Bay - stage 1

Actually this is stage 2, I forgot to photograph stage 1! There was no drawing up at all with this one I just put it all in with a rag using a mix of Prussian Blue, Permanent Orange and just a touch of Winsor Green all thinned with Liquin. I didn't use much Winsor Green in this one as I wanted it to be more blue than the previous painting using much the same paint mix, "Rig".
I see "Bay" as high contrast and whilst it's tempting to leave it around here, it is more ordinary like this so to make it more interesting as a painting I'm going to take it further as I originally saw it in my mind.
Oil on linen 16" x 12".

Artists & Illustrators Magazine

I have a four page Masterclass feature in the current February 2020 issue of Artists & Illustrators magazine published in the UK. The editor emailed me just a few weeks ago to ask me if I could write this up as somebody else had let them down and as he knew I photographed all the stages of my paintings he figured that I would have a painting that would work for the article. 
I was going to focus it around telling a story in a picture but they chose to base it around the panoramic format being used.
The painting "The Exit To San Breta" was a commission for a Canadian collector who has commissioned many artists to illustrate the works of George RR Martin, this one was for a short story set in Arizona. 

Rig

I used the same paint mix of Prussian Blue, Winsor Green and Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin as the previous picture on "Rig". I first mixed up acrylic Titanium White and Cadmium Yellow Light for the ground and this time gave it a coat of Liquin when it had dried to see if that would prevent the paint lifting off when I am using turpentine to rub away highlights etc.
I was thinking of using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet for this one but I decided I wanted to see how this looked first; in fact I will be using the brown/violet on the lemon backing on another painting about to be started.
I am kind of regretting having the oil rig there now and think it would have been better as just a sky and landscape, to which end I will be trying this out on the upcoming painting I have just mentioned.
The location is the vast landscape of Texas.
I think that I will be renaming this series "The Big Sky" as "Roadside Apocalypse" was going to be limiting me in terms of subject matter, now the theme is the American landscape itself.
31 1/2" x 12" Oil on canvas.

Instagram top nine posts

I went to the Topnine website and found out that these were my top nine Instagram posts with the most likes over the past year; all landscapes I note. Fifteen thousand plus likes is quite good I suppose.

Rig - stage 3

Work on "Rig" has been interrupted by the Christmas break but is actually nearly finished, just waiting for it to dry so that I can scan it. This was as far as I had got by Christmas Eve with a few more layers of glaze added since stage 2. Starting to regret having the oil rig in there and thinking it would have been better as just landscape and sky... to which end I have started another larger painting in the same panoramic format that will be just that - land and sky.

Rig - stage 2

Only managed to get in some tone into the sky due to distractions by my boiler breaking down just before the Christmas holiday. Luckily it seems to be fixed after a plumber being here all day.
I used the same mix of Prussian Blue, Winsor Green and Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin which I applied with a rag. Might get a bit done tomorrow morning before Christmas arrives!

Rig - stage 1

Carrying on from the last one I am using the same paint mix but over a more saturated lemon background this time. I mixed up acrylic Titanium White with more Cadmium Yellow Light in it and then gave it a coat of Liquin to see if that helps to prevent the background colour from lifting whenever I use any turpentine to rub paint away when drawing up etc. I used the usual mix of Prussian Blue, Winsor Green and Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin to "draw" it up and I will then use the same mix with a rag to put in some tone tomorrow. I did wonder about using the Burnt Sienna/Winsor Violet mix over the lemon background but felt that I needed to try this combination out first.
The location is the vast landscape of Texas which I am hoping to get across with this lone oil rig set against the flat horizon, the sky will hopefully make it all work, we'll get more of an idea tomorrow. I am actually thinking of renaming the series "The Big Sky" instead of "Roadside Apocalypse" as I think it's going to be limiting if I just stick to apocalyptic imagery!
Oil on canvas with acrylic ground 31" x 12 1/2".

Marabout

Another monochrome oil painting this time using a subdued blue/green over what is hard to see here but a base ground of pale lemon yellow. I first gave the whole canvas a coat of a mix of Titanium White and Cadmium Yellow Light acrylic as I thought there would be less chance of it lifting when I started to "draw" up the painting in oil afterwards - I use turpentine to wipe out mistakes and this would probably take off the background colour too particularly if it was an oil background.
I mixed up a decent amount of the blue/green, enough to last through the whole painting as it is difficult to remix the colour if you run out, the slightest difference in the mix shows surprisingly more than you would think. I used a mix of Prussian Blue, Winsor Green and permanent Orange (to temper the saturation) thinned with Liquin, applied with rag for the sky and the footpath shadows.
A Marabout is a shrine to a Muslim Holy man, mostly in North Africa.
I was originally going to paint it in daylight but soon realised that a moonlit picture would suit the blue colouring.
Oil on linen 16" x 12".

Waiting

This is another of my usual underpainting taken to finish series painted as a monochrome using transparent glazes in this case a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin. The idea for this one was to work within a narrow range of midtones with no real highlights and no very dark values either, the whole thing being made up of a series of glazes. I like the quality of light that they have which really comes from the white of the canvas showing through the transparent paint layers but is very out of step with the current Look du Jour that is all about thick loose paint and mark making... neither which are present here!
I have no idea if there is any mileage in me doing this figurative work but I needed to try it out; I have other things to try out in this area before I go back to "proper" painting! 
Oil on linen 10" x 12".

Marabout - stage 2

Painted in some tonal underpainting with a rag and brush using the previous mix of Prussian Blue, Winsor Green and Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin. Have decided to do it as a moonlit picture as the blue lends itself very well to Moonlight.

Marabout 1

I will post up the finished "Waiting" tomorrow. This one is another kind of oil monochrome but using a muted blue/green over a light yellow ground. First I gave the canvas a coat of Titanium White/Cadmium Yellow Light acrylic as I didn't want it to rub off at the "drawing" stage when I use turpentine to erase errant lines etc. I let that dry overnight and then "drew" it up with a small bristle brush using a mix of Prussian Blue, Winsor Green and Permanent Orange (to temper the saturation) thinned with Liquin. I am leaving this to dry overnight for the morning session when I will put in some more tone with a rag using the same blue/green paint mixture thinned with Liquin.
A Marabout is a shrine to a Muslim holy man, mainly in North Africa.

Boboli

The last two monochromes based around my underpainting mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet are now finished, the other one, "Waiting" will be posted tomorrow. These monochromes are completely out of step with what is the current Look du Jour of thick paint loosely applied but I need to get to the end of these trial paintings to see if anything good comes out of them. All these monochromes are layers of glazes producing no mark making, another current obsession that I seem to be ignoring. The thing is I like the quality of light that they have and just want to see where they go. They are influenced by the black and white photography from the early years of the last century, photographers like Steichen who worked on the print to such an extent that they are half painting-half photograph. I am realising that only certain situations can be painted this way so I can see the limitations of what I can produce; I am changing the colours I am using after these and eventually will probably try using thicker paint too as the photographic quality they have worries me as much as I like them.
"Boboli" refers to the Boboli Gardens that overlook Florence where this picture is located but referring back to one of my mantras from last year "It's The Painting Not The Place", I am much more concerned with the look of the picture and not looking to merely reproduce a well-known view.
20" x 16" oil on linen. 

Boboli - stage 2

Although I call this stage 2 it is actually a couple of days along the line but it isn't really worth posting daily updates as there doesn't appear to be much changing due to the paint being applied in thin glazes. The same goes for "Waiting" that is nearly finished but just needs a few areas to have a final glaze before signing off.
After these I am changing the colour palette to blues and have other plans to try different surfaces to work on before I get to the end of these transparent monochromes and move on to thicker more opaque paint.

Boboli - stage 1

This is the other monochrome that I am working on in conjunction with "Waiting". Both are using the same paint mix, both are hopefully going to look pretty moody and subdued. I have plans for the sky on this one but you will see what I'm aiming for on the next stage.
All these monochromes are influenced by the black and white photography from the early years of the last century when the photographers worked on the print to such an extent that they are really half painted. Although I was aiming for something different I am following this diversion of more photographic painting for a while longer to see if it bears fruit before getting on with my original intentions!
Boboli refers to the Boboli Gardens above Florence where this painting is located.
A mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin applied with a flat brush and a small bristle brush.

Waiting - stage 3

I didn't bother posting the first two stages! These recent monochrome paintings are all made up of layers of glazes and consequently I have to wait until the previous glaze is dry before painting the next. This slows down the process so I have decided to paint two at the same time so while one is drying I can get on with the other and vice versa. This painting is one of them the other is a landscape called "Boboli" which will be in the next post.
As I have already mentioned these monochromes are not what I was looking for but I like the feel of them so I'm going to see what happens in a few more before changing colours and technique etc. Although they look too photographic they have a certain quality that I like so I think it's worth seeing where they can be taken. I was actually looking for something obviously "painted" with thicker paint, textures etc but let's see what comes out of these before I move on.
This is another underpainting worked up to finish using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin applied with a rag and brush.
Oil on linen 12" x 8".

Navajo

Another one where I'm working up the underpainting to finish instead of painting opaque colour over it. This is the first one where I have used no opaque colour at all, the whole painting being layers of glazes of transparent colour, my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and applied with a rag and brush. Although my original intention for these monochromes was soft but textured with thicker brushwork I discovered that the best way to get the most out of this colour was to paint in thin glazes which has resulted in something much more photographic. I like the quality of light which I presume comes from the white of the canvas showing through the transparent layers giving it a slight glow so I will do a few more of these to see where they can go before getting back to my original intention of thicker paint etc!
Because you have to wait for each layer to dry before applying the next and consequently each painting taking longer to finish than normal I have decided to paint two at the same time so I can use my time more efficiently.
Monument Valley lies within the Navajo Nation Reservation, "Navajo" is another Roadside Apocalypse painting... sort of, I might expand this series into more of a Roadside America kind of thing but hoping to avoid going too Americana.
20" x 16" Oil on linen.

Navajo - stage 3

I can't see much point in showing the first couple of stages so we'll start here! There are a few things that I still haven't sorted out in the other two urban monochromes so I thought that I would try this look with a few landscapes to be going on with. I have ended up doing quite a "picturesque" painting which I've gone along with even though I wanted something less specific as this one is just trying out the look, which is dark, soft and moody. As with the other two the whole thing is painted in glazes of a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin.
The location is Monument Valley in Arizona/Utah.

Clovis

I didn't have time to post updates for this painting here as I was writing a last minute article for Artists & Illustrators magazine so here are a few stages plus the finished painting above.
This was another picture where I was taking the normal underpainting to finish without going to colour as I normally do. I think they have a nice quality but maybe look too photographic and haven't quite worked out how I need to apply the thicker paint that will still harmonise with the thinner more transparent underpainting layers which are essentially glazes. I will do a few more until I get it right.
"Clovis" (a town in New Mexico) was painted with glazes of my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and then the more opaque paint was mixes of Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Warm White and Genuine Chinese Vermillion. 
This is another in my Roadside Apocalypse series of paintings. Oil on linen 20" x 16".

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Mustang Cafe

My first painting since returning from IX in the USA. I have decided to put some time into work aimed at the US gallery market so this is another in my Roadside Apocalypse series. I have often liked the tonal underpainting stage of what I do and instead of painting over it in colour and obscuring it I have decided to work this look up in the same monochrome. The majority of the painting is made up of a transparent mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet (Dioxazine) initially applied with a small brush and rag. After some trial and error the opaque colour is a mix of the above along with Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Genuine Chinese Vermillion. I was surprised by this as what looks like a monochrome painting actually has quite a lot of saturated colour in it and earlier paint mixes of adding Zinc White to the transparent purple/brown mix and then trying Burnt Sienna and White all looked awful and were scrubbed out forthwith.
Oil on linen 20" x 16".
There is a very short step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Mustang Cafe - stages 1, 2 and 3

Stage 1

Getting back into painting after a few weeks away going to IX in America and and having a bit of a think about things when I got back.
I'm going to put some time into work aimed at the the US gallery market i.e. my Roadside Apocalypse series. I have often liked the tonal underpainting stage of what I do and have decided to work this look up instead of painting colour over it as usual. I will either keep it completely monochrome as it is so far or introduce a tiny amount of colour when it comes to the thicker paint on the buildings. The main thing is to keep it moody! The location is a small town in Texas.
Everything so far is a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and applied with a small flat brush and a rag.

Stage 2

Stage 3

Mehtap sold

Very soon after I got back from IX I sold "Mehtap" via Facebook to a buyer in Colorado. He was incidentally very happy with how I had packed and shipped it! Luckily I had brought it back in my luggage as it was relatively small and was able to send it off before the rest of my boxes came back from the USA.

Piccadilly Circus 6.00 pm sold

Just before going to IX this month I heard from the Abend Gallery in Denver CO that "Piccadilly Circus 6.00 pm" had sold. This was painted a number of years ago in my looser style that I employ for plein air paintings although this one was painted in the studio. 
Oil on board 12" x 12".

Mehtap

Mehtap is Turkish for Moonlight although I think it has other connotations as well. This is the last painting finished that I am taking to IX although at the rate things are going this and another small one that I am bringing over in my hand luggage could be my whole show. The three boxes of paintings that I sent ahead by FedEx on Tuesday are still stuck in Customs as I write this on Saturday and as it's the weekend nothing will be done about it until Monday when I am already in the USA. Fedex have all the paperwork now I think so desperately hoping they get cleared on Monday...
I wanted to keep this all blues pretty much but mixed the colours out of a blue/green - red/orange complementary so there some variations of colour. It's nice to go back to an Orientalist picture every so often but when I get back from the USA I will probably start again on my Roadside Apocalypse paintings including starting to approach some US galleries with them...
Oil on linen 16" x 12".
There is a short step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Mehtap - stage 4

Have had a few distractions recently (getting all my paintings ready, boxed and shipped to IX) so have only been able to return to working on "Mehtap" today. Basically I have been doing the fiddly work on the mosque which I will finish tomorrow along with hopefully a lot of the rock outcrop and palm trees as well.
If the painting works out I will be bringing it along to IX in my luggage as it's quite small....as long as it's dry of course!

Mehtap - stage 3

Finished off the sky, put in the distant riverbank and buildings and gave the rest of the painting a wash of tonal colour which immediately made apparent that I needed to sort out the dark areas. I have put in some more bushes but still see that I need to paint in some palm trees to the left of the mosque and also need to join some of the dark palm trees to form some larger shapes, looking a bit bitty at the moment.

Mehtap - stage 2

First colour pass on the moonlit sky using a mix of the following colours: Phthalocyanine Blue, Emerald Green, Permanent Orange, Zinc White, Warm White and Lead Tin Yellow Lemon - all Michael Harding paints.
I then added another layer of tonal underpainting including redrawing it so that the mosque now sits on a rock outcrop as the walls were too tall and the building out of scale with the setting; the downside of painting from the imagination, things like this can happen so you have to make it look believable.

Mehtap - stage 1

Mehtap is Turkish for Moonlight. This is a small moonlit Orientalist nocturne that I intend to paint in mainly green/blues with some orange/browns as the complementary. I like to return every so often to a moonlit Orientalist picture but I will on my return from IX later this month get back to my Roadside Apocalypse series - it's good to leave it for a while as you often bring something new and different along to add to the mix.
This tonal underpainting stage was first "drawn" up with a small bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin in the morning and then when the paint had dried enough by later afternoon I put in the tone with a rag using the same paint mix.
Oil on linen 16" x 12".

The Girl With Her Head In The Clouds

...it should be Woman really but the convention is "Girl" in this phrase.
Still keeping with my general thread of clouds and skies I wanted to do another small figurative painting and this idea has been half-formed in my head for a while so I decided to try it out. I wanted it very limited palette and desaturated with a fairly limited tonal range too so that the figure loses itself a bit into the sky with the hair breaking away to merge into the clouds. I actually made a mistake and used the wrong mixed colour for the sky behind the clouds, I had mixed a desaturated blue but for some reason I steamed ahead with the colour that was supposed to be for the skin tones on the figure. As it happens it may be for the best because the figure would have stood out too much from the background so I guess it worked out for the best!
The title btw is in no way a reference to the mental state of the lovely Ruth that modelled for it!
I might bring this with me to IX later in the month, I will see what I have to choose from of the recent pictures and make a decision then.
16" x 12" oil on linen.
There is s very short progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

The Girl With Her Head In The Clouds - stage 2

The first colour pass over the whole painting using a basic blue - orange complementary but keeping it quite subtle and desaturated. Colours used were: Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Winsor Violet, Zinc White, Permanent White, Warm White and Lead Tin Yellow Lemon.

Luna

This was going to be mainly a sky painting then I introduced a figure and decided to do it as a nocturne with the Moon and then realised the tondo format suggested the shape of the Moon itself so I eventually changed the idea to having the clouds echo the shapes of the dark areas on the Moon to give it an extra dimension. I have painted it in such a way that the way the tones work to suggest the spherical shape, indeed it kind of looks like a glass marble!
I kept the colours very subtle based on a red/orange - blue/green complementary but quite desaturated and didn't want the figure to be too distinct from the sky background.
The lovely Naomi Wood was my model, the reference photo coming from a previous session for a vampire painting.
I will probably be bringing this along to IX in a few weeks time as part of a number of small paintings to hang alongside some quite large ones.
12" diameter oil on canvas.
There is a short step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

The Girl With Her Head In The Clouds - stage 1

While "Luna" is drying I have got on with another small figurative painting, "The Girl With Her Head In The Clouds". This will be a very limited palette, virtually monochromatic tonal picture and am hoping it turns out well enough to take to IX in a few weeks' time.
The title btw is no reflection to the mental state of the lovely Ruth that modelled for it!
This is the first tonal underpainting stage for which I used a small bristle brush and a rag with a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin.
Oil on linen 16" x 12".

Luna - stage 3

Worked on the sky some more and painted in the first colour pass on the figure. Trying to get the right tonal balance between the sky and the figure, getting there...
So far the colours I have used are: Burnt Sienna, Naples Yellow, Permanent Orange, Alizarin Crimson, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Yellow Lake Deep, Zinc White, Warm White and Prussian Blue - all Michael Harding paints.

Luna - stage 2

This is the first colour pass on the sky although since I got back from being out this afternoon I decided that the darks were too strong and rubbed some of the darker paint off the clouds, so at the moment it looks slightly different to this!
I am painting it in a very limited palette centred on quite desaturated yellows, oranges and blues.

Luna - stage 1

Tonal underpainting for "Luna", a small painting probably going to IX in October. This was going to be mainly a sky painting, then I introduced a figure and decided to do it as a nocturne with the Moon and then realised the tondo format suggested the Moon so decided this morning over breakfast to paint the clouds in the shapes of the dark areas of the Moon itself to give it an extra dimension. The figure will be more indistinct than it appears here and at the moment I am planning to paint it in Atkinson Grimshaw colours, kinds of greens and oranges... although I can always change my mind and go for blues.
This stage was first "drawn" up with a small synthetic brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and then the tones were put in with a rag using the same paint mix.
Oil on canvas 12" diameter.

Draco Niger Grandis prints

I will be bringing a small number (7) of prints of Draco Niger Grandis that I recently found in my studio to IX in October. I painted it in 1998 during my "Gold" period when I was using acrylics with gold leaf, gold paint and bronze powders. The artwork was sold long ago but I have these prints for sale at the show, the image area is 16" x 11 1/2".

Main Street Apocalypse

This started out as a commission wherein the buyer asked me to push the Apocalypse aspect of my current series of Roadside Apocalypse pictures to something more dystopian.
I was thinking of a classic American Main Street location for my next painting anyway so I decided to incorporate that in this commission. The setting is a kind of Mad Max post apocalypse America where the survivors of whatever has happened are eking out an existence in the ruins of their town using whatever technology that still works but kind of doomed really as once the tech stops working and/or the feeble power available cuts out they are left with nothing. They have some feeble power for some rudimentary lighting, even a few neon signs are still sputtering away in the late afternoon light. A lead runs from the car to the lamp post with it's chaotic jumble of cables and wires, maybe they have managed to use the car engine as a generator...what happens when there is no more petrol?
For this picture I remembered the amazing chaotic electric cabling that I saw in Indian cities and thought it would be ideal to use here as an example of adaption to circumstance. 
It is based around a red/orange - green blue colour complementary and have managed to paint the whole picture just using those colours apart from a few dashes of pink for the neon.
I will be showing this painting at the forthcoming IX in Reading PA next month.
30" x 20" oil on linen.
There is a step-by-step progress through this paint in previous posts on this blog.

Main Street Apocalypse - stage 8

OK sorry about lack of progress on this but I was in Sicily for five days and must admit when I got back it took me a whole day to to get my brain working again and make a fitful start on finishing this painting! 
To ease my way back I decided to work on the road which has actually helped as I had lost focus on this picture as originally I really wanted to finish it before I went away but realised that I would mess it up if I hurried it.
I will need tomorrow to finish this area before making a start on the lamp post and cables but at least I'm back in work mode!

Main Street Apocalypse - stage 7

Right, that's as much as I can get done before going to Sicily tomorrow for five days. I have about two day's worth of work left on it for when I get back. Didn't get as much done today as I hoped due to being distracted by preparations for the trip.
Hoping to walk along the crater rim of Etna...

Main Street Apocalypse - stage 6

I don't post an update every day now as although I work on it every day there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between them when you look at them on the blog. In fact it could be argued that it is often the case that the first colour pass really establishes at an early stage how the final painting will look.
I have toned down the foreground car a bit now in preparation for tomorrow's session when I hope to finish it - it's been toned down a bit as I want the background storm cloud to be the lightest part of the picture and don't want two areas vying for attention on first glance.
I needed the fascias of the buildings to be in shadow as it helps to show the feeble lights and the occasional working neon against the relative darkness.

Main Street Apocalypse - stage 5

I spent today working on the main building on the right using the same colours  as the sky mixes pretty much apart from a bit of Cadmium Yellow Light in the windows where there are lights on. Hoping to finish the painting before I go to Sicily for five days on Monday.

Main Street Apocalypse - stage 4

I managed to finish the sky yesterday bar a few tweaks possibly later on and today painted in a very rough first colour pass on the rest of the painting. I am trying to just use the colours I have in the sky for all the buildings etc so that a colour harmony based on the green/blue - red/orange complementary is maintained.
Although it is all pretty rough at the moment it gives me a very good idea on how to proceed with the buildings and the lighting I want. The road will be a lot more of a mess in the final painting and there will be a lot of Indian-style electric cabling too. 

Main Street Apocalypse - stage 3

Managed to paint the the first colour pass on the sky today, sticking to the blue/green - red/orange colour complementary originally planned. Colours used were: Prussian Blue, Phthalocyanine Turquoise, Emerald Green, Permanent Orange, Naples Yellow, Yellow Lake Deep, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Lemon Yellow, Zinc White and Warm White - all Michael Harding colours.

Main Street Apocalypse - stage 2

Managed to get the tonal underpainting done this morning using a rag and a Flat brush with a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with plenty of Liquin.
Looks like I'm going to set it late afternoon/early evening so that I can show that there are people living in some of the buildings by having lights on in some of the windows. Will also have a few streetlights working and a bit of flickering neon. 
Probably going to be based around a green/blue - red/orange colour complementary, I will decide over tomorrow morning's coffee!