TOP DOWN

I know Lucian Freud spent a period of time building his pictures like a mosaic, first the eye, then the nose, all would be finished before moving on to the next bit. I can understand the benefits of such an approach but it wouldn’t work for me. I am a normal person, Freud wasn’t. My rendering of this scene looks exaggerated, I would like to call it enhanced. I think I am applying a more simplified graphic style in this painting, but I don’t want to create an abstract collaged effect. I like the way this painting is progressing and the emphasis on dramatic lighting is something I have not really considered before, but I would like to explore it more. I am still having issues with a reflective sky when photographing, must find a solution for this.

Cloudburst over Lorbottle. Day 2

PENTIMENTI

This was a very complicated picture to draw out. Unhelpfully the farmers did not follow the natural underlying contours of the land when they laid out their fields. The placement of them almost disguises and distorts the rhythms of the landscape but when you look across the whole area you can see the shape of the skeleton. On the subject of pentimenti, it is the idiosyncratic shapes of the fields that give this landscape a particular character. I am trying to capture the precise nature of these shapes rather than come to a poorly observed approximation.

Cloudburst over Lorbottle Day 1

A TIPPING POINT

I have done only 6 paintings that I have no reservations about and 5 of those are my last 5. That is not to say I understand everything that I am doing. Some of them contain all manner of curiosities in terms of their shapes and colour, many not intentional. But there is a life, a vitality and an intensity to them that I find compelling. I allow them to stand uncorrected, a lot of that has to do with my style of painting and influences. The last couple of years being Edward Burra and Paul Nash, then Soutine and Bacon, all troubled painters with a leaning towards the surreal. Given this influence I am intrigued to see where my painting is going. The painting is finished.

Harbottle

WHY DID I CHOOSE PAINTING?

This question arose after tackling what I thought would be a difficult task, building a wall with randomly shaped stones, reasonably successfully I thought. Why didn’t I choose the piano? or maybe a stone mason, with confidence still brimming. Surely an easier pursuit, more satisfying, a much more obvious understanding of what is right or wrong? Would I have been happier?, I could master the art of stone wall building, the piano is more difficult but there is a mathematical technique that can be learnt. I am stuck with painting. It is satisfying, most of the time, (if I forget the first 10 years), I enjoy it, but I always feel why can’t I just do better?

Harbottle. Day 5

SLOW AND FOCUSED

The first one I am very good at, the second I struggle with sometimes. There is an observed intensity that I like in the right mid ground of the picture. I want to take this across the rest of the picture. Not so long ago I would have called this illustration and it would have troubled me. Now I look at it and it intrigues me. Mostly because I don’t know where it is leading me. Only one way to find out. In my college days style used to be a theme that I spent too much time worrying about, mostly because many of us were practicing a ‘house style’ that seemed fashionable. What I am finding now is that any style can succeed, it just needs to be considered and developed.

Harbottle. Day 4

FOR A SUBLIME AFTERNOON

I would recommend Chopins’ Nocturnes and a painting that is going well. Is it so ridiculous that the world and my mood is so dependent on my painting going well?, yes, because it matters. Its quite comforting to know that that is all I need for the world to seem like a better place. Up until my previous, now deleted painting, there was a consistent upward trajectory. To infinity and beyond?, maybe, with a few dips along the way. This painting is going well and for some reason I keep thinking about Paul Nash. I like his simplification of the landscape subject, although I think his paintings are quite sophisticated in their reduced means.

Harbottle. Day 3

A PICTURE SHOULD BE MIRACULOUS

I am stealing a quote from Mark Rothko and I wholeheartedly agree with his conviction. It also helps if you believe your subject is miraculous. When I am out in the landscape in Northumberland my thought is how could it not be. I want to present an image that has a sense of wonder but its knowing how far to push it. A case in point is this sky in my current painting, the photo alludes to these shapes and contrasts but I have exaggerated the effect, my feeling is its just the right side of being plausible (should I really care?). What I am trying to do is understand the complexities of how a sky is formed so I can stretch the truth. No one can say I lack ambition!

Harbottle. Day 2

COMPOSITION IS EVERYTHING

That’s my main learning from my ‘expired’ painting. Despite decades of practice I obviously hadn’t realized this until February 2024. I know I’m a slow learner but that is embarrassing. However, I am talking about a particular type of composition. I have always liked the slightly chaotic, unstable, expressionistic interpretation of the landscape, hence why I favour Soutine to Cezanne. I think the static composition takes the life out of a landscape, and when I see the landscape in Northumberland it is never still. I suppose if I was living in Holland I would go mad like Van Gogh and move to France. Anyway, back on familiar ground, I do not have any doubts about this new painting.

Harbottle. Day 1

NO TECHNICAL ISSUES HERE

At least not of the digital type. I had a friend query if there were some technical issues with the website as all the February postings had disappeared. The only technical issues in February were of a painterly nature, mostly compositional ones. Despite labouring on the painting I knew the end result was only going to be disappointing. The painting is already deceased, lying under a layer of Thixotropic primer. I will resume again this week with a new painting after lessons learned. The reason for this post is I really do appreciate everyone who logs in to see my ‘progress’, it still amazes me that anyone would be interested. This website acts as a visual diary for me with the underlying premise being one of continual improvement so any painting that falls short of this ideal will suffer a similar digital execution.

A GOOD DAYS WORK?

Day 5 or Day 4 plus one hour?. I am afraid concentration levels were quite low today and I have identified a consistent pattern in my attitude. When I am almost finished I start to lose interest, and its because there are no dramatic changes or surprises. Although a weak effort, the hour did improve it and has justified this post. One thing I am starting to take more interest in is the ‘abstract’ mark making that suggests forms without illustrating them. I have noticed this in the last 2 paintings. Francis Bacon often talked about this and to paraphrase it goes something like,’ delivering the sensation without the boredom of illustration’, Well worth exploring.

Cartington. Day 5

DON'T STOP

I wish I had an unlimited physical and mental capacity to keep going until a painting is finished. There comes a point in the painting when almost every decision is the right decision, and even a wrong decision turns out to be a stroke of good luck later on. I suppose there must be prescription medication suitable for the ambitious painter, it might be worth the risk?. This painting has now moved on when it seemed in danger of becoming stuck. I would like to of kept going today but there could be several hours to go, who knows.

Cartington. Day 4

THE SWISS ALPS

I’m not sure any of the locals would recognise my paintings of the Northumberland landscape. There are plenty of clues in the pictures but my use of artist license is lavish. No one wants to hear a boring story, and its the same with painting, anyone who paints a picture straight is missing out on the adventure. My aim today was to get rid of the white underpainting, what has emerged is quite interesting. Most of the forms are in place and don’t need a lot of work, the painting is nearing completion.

Cartington. Day 3

EVERY NEIGHBOUR IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

has a chainsaw. Its the only thing that disturbs the peace, and today my neighbour decided it was a good day to do some sawing. Against my better judgement I continued painting but it was a real slog, even wearing headphones. Eventually the noise stopped and with a headache I began to do some decent painting. I am glad I persevered. I look at this painting and it looks so bizarre in terms of the landscape and how the trees are laid out but that is how it is. Sometimes when you spend a long time looking you see how strange the landscape, and nature really are.

Cartington. Day 2

THE INHABITED LANDSCAPE

Even in the remotest areas of Northumberland there are often signs of human habitation, houses, farms, barns etc, and they always pose the question, leave them in or out? Two artists that have been influences for decades are Soutine and Cezanne, both include and exclude. In this new painting I like the idea of a small community being overshadowed by the power of the landscape. Big sky and a strong left to right diagonal moving downwards, almost as if the hill is in motion. It is more Soutine than Cezanne with a sense that the whole picture is unstable compositionally. I like the start.

Cartington. Day 1

DO WE HAVE A BREAKTHROUGH?

I use we in the widest sense to include my global fanbase (its global, but very small, hello to my new friend in the Republic of Korea, yes really). Seriously though, in the last couple of days I started to get the sense that I might be getting somewhere with my landscape painting. If I were being critical, and you should always be, I have only painted 4 landscapes that I regard as successful. And 3 of those are the last 3, plus ‘Springtime in Edlingham, finished in October 2023. I have always believed, that if I can just paint consistently well, both in terms of quality and stylistically, then this would allow me to focus firstly on the compositional elements that make up an interesting landscape and the approach I should take. I am now building up a reference point that helps me construct these paintings and also offers a guide when I get stuck. I think this painting is finished.

Alwinton, looking west.

NO REGRETS

I could have put this in French, but that would be too pretentious, at least for now. Have you ever started to change a perfectly good painting and then immediately have doubts?, well that was me this afternoon. My priority was to find the structure of the landscape on the left side of the painting, and not worry about anything else. The turning point came after an hour, trial and error can be relied upon if your pig headed enough. I have now got it into a state that I can work with, some areas are a little unrefined but its a good step forward from day 2.

Alwinton, looking west. Day 3

LET THERE BE LIGHT

and God created Alwinton, for which I am most grateful. Yesterday was a good start and the framework was pretty much in place. My overall feeling was that I needed to introduce the sense of a setting sun, around about 3pm on a winters afternoon. There are some successful pieces of painting, especially on the right side, which is in full sun. I want to introduce that quality into the left which was a more challenging area as it was shifting in and out of dark shadow across a complicated form. Good progress today.

Alwinton, looking west. Day 2

THE MYSTERY VALLEY

Looking down the valley from a high vantage point some of the land formations are extraordinary. Some look like neolithic earthworks, they just look too fantastical to be natural, like a background for a Leonardo da Vinci painting. What is exciting about this area is this is just the mouth of the valley, I know it stretches for about 10 miles and so far is unexplored by me. Its a good start for the painting it reminds me of a Michael Andrews landscape, although there is a long way to go.

Alwinton, looking west. Day 1

A FAST FINISH

I got some advice at the end of Day 2 that my painting was finished and that I shouldn’t do anymore to it. Obviously, my intention was to carry on into Day 3 as it had never crossed my mind that the painting was finished. It was only when I sat down at the beginning of Day 3 that I realised my friends assessment was not far off at all. I have done half a day on it and I do think it has improved, but I have only changed about 10% of the painting. I could dabble a bit more and add more trees or refine some of the background but it won’t actually improve the painting. Anyway, this unexpected finish means I have no new boards prepared, so no painting tomorrow.

Alwinton in winter

THE BLEAK MIDWINTER

This painting is anything but. It was a miracle I had any usable photographs as I chose to go out photographing in 50 mile an hour winds. Its all about mood and motivation, why can’t these come along at the appropriate times? Britain may be falling apart on many fronts but one thing it still has is its landscape and I am discovering there is just as much beauty in the winter as the summer. This is a genuine surprise to me. This painting is progressing well, I think I have captured that cold, clear, sharp bright light you only find in the winter.

Alwinton in winter. Day 2