Artists & Illustrators magazine

 This old article I wrote for Artists & Illustrators magazine just popped up in my Facebook News Feed...

Out Of The Blue - stage 3

 Apologies for lack of progress posts on this one.... at this point I have painted most of the waves and have now reached the foreground where I stopped as I need to decide on how I'm going the paint the rest of the water and what colour the sand is going to be..

Mina Al Dhahab sold

 There was a problem with the Every Day Original site over the weekend and this painting wasn't actually posted until yesterday. In the mean time I had put up a post on Facebook and Instagram to readvertise the painting being up for sale which enabled somebody to buy it who wasn't aware of the original posting date so it worked out quite well for the buyer... and myself.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

Out Of The Blue - stage 2

 Seeing as I want the foreground to be subtly lit by lights on the shore I chose a colder desaturated blue for the background. As I have already stated I want the waves to look as though they are coming from the void so no horizon showing. I stopped here as I want to look at it tomorrow morning and see how the background waves etc are working as I can't really move on to the foreground until the rest is right.

Colours used so far: Phthalocyanine Blue, Indanthrene Blue, Phthalocyanine Green, Permanent Orange, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Warm White and Zinc White.

Out Of The Blue - stage 1

 This is actually the second painting with this title...

It's based on a memory from many years ago when I was with a few friends drinking wine on the beach at Hove about midnight and watching the waves come in as they hit the beach. The horizon was invisible and the waves looked as though they were coming from Space or at least an infinite space and somehow had a surreal power to them which has always stuck in my memory. So this painting will have no horizon as such, the only indication of it being the light of a boat far out to sea otherwise the waves will hopefully look as though they are coming from a void with the surf catching some warmer light from the lights onshore...

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

Oil on canvas 31 1/2" x 12".

Every Day Original

 Just a heads up that my painting "Mina Al Dhahab" will be posted tomorrow Sunday 23 June on Every Day Original at 10.30 EST. Oil on linen 16" x 12".

Landscape Artist Of The Year

 I have just returned from Llanberis in Snowdonia after competing in the Sky Landscape Artist Of The Year competition. I was in Pod 2 with a wonderful view of the stunning landscape to paint in oils. I have to be very careful what I say and show about this until the programme is broadcast in January 2025 on the Sky Arts channel!

It was a very memorable day in a wonderful setting and a big thank you to Rich Newman for driving me up there and back from Brighton. With a crew of 50 people it is a very well run show and they have an incredible amount of footage to edit and that is just for one programme, there are I think six heats that they have to go through even before the Semi Final, quite a mammoth undertaking...

 

Home Alone

 The next in my "Point Of Light" series for my solo show next year at the Abend Gallery, Denver CO. Set somewhere on an imaginary beach in the Pacific North West this one proved to be  a bit of a magnum opus as it took much longer to paint than I originally thought it would - the choice of colours was more complicated than expected and had to be made up as I went along. Looks a nice place to live if you like to be away from things (I don't) but if that's coastal erosion going on...

As a matter of interest I like to use phrases, song/film titles that are relatively well used/known and have a certain expectation of content and then defy those expectations and ask the viewer to look again and reassess the words into a different interpretation.

Oil on canvas 39" x 16". 

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

Home Alone - stage 8

 Blimey this painting has proved to be a bit of a faff.... not sure why, I guess I'm having to make up more than I originally planned which has slowed me down particularly with colours. Changed the colours in the reflections twice more today, no knowing if I do it again tomorrow too. Anyway I have done the beach to a certain level and made a start on the driftwood tree. Hoping I can get the tree finished and the sea to the horizon tomorrow...

Home Alone - stage 7

 This is proving harder than I thought for the foreground and beach and have been faffing around all day tweaking colours and painting in rocks, reflections etc. I'm still not happy with the colour of the reflected sky but I will wait for it to dry so I can have a look at it tomorrow and hopefully get it right.

Home Alone - stage 6

 Have been struggling with the colours to use on the foreground beach, I think I have worked them out now so hopefully tomorrow I can finish it!... and maybe finish the painting itself on Wednesday.

New colours used: Oxide of Chromium and Naples Yellow.

Home Alone - stage 5

 Pretty much finished the cliffs and trees and made a start on the house. Tomorrow I plan to start on the sea, beach and foreground which I will paint carefully as I don't want it to go too dark. Decisions on colours to be made over tomorrow's breakfast coffee...

Home Alone - stage 4

 Pretty much finished the sky and have started on the cliffs which I hope to finish tomorrow.

New colours used: Amethyst and Permanent Sap Green.

Home Alone - stage 3

 Finished the sky barring a few tweaks later on. Debating whether to start on the land and cliff line or the sea and beach... at the moment I'm erring towards the land and cliffs but over tomorrow morning's breakfast coffee... I might change my mind.

International Artist magazine

 I haven't managed to get a copy yet but fortunately a friend in America has bought one for me and sent these pics of it... the current issue that I am a Finalist in the Landscapes Challenge for the International Artist magazine. Apparently they are sending me a copy from the USA but at least I have the certificate for it already which they sent a few weeks ago!

Home Alone - stage 2

 First colour pass on the sky after deciding to go for pinky oranges and violet/blues as the main colours. Hopefully finish the sky tomorrow....

Colours used: Manganese Violet, Phthalocyanine Blue, Phthalocyanine Green, Manganese Blue Hue, Permanent Orange, Lemon Yellow, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Warm White.

Home Alone - stage 1

 The next in my "Point Of Light" series for my solo show next year at Abend Gallery, Denver CO. This one is set on the coast of the Pacific North West although as in all this series this is not a real location as such. I will probably have just one light in a window but I have left open the possibility of a few more if I decide to go in that direction later on. Looks a cool place to live maybe but if that is coastal erosion going on.... somewhat precarious. I think I know what colours I'm going to use but I will make my final decision over tomorrow's breakfast coffee.

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

Oil on canvas 39" x 16".