Pulborough - stage 2

First Version

I painted in the sky yesterday in green/blues and oranges and didn't like it so I rubbed it off and left it until today to look at it with fresh eyes and decide what colours to use. I chose a blue/violet sky with yellow/white clouds and tried to emphasise the diagonals which were getting lost in the first version. I'm thinking of going for reds/violets mixed into the browns and greens to try and keep the palette fairly limited based around violets...

Current Version

Full Moon Over Cuckmere Haven

Finally dry after three days I have been able to scan it and post up the finished painting. I have returned to a favourite landscape, the iconic Cuckmere Haven in East Sussex on the South Coast of the UK. Based on a blue/orange colour complementary there is a single tiny spot of orange light where the Coastguard Cottages are at the mouth of the river although orange was used throughout the painting to moderate the colour and saturation of the blues. The light of the unseen moon is reflected in the nearest curve of the river meander. I painted all the colour in two sessions over one day as a way of preventing myself overworking and putting too much detail into the picture, a trait I'm trying to subdue!
When I've finished "Pulborough", the painting I'm struggling with at the moment, I will call a halt to these small paintings and get going on a large commission. If I have the time I might post up an overview of all what I've learned from this series...
Oil on linen 16" x 12".

Pulborough - stage 1

Still waiting for "Full Moon Over Cuckmere Haven" to dry before I can scan and post it so I am getting on with the next one, "Pulborough". It's time to come into the daylight now after these recent nocturnes although it will be a moody daylight...This is probably the last of this series of small paintings trying things out and feel I need to do a daylight painting bearing in mind what I've learnt and to make sure I keep to the mantras (see previous posts about them!).
The location is a house near the village of Pulborough in West Sussex.
This the first stage of the tonal underpainting, I will put in the sky and go over the rest with another layer of the Burnt Sienna/Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin mix tomorrow morning and then hope to paint the whole picture on Friday.
Oil on linen 16" x 12".

Full Moon Over Cuckmere Haven - stage 1

I am returning to a favourite landscape as possibly the last in this series as I try and consolidate what I've learned (if I have the time I might do a post about the whole series and what I've learned from them). The location is the iconic Cuckmere Haven on the South Coast of the UK about three quarters of an hour away from where I live. There will be a single light on at The Coastguard's Cottage and everything else will be moonlit sky and landscape, the moon unseen just out the top of the picture although you do see it reflected in the nearest curve of the river. With a bit of luck I hope to have the whole thing painted in one day, tomorrow.
This stage was "drawn" up first with a small bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Manganese Violet thinned with Liquin which I allowed to semi-dry over a few hours and then later this afternoon I finished off the sky and the rest of the tonal underpainting with a rag using the same paint mix.

While The City Sleeps

This is a follow-on picture from the last and have used much the same colours but made it more like it is lit by the light of a full moon. It's Venice of course, an old favourite that I have painted many nocturnes of over the years. I'm getting happier with the look of what I'm painting now, I want them to look like a painting not a photograph and have been trying to follow the mantras stuck to my easel as I have gone along (see previous posts about the mantras!).
I painted in all the colour and finished it in one day, yesterday, as I didn't want to overwork it.
The title actually refers to a short movie I shot in Venice a few years ago, a bit Don't Look Now using the dimly lit alleys and bridges as the settings. Venice at night actually looks like a stage set anyway and highly recommend a walk around Venice at night particularly away from the San Marco areas.
I have one more painting to do following on from this one and then I guess it's time to think about the big commission!
Oil on linen 16" x 12".

While The City Sleeps - stage 1

This is a follow-on from the previous painting and will use much the same colours as it's another moonlit cloud picture this time of Venice but will have more lights on in the buildings (I actually added a few lights on the river bank in the last painting and will post the revised version tomorrow).
Venice is not really the subject of the picture as such as it's all about the sky and the way it's painted (in line with the mantras stuck to my easel, see previous posts). 
This stage was first "drawn" up with a small bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Manganese Violet thinned with Liquin and then with a rag using the same paint mix I put in all the tone, rubbing out the clouds with a clean rag. 

Oliver's Island

Once the tonal underpainting was done the day before I painted the whole picture in two sessions yesterday to avoid overworking. This is the second time I have painted this location on the Thames near Strand On The Green in West London although I was more concerned about the colour, design and atmosphere than a topographical painting. I was going to have a few small lights on the river shore at left with reflections on the water but I decided against it as that is what is normally expected in this kind of Whistler-influenced painting. This series of small paintings trying things out is nearing the end now as I think I have worked out how I can tweak the way I paint things to be nearer what I'm looking for. I will need to do another one or two more as I need them to enter some UK competitions in the so called world of "Fine Art". There are not enough buyers in the IX bubble to sustain the number of artists working in this area and I need to make sure I maintain contact with the "Fine Art" market as I had been just about making a living in this area for fourteen years before I got involved with IX and have kind of neglected it over the past few years. I will bring over what I have learned from this series into the IX work as well and need to get on with my IX commission very soon but I needed to get this out my system first.
Colours used were Prussian Blue, Phthalocyanine Blue, Kings Blue Light, Ultramarine Violet, Permanent Orange, Unbleached Titanium and Zinc White - all Michael Harding paints.
Oil on linen 16" x 12".
The earlier stages of this painting can be found in previous posts on this blog.