Happy New Year!

 A big thank you to all the people who have looked at my blog over the past year!

Here is my top nine or whatever it's called of 2021. A productive if somewhat dreary year socially one can only hope for a better year to come although based on past experience every year has it's ups and downs so here's to a 2022 with more ups than downs!

Pump Jacks - stage 1

 I was planning to do a large painting next but I haven't come up with a subject and treatment that I am happy with yet so I thought that I would get on with another Roadside America/The Big Sky painting as I get a bit twitchy when I'm not painting something. There will be a point soon when I show some of these to some USA galleries to see if any of them are interested in representing me although I do have a connection with a gallery in Denver CO so I will show them the new work as well.

The location for this is somewhere near Hagerman in Texas although as usual it will be the sky and the mood that the painting is more about. The ground is painted with my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet and the sky colour is a mix of Permanent Orange and Warm Light Yellow.

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

The Harem Barge of Ali Pasha sold

 I am pleased to see that "The Harem Barge of Ali Pasha" has sold on Every Day Original within minutes of being put up on the site to a collector that already has a number of my paintings already on her walls. I enjoy thinking up these Orientalist fantasies and it's nice to see them snapped up so quickly (yes they are being sold at an attractive price) so let's see what I come up with next for my February 28 slot on Every Day Original.

Oil on linen 16" x 12".

Every Day Original

 "The Harem Barge of Ali Pasha" goes on sale tomorrow December 28 on Every Day Original at 3.30pm EST. Oil on linen 16" x 12".

IX 2022

 I am pleased to see that I have been accepted for the Main Show at IX in Reading PA next year. Quite if it happens or I am able to get there remains to be seen! Although one has to make plans ahead the Covid situation makes everything uncertain and subject to change so .... that's the plan.

"Isochron Scepter" sold in auction

 A painting I did in 1997 for a MTG card originally called "Null Rod" but subsequently changed to "Isochron Scepter" has just sold in a private auction between MTG collectors for $29,000.00! I note in my records that I sold it in 2015 for $495 the original buyer must have sold it to the current owner sometime in between but I suspect for nowhere this sum!

The good news is that the seller has kindly offered to give me 5% of the sale price! This is a complete one-off and really does not affect the price of anything else I have done or indeed will do so I can't up my prices on the back of it!

Acrylic and bronze powders on board approx 14" x 10".

The River Palace of Nawab Khan - stage 3

 Sorry about lack of posts on this one, too many social things going on as Christmas approaches!

I have now painted in roughly all the landscape apart from the palace and although it doesn't look how I intended (again) I will go with the flow and finish it this way - I had originally intended it be more blue. This one is very hard to photograph and looks too harsh here compared to the original....

The River Palace of Nawab Khan - stage 2

 Halfway through the first colour pass - I saw it in my mind's eye as bluer than this so I've left it like this for today and will have a look at it tomorrow over my breakfast coffee.

Colours used so far: Prussian Blue, Ultramarine Violet, Kings Blue Light, Permanent Sap Green, Permanent Orange, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Zinc White.

The River Palace of Nawab Khan - stage 1

 I saw this in a dream a couple of nights ago and felt obliged to paint it; in the dream I was on a holiday flight over India and saw this as I looked out the window...

This might be an alternative to "Storm Over The Citadel" for my upcoming slot on Every Day Original on 28 December if it comes out OK. It's going to be mainly in blues but not as a nocturne, I see it as some sort of strange afternoon light quite soft and romantic. I have put the hint of an horizon in it since this photo was taken and now makes more sense. I already have the bones of a back story sorted out for this but will hold off writing it until it's finished. It is set in Rajasthan with vaguely Mughal style architecture and a landscape that can be found in the Udaipur area, lusher than most of Rajasthan which is mostly desert.

This is the Tonal underpainting stage using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin for the landscape with Lead Tin Yellow Lemon for the basic sky colour.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

Storm Over The Citadel

 I have too many competing ideas for the next Roadside America/The Big sky painting so I thought I would get on with this, an Orientalist painting for my upcoming slot on Every Day Original on December 28. It was originally going to be darker and more dramatic but once the early stages of the sky were in I quite liked how it looked like a dust storm coming over which was quite appropriate as the location is Cairo in Egypt. I was there in 1984 and remember that you can see the Pyramids from The Citadel which is quite a sight. Hoping to go back one day to see the new Museum of Antiquities which I believe is not finished at present.

Based on a green/blue - red/orange colour complementary. Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

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

Storm Over The Citadel - stage 2

 Actually it's stage three as I forgot to post where I had got to yesterday. I have now roughed in the clouds and made a good start on the buildings - I have left the actual citadel as it is for the moment as I feel I need to have another look at it over my breakfast coffee tomorrow. I am wondering if I need to introduce a little variety in colour in the buildings so I will leave it for the moment. It isn't actually coming out how I intended but that's OK as I quite like the look of where it's going - it kind of looks like a sandstorm coming in which is quite appropriate as the location is Egypt...

Colours used so far: Phthalocyanine Turquoise, Winsor Violet, Pale Violet, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Naples Yellow, Yellow Lake Deep, Winsor Yellow, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Warm White.

Storm Over The Citadel - stage 1

 I have too many competing thoughts about my next American landscape painting and couldn't decide what to get on with so I thought I would leave it alone for a few days and paint something Orientalist for my upcoming post on Every Day Original on 28 December. You can't tell yet but this one should have a different feel to previous Orientalist paintings which should make itself apparent when I make a start on the clouds.

This is the tonal underpainting stage for the city using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet and then I painted a layer of yellow as background for the sky with Lead Tin Yellow Lemon.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".