The Lonely Night

 

This is the second painting that I have done of this location on Hove seafront near where I live, the older one shown below. This is another Tonalist painting that is an accompanying one to the previous, a gallery owner told me many years ago to think in pairs as a collector might be tempted to buy both when they see them together. Debating whether to show some of these to an art gallery a few streets away in Hove and overcome my disdain for UK galleries....

I tried a different colour for the underpainting on this one with the violet showing through and giving the whole painting a colder cast than normal. At some point I will try other colours like green but I have acommission to get on with now so that will have to wait.

Oil on linen 20" x 16".

There is a step-by-step progress through this painting including the colours I used in previous posts on this blog.

The Lonely Night - stage 3

 

Second colour pass and maybe in a position to finish tomorrow, taking shape now with sky pretty much finished. Same colours used as yesterday. I still maybe will do one more but this time using a very different underpainting colour as the purple is not that dissimilar to my normal Burnt Sienna/Winsor Violet mix. Also need now to get working on a commission too...

The Lonely Night - stage 2

 This is the first colour pass over the whole painting, adjusting for a different underpainting colour to what I'm used to.

This stage always gives me a good idea as to how to proceed as I begin to see it as I imagined it. Colours used were: Ultramarine Violet, Indanthrene Blue, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Lemon Yellow, Unbleached Titanium and Zinc White.

The Lonely Night - stage 1

 

This is actually the second painting I have done of this location on Hove seafront about fifteen minutes walk from where I live. This will be another Tonalist painting but this time I am trying out a different underpainting colour which is a mix of Ultramarine Violet with a bit of Burnt Sienna in it which I thinned with Liquin and applied with a small bristle brush and rag. I want to try out a few different colours on this one (or I will use pretty much the same ones as "Pier") and see how they look.

Pier

 So I'm getting a grip on Tonalism, it's all about the mood not the subject matter and I managed to hold myself back from how I would normally paint this which is the "Illustrative" approach; as an illustrator you compose and paint it all to best show the characteristics of the subject to it's full advantage i.e. Illustration is part of Packaging you could say. Here the subject matter is secondary to the mood and colour.

This is the Palace Pier in Brighton, the city where I live but I have made it quite small and in the distance yet because it is lit it is still a secondary focus to the picture. I like to compose in triads, here we have three light areas spaced out across the picture in a hopefully interesting way; the distant pier, the Moon in the sky and the moonlight on the water by the kiosk.

Oil on linen 20" x 16"

There is a short step-by-step progress through this painting including which colours I used in previous posts on this blog.

Pier - stage 2

 First colour pass roughly painted in. Trying to resist the temptation to put much detail into the foreground kiosk, the detail in the foreground planking is only there as a guide for a few hints of light hitting them, most of that will disappear.

Colours used: Ultramarine Violet, Indigo, Permanent Orange, Lemon Yellow and Zinc White.

Pier - stage 1

 OK finally hoping to do something Tonalist without being distracted by other ideas along the way. It should be a pretty moody painting of Brighton's Palace Pier from the beach but as in proper Tonalism it's the mood and lighting that is important not the subject so I am painting it with the focus on the sky not on the kiosk or pier.

This is the tonal underpainting stage with a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and applied with a small bristle brush and rag.

Oil on linen 20" x 16".

Cuckmere Shadow

 

Although this was meant to be a Tonalist painting, because I became intent on trying to get the landscape in sunlight to glow against the shadow it took it away from being a Tonalist painting... maybe the next one will be! Compositionally I tried to have three distinct bands of colour not being broken up with a foreground tree as I usually do, the placement of the clouds at left being the result of the original tonal underpainting wash-in when this was the last bit to go in and I decided I that I liked the placement of the light area as it was. 

This is a favourite landscape of mine, the Cuckmere Valley about half an hour from where I live.

Oil on linen 20" x 16".

There is a short step-by-step progress through this painting including the colours I used in previous posts on this blog.

It's Nice To Get Out sold

 An older painting from when I was painting my local seafront in Brighton has just been sold through Asgard Arts. I was fond of ironic titles in those days as a couple walking their dog struggle against the wind while a storm approaches. Bracing they used to call it.

Cuckmere Shadow - stage 3

 Spent the day just feeling my way along with the colours; I kind of know what I want but not totally sure how to achieve it! I have left the Tonalism idea and concentrated on trying to get the sunlit landscape to glow against the foreground shadow.

Using the same colours as yesterday.

Cuckmere Shadow - stage 2

 This is the correct title btw.... OK this is the first colour pass which is giving me a good idea about which colours do and don't work.

Colours used were: Prussian Blue, Winsor Green, Ultramarine Violet, Bright Green Lake, Emerald Green, Permanent Orange, Burnt Sienna, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Warm Light Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Light and Zinc White.

Cuckmere Shadows - stage 1

 This might well be the first of two versions of this view of the Cuckmere Valley from High and Over in East Sussex. I am continuing with the Tonalist theme for a while with this and possibly the next one both being more obviously tonal than previous ones over the years. This one is planned to be relatively light, probably based around a red/orange - green/blue complementary and the next one darker. We will see, my plans often change over my breakfast coffee...

This is the tonal underpainting stage using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and applied with a small bristle brush and a rag.

Oil on linen 20" v 16".

Ayasofya

 I am using the Turkish spelling for the Hagia Sophia church/museum/mosque in Istanbul. I am leaving the foliage for a while as I regroup and hopefully come back to it with results nearer what I was looking for. I felt I needed something that was within my comfort zone as it were and decided to do a Tonalist/Orientalist (!) painting based on a simple colour complementary, in this case red orange/green blue. I wanted it soft, dark and moody and tried to keep detail to a relative minimum such as keeping the mosque to a silhouette not too distinct from the background sky. I quite enjoyed painting this so I am planning another Tonalist picture this time based around red, at least that is the plan.

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

There is a short step-by-step progress through this painting including the colours I used in previous posts on this blog.

Ayasofya - stage 4

 I have no idea why the last post ended up as the old format Blogger, let's see what happens with this one.

OK so have now painted the first colour pass over the whole picture and now we have a much better look at where I intend this painting to go, soft, moody and Tonalist. There will be much less of the orange in the foreground unless that is I change my mind over tomorrow morning's breakfast coffee.... but I don't think so. Hoping to keep a painterly feel that the sky has for the rest of it.

Colours used were the same as yesterday.

Ayasofya - stages 2 & 3

 Please note I am now using the Turkish spelling for the Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul. 

Stage 2 was a second pass on the tonal underpainting in this morning's session to give me a better idea of what I'm intending to do with this one. I used the same paint mix as yesterday.

Stage 3 was the first colour pass on the sky in this afternoon's session. As you can now see this will be a tonalist night painting and I'm hoping to keep the colours subtle, in fact I was surprised when adding Ultramarine Violet helped to tone down the sky which was looking too colourful. I might decide to kill the saturation a bit more, I will decide over my breakfast coffee tomorrow morning. Colours used were: Prussian Blue, Ultramarine Violet, Phthalocyanine Turquoise, Emerald Green, Permanent Orange, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Naples Yellow and Zinc White.

Agia Sophia - stage 1

 I'm leaving the foliage for a while as they have not gone to plan and need to regroup on that theme. Instead I'm getting on with a Tonalist Orientalist (!) painting of the Agia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul which has been in the news recently when President Erdogan decided it was to revert back to a mosque after having been a museum since the days of Ataturk.

This is kind of a comfort zone after a couple of paintings not working out and am looking forward to getting some colour down on it, maybe tomorrow afternoon. Tonalist and moody is the plan...

This is the first pass on the tonal underpainting using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin. Oil on linen 22" x 16".

Richmond Park

 I lived in Richmond many years ago and often had a walk in the extensive park only ten minutes away from where I lived. This was meant to be another foliage painting trying things out but when I got to the first colour pass stage I got distracted by the way the tree trunks glowed against the subdued blue background. Consequently I went off on that tangent and ended up with a painting way more fantasy than I intended. The painting is OK in one way but it bugs me for it turning out this way. Maybe I have to accept that I naturally paint that way and it's pointless trying to change the way one naturally paints. The fantasy look would be OK if I were selling work easily in that field but I think I am in a no man's land between Fantasy and for want of a better term, "Fine Art" and am neither good enough or well known enough in either to really get anywhere.

Maybe one day I will happen upon the right "formula" and make some headway in one or even both of them. 

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

There is a short step-by-step progress through this painting including the colours I used in earlier posts on this blog.