On The Edge

 

The first painting for my solo show next year at the Abend Gallery to come out of my recent tour of the National Parks of the South West in the USA. I loved the vast scale of the landscapes and the big skies that hung over them and got most of my reference shots on the roads between the parks. Maybe because of the altitude (?) the contrast between the blue sky and the white clouds was so intense and I wanted to get that across in this painting, not sure I have and think I might leave the bright desert sun behind and return to the more familiar shores of evenings etc. The location in this painting does not exist (these are all kind of symbolic paintings) and is actually an amalgam of three different locations plus some imagination and invention. I'm fascinated by how people live in relatively hostile environments like this one somehow clinging on despite a lack of water, power and shelter from the relentless sun. You see individual houses or communities way out of town in the parched hills and land living in self-made buildings with seemingly no viable income source at least not from the land but every one of them has a car or truck parked nearby without which I am sure they could never survive. Living on the edge...

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

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

On The Edge - stage 5

 Working on the land now and trying to work out the colours to use, I'm not used to painting sunny days! It's mainly complicated by the lighting idea I'm trying to paint of the area in sunlight at left contrasted with the land in shadow and the house when I get round to painting it.

New colours used: Permanent Sap Green, Brilliant Pink and Naples Yellow.

On The Edge - stage 4

 OK the sky is basically finished, I painted in some Lead Tin Yellow Lemon into the clouds which warmed them up a bit (can't really be seen in this pic). I also painted in some more sky and painted out some of the clouds to give the sky some space, it was looking too crowded.

On The Edge - stage 3

 I think I will need another day to finish the sky as it covers such a large area of the painting. We're getting there but none of it is finished yet, toying with making the sky even darker at the top....

On The Edge - stage 2

 First colour pass on the sky, looks like it will be about three days work before it's finished as it covers such a large area of the painting. I stopped here because I need to have a think about the clouds nearer the horizon which I will do tomorrow over my breakfast coffee. There is a lighting idea I have for the foreground which I don't know if it will work with the sky... we will see.

Colours used so far: Phthalocyanine Blue. Phthalocyanine Green, Permanent Orange, Warm Light Yellow, Unbleached Titanium and Warm White.

Art Renewal Center

 In the end three out of my five paintings that were Semi Finalists in the Art Renewal Center's 17th International Salon competition made it as Finalists and will be published in the forthcoming book.

"Binary Sunset" made it into Imaginative Realism

"The Night Owl" and "Home Sweet Home" made in into the Landscape category.

Binary Sunset

T

The Night Owl

Home Sweet Home

Living On The Edge - stage 1

 Provisional title, it might be called "On The Edge"...

This is really the first painting to properly come out of my recent tour of the US National Parks in the South West for my solo show next year at the Abend Gallery. I loved the vast scale of the landscapes I saw particularly on the road between the various parks and loved the vast skies that hung over these landscapes. I don't know how/why the contrast between the blue sky and the white clouds was so intense there but I took loads of reference shots of them as we drove around. This painting is all about that contrast and scale which I hope to get across although this location does not actually exist and is an amalgam of three different locations plus imagination and invention. I'm fascinated by how people live in relatively hostile environments somehow clinging on despite a lack of water, power and shelter from the relentless sun. You see individual houses or communities way out of town in the parched hills and land living in self-made buildings with seemingly no viable income source at least not from the land but every one of them have a car or truck parked nearby without which I am sure they could never survive. Truly living on the edge...

This is the first pass on the tonal underpainting using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Dioxazine Purple thinned with Liquin and applied with a brush and rag. I will give it a second pass tomorrow.

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

Out In The Cold

 The first painting after my return from IX last month.

After producing a number of fantasy oriented paintings for IX I am returning to painting work for my solo show in March at the Abend Gallery, Denver CO. I am considering changing the title of the series to "Home Land" as all the paintings are ruminations on the theme of home within vast American landscapes. This one is set in deepest Winter in maybe Wyoming (all these paintings are imagined landscapes and are not real locations) with a lonely farmhouse set in a vast snow landscape. The area of sunlight on the distant mountain was unplanned and was only going to have the sunlight picking out a few ridges but when the initial colour pass on the mountains had left that area with just the underpainting showing it occurred to me that it could be the whole area in bright sunlight. I will be developing this lighting effect in future paintings...

Based on a yellow/violet colour complementary (although very desaturated). Oil on canvas 31 1/2" x 12".

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

Out In The Cold - stage 3

 Pretty much finished the sky and after a desaturated blue wash over most of the landscape I painted in the first colour pass on the background mountains but stopped when I got to the light area at left as I need to have a think about it before proceeding - over tomorrow's breakfast coffee as usual.

Out In The Cold - stage 2

 First colour pass on the sky, I stopped here as a I need a think about how I'm going to paint the mountain which I will do over tomorrow's breakfast coffee.

Colours used so far: Indanthrene Blue, Permanent Orange, Naples Yellow Reddish Extra, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Warm White.

Out In The Cold - stage 1

 Finally back to painting after returning from IX...

I am now getting back to producing work for my solo show next March at the Abend Gallery in Denver CO after a recent swathe of more Fantasy paintings needed for IX, nine out of twelve being sold at the event including seven on the first night.

I have returned to my "Point Of Light" series which I am considering changing to "Home Land" as all the paintings pretty much are ruminations on the theme of "home".... this one is set in deepest Winter in maybe Wyoming (all these paintings are imagined landscapes and are not real locations) with a lonely farmhouse set in a vast snow landscape with the usual light on somewhere in the building.

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

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

IX 2024

Before

 I exhibited my work at IX at the Goggleworks in Reading PA last week after staying with friends in Maryland. They were going there as collectors to see if there was anything they liked to buy (there wasn't) and drove me up to the show. As we arrived a collector was sitting at the entrance who asked me if an older painting called "Faeral" was still available which it was so I made my first sale before even going in the building! A good start!

As I was setting up (aided by my friends Morgan and Jean) a couple of collectors that had bought off me previously approached me and asked if they could buy my latest painting "Tatooine Sunsets" which I had just put up on the screen... I said yes of course - another sold before the event had started, this was going well! The event itself started at 6.00pm and within the hour I had sold "The Vampire of San Polo" to a collector from New York and within I think half an hour another collector came along and bought four more! Oh I forgot to mention that "The Portal" sold to another collector couple in between so at the end of the evening I had sold seven paintings in the show plus "Faeral" at the entrance... the best I had ever done at IX....

The next day I sold "Red Lantern Street" and then nothing on the next day until finally on Saturday I sold "The Fire Temple of Ahura Mazda" to the collectors who had bought "The Portal" previously and who couldn't bear to leave the show without it.

During the run of the show on Wednesday I also sold "Yama Jinja" on Beyond The Everyday so all in all I sold eleven paintings during the time I was there including nine from the show itself - a record I would imagine I will never beat. 

Morgan suggested that I leave the remaining larger painting "Castle Of Lost Souls" at their house where they could ship for me from in case a buyer in the USA emerges. I then resolved to bring the last two smaller paintings back with me on the plane as hand luggage (I had brought two with me this way when I arrived) so this meant... no shipping back to the UK of unsold paintings, a first!

Hmmm I think I will go to IX next year....

After

 

 

 In the "After" pic you can see four paintings packed up in bubblewrap waiting for the buyers to take them away on Sunday the final day of IX.

Yama Jinja sold

 Whilst I was at IX in Reading PA last week (more on that in another post) I sold "Yama Jinja" through Beyond The Everyday, the first I have sold on this platform ran by Every Day Original. This was a painting intended for last year's IX but I was unable to attend. Oil on linen 22" x 16".