Butte

This follows on from the previous "Shadowland" in that all the landscape is in shadow except this time low afternoon sunlight is hitting the distant butte. I wanted the colours to be a lot warmer than the last one and I also wanted to introduce some subtle colour changes into the foreground landscape. The original idea was to have all the land in shadow painted with glazes of transparent colour and the butte was going to have the sunlit areas painted in opaque colour but as the painting progressed it became apparent that I needed to keep all the paint transparent as the opaque colour would bring the butte further forward and ruin the sense of distance. The transparent colours used were Burnt Sienna, Transparent Oxide Red, Transparent Oxide Yellow, Winsor Violet, Ultramarine Violet and Permanent Orange.
I am enjoying painting near-desert landscapes at the moment (I think they particularly suit the transparent painted land in shadow) with this one being located in Arizona. I may well do another one somewhere around here before moving on. Once I have enough of these "The Big Sky" paintings I will start to approach some US galleries and see if I can place them for sale in the USA.
30" x 20" oil on linen.
There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Infected By Art

I am pleased to see that I have had a painting accepted to be included in Infected By Art Volume 8. I think I've managed to get at least one piece in for the last five years or so...
The jurors chose "Long Way From Home", one of my rusting spaceship paintings from last year. This one is unusual in several ways, first there actually isn't that much SF work in IBA I would say that it's mostly Fantasy in some way. Secondly the rusting spaceship series I did last year is highly unusual for me as I hadn't previously done an SF piece since I was painting book jacket illustrations in the 80s and 90s. The painting itself is a bit Old School and could have been painted in the 70s even but I went with the idea that came along of painting it as though it was real and happening now. The spaceship looks like it's been travelling for a millennia before it got to Earth (or has it been flying around for many years in our atmosphere and started rusting up?) and flies half hidden by cloud, below a city full of humans getting on with their little lives oblivious to the enormity of beings from another planet flying around above them. Of course the spaceship could have been travelling for thousands of Earth Years and all the occupants have died and is just running on autopilot....

Oil on linen 20" x 16".

Butte - stage 5

Have given the landscape the first glaze of a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin to knock it all back into shadow as well as working on the bushes to make them define the shapes of the landscape. Not sure if this picture is going to work but I hope I've learnt a few things at least!

Butte - stage 4

Have now finally roughed in all of the landscape in preparation for the glazes and the opaque highlights to go in on the sunlit butte. The blueness of the sky worries me but I'll get the land in shadow painted first and then I'll see if it needs to be changed.

Butte - stage 3

Using mixes of Burnt Sienna, Winsor Violet, Ultramarine Violet and Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin I have roughed in the landscape at the left.  Not worried about colour or tonal accuracy at this stage I am just getting the underpainting in ready for glazes of transparent paint that will hopefully make it look like a landscape in shadow apart from the sun hitting the butte which will be painted using more opaque colours.

Butte - stage 2

Worked some more on the sky although I'm thinking of introducing a bit of orange and pink into it as I'm trying to set the time to be later afternoon. Also made a start on the strata of rock below the butte using transparent paint mixes of Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Ultramarine Violet, Winsor Violet and Transparent Oxide Yellow. The plan is all of the land in shadow will be in transparent paint, trying to introduce some variety into the colours used and the areas of rock picked out in the sunlight will be using opaque colour....that's the plan anyway.

Butte - stage 1

Following on from the previous painting "Shadowland" this is another desert scene this time in Arizona in which all of the landscape will be in shadow again except this time the late afternoon sun is hitting the distant butte. The colours will be much warmer as it is set later in the afternoon and I will be introducing more variety of colour into the land in shadow but still painted by pushing around mainly transparent paint. This is another in my "The Big Sky" series of paintings which seem to be veering towards American Landscape and away from the urban locations.
This is just the stage where I have mapped out where the clouds are going in the sky by rubbing them out from the glaze with a rag. I used a mix of Phthalocyanine Turquoise, Lemon Yellow, Zinc White and Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin.
I have also roughly painted in the butte picking up the sunlight with a mix of Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin.
Oil on linen 30" x 20".

Shadowland

Following on from "Desert Daybreak" this one has most of the landscape in shadow but this time against a painted sky. This is another one trying an area of largely monochrome set against an area of colour, the monochrome seemingly best suited to areas in shadow. It didn't actually work out as I intended but it has qualities that I can take further, it looks more photographically real than I was expecting for instance which is surprising how quickly and roughly it was painted in. It's almost using  oil paint like watercolour, the crucial difference being the time one has to move the paint around after application, watercolour obviously drying far too quick to be able to do this. "The Big Sky" series of paintings started out with the apocalyptic urban scenes but has now moved on to the American Landscape with desert scenes being the current fascination!
Oil on linen 30" x 20",
There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Shadowland - stage 4

I have started to paint in the sky with opaque colours but trying not to make it too dark as the landscape is in shadow and the best way of showing that is to set it against a bright sky. I used a mix of Phthalocyanine Blue. Manganese Blue, Zinc White and Warm White for the blue of the sky and then added some Ultramarine Violet and Burnt Sienna for the shadow colour - the base of a cloud will reflect some of the colour of the land especially if it's base is nearer to the ground.
I then ran a glaze of Ultramarine Violet and Burnt Sienna over the landscape and worked into it with darks and rubbing it away for the highlights.
I will put in the sunlit background mountains tomorrow as well as the sliver of sunlit landscape at the base of the mountain at left.

Shadowland - stage 3

Placed where the lighter clouds are going to go by rubbing out with a rag from a glaze mixed from Phthalocyanine Blue, Manganese Blue and Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin over the whole sky. Tomorrow I will paint in the shadow clouds and strengthen the colour in the blue sky. 
After giving the landscape another glaze of the Burnt Sienna/Winsor Violet mix I then painted in stronger shadow detail on the mountain.

Shadowland - stage 2

Have been dithering today about how I'm going to paint this one which is silly really as it is meant to carry on from the last one in that it will be a landscape in shadow again against this time a painted sky. I warmed up the sky first with a layer of Lemon Yellow and Zinc White and then roughly put in some landscape details with a mix of Burnt Sienna, Winsor Violet and Alizarin Crimson.
I think I know how I'm going to do the sky tomorrow...

Shadowland - stage 1

Following on from "Desert Daybreak" I am going to have the landscape in shadow again but this time  with a colour cloudscape. The location is near Henrieville in Utah and seem to be at the moment drawn to near/desert landscapes and landscapes in general that is more in keeping with the general theme of The Big Sky. No doubt I will be getting back to some urban scenes soon but maybe a bit different to the earlier Roadside Apocalypse pictures. 
I will probably collect all these sky paintings together and put them into a book no doubt entitled "The Big Sky".
This first stage is just an initial "drawing" and tone using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet.
Oil on linen 30: x 20".

Desert Daybreak

As I have pursued my current interest in glazes and transparent paint I have been gravitating towards the work of Maxfield Parrish who used them a lot which is how he achieved the luminous colour that his work is known for. I am now moving on from a uniform monochrome across the canvas to combining monochrome areas with areas of colour so "Desert Daybreak" (the title and colouring being a nod to Parrish) has a relatively monochrome landscape set against a luminous dawn sky. I graduated the foreground from a kind of violet to orange/brown towards the distance for two reasons; firstly it helps the sense of distance form the foreground to the background and secondly the orange/brown forms a complementary to the sky which strengthens the luminosity of the sky and it in turn warms up the sandstone butte and mesas. 
The colours used in the landscape were Burnt Sienna, Winsor Violet and Ultramarine Violet with some Permanent Sap Green mixed with the violet for the scrub bushes. The colours used in the sky were Lemon Yellow (for the ground), Manganese Blue Hue, Prussian Blue and Permanent Orange.
Oil on linen 20" x 16".
There is a short step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Desert Daybreak - stage 4

Adding another layer of glaze using the same colour mixes as yesterday. I will stop when I get to the right relationship of brightness and tone between the sky and the land. Maybe two more layers should do it.

Desert Daybreak - stage 3

Although the foreground will be basically monochrome I am putting in more Burnt Sienna into the mix as it nears the butte and horizon. This is for two reasons, one is that it incorporates more of the natural colour of the sandstone mesas and buttes and secondly I want it to get nearer to the complementary of the sky so that it's red/orange against green/blue - this will make each colour stronger.
Still based around Burnt Sienna/Winsor Violet for the landscape and the sky has had a glaze of Manganese Blue/Ultramarine Blue/ Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin.

Valdez

Another in my series of American landscape paintings "The Big Sky" the location for this is Valdez in Alaska with the wonderfully named Ammunition Island in the middle distance. I am starting to introduce more saturated colour into these monochromes, this one having some glazes of Prussian Blue and Winsor Green straight out of the tube. I'm not sure about this one, maybe a brave failure, not sure. Sometimes one is too close to one's own work to see if things are working or not, I was trying to get the glow that comes from this kind of sky...
Colours used were Prussian Blue, Winsor Green and Permanent Orange on a light green acrylic ground.
20" x 16" oil on linen.

Desert Daybreak - stage 2

I first put in a thin glaze of Prussian Blue and Permanent Orange thinned with plenty of Liquin with a rag over the sky. I then roughly put in some detail on the mountains with a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin before a glaze of the above but with Ultramarine Violet mixed in was rubbed into the foreground with a rag. I then made the bushes darker with the above mix but with a bit of Permanent Sap Green added.

Desert Daybreak - stage 1

While I finish "Valdez" I am getting on with this one as I have to wait for each glaze to dry before I can do the next one and working on two at once is more efficient use of time! As I have been using glazes recently I have gravitated towards the work of Maxfield Parrish who used them a lot which is how he achieved the luminous colour that his work is known for. So moving on from using a uniform monochrome across the picture this one will be a combination of a virtually monochrome foreground set against a luminous dawn sky, the title giving a nod to a famous Maxfield Parrish painting - actually he did paint a series of South West American desert pictures quite early on in his career when he went there for health reasons.
I used Lemon Yellow for the sky and a mix of Burnt Sienna, Winsor Violet and Ultramarine Violet thinned with Liquin for the landscape.
Oil on linen 20" x 16".

Valdez - stage 1

Actually more like stage three really, I've been forgetting to photograph it at the end of the day until today. The location is Valdez in Alaska with the wonderfully named Ammunition Island in the middle distance. There is actually  a yellow acrylic ground with a mix of Prussian Blue, Winsor Green and Permanent Orange over the top of it but as I want that green that you see in the Northern Lights to show though I am going to introduce some more saturated mixes of the aforementioned colours from tomorrow. As I am using glazes at the moment I have been looking at the work of Maxfield Parrish and might start to veer away from the desaturated colours towards much more saturated depending on the subject matter.
Oil on linen 20" x 16".

Art Renewal Center

My copy of the ARC's 14th International Salon catalogue/book arrived yesterday. I got three paintings accepted this year, all in the Imaginative Realism section. I think the book gets heavier every year...the three paintings were "Midnight Queen", "A Secret Garden" and "The Dark Citadel".
My goal like everybody else is to get one into the exhibition that travels to places like Barcelona but no luck so far. Frankly I don't think your work gets noticed otherwise as there is so much work in there and they tend to be reproduced so small that their impact is lost. I guess I'll enter some next time but not in Imaginative Realism, probably the Landscape category.

Vale

This is actually a colour trial for a larger painting coming up soon once I get the aurora painting finished that I have just started while I'm in the mood for trying it out. "Vale" is located at Kingley Vale in West Sussex UK.
I tried my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin this time over a ground of acrylic lemon yellow. The yellow gives it more of a warmth than just painting over white so I will probably use this combination for the large upcoming landscape, probably a desert scene.
This one is painted on a relatively coarse canvas which may be more suited to trying things with thicker paint on but that is for later after I have got all these monochromes out of my system. I think for transparent paint glazes a linen surface is better.
Oil on canvas 11 3/4" x 11 3/4".

Vale - stage 1

In preparation for a larger painting I am trying the colours I intend to use on this one located at Kingley Vale, West Sussex.
Over a lemon acrylic ground I applied with a rag a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin. I think these monochromes suit linen better than canvas as the grain of the canvas breaks up the colour too much. On the other hand this could be turned to an advantage if I want something more broken up in the future - maybe with thicker paint for example.
Oil on canvas 11 3/4" x 11 3/4''.

Bay

Currently trying out colours etc. "Bay" is trying out a Prussian Blue/Permanent Orange mix (with a small amount of Winsor Green) over a lemon yellow acrylic ground. It looked quite nice at the early stages when it was soft and subtle but I wanted it to be dark and highly contrasted so I carried on with a few more glazes to take it to finish. So these monochromes get nearer to duochromes (if such a term exists).
Oil on linen 16" x 12".