Last Light - stage 3

 Kind of finished the sky although that will depend on how the mountains go in and roughed in the base of the mountains after giving the landscape a desaturated blue wash. The placement of the car headlights can now be seen. The blue base of the mountain was interesting, I painted in originally a flat blue base that I was going to work on when dry but once I had made a few accidental marks that had erased some of the paint I decided that I liked the look of it and worked into the paint some more as it gave the mountains more interest and also knocked them back a bit which should help to get across the sense of vastness that I am always striving for.

Last Light - stage 2

 I first finished off the tonal underpainting (I have subsequently gave it a second pass) and painted the first colour pass on the sky ready for tomorrow when I make final decisions on the colours I'm going to use for the lit areas of the mountains over my breakfast coffee.

Colours used so far: Ultramarine Blue, Kings Blue Light, Manganese Blue Hue, Dioxazine Purple, Pale Violet, Lavender, Burnt Sienna, Brilliant Pink, Permanent Orange, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Warm White.

A Review of 2024

Me at the Grand Canyon

A teaser...

 Now seems a good time to reflect on the year that has nearly finished and I have to say that bearing in mind that every year has good and bad times in them this has been a pretty good year especially after 2023 being a bit of a bummer. Both professionally and personally (the two are actually inseparable) I have to admit it has been a year to remember.

The first major highlight to be mentioned is the fantastic tour round the National Parks of the South West USA with three places ticked off my bucket list: Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Las Vegas. Although it was quite full on physically it was an unforgettable experience of day after day of landscape marvels and it seems like I was lucky to be on the tour as the company doesn't seem to run it any more. Ironically I have not really been able to use much of the reference photos I took for the "Home Land" series yet as a lot of the landscapes are very well known and iconic in themselves and don't quite fit the agenda of the series... looks like I will do another series later based on this trip.

The second highlight of the year I am only going to hint at presently as I need some more information but essentially I was filmed painting in North Wales for a national TV series that is to be broadcast in late January 2025. This will just be a teaser until I post more about it next month.....

The third major highlight was another trip to the USA in October to attend the IX art fair in Reading PA. Normally I go to IX and barely cover my costs with only a few sales made (it is however good to be there to make contacts with new collectors) with shipping and flights being the main expenses. This year was different- I sold seven paintings on the first night of the show with four going to one buyer alone. I then sold two more during the run of the show as well as selling two paintings that weren't even in the show while I was there. This meant for the first time ever that I didn't have to ship back any paintings to the UK. I left one unsold one in the safekeeping of the friends who I stayed with in Maryland, Morgan and Jean Bantly, as it may eventually sell to a buyer in the USA (my main market) and it will be easier and cheaper to ship from there. These sales incidentally made up for a relatively poor year otherwise...

So that was the year that was.... do I dare hope that 2025 will be as good?

My show at the beginning of IX

 

My show at the end...

Last Light - stage 1

 OK clearing the Xmas break out of my head and making a start on the next painting in the "Home Land" series. This one is set somewhere in Wyoming (at least that's a version of the Tetons in the background) but is really all about the last light of day hitting the tops of the mountains with the headlights of a lonely car on the distant road. All these paintings are about the vastness of the American landscape dwarfing the signs of human activity. I have left the tonal underpainting at this point as I need to make some final decisions on the lighting on the mountains which I will do by leaving it alone and looking at it again over tomorrow morning's coffee.

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

Home and Dry

 This one in my "Home Land" series is actually based on a sky I took a photo of on my recent tour round the National Parks in the South West USA which I have stretched across the panoramic format of the picture. I wanted everything to hang off the bright sun with a relatively saturated palette for a change and have tried to get across the title by making it look pretty saturated by the rain storm that has now passed over the distant mountains with the people living in the farmhouse warm and dry inside. The location is somewhere like Montana but essentially this location does not exist and like all the others in the series is about the relationship between people living on the edge of what is possible within a potentially hostile environment with all the paintings trying to get across the vastness of American landscapes, something which I loved on my recent National Parks trip. For a change this one is not based on a colour complementary as there are most colours within this picture, slightly unusual for me. The next one in the series should be pretty rich in colour too.

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

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

Every Day Original

 Just a reminder that my painting "Fuyu No Taiyo" is posted tomorrow 23 December on Every Day Original at 10.30 EST. Oil on fine cotton 12" x 16".

IX

 Pleased to see that I have been accepted for the Main Show at IX next year in Reading PA. Looking forward to meeting up with friends old and new... and making some sales! Can't expect it to go as well as this year though...

Home and Dry - stage 6

 I have roughed in most of the foreground now, ending up going nearer to greens than I originally intended but that's OK. 

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

Home and Dry - stage 5

 Sky and background pretty much finished, worked on the distant mountains today and now have decisions to make on the foreground colours. Poor light in the studio so stopped here for today and will review things in the morning over my breakfast coffee.

Home and Dry - stage 4

 Mostly finished the sky bar some tweaks on the falling rain and maybe a few glazes around the sun. Made a tentative start on the background mountains but the light is not great in the studio so I just washed a colour mix over a bit of it and left it for tomorrow when it's brighter - I quite like how it looks so I might go with it but all that will be decided over the breakfast coffee....

Home and Dry - stage 3

 First colour pass on the sky. looking a bit pallid at the moment so I will probably paint in some glazes in the right side of the sky as I want quite intense colors for a change.

Colours used so far: Ultramarine Blue, Kings Blue Light, Manganese Blue Hue, Dioxazine Purple, Lavender, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Cadmium Orange, Yellow Lake Deep, Turner's Yellow, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Warm White.

Home & Dry - stage 2

 Finished the tonal underpainting but left it here as I want to make a start on the first colour pass on the sky in the morning light of tomorrow. The final painting probably won't have as much detail indicated as it looks here, I want it to be moody and dramatic.

Home and Dry - stage 1

 

The next one in my "Home Land" series this one is based on a sky I took a photo of on my recent trip round the National Parks of the South West in the USA. The setting for this though is somewhere like Montana. I am going for some quite rich colours after the heavily desaturated last one. I stopped here purely because of the paint not being dry for a tonal overpaint and is not an indication that it is a snow landscape. I will finish this tomorrow. 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.

I think I have done enough isolated farmhouses now so after this one I will be looking for something different for the series.

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

Fuyu No Taiyo

 Translates hopefully as "Winter Sun".....I wanted to paint something Christmassy (well it has snow in it) for my upcoming slot on Every Day Original on December 23 and also use it as my Christmas card. I thought it would be nice to have a Japanese theme for this one (Japan is about top of my current bucket list and am contemplating a visit next year) particularly because they have a lot of snow in the Winter. I had originally intended it to have a red/orange - blue/green colour combination but somehow it turned into a red/orange-violet combination which once it started to appear I was happy to go along with - I will use that combination for another painting down the line.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

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

Fuyu No Taiyo - stage 3

 It's been such miserable weather recently that I have been hardly going out so have been able to get on with this painting more than usual. I have probably finished the sky and background and have roughed in all the foreground and trees etc ready for hopefully finishing tomorrow. The colour of the snow etc was intended to be more of a desaturated blue/green but it has somehow ended up with these violets which is still fine as I like the colours so I will use that blue/green colour combination for a later painting. I am painting this for my upcoming slot on 23 December on Every Day Original.

Fuyu No Taiyo - stage 2

 Started to put in the sky and background trees and the underpainting for the temple. Originally I saw the colour of the landscape and temple as more green/blue but it's coming out more violet at the moment so I'm stopping here due to bad light anyway and will have a look at it tomorrow.

Colours used: Phthalocyanine Blue, Dioxazine Purple, Pale Violet, Lavender, King's Blue Light, Permanent Orange, Warm Light Yellow and Warm White.

Fuyu No Taiyo - stage 1

 I thought that I would get on with my next painting for my Infected By Art slot coming up on 23 December and thought I would make it vaguely Christmassy (it's a snow picture) so that I could use it as my Christmas card for this year (!). If it works out it will look very cold and beautiful.... The title means "Winter Sun" in Japanese (I hope).

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 brush.

Oil on fine cotton 12" x 16".

Phone Home

 I wasn't particularly happy with the last painting, I think it was too busy and unfocused even though it was a fairly accurate picture in terms of what I saw on my recent tour of US National Parks. I think that I will stay out of the sunlight and head for more of the shadows to which my work seems better suited.

This one is connected to what I saw in Utah etc but I have changed the lighting to something moodier, a kind of a dramatic quiet picture if that makes any sense.... even a bit poignant in terms of the title. I dithered about strengthening the orange in the sky but decided to keep it subtle. Based on a red/orange - blue/green colour complementary but kept pretty desaturated.

This will be heading for my upcoming solo show at Abend Gallery on Denver CO in March next year.

Oil on canvas 31 1/2" x 12"

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

Phone Home - stage 4

 Have nearly finished the background but needed to make a start on the foreground as I wanted to work my way back to the background as I wasn't sure what colours to use. I settled on a very desaturated orange/brown with lots of the cloud colour mixed in so that the sky and landscape relate to each other. This is just the first colour pass on the foreground and will work it up tomorrow when the light is better in the studio in the morning. I am dabbling with the idea of adding a tiny bit more orange into the sky but I will wait until the house and lights are in first.

New colour used: Oxide Of Chromium

Phone Home -stage 3

 Probably finished the sky and background but stopped here as I need a think about the foreground. It was originally going to be grassland but I'm toying with making it more like scrubland with bushes - will decide over tomorrow's breakfast coffee....

Phone Home - stage 2

 First colour pass on the sky and background hills. I want this very cool and desaturated based on a red/orange - green/blue colour complementary with the green in the greys hopefully setting off the orange tints in the sky and the warm yellow/orange in the windows of the house. Might put a tiny hint of lemon in the sky...

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

Phone Home - stage 1

 Not particularly happy with the last painting so I'm going back to a moodier picture with dramatic lighting which I think is my stronger suit and might avoid sunny daylight from now on! Due to issues with compatibility between my phone and computer I am having to take pics with my compact digital camera so the quality is not so good with this pic but it will have to do....

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".