The Vampire of San Polo - stage 3

 I have left the background alone for the moment and got on with the first colour pass on the building at right keeping it desaturated at the moment so that I can add any touches of stronger colour later on. The vampire won't be as obvious as it looks here, possibly with a blue pallour. I might well paint all the areas to a near finish and then link everything together with areas of shadow and fog at the end.

The Vampire of San Polo - stage 2

After an initial wash of a desaturated blue/green I painted the first colour pass on the background and strengthened some dark areas in the foreground. Trying to keep the colours pretty desaturated....

Colours used: Phthalocyanine Blue, Phthalocyanine Green, Dioxazine Purple, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Zinc White and Warm White.

The Vampire of San Polo - stage 1

 I thought I needed more variety in what subjects I am taking to IX and although I do have one small vampire painting I realised that I didn't have a Venetian vampire... so here we go. I am planning this to be in desaturated blues although that will be decided tomorrow over my breakfast coffee. I have left the doorway unpainted at the moment but the plan is to rough in the nosferatu in there tomorrow. I want the foreground to be fairly in focus but the background is to be in soft focus and blurry.

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

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

Sun Prairie sold

 A painting from my Roadside America series "Sun Prairie" has just sold to a UK buyer who has about four of my paintings already in their collection. I was trying to capture the light of a low afternoon sun hitting some farm buildings in front of an approaching thunderstorm. I seem to recall that Sun Prairie is the name of the town.....

Oil on canvas 25" x 25".

Isle of Tears

 Another painting possibly heading for IX next month although watch this space for news on me going or not. ..

After the relative complexity of "City of Light" I fancied something simpler but still with a luminous moonlit sky as they seem to be popular with collectors and previous paintings heading for IX have already sold so I needed a couple more for the show. This is about the third or fourth painting of mine that has it's roots in a famous Arnold Bocklin picture called "Isle of The Dead" (in fact he did a number of paintings on this theme) with this one having a very still atmosphere combined with a sinister element hinted at by the title. I don't like "pretty" pictures per se and am always attracted to and indeed hope my paintings reflect a more ambiguous content so they can be beautiful but with a dark edge to them.

Oil on linen 22" x 16"

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

Isle Of Tears - stage 4

 So pretty much finished the sky and have painted in the island which will need some tweaking tomorrow before I work on the foreground water and beach which I have roughed in today. I'm glad that I roughed in the foreground as I want to leave it alone now and then look at it again in the morning over my breakfast coffee to decide how I'm actually going to paint it - not sure how light/dark the sea should be.

Haven Gallery

 My painting "Dori Hinoiri" will be exhibited in a show at the Haven Gallery, Northport NY, USA called "The Art of Antiquity", a mixed show including a few artists that I have met over the years at IX. The contact was made through Instagram when the co owner Erica Berkowitz saw my work and asked me what paintings I had that might fit the theme of the exhibition. I sent her a number of pics of possible paintings and she chose "Dori Hinoiri". Time was tight  as there were only a couple of weeks to get the artwork over to the USA, Erica deciding that it could be framed over there as opposed as me trying to get it framed and shipped in a short space of time.

So it goes to show that social media can pay off when it comes to exposure!

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

Dori Hinoiri

Isle Of Tears - stage 3

 Finished the sky barring a few tweaks tomorrow morning and have roughed in the Island and put a bit of darker tone into the foreground beach - all this gives me a better idea as to how I paint the rest of the picture.

New colours used: Ultramarine Violet, Permanent Sap Green and Cobalt Teal.

Isle Of Tears - stage 3

 First rough colour pass on the sky after an initial wash over with a mix of Phthalocyanine Blue and Permanent Orange thinned with Liquin.

Colours used: Phthalocyanine Blue, Permanent Orange, Zinc White and Warm White

Isle Of Tears - stage 1

 Another painting potentially heading for IX next month and about the third one of mine connected to Arnold Bocklin's "Isle Of The Dead". Another hopefully luminous nocturne with a few small warm lights on the island to contrast against the moonlight.

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

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

City Of Light

 This is another painting potentially going to IX next month although due to the recent operation I am fretting whether I will be fully recovered by then to make it. I have to decide in the next few days and I'm really not sure at the moment. My framer is waiting for a decision as she needs to start framing them by early next week and is pushed for time as she has another big show to frame up for another artist. I need to let the organisers of IX know very soon as I don't want to let them down so they have to make last minute changes to spaces etc. Also I have arranged to stay with friends in Maryland before IX starts so I need to give them as much notice as possible.

I decided to paint "City Of Light" with the moonlit sky as the previous paintings with this kind of sky sold soon after I painted them so I needed another for the show and as the look seems popular it made sense to paint another for a possible sale. I think I'm doing too many Orientalist paintings but as they seem to sell I guess I need to do more!... but I will need more variety for the show itself.... the next one might be figurative (!). I wanted "City Of Light" to be soft and mysterious but I have discovered that it is difficult to achieve with complicated shapes so "City Of Light" developed in it's own way and I will try the softness on the next one. It is loosely based on a Midjourney piece shown at the end of this post.

The composition is a bit unusual for me in that the main elements of the picture are in a vertical line a third way in from the left (The Rule Of Thirds), I would usually spread these elements around but this time the composition hangs off this line.

Oil on linen 22" x 16"

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

Midjourney

City Of Light - stage 7

 It's not far from finished now, I have been working on the lit area in front of the mosque, resolving things as I go along. I originally planned this one to be soft and dreamy but have discovered that it is difficult to achieve in finicky cityscapes like this so at least I have learned something for the future... simpler shapes are easier to paint soft.

City of Light - stage 6

 I have most of the buildings finished it really just leaves the area of souks and lights in front of the mosque and the foreground buildings at left. It's been quite a good painting to pick away at as I recover from my operation in hospital on Monday. Progress is slow but that's fine, it keeps me occupied and distracted.

City of Light - stage 5

 After getting back from hospital I am managing to get back into painting. I spent most of today's session making a start on sorting out the foreground building at right. Feeling my way along with this one...

City Of Light - stage 4

 Pretty much finished the sky and background and have roughed in the city where I will now have to leave it for a few days as I have a minor op in hospital tomorrow and probably won't get back to painting until Wednesday.

I composed this one a little different to how I normally do by having the whole painting hanging off the vertical that links the moon, mosque and the main lit area a third of the way from the left (The Rule Of Thirds). I would normally place them around the picture to break things up but doing it this way made more sense.

New colour used: Yellow Lake Deep.

City Of Light - stage 3

 First colour pass on the sky using a colour that I find very versatile: Naples Yellow-Reddish Extra by Old Holland. It's a bit of a mouthful but I find it so useful for skies etc.

City Of Light - stage 2

 After a second pass of the Sienna/Purple mix I left it to dry until later in the afternoon when I gave it a wash of desaturated blue/green over all the areas that that will be darker.

Colours used: Phthalocyanine Blue, Pthalocyanine Green and Permanent Orange.