The Pharoah's Barge - stage 4

 Worked a lot on the buildings trying to get the light/colour transition right; I think I will get it all in and then adjust with glazes. Also worked on the sky and background, I think this is one of those paintings that I will have to work on most areas at the same time. The sails on the barge are red which will be interesting to try and resolve when it comes to painting them in...

The Pharoah's Barge - stages 2 & 3

 

Stage 2

OK I have changed the title... and I yet might change it back again...

Stage 2 is the tonal underpainting using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Dioxazine Violet.

Stage 3 is the first pass of colour over the whole painting. Once I had the sky in I decided to use transparent washes of colour to get in the lighting/colour framework that I intend to use. The lighting is the late afternoon light I saw when I was in Egypt many years ago, the tricky bit is trying to keep the sky and pyramid in the background yet still lit with afternoon sun so I made a start on the light hitting the top of the temple wall to see how it looked against the background. I have now stopped painting so I can look at it tomorrow with fresh eyes and decide how to proceed.

Colours used so far: Phthalocyanine Turquoise, Emerald Green, Ultramarine Violet, Pale Violet, Amethyst, Brilliant Pink, Permanent Orange, Yellow Lake Deep, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Lemon Yellow and Zinc White. All Michael Harding.

Stage 3

Flight From Atlantis sold

 Pleased to report that "Flight From Atlantis" has sold with the paint barely dry to a buyer who already has a lot of my work in his collection already. I will still be taking it to IX next month as it will be shipped from the USA along with paintings he has bought from other artists to him in Singapore.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

Cleopatra's Barge - stage 1

 

This is the title I had in mind but I might change it...

Another small painting to take to IX next month for which I seem to be returning to more of an Orientalist theme again although I don't recall using an Ancient Egyptian theme before. This one somehow came out of the previous painting and doesn't have any origins in Midjourney. In my mind I see it set in the late afternoon when the very low sunlight (as how I remember it when I was there in 1984) is hitting the temples against a dark blue sky with the light transitioning at the base with the boat in the relative darkness. The boat is based on the one used in the Taylor/Burton film "Cleopatra".

I used a small hog brush to "draw" it up with a mix of Burnt Sienna and Dioxazine Purple thinned with Liquin. This is now ready for tomorrow's tonal underpainting.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12"

Flight From Atlantis

 I fancied doing another dramatic Fantasy landscape so I thought that I would see what Midjourney came up with using word prompts like "volcano". Eventually it came up with something interesting but this one acted more like a trigger for a painting idea as opposed to an image that I could use in a painting as such as I hardly used much of the original Midjourney piece in the end. Once I had settled on a volcanic island the demise of Atlantis came to mind. As I looked at the Midjourney piece I viewed the dark island in the mid ground as Atlantis being destroyed by the pyroclastic flows from the volcano behind it. I thought it still needed something of interest in the foreground and had the idea of a boat escaping the destruction (a Trireme) so I ended up with a painting with a lot more narrative content than I was contemplating originally. I liked the wan sun at the top and used it to amplify the idea of the end of a civilisation by a sunlit landscape at right being blotted out by the volcanic cataclysm.

This is another small painting that I intend to show at IX in Reading PA next month.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

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

Midjourney

 

Faeral

 "Faeral" is now available to purchase on Beyond The Every Day, a different section of the Every Day Original portal gallery. Below is a photo of the lovely Naomi Wood who was the model for the painting.

 

Oil on linen 20" x 30".

 

Flight From Atlantis - stage 3

 I didn't post yesterday's progress as I ran out of time so here is how far I have got with it today. I have most of the background finished and am now about to start on the foreground Trireme and water. I stopped at this point today as I am not sure what colours to use on the water so hopefully I will work that out tomorrow morning over my breakfast coffee.

New colours used: Phthalocyanine Green and Lead Tin Yellow Lemon.

Art Renewal Center

Imrryr

 I have three paintings accepted to the Semi Final stage of the ARC's 16th International Salon competition...  this does not mean that they will be in the catalogue or show as I discovered last year! They are: 

"Imrryr" and "Shinrin Taisha" in the Imaginative Realism category and "Station Blue" in the Landscape category.

Shinrin Taisha

 

Station Blue

Flight From Atlantis - stage 2

 I kind of threw some colour at the painting today to try and knock it into shape a bit. Not sure what colours to use on the sea yet and also made some tentative shapes on the volcano on the right which I think will need to be part in sunlight with dark shadow coming down the slope as the sun is blotted out by the ash. Although this is based on a Midjourney piece I am not using much of it so I'm inventing a lot of it as I go along. Thank god I used to be a Fantasy artist...

Colours used: Dioxazine Purple, Pale Violet, Ultramarine Violet, Manganese Violet, Manganese Blue Hue, Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Orange, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow Light, Lemon Yellow and Zinc White.

Flight From Atlantis - stage 1

 I thought that I would do another dramatic Fantasy landscape painting and started messing around with Midjourney using word prompts like "volcano". Eventually I came up with something that looked interesting that as usual acted as a trigger to a painting idea. As it was a volcanic island I started to think around the idea of Atlantis and it's demise and then visualised the dark island in the mid ground as Atlantis being decimated by pyroclastic flows from the volcano behind it. I thought it still needed something of interest in the foreground and had the idea of a boat escaping the destruction, maybe the only Atlantean survivors. I settled on a Trireme as the style of boat. I liked the wan sun at the top so I thought the idea would be better expressed by the background sky being a perfect afternoon sky gradually being blotted out by the volcanic cataclysm.

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

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

Midjourney

 

Enemy At The Gates

Carrying on with the dramatic Fantasy landscapes this is another with it's origins in a Midjourney piece but this time I wanted to have more variation in colour as I felt that the last one was maybe a bit too monochrome. I usually use a Midjourney piece as a trigger as in this case when the dark land in the mid distance suggested to me a fortified city and then the cloud coming off the left side of it could be smoke coming from burning buildings. This then suggested a narrative of a city under attack with the phrase "Enemy At The Gates" coming to mind as the title and the scenario. The whole concept made the work of John Martin come to mind so I channeled a bit of him into the clouds and lighting. I dithered a bit as to how light and colourful the foreground sea should be and settled on relatively dark and subdued as compositionally it made more sense to not confuse the eye with too many light areas and kept the fire and the sky as the main focus for the painting.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

I forgot to post updates on this painting so there is no worthwhile step-by-step progress in this case on the blog!

Midjourney

Enemy At The Gates - stage 3

 Ah, apologies for not posting earlier stages, I seem to have forgot!

This is another painting with it's origins in Midjourney but this time I am trying to vary the colour more than the last painting which maybe is a bit too monochrome. I chose this Midjourney image as when I was looking at it I thought that the dark land in the mid distance would be great for a fortified city and then the cloud coming off the side of it could be smoke coming from burning buildings. The title then followed on from the possibility that the city is under attack and the enemy are at the gates. The whole concept made the work of John Martin spring to mind  so I channeled a bit him into the clouds and lighting. 

I started with my usual tonal underpainting, then the sky and then the fortified city. At stage 3 I have stopped after roughing in some colour to the foreground so that I can look at it over tomorrow morning's breakfast coffee and decide how I am going to paint it - I need fresh eyes to look at it.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12"

Midjourney

 

Land of Storms

 

I abandoned the previous painting I have been working on as I wasn't happy with the composition and felt that I could never correct it satisfactorily and would be just wasting my time on it. I still like the idea and will return to it when I come up with a better composition.

I felt I needed a change from the exotic Orientalism stuff and thought it was time for a few Fantasy landscapes which I need to take to IX next month. I decided to see what Midjourney could come up with as it seems well suited to this kind of imagery. It came up with quite a few possibles and I chose this one to start with and I decided to stick quite close to the original MJ piece as I wanted something dark and contrasty which this reflects. In the end I warmed up the colours, redrew the city/castle, rocks and sea but kept pretty close to the sky. I think I'm going to have a John Martin feel to these landscapes...

I will be taking this to exhibit and hopefully sell at IX in Reading PA next month.

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.

Midjourney

 

Land of Storms - stage 4

 Pretty much finished the back to mid ground and have worked on the rocks and sea to a point where I need to stop and assess what to do next over tomorrow's breakfast coffee. I need to look at some surf, water and rocks reference to see how I go about finishing it off.

Land of Storms - stage 3

 

Pretty much finished the sky and the castle/city today and put in the underpainting on the rocks it sits on and the battlements and rocks on the left side ready for tomorrow.

Land of Storms - stage 2

 Managed to get quite a lot done today, the first colour pass on the sky and the colour underpainting for the city/castle. I'm still following the Midjourney piece quite closely but have stopped here so that I can assess what I have done so far over tomorrow's breakfast coffee and see how I want it to go from here.

Colours used: Winsor Violet, Manganese Violet, Cadmium Red, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Naples Yellow, Yellow Lake Deep, Lemon Yellow and Zinc White.

Land of Storms - stage 1

 I abandoned " Masjid Al'Azraq" as I wasn't happy with the composition and felt that whatever I did with it it would never work. I still like the idea and will return to it when I get a better composition together.

I thought that it would be a nice change to get away from the exotic Orientalism stuff for a bit and do a few Fantasy landscapes which I will need to take to IX next month. I thought that it would be interesting to see what Midjourney came up with especially as it seems to favour this kind of subject matter. It came up with quite a few possibles and I chose this one as the first, in fact I am going to stick quite close to the original Midjourney piece for this one as I saw in my mind a quite dark and contrasty landscape which this one reflects. I'm going to warm it up a bit and have redrawn the castle/city but still kept the basic shape.

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

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

Midjourney

Masjid Al'Azraq - stage 3

 This was the first chance I have had to get on with this painting after three days away from the studio. I decided that it needed a few more shapes on the foreground so painted in some hanging lamps . I then started work on strengthening the darks in the foreground and some early work on the background interior. The plan is to be greenish blues in the background and colder blues in the foreground.

New colours used: Kings Blue Light, Manganese Blue Hue and Cobalt Teal.

Masjid Al'Azraq - stage 2

 As this painting is about blues I didn't give it a stronger underpainting with the Burnt Sienna/Winsor Violet mix and went straight to a transparent blue wash of colour. I'm not too concerned at the moment about the empty spaces at bottom left and right (although I have put in a figure) as I intend them to be pretty dark like the Midjourney source image.

Colours used: Phthalocyanine Blue, Prussian Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Winsor Green, Permanent Orange and Zinc White.

Full Moon Over Cuckmere Haven sold

 Asgard Arts have just sold "Full Moon Over Cuckmere Haven" to a buyer in London who needs it as a birthday present by the 3rd September so I will deliver it tomorrow by hand as I am away at the weekend.

Another painting of a favourite landscape, The Cuckmere Valley in East Sussex.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".