Madurai Rickshaw - stage 9

Pretty much finished the street through the front window, still trying to make it look hot and dusty.

Madurai Rickshaw - stage 8

Finished off the left side of the street and realised that I need to break up the line running along the top of the windows on the right side; at the moment I have put a cable there but I think I need more than that. Painting this picture quite slowly it seems to me.

Madurai Rickshaw - stage 7

Didn't get a lot done today but changed the door on the right and finished off the vehicles on the left. Content not to rush this one so I keep making minor changes when I see them to be necessary and trying to keep in mind how I want this to look - hot, bright and busy!

Madurai Rickshaw - stage 6

As yesterday, I worked on the rickshaw interior, the street on the right and some work on the first rickshaw on the left. My main concern at this point is to try and keep dark areas to a minimum, so I need to maybe lighten any dark areas so far painted, maybe through colour temperature rather than tone.

Madurai Rickshaw - stage 5

Worked a bit more on the rickshaw deciding to give him a bluish shirt and changed the roof as well as working on the right hand side of the street putting it more into the shade. So far I am not interested in finishing any one part of the painting yet and intend to work all over the picture at the same time.

Madurai Rickshaw - stage 4

Worked on the interior of the rickshaw although I will probably make it relatively simple in the finished painting. I decided that the walls on the right should be in the shade with the figures in the saris picked out against them by being in sunlight. I also worked a bit on the nearest rickshaw on the left. I don't want it to look too neat and ordered as I want to get across something of the chaos of an Indian street.

Brighton Art Fair 2013

I am pleased to report that I will be exhibiting (selling hopefully) at this year's Brighton Art Fair, 19 - 22 September at the Corn Exchange, Brighton. I will have a selection of work ranging from small paintings of Brighton, rubber ducks and everything inbetween to larger paintings, again some of Brighton as well as Sussex landscapes and whatever I feel would be good to exhibit. Also on sale will be copies of my book "Review" and some cards but no prints as they are not allowed at the fair. I will post more details as the time draws closer to September. More information is available on the Brighton Art Fair website:

http://www.brightonartfair.co.uk/

Madurai Rickshaw - stage 3

This is the colour block-in whereby I get the first idea as to how it is shaping up. I will look at this in the morning and see if there are any changes to be made to the basic forms and placements before proceeding. I don't want it to be as tightly painted as some of the recent Indian pictures so I need to try and resist the temptation and be a bit bolder and looser.

Madurai Rickshaw - stages 1 and 2

This is based on a rickshaw ride through the streets of Madurai at what seemed perpetual rush hour, this scene is positively empty to how it usually was. Anybody that has been to India should recognise this! This is actually made up as a composite of many shots that I have taken off the iPhone movies I took there as stills that I have obtained by freezing the movie and then taking screen shots to work from.

The Green School, Madurai

This school painted bright green with yellow stripes was opposite my hotel in Madurai. You will note a church in the distance as Cochin has a large population of Christians due to being colonised by Portugal in the 1500's. A step-by-step progress of this painting can be followed in previous posts on this blog. 18 1/2" x 18 1/2" oil on board.

The Green School, Madurai - stage 5

The painting has a warmer feel than what it looks like in this photograph. So it should be finished tomorrow, I just have to finish the foreground, the left background and get the effect of the bright sun against all the wires working properly. For these recent paintings I have stopped using Underpainting White and am using Titanium White instead. The drying time is longer but I prefer how it goes on to the support, it gives more of an impasto look and the mixed colours stay wet on the palette right through the course of the painting.

The Green School, Madurai - stage 4

I want the central building to be the focus of the picture so I have lightened the building on the right (in reality it is the same colour) to emphasise the green. As the lighting is a warm contre jour  and the wall that faces us is in shadow I am painting it in a colder more blue-green colour but still trying to show that the building is quite a warm green overall.

The Green School, Madurai - stage 3

Painted in the colour block-in today; some decision-making on what colours to use without distracting from the central building which is the most important part of the painting. I have a very good photograph to work from on this - too good in many ways so that it is difficult to avoid just copying the photograph. I'm going for the dusty contre jour lighting that I have used in previous Indian paintings.

The Green School, Madurai - stages 1 and 2

In my search for colour in India I did not have far to go in Madurai as this was right opposite the hotel where I was staying. Here are the first two stages, the initial sketching-in in Burnt Sienna and then blocking in the tones also in Burnt Sienna. This colour seems to be ideal for this as most colours sit on top of it very well particularly blues and greens. I'm going for contre jour lighting again with warm and cold greens being a feature and I think that I will have some puddles in the foreground.

VOTE FOR ME! ......err again please

I have had another of my paintings accepted for this the final round of the "You Be The Judge" online art competition. This time it is "At The End Of The Day". Here is the link to the voting page if you would like to vote for it:
http://www.brianneher.com/you_be_the_judge_art_contest_2013_voting_page.aspx

Clearing Rain, Meenakshi Temple

A view of the Shri Meenakshi Temple in Madurai from the roof of The Museum Company who kindly let me paint the initial sketch there in October 2012. The painting was interrupted by an afternoon rainstorm which I have tried to capture as it cleared in this studio painting. There is a step-by-step progress of this picture before this post on my blog and will feature in my upcoming article on gathering reference when traveling abroad in the Artists & Illustrators magazine. 18" x 36" oil on board.

Clearing Rain, Meenakshi Temple - stage 8

Finished most of the towers, adjusting the scale of some of them and showing more of the inner structures. Hopefully finish it tomorrow.

Clearing Rain, Meenakshi Temple - stage 7

Painted in the trees but need to break them up a bit as it looks like the temple towers are surrounded by them which is not how it is. Also made a start on the temple towers.

Clearing Rain, Meenakshi Temple - stage 6

The only part of the painting so far finished is the sky, everything else has been put in to help me work out the values so that the lighting works.

You Be The Judge competition

A big thank you to everybody that voted for my painting "Cuckmere Meanders To Seaford Head" in the You Be The Judge online art competition. The winners have just been announced but I regret that I was not one of them...but thank you anyway!

Clearing Rain, Meenakshi Temple - stage 5

I mixed up generous amounts of colours for the sky this time using Titanium White as I needed the paint to stay wet longer than if I had used Underpainting White. I then applied the paint quite thickly, covering the whole sky and took a deep breath and ran a dry decorators brush horizontally across it, wiping it on a rag after each pass. Then in the afternoon I put some work into sorting out the lighting on the foreground wall.

Dawn, Santa Cruz Basilica, Cochin - slightly repainted

Something bothered me about the brightness of the original painting so I changed the sky behind the trees and added more highlights to the buildings and on the edges of the puddles. I think the added contrast is better now.

Clearing Rain, Meenakshi Temple - stage 4

Did some more underpainting on the sky and made a start on sorting out the foreground wall and trees.

Clearing Rain, Meenakshi Temple - stages 2 & 3

I sketched in the clouds and the red stripes at the bottom first and then put in a rough colour block-in. I needed to do this as I can now assess the values for how I want the picture to work. I can already see that the sky needs to be darker as well as the foreground which I also now think needs more leaves to break up the potentially distracting stripes at the bottom. I plan to paint the sky the same way I do reflections; block it all in with thick paint and then drag a dry decorators brush across it horizontally which subtly merges it together, I then paint the buildings etc afterwards.

Clearing Rain, Meenakshi Temple - stage 1

Another painting based on a gouache sketch this time from the roof of an antiques shop in Madurai that overlooked the Shri Meenakshi Temple. As usual at this time of year there had been an afternoon rainstorm which interrupted my painting but I managed to finish it when it was over and the afternoon sun caught the light in the damp air. This painting is trying to recapture that moment and I am having to rely on memory as the camera was unable to capture it. The original sketch can be seen above. This painting will feature in my upcoming article on gathering reference for paintings when abroad for the Artists & Illustrators magazine. This shows the first stage of the basic drawing and blocking-in with Burnt Sienna oil paint.