Station Red - stage 1

 OK that's it for Fantasy for a while, I feel a need to try some new things aimed more at the gallery market. I normally do this at the beginning of the year but...

I have gone back to one of my favourite subjects, disused or run down petrol (gas) stations. I kind of know what I want to do with this but I have so many competing things I want to try that it is difficult narrowing down what I want to do with this one. I know it will be about a strong design and colour but also want to knock it all back with semi-transparent glazes which could turn out to be a mess but I'm sure I'll learn a lot from it!

This is the tonal underpainting stage using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet but this time with Alizarin Crimson too as I am planning this picture to be about red, a colour that I love to use but have been unable so far to come up with something satisfying yet.

Oil on mdf 18 1/2" x 18 1/2".

The Harem Barge of Ali Pasha

 As a special treat for his three favourite concubines Ali Pasha has arranged for them to have a morning away from the confines of the harem by being taken around the lake on the Harem Barge. Six men row them around the lake accompanied by an imposing eunuch who stands guard by the enclosure. Not only is this a chance for them to be away from the beautiful prison of the Palace full of intrigue and suspicion but also to escape the stifling summer heat by breathing the cooling breeze and fresher air that eddies across the surface of the water.

I have painted this because I am not sure about the previous painting that was destined for my upcoming slot on Every Day Original. I will decide in the coming minutes as I post this as to which one I put up for sale. I was trying to get across a feeling of bright sunlight and heat and as usual has come out differently to what I originally envisaged particularly in terms of the colour which changed to what you see now as I ramped up the feeling of dusty heat. The background is based on an old engraving of Mosul in Northern Iraq and the barge is a bit of a steal from a Gerome painting.

Oil on linen 16" x 12".

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

The Harem Barge of Ali Pasha - stage 3

 Finished the sky and the background buildings. I decided to use quite warm and rich saturated colours to get across the heat and will decide tomorrow over breakfast coffee how dark to make the battlements.

The Harem Barge of Ali Pasha - stage 2

 

Slightly tweaked the title. So this is the first colour pass on the sky and buildings which I stopped here as I need to think carefully about how I can achieve the effect and colour that I am looking for.... over tomorrow's breakfast coffee.

Colours used were: Manganese Violet, Winsor Violet, Manganese Blue Hue, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Yellow Lake Deep, Winsor Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Zinc White and Warm White.

The Barge of Ali Pasha - stage 1

 

This is currently a working title.

I'm not sure about the previous painting "The Cloud Palace of Hakim Bey" so I'm doing another Orientalist picture for Every Day Original just in case. This one will be all about the lighting, a bright sun is being reflected onto the water where the barge is floating by and am hoping for a dazzling effect on the water here. I'm not sure what colours I am going to use yet, that will be determined tomorrow morning over my breakfast coffee...

This is the tonal underpainting stage in which I have used my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and applied with a flat brush and a rag.

Oil on linen 16" x 12".

The Cloud Palace of Hakim Bey

 Decided to change the title as clouds seemed more appropriate...

Hakim Bey came to power at the age of sixteen as the other members vied for the throne after his father had died due to suspected poisoning. Although young he was wily in the ways of the Court just like his father and was able to position himself to take over by a combination of ruthless murders of his Mother's side of the family and sending most of his Father's side into exile after maiming under torture so that they no longer posed a threat to his position. Hakim Bey considered this to be a great act of kindness on his behalf which set the tone for his reign from then on. Over the years however paranoia set in as he doubted his own wisdom of letting those family members live and decided to build a new palace high up on the side of a mountain trusting that it was impregnable from any future threat by armies or indeed assassins sent by what was left of his resentful family. To an outsider the palace looked fantastical and enchanted but this belied the dark secret of Hakim Bey's rise to power as he slowly descended into a life of debauchery and paranoia eventually being ended by a knife to the throat by a courtier loyal to a distant cousin who Hakim Bey had forgot to deal with. This ruler proved to be worse than Hakim Bey but that's another story...

 Well, that's what I heard...

For some reason I struggled a bit with this painting, maybe because I used hardly any reference so maybe I have learnt a lesson in basing Fantasy a bit more on reality! I was after a Maxfield Parrish look but the painting as is often the case went on it's own way and only has some of the feel that I originally intended. At one point I was thinking of giving up on it but I decided to ditch the original foreground and paint in more clouds which I think saved the picture...

This will probably be on sale on my upcoming slot on Every Day Original later this month unless I come up with another one before then.

Oil on linen 16" x 12".

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

Jalan Jalan

 I have recently put together a book of my photographs of Bali in the 1980s and 90s. I went to a lot of effort and indeed expense to get them as in those days I was pretty obsessed with the island and it's culture, managing to get there six times between 1986 and 2005. The photos from the 80s show Bali as still a relatively quiet place (at least in the Ubud area where I always stayed) and I am hoping that these photographs will be of interest to people who are interested in how it was before the tourist development that has happened since although you could also say that it shows a timeless Bali too, the culture staying the same as it has for centuries. It has been written for people that have some knowledge of the island and it's culture and I have included Balinese names and terms when appropriate.

 I have now received the copies of "Jalan Jalan" from the printers and am in the position of taking orders from anybody that may be interested in buying one. It is an 84 page softback book full colour throughout A4 format with seven chapters that cover the landscape, people, offerings, and ceremonies with a small section at the end of my paintings and drawings that resulted from those trips. 

The book costs £15.00. These are the prices including post and packing:

UK   £20.00

EU   £24.00  (new EU VAT rules may mean the recipient having to pay 20% local VAT tax. I always mark them as a             "Gift" but sometimes the Customs ignore this)

USA   £33.00

Australia   £31.00

Indonesia   £32.00