Sentinel

After the exertions of producing a body of work to take to Illuxcon, I am now just trying a few experiments with some smaller paintings. Right back to when I was an illustrator I occasionally produced more textural paintings then in acrylic, whereby dark transparent paint is roughly painted on first and then highlights painted into it when it was dry. This worked particularly well with natural forms such as tree trunks. I have over recent years done something similar with oil paint except instead of painting in highlights I have have erased them with a small bristle brush dipped into turpentine. Whilst at Illuxcon I saw the work of Julie Bell who has been doing something similar although a lot more refined than my attempts so far and decided to have another go on a simple landscape. I chose a lonely Scots Pine with writhing roots on a hilltop against a cloudy sky, keeping it moody by lighting it quite low with no really bright areas. I am not overly happy with the results but it's a start, I'm not sure if I will continue with these or not...
Oil on board 18 1/2" x 18 1/2",
There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.