A PAINTER’S PROGRESS
I was running out of time in the evening to get this photo and I thought I wouldn’t have enough light to work with. However, I like the fading evening sky and I was lucky enough to get a single car heading towards me. It only makes itself known by its headlights but I think I am going to include it.
The road to Scotland. Day 2
For this photo I am stood at the top of a steep hill, looking down into the valley which then rises steeply again to the horizon. The road is tree lined either side and disappears out of view on the horizon as the road turns left. Nearer to view is a tunnel of trees that touch so the road goes from bright sun into darkness. Its quite a spectacular viewpoint and one I see regularly on my travels around the countryside.
The road to Scotland. Day 1
I had to compare the photo to the finished painting before making such a bold statement, but having no qualms about blowing my own trumpet, I believe it to be true. It has only been recently that I have started to believe this, and more importantly started to understand why. I am beginning to bend nature to my will, and by that I mean imposing a sense of design onto the subject. Nothing revelatory about that, but as anyone who paints knows, its not easy to do, and to do consistently. This painting is finished, next stop Scotland.
Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland
I have substituted the crashing wave on the right with a mermaids tail. Obviously, or hopefully, still recognisable as a wave but I thought I needed to carry through with the overall stylisation. I also didn’t want the obvious big white spuming wave that is in the photograph. I think that in some ways I have made the wave almost silent and it just adds to the poetic mood of the whole scene, that’s my take on it. I thought it was finished but it may benefit from a bit more detail in the mid ground sea.
Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland. Day 6
I can’t do browns and greys, I’ve spent so much money on high quality colours, why do I have to reduce them to such drab puddles of mud? Spent a few hours this afternoon knocking things around and trying to fill the painting to at least get myself to a good mid way point. Now I can start to see some new possibilities and am more encouraged to see some purer greens, reds and blues.
Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland. Day 5
The castle is able to retain a sense of nobility and decorum even when the aged man is visibly falling to pieces, a lesson to us all. The sky is a bit more sorted, I like the main body of the castle but it could do with a bit more shadow in the centre to give it a bit more mystery. I think the dark muted colours suit the subject, to me this is not a pretty scene but one of fading grandeur, a bit like Venice. A useful pre-breakfast painting session, these things are possible with a bit of motivation.
Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland. Day 4
Surely this painting would not go on a postcard to promote tourism?, more likely as a deterrent. I have decided to stick fairly closely to the grey/brown colour palette of the photo as its not my usual choice just to see whether you can still make an appealing painting. I think it is working quite well. Next several days are interrupted, mother is staying, so any painting will have to be early morning alternated with cycling. A testing period.
Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland. Day 3
Just when you think you have moved up a level and everything is in cruise control you get a pig of a sky that will not co-operate. I have been bashing these clouds into existence for hours and it has been a frustrating experience. However, after several hours I have got it to a place where it is a good foundation. I now think I am in a winning position but they need more work.
Dunstandburgh Castle, Northumberland. Day 2
This is my favourite view in Northumberland and everything about it is dramatic. The castle has practically been destroyed over time, it is just a shell. The siting of it is probably the most dramatic in the UK along the rugged north east coastline with black jagged rocks lining the shore. It is raised up on a hill and on the north side (out of view for this painting) are high jagged cliffs that drop into the ocean, (this is worth a second painting). I like the rolling wave on the right and there will be plenty of full bodied clouds as I am quite partial to a full bodied cloud. I can already see a painting in this view, I know I have avoided the cliched postcard with castle.
Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland. Day 1
until further notice. That was my major breakfast time announcement to the wife this morning after spending a painting day (Sunday) putting together a flat pack wardrobe. Ditto all garden projects. There is only so much time that I can devote to menial tasks before my delicate sensibilities become affected. The plus side to all this is my painting must be going well as I am no longer looking for the tiniest excuse to avoid it. This painting is finished, it has turned out well although at times I did labour a little. Next painting, something that should be off limits, one of the most painted and photographed sites in all of Northumberland, even JWM Turner succumbed to its crumbling romantic charms. Hopefully it will not be another piece of tourist tat.
The Thames from Richmond Hill
This painting is packed with more goodness than a Breughel. Thank god I am not a figure painter, I don’t think I could tolerate the tedium, I would bodge it and do a Lowry. I seem to be drawn into the detail and then pay the price of spending days painting it. The compensation is that it is going well and so there is a reward. I can now picture the finish line but its like a mountaineer staring at a distant peak.
The Thames from Richmond Hill. Day 9
This is baring more than a passing resemblance to an Adrian Berg painting with a bucket load of Kenny Scharf, surely a winning combination? I am actually liking the challenge of painting the water with all these reflections. Its a little bit difficult to see where the land ends and water begins, but that is how it is in the photograph. This painting is on steroids, its packed with trees and I was worried it may appear ‘too busy’. Well, no point in worrying, it is busy, and I think that’s how I like my paintings anyway. It will calm down a little as I put more of the bigger shapes in the foreground. I may do a few more of these water and reflection paintings, they are quite a pleasure to paint.
The Thames from Richmond Hill. Day 8
has left an indelible impression on me that I just can’t shake off. He has really pushed his imagery in a quite unapologetic and extreme way. The imagery is a bit crazy but what appeals to me is the shapes and energy within the work. I am not trying to emulate Kenny in this landscape but I am naturally drawn to all the odd shapes you see in the landscape, this has been one of my interests for some time. The shapes that are most abstracted, for instance there is a tree in the shape of a £ sign that I really like, yet that is how I seen the tree when I look at the photo. I would like to push future landscapes further in this direction. Sorry to JWM Turner but Kenny has more pull for me.
The Thames from Richmond Hill. Day 7
Its hardly electrifying, its like watching a plant grow, any increase in speed would be welcome at the moment. I will never be prolific but I have gone into Vermeer mode at the moment and I am in danger of reducing my meagre output even further. I am enjoying the consistency of the image as it grows, sometimes I have had unresolved sections of paintings in the past, but this style of painting seems to eliminate that.
The Thames from Richmond Hill. Day 6
I think I will have to speed up because it feels slow and ponderous, although the results are good, so I am sticking with it for now. What is reassuring is the consistent quality it gives, I think because I keep adjusting and adjusting before I move to the next object. I always prefer quality over quantity but I am surprised at how little gets done in an afternoons work.
The Thames from Richmond Hill. Day 5
have been omitted from the horizon line as I have turned back the clock 100 years. If I was mayor of London I would pull them all down and put a preservation order on this view. Lucian Freud would start his paintings often with the eye and work his way across the canvas like a snail, painting everything in a highly detailed and finished manner. I thought what an odd way to paint, but that is how this painting is progressing. Now I understand why he paints this way. Every tone is carefully weighed against its neighbour before moving on. Its a method that requires great patience but I seem to be moving in this direction. I have got the lighting balance between land and sky just how I wanted it and captured the warmth of a summers mid day sun.
The Thames from Richmond Hill. Day 4
The sky in the photo is packed with clouds and the light seems to be suffocated. Underneath however the landscape is several tones brighter and there is a distinct contrast between sky and land. I really like this effect, the landscape has a dappled appearance and although the trees are quite similar in colour they are distinctly defined. Its a quintessentially English high summer the kind Constable would have painted.
The Thames from Richmond Hill. Day 3
These are the conditions that I have been creating all my life in order to reduce the number of distractions that could get in the way of my painting. However today has been most upsetting, too much is going on including a dinner date with the wife. Anyway, have managed to make some kind of progress with the painting and I am liking the way the sky is appearing.
The Thames from Richmond Hill. Day 2
Its feels quite a privilege to be able to paint such a significant view and it didn’t involve any dangerous mountain crossings or hiring expensive hotel rooms. I didn’t even have the inconvenience of taking the train to London and then onto Richmond. I do know the area quite well but at the time had no inclination to paint any of the views. This is not a homage to Turner, I have already introduced my dolly mixture of trees and I am liking the way it looks. The sky is very interesting in the photo but I am tending to leave this out at the early drawing stage as I like to see the clarity of the horizon line.
The Thames from Richmond Hill. Day 1
Some of the trees have been reduced to dots and dabs, the colours range from naturalistic to sherbet oranges that bare little resemblance to what is actually there. I am liking the most abstracted elements of this painting as these are the areas that offer the most surprise. The foreground came around very quickly and is more like a quick sketch of what is there but for me I prefer my rendition to the reality. I think this is where I am going with my painting. Next painting, ‘The Thames from Richmond Hill’. I don’t know if this is a departure in that I normally paint views that I am familiar with. This painting is finished.
View over Harbottle.
