Masjid Al'Azraq - stage 1

 While I was painting "The Bazaar of Azam Shah" I got the idea to try and paint another large space, this time inside a mosque and this time all in blues as a nice contrast to the previous few paintings. Originally I wanted to do The Blue Mosque in Istanbul but couldn't come up with anything particularly useful in Midjourney so I moved my range to general mosque architecture when finally Midjourney came up with a few images that were nearer to what I was looking for. I am going to paint it mainly in blues but I will introduce some warm yellow/orange by introducing (actually a feature of The Blue Mosque) a hanging circle of of mosque lights in the distance under the dome.

If it works out OK I will treat this as a companion piece to "The Bazaar Of Azam Shah" and show it at IX in October.

Oil on linen 22" x 16". 

This is a preliminary tonal underpainting using only a rag with my Burnt Sienna/Winsor Violet mix thinned with Liquin. After this I intend to just use blues as I don't want much of the warm underpainting to show through.

Midjourney

 

The Bazaar of Azam Shah

 Following on from "Misbah Street" this is another Orientalist painting based on a Midjourney piece that was "drawn up" using only a rag and my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin.

I liked the basic Midjourney piece but wanted it to have the feel of a larger space so I improvised the architectural details,  most of it being made up as I went along. I originally planned for the figures being much closer but changed my mind and made them smaller which helps to support the idea of a larger space. I was a bit worried about it looking a bit monochrome so I introduced the green/blue complementary is a few places like the hanging lanterns to give more variety to the colour. In fact it was intended to be richer in colour than here but the painting seemed to want to go it's own way!

I intend to exhibit this at IX in Reading PA in October.

Oil on linen 22" x 16"

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

Midjourney

 

International Guild of Realism

 Happy to report that my painting "Ghost Station" has been accepted for inclusion in the International Guild of Realism's 2022 Fall Online Salon exhibition. I did have until very recently my painting "Pawn" on exhibition at the McBride Gallery in Annapolis MD as part of the 16th Annual International Guild of Realism for which I went over to the USA to attend the Private View.

"Ghost Station is part of an ongoing series of paintings called "The Big Sky" (or "Roadside America"!) and I will return to painting some more after I have got together enough paintings to take to IX in Reading PA in October.

Oil on linen 30" x 20".

Misbah Street sold

 Pleased to report that "Misbah Street" sold immediately on Every Day Original yesterday to a buyer in Utah.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

Tha Bazaar of Azam Shah - stage 3

 Sorted out the background and have now started on the arches and  the market stall on the right. I stopped here as I need to have a think about colours from here on and will make a decision over tomorrow's breakfast coffee. I'm not sure whether to keep the colours analgous based around reds and yellows or to introduce some different colours into it....

The Bazaar of Azam Shah - stage 2

 I made a start by sorting out the background which I wasn't sure about. I wanted to get across a huge space in a Middle Eastern building but not like a mosque as this is a secular building. I'm still not sure what happens behind the arch on the right, I guess I will sort that out tomorrow over my breakfast coffee. I also made a start on the arch on the left by applying some darker paint to see how the contrast works.

New colours used, Naples Yellow and Warm Light Yellow.

The Bazaar of Azam Shah - stage 1

 Following on from "Misbah Street" this is another painting originating from a Midjourney piece and another that has been "drawn up" with just a rag and no brush using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin. What you see here is the basic tonal underpainting from yesterday with an extra pass of the Sienna/Violet mix and some colour roughed in. Like the previous painting I want this to be soft and atmospheric and will follow the original Midjourney piece quite a lot but also not...

Colours used so far: Winsor Violet, Burnt Sienna, Transparent Oxide Red, Permanent Orange, Yellow Lake Deep and Cadmium Yellow Light.

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

Six paintings Sold

 Pleased to report that a buyer in Singapore who has at least twenty of my paintings already has just bought six more through Pat Wilshire at IX Gallery. They are a combination of two relatively recent oil paintings and four cover artworks from the 1990s:

"Siren's Dawn"  Oil on canvas 39" x 16"

"Sanctuary Of The Sun"  Oil on Linen 24" x 20"

"Empire of Bones"  Acrylic on board  14' x 20"

"Climbing Olympus"   Acrylic on board   13" x 21"

"Point of Departure"   Acrylic on board   13" x 12"

"Ivy"   Acrylic on board  13" x 15"

Misbah Street

 This may or not be a study for a larger painting but it is definitely being posted for sale on my upcoming slot on Every Day Original on 28 August 10.30 EST.

This one is a bit different in that it was not drawn up as such first with a brush but instead the initial underpainting was just applied with a rag using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin as I wanted a soft atmospheric feel to it. This is another painting with it's origins in a Midjourney piece which is shown at the bottom of this post. I like this way of working and the overall look so I will paint some more, some of which I will take to IX in October.

Misbah is Arabic for lamp or lantern and I have seen many such streets in my travels over the years where different streets within the medina specialise in selling certain things like spices etc. Hopefully this painting will strike a chord with people who have roamed these kind of places like Egypt, Morocco and even India which this also reminds me of.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

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

Midjourney

Misbah Street - stage 3

 I first roughed in some thin blue into the top part of the picture and started working into the shapes suggested by the underpainting of the street itself. I kind of make it up as I go along trying not to be too detailed, just suggesting detail instead. 

I am basing it on a blue/orange colour complementary and used the following colours:, Phthalocyanine Blue, Prussian Blue, Permanent Orange, Yellow Lake Deep, Cadmium Yellow Light, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Zinc White and Warm White.

Misbah Street - stage 2

 Misbah is Arabic for lamp btw...

In the morning I gave the whole painting another pass of the Burnt Sienna/Winsor Violet tonal underpainting and then left it to dry and added some washes of Yellow Lake Deep and Permanent Orange on the warm areas later in the afternoon.

Looking forward to adding the more opaque colours tomorrow...

Misbah Street - stage 1

 As I fight my way through the brain fug of Covid I have been playing with Midjourney, ending up in smoky streets in the casbahs and medinas of exotic cities (as I often like to do) of The East. I have accumulated a number of great Midjourney images that should be great starters for some paintings. I am treating this one as a study for a larger painting(s) and if it works out OK I will offer it for sale on my upcoming Every Day Original slot on the 28th of this month.

This is the initial tonal underpainting using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin but applied with a rag only without any drawing up with a brush i.e. it is all tone added or rubbed out for the highlights as I want the finished painting to be very soft and atmospheric.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

Midjourney

Kumo Umi

 

I had the title "Sea of Clouds" in mind for this one and happily it seems that "Kumo Umi" is the correct Japanese translation. After a few recent paintings that just had glowing skies I wanted to paint some clouds and wasn't particularly happy with the last one so I decided to paint another, this one based on a memory of driving round Northern Thailand many years ago when we stopped the car at a great spot on a mountain that overlooked a valley above the clouds. This and the previous painting are not based on an original Midjourney piece but no doubt I will get back to that pretty soon.

I wanted this one to have some influence of the Shin Hanga Japanese print movement with my favourite artist Yoshida Hiroshi very much mind and based it on a yellow/violet colour complementary.

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

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

Kumo Umi - stage 5

 I pretty much finished the clouds and ran a wash of purple/green over the temple yesterday but something bugged me about it so far so I left it alone and had a fresh look at it this morning over my breakfast coffee. After mulling things over for a while I realised the colours were a bit boring so far and felt it needed an injection of colour. Remembering that a lot of the temple is red painted wood I realised that I could add some reds to the painting so today I roughed in some colour as well as trying to correct the perspective.

New colors used: Genuine Chinese Vermilion. 

This colour was the ideal red to use (toned down with some Ultramarine Violet) but I am always reticent to use this paint (which is crazy) as it is so expensive! I'm not sure what the full price is but even discounted it costs £96.00 a tube so I am somewhat sparing when I put some on the palette...

Kumo Umi - stage 4

 Finished the sky and painted a first colour pass on the landscape. I always saw this painting in my mind with the landscape in darker violet/greens and the sky in yellows. Looking at it so far I need to have a think on it over tomorrow's breakfast coffee and see how I want to proceed, there's something bugging me but not sure what it is.

New colours used: Permanent Sap Green, Ultramarine Blue, Ultramarine Violet, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Warm White.

Kumo Umi - stage 3

 Kind of finished the background sky although I have just noticed the two very similar clouds near the base of the anvil cloud which I need to change so that one is different to the other.

I then ran a wash of Ultramarine Violet over the rest of the painting (except for the window in the temple) ready for tomorrow.

Kumo Umi - stage 2

 Pretty much sticking to my original colour scheme so I painted the first colour pass on the sky and adjusted the perspective on the temple. The painting will be based on a yellow/violet colour complementary and intend the clouds in the sky to be way back in the distance.

Colours used: Winsor Violet, Ultramarine Violet, Burnt Sienna, Lemon Yellow and Zinc White.

Kumo Umi - stage 1

 I had the title "Sea of Clouds" in mind for this one and happily it seems "Kumo Umi" is the correct Japanese translation. I fancied painting some clouds and wasn't particularly happy with the last one so I decided to do another, this one based on a memory of being in Northern Thailand many years ago when we stopped the car at a great spot on a mountain that overlooked a valley above the clouds. Looking at this I can see that I need to slightly adjust the perspective on the temple which I can sort out tomorrow. This painting is very influenced by the Shin Hanga movement of Japanese prints from the inter war period particularly Yoshida Hiroshi whose work I love. I have a colour scheme in mind but the final decision will be made over tomorrow's breakfast coffee as I intend to put some colour into the distant sky and clouds as well as a bit more work on the foreground underpainting.

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

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

Yama Jinja

 A probably poor translation of Mountain Shrine into Japanese...

After recent paintings having glowing but cloudless skies I fancied painting some clouds again (in fact the next painting will have clouds too) so I returned to a Japanese theme as I enjoy painting them and they seem to be popular. Unlike recent paintings this one does not originate from a Midjourney piece (the next one won't either) as I saw it in my mind's eye fully formed although I did change the colours from cold to warm over a breakfast coffee after I had painted in the tonal underpainting. I had the stylisation of the Shin Hanga prints in my mind for the clouds but they and indeed the whole painting has a more Fantasy feel to it as I tried to get lots of movement into the composition.

My current theme of having a light on in a window is continued in this painting by having the sun within the structure of the building.

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.