, Edenvale

(14" x 11" Oil on Board)

Here are my initial block-ins for both paintings:-

And a couple of photos of both scenes:-

St Mullins Paint-Out

We had a paint-out yesterday in the beautiful little Co Carlow village of St Mullins. The weather was disappointingly dull and drizzly, but still OK for oil painting. I resisted painting the obvious (boats along the banks of the River Barrow), opting instead for this little stream.

Overcast Morning, St Mullins, Co Carlow
(12" x 16" Oil on Panel)

This is a photo of the scene, which looks much brighter than it was IRL:-

Oldcourt Paint-Out

We had a very enjoyable paint-out yesterday to the home of one of our painting colleagues. The house, farm and stables made an ideal location and our host was also good enough to prepare lunch for us. It started off cloudy with drizzle but that cleared quickly and we had a lovely sunny afternoon.

For my first painting, I walked about a half mile to a little stream which bounds the farm. I set up on the track beside the stream and apart from the occasional horses and dogs, I had the place to myself. I love backlit scenes, especially this time of year when the lower sun makes them even more dramatic. The stream provided added interest here.

The Stream, Oldcourt, Wexford
(11" x 14" Oil on Board)

I didn't feel like walking too far after a hearty lunch, so I set up near the stables for my second painting. The late afternoon sun shining through the trees made some interesting light and shadow patterns on the wall and roof.

Towards the Stables, Oldcourt
(11" x 14" Oil on Board)

This was my initial block-in for the first painting. I was under time pressure for the second and forgot.

And here are a couple of photos of the scenes.

A Day in Edenvale

After some heavy rain earlier in the week, yesterday was a beautiful autumn day. Hoping for some seasonal colour, I headed to Edenvale forest about ten minutes drive from my home. The first scene is one I painted a couple of years ago, but this time the large puddle on the track added something extra. I also did it in landscape format this time instead of portrait as previously.

After the Rain, Edenvale
(11" x 14" Oil on Board)

This was my block-in:-

And here is a photo of the scene, taken before I started:-

I then decided to paint the adjacent stream, with the sunlight in the background.

Into the Light, Edenvale
(11" x 14" Oil on Board)

I forgot to take any intermediate photos of the painting, but here is a photo of the scene:-

Autumn Colour on a Dull Day

My local plein air group took advantage yesterday of the relatively settled autumn we've being getting. It was a mostly overcast but dry day with little or no wind. Our Lady's Island is a religious shrine, but relatively quiet outside of pilgrimage time. It is quite unusual in that it is a saltwater lake, but not tidal. As a result it tends to produce unusual grasses and reeds along its shoreline. During the summer, these are mostly varying shades of green, but have now turned to a stunning array of reds and oranges, once you look beyond the initial bland browns. I started my first painting in cloudy conditions but then the sun came out and looked liked staying out, so I scrubbed what I had done and started again - a mistake because what attracted me to the scene in the frst place was now gone. So that one went in the bin!

I worked a little more on the second one this morning in the studio. Just added a little more contrast to the sky and a bit of edge work here and there. Here is the finished painting:-

Autumn Colour, Our Lady's Island, Wexford
(11" x 14" Oil on Board)

Here is a photo of the scene (a bit under-exposed because of the low sun and water reflections):-