Shinrin Taisha - stage 1

 OK after a good start with Japanese subject matter with "The Rain Temple of Iro Ki" I am going to paint another one still influenced by the Shin Hanga prints movement. I am planning on using a similar lighting idea to the previous one but with different colours, muted green/blues and then the complementary yellow/orange in the windows and probably misty/rainy for the atmosphere as before.

Shinrin Taisha loosely translates (I hope) as Forest Shrine in Japanese. I am leaving the background for tomorrow when the "drawing up" is dry as I want to put it in quite spontaneously and I can have some final thoughts over my breakfast coffee as to how I'm going to paint it.

Oil on linen 22" x 16". This is the "drawing" before the tonal underpainting goes in tomorrow and I used my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin.

The Lost City of Ubar sold

 Pleased to report that "The Lost City of Ubar" sold as soon as it was posted on Every Day Original to a buyer that owns quite a few of my small Orientalist paintings already. 

Oil on linen 16" x 12".

The Rain Temple of Iro Ki

 I am moving on with my Orientalism fantasy paintings to Japan influenced by my relatively recent love of Japanese Shin Hanga prints. It started from seeing some posted on Facebook and then I bought a book of my favourite artist Yoshida Hiroshi and then more recently my friend Rory Walker dropped off three more books of this work including a monograph of Kawase Hasui who is my other favourite artist from this period and indeed it is the rainy landscapes by him that are the influence behind this painting. I don't know a lot about Japanese culture so I'm taking it slowly at the moment but am hoping to paint a few more particularly if they look as though they might sell as well as the Middle Eastern subjects have; at the moment I have no idea if this subject matter is of interest to my usual (or new) buyers....

I based it on a muted yellow/violet colour complementary which I think has gave it an interesting atmosphere.

I will either post this on Beyond The Every Day or I will show it at IX in Reading PA in October.

Oil on linen 22" x 16"

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

The Rain Temple of Iro Ki - stage 3

 

I have it ready now to paint in the foreground trees tomorrow. I toned down the moon and the brightness of the waterfall so that the lights in the temple are the lightest part of the picture. My choice of a yellow/violet colour complementary will be more apparent tomorrow when I paint in the yellow into the windows. I also broke up the background mountainside with some wisps of cloud.

I never use black in all my paintings, I make up "blacks" from combinations of colours like Winsor Violet and Permanent Sap Green in this case. Sometimes I want a warm "black' and other times I want a cold "black", it all depends on the overall colour temperature of the painting.

The Rain Temple of Iro Ki - stage 2

 First colour pass over most of the picture, deciding over breakfast coffee to go with a muted yellow/violet colour complementary but using green to desaturate the purples/violets. Just loosely working in the transparent mixes creating shapes of rocks as I go along.

Colours used: Winsor Violet, Ultramarine Violet, Manganese Violet, Permanent Sap Green, Permanent Orange, Lemon Yellow and Zinc White.

The Rain Temple of Iro Ki - stage 1

 Tonal underpainting for "The Rain Temple of Iro Ki" in which I move on to Japan for my Orientalist fantasy paintings influenced by my love of Japanese Shin Hanga prints. A while ago I bought a book of Yoshida Hiroshi's prints and then more recently my friend Rory Walker dropped off three more books of this work including a monograph on Kawase Hasui who is my other favourite artist from this period and indeed it is the rainy landscape subject prints by him that is the influence behind this painting. The layers of semi silhouetted elements is perfectly suited to my work as I have painted these since my days as an illustrator. I intend to work within a limited palette of greys but based around a certain colour which I will decide on over my breakfast coffee tomorrow morning.

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

The Lost City of Ubar

 

This is the first of my Orientalist Fantasy paintings that is based on a ... real fantasy.

Ubar is called The Atlantis Of The Sands, a legendary lost city in the Southern Desert of the Arabian Peninsular thought to have been destroyed by a natural disaster or punishment from God; indeed there is a book about it by Ranulf Fiennes called "Atlantis of the Sands - The Search for the Lost City of Ubar".

Here we see it rising out of the desert like a mirage in front of a weary traveler as he makes his way across the sand dunes of the Rub' al Khali - The Empty Quarter (the subject for a forthcoming painting). I chose a green/blue - orange/red colour complementary for this one  trying to separate the foreground from the background by making it darker so that there are two places in the same picture as it were. I based the architectural style of the buildings particularly the city walls on Arabia although being as it is a Fantasy painting in The Arabian Nights vein I have mixed in other Islamic styles as well.

This will be posted on my upcoming slot on Every Day Original on April 28 for purchase.

Oil on linen 16" x 12".

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

The Madrasah of Ibn Shah

 This painting is available to buy on the Beyond The Every Day website at 4.00 EST today. An Orientalist Fantasy oil on linen 22" x 16". Please go to the site and sign up for the Mailing List which gives subscribers a 24 hour advance warning of new paintings coming up for sale. Here is the link:

https://everydayoriginal.com/beyondtheeveryday/

There is much more information on this painting in previous posts on this blog.

The Lost City of Ubar - stage 5

 Finished pretty much the buildings and have knocked all the background back a bit to make it look more like a mirage and the made a start on the foreground including resolving the shape of the nearest dune. Should be able to finish it tomorrow.

The Lost City of Ubar - stage 4

 Lightened up the sky at left and made a start of fading off the buildings, not sure what to do on the right side yet so leaving it alone til tomorrow morning's breakfast coffee to see how to proceed. Also worked on the buildings. Somehow the city needs look insubstantial and floating in the air above the desert so this one is going to look very Fantasy.

The Lost City of Ubar - stage 3

 Gradually working out how I'm going to paint this. Decided to lighten the sky with a wash of Lemon Yellow as it was looking a bit too dark - the plan is still differentiate the foreground from the background with a darker foreground and a light background. I want the city to look like a mirage coming out of the mist with warm light hitting the centre and the rest merging with the mist/sand.

Additional colours used: Yellow Lake Deep, Cadmium Yellow Light, Naples Yellow and Lead Tin Yellow Lemon.

The Lost City of Ubar - stages 1 & 2

 

Stage 1

Although this is another Orientalist Fantasy painting this one is actually based on a legendary lost city in the sands of Arabia with echoes of the story of Atlantis. I have incorporated some architecture from that region chiefly in the walls. I want the city to be only half there, merging with the mist/sandstorm floating above the horizon of the dunes with a lone camel rider breaking the horizon. At the moment I see the foreground as relatively dark against the lighter city and sky, but that might change over a breakfast coffee....

This will be for my upcoming slot on Every Day Original on 28 April.

I am using dusty orange/pink/violet against a complementary green blue so a kind of complementary/analgous palette. Colours used so far: Kings Blue Light, Pale Violet, Ultramarine Violet, Manganese Blue Hue, Permanent Orange, Burnt Sienna, Brilliant Pink, Lemon Yellow and Zinc White

Stage 2

The Caravanserai of Dar Zindeh

 High up on the Central Asian Steppe lies the Caravanserai of Dar Zindeh, a refuge and staging post for the weary travelers of The Silk Road. The caravans heavily laden with silks and spices are easy prey to bandits along the way so these caravanserai offer invaluable protection at least for a night or two before they continue their journey. The walls of Dar Zindeh are unusually high and is known throughout the East as one of the safest places to stay as they traverse the lonely Steppes of Central Asia. Why have these three people declined the safety of the caravanserai and spent the night camping outside? As the morning breaks they have gathered by a fire and prepare for the new day... to do what? Are they waiting to waylay an unsuspecting traveler or are they scouts for a larger party of thieves waiting further up the road?

This is another Orientalist painting destined for my slot on the Beyond The Every Day gallery and if unsold to be shown at IX later in the year. I haven't set many paintings in this part of the world and might well do a few more over the coming months. Samarkand is one of those places that I have wanted to visit for many many years and still regret not going there in the 1970s when there were tours from the UK that visited Moscow and St Petersburg  before going on to Bukhara and Samarkand, all for £500.00....

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

There is step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Caravanserai - stage 6

 Worked on the foreground today including roughing in the figures. I will be away from the studio tomorrow so should be finishing it on Friday. I changed my mind about where the land meets the water a number of times over the day and ended up with this which I may or may not change when I get back to it on Friday.

Caravanserai - stage 5

 The mid-ground was too formless and had no depth so I decided to introduce some raking orange/pink light coming in from the right onto the ground  which I think has done the trick and also introduced some variety of colour into those areas. I also darkened the sky a bit and have pretty much finished the background ready for starting on the foreground tomorrow. The foreground needs a bit of thought so hopefully over my breakfast coffee I will be able to work out what to do next.

Caravanserai - stage 4

 There was something niggling me about the foreground, it was kind of flat and formless so I had a think about it this morning over my breakfast coffee and decided to introduce some shafts of pink/orange light coming in from the right hitting where the rocks dip down to the river. I think this now gives it more depth and relieves the potential large area that would be fairly monotone. I worked a bit more on the building and sky as well; still might tweak the sky colour a bit...

Caravanserai - stage 3

Have been struggling with the colours and how dark/light to make things. Everything is invented so the only reference I am using is general landscape and architecture, trying to light it in the way I can half see in my imagination. I got rid of the trees as I am trying to get across the Central European Steppe which is mainly grass with few trees and I want the caravanserai to look situated in the middle of nowhere (apart from being on a trade route).

New colours used: Permanent Sap Green, Bright Green Lake, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Yellow Ochre Deep.

Caravanserai - stage 2

 First colour pass on the sky and building and a second pass of the underpainting on the rest. Still not finalised the colours yet, I think I need to warm up the top but as usual I will decide over tomorrow morning's breakfast coffee.

Colours used so far: Manganese Blue Hue, Kings Blue Light, Pale Violet, Brilliant Pink, Permanent Orange, Naples Yellow, Yellow Lake Deep, Lemon Yellow and Zinc White.

Caravanserai - stage 1

 

Another Orientalist painting for sale on Beyond The Every Day/IX. This one is set in Central Asia in the Uzbekistan region maybe, trying to get across the steppe landscape with the lonely caravanserai in the middle of it. A caravanserai is a building usually on a well traveled route such as The Silk Road where a caravan can rest up at night safe from bandits that prey on the vulnerable cargoes. 

It is late afternoon and the low sunlight catches the walls of the building and the clouds behind, the lower part of the picture is in shadow with three men around a camp fire by a river creek - are they up to no good and waiting to rob somebody?

This is the first pass on the tonal underpainting using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin with some Amethyst and Permanent Orange used for the building.

Oil on linen 22" x 16".