A PAINTER’S PROGRESS
I liked this landscape photo I took for its order and balance. When I think of order and balance I always think of Piero della Francesca. I have always admired the landscape depicted in his Nativity, its squeezed off to the side but it is a masterpiece of landscape painting in its own right. This is my starting point for my painting. I have no doubt it will go off in an entirely different direction, as it should.
Nature and order. Day 1
In the foreground space was a cornfield, but it never made it into my painting. I do think whether I should have given this cornfield a chance, I think it was the amount of time it might have taken to paint, but I have spent just as much time on the alternative. I don’t think the cornfield would have been any less interesting, there were lots of patterns in it that I thought had a great deal of potential. What I have in its place is an area in shadow, the colour is more muted, but its broken up by the sky reflecting pools of water. Why I chose this, I don’t know, but I like the effect, the painting is finished.
Into the landscape
I took the advice and switched off my TV monitor. Truth is I didn’t even switch it on. I started off in my customary manner by just fiddling with a small area whilst trying to decide if I wanted to do a mornings painting. This is how my sessions often start and its a good way to overcome the problem of waiting for divine inspiration, which never comes. I think I am happier with this version, although looking at yesterdays I wish I had two versions of this painting to work on. Almost there, foreground still needs a little bit more.
Into the landscape. Day 8
The foreground to this painting is supposed to be an area of brown and pink tall grasses. I knew before I started I had no interest in replicating what was there. How I was going to re-imagine this space I didn’t know but it started off going in the direction of John Nash’s WW1 war paintings with mud and bare trees, I think I have steered away from that. I like the left foreground and now its the mid to right foreground that needs some more work.
Into the landscape. Day 7
Why do some people chose the more difficult path? I’m one of them. I cycle up steep hills rather than along our flat coastline. I am also on some unknown painting journey that is certainly yielding the results I had hoped for but each painting is a struggle. I suppose that is how it should be if you keep raising the bar. Dissatisfaction with your own work is often a key driver for many artists, myself included. I don’t know why but just recently Roualt has entered my pantheon of artists. I think it is the way he carves the images out of the paint, but they only emerge after much reworking. That’s how these paintings are forming and I have to go through a transition from agony to ecstasy in order to achieve it. This painting is heading towards a finish.
Into the landscape. Day 6
This was fun, mostly working on the sky, I think it would be entirely possible to paint the whole picture using your fingers. I think this technique works especially well for clouds. I am not sure where I am getting this colour palette for the sky, or the rest of the landscape, its not coming from the photo, I think its a soup of all my favourite artists. I feel I need to transfer the freedom of the skies colour and technique into the rest of the painting. Happy with how this is all progressing.
Into the landscape. Day 5
I used to put a green ground on a prepared board in order to get rid of all the white. I stopped doing that because I had the habit of leaving large areas of the original green when it should have been adjusted to the colour I really should use when the painting had started. The problem in not having a coloured ground is that the white kills the colour and also creates too much contrast with the rest of the painting and messes with the space. Now I have wrestled with the sky today, it is half way there and getting rid of the white has really advanced the painting. I am liking how it looks.
Into the landscape. Day 4
Not in my opinion. I’ve seen this view expressed about other landscape painters who emphasize shape, when the shapes are already there. The word surrealism is overused, for me its the coming together of unexpected objects. I don’t know why there aren’t more artists around who have this fascination with shape and pattern. Either they go for the gestural slashing approach or its a soft focus mood (and some are good). I’m ignoring the ‘traditional academic’ approach because that’s just plain dull. Anyway, rant over. This painting is coming together quite quickly, maybe I will come unstuck with the clouds, but so far its going to plan. I really must take another look at this area, it has an extended valley and high rolling hills.
Into the landscape. Day 3
Even though I can’t remember back to the summer of 2021 when I took this photo I am pretty sure the cornfield was not a strong salmon pink. I think its me fiddling excessively with the buttons in photoshop that has produced this result. However it does not look out of place in the photo and I prefer it so pink it will be. Good start, I am going for a more saturated colour in this painting and it is something I will probably try for more in the future.
Into the landscape. Day 2
The poetic journey is beginning, place names are no longer significant, the character of the place is very important and I can see a shift in my painting. I think it has more to do with the fact that technically I can translate the image more successfully to where I want it to be. I notice that specific weather conditions are more important than location but my immediate surroundings matter. I need a lot more new material (photos) as the emphasis has changed. Saying that, the photo for this painting is from 2021.
Into the landscape. Day 1
I have often found that the image on the mobile phone looks better than the painting itself. Partly because the photo has been through Photoshop and been given a helping boost with colour saturation and contrast. But also I think its because the image has been reduced and concentrated into a small photo. Its like having a shot of tequila rather than a pint of beer. So I spent the first half hour painting from the mobile phone image, in repainting the sky. I am very tempted to submit this painting instead of Dunstanburgh Castle for the annual village show. My ‘Road to Scotland’ will be the safe bet with the giant red cabbage in the centre?. I can submit 2 paintings. I am looking forward to cementing my reputation as the demented village artist, worth foregoing the 1st prize for. Painting is finished.
Edge of the village
This used to be a real frustration for me years ago, I still don’t get it right first time, but now it has turned into a real positive. There is something about the slow build up and search that shows in the paint (not appreciated on the mobile phone!). It creates a richness of colour and form and it also creates an intensity of looking. I would call it an intensity of intention, a dogged determination not to settle for unsatisfactory solutions. I keep thinking of Georges Rouault, partly due to the odd sky but also the crusty accumulation and intensity, and dare I say it, spirituality, of the painting.
Edge of the village. Day 5
Its in the balance, I started off with the idea of a very dark left side with a much brighter right side. I seemed to have evened up both sides and gone for a mid tone. I am going to be adding in more contrast in the foreground with the trees so it should have a bit more punch. As mad as the sky is I like the way it is appearing but its not finished yet.
Edge of the village. Day 4
A glimpse of promise? one of those starts where the painting is being difficult. Sky is starting to improve and I think the structure is now there but it needs pushing further. Once that contrast between the brightly lit right side and dark left side is more apparent then the painting will start to work.
Edge of the village. Day 3
The heavy clouds on the left have cast a heavy dark shadow across the left side of the landscape and I really like this affect so that is what I am aiming for. No magic in the sky happening yet but I want to exaggerate the darker greys of the heavy clouds on the left with the brighter illuminated clouds on the right, ditto with the landscape.
Edge of the village. Day 2
For some reason this landscape reminds me of Tuscany. I think it is due to two things, the rolling landscape with small hills with peaks and the very dry conditions turning the grass yellow. I also think it is due to the mass of trees dotting the landscape. There is a lot of trees on the left side of the drawing which I haven’t indicated. They look like a mass of sepia brush strokes and I think that is how I am going to put them in. Like the cloud formation, intending to make a lot of that.
Edge of the village. Day 1
Beckmann has long been a favourite of mine for his bold graphic use of black line, as well as his dark and dramatic imagery. I can detect a certain Beckmann like strength in the lower left area of the painting I have been working on for the last 2 sessions. I really like the bold definition in this area, the colour and the energy. I think this exists in the rest of the painting as well. Will this be best in show or a turnip?, by leaving the giant red cabbage in the centre of the painting I am hedging my bets. Just need to frame it now.
The road to Scotland
In my early days as a painter I used to look at artists like Roualt and Auerbach and wonder why their paintings were so crusty and built up with thick coagulated layers of paint. I use to think it was just an affectation to create a recognisable style. Now I know it was a sustained search to find the forms and colours from a less obvious route. That is why I am always suspicious of the immediate solution, and it shows in the painting. The lower left side has been worked over. It is now closer to what I wanted and I like the simplified blocks that are emerging. Hopefully just another session will see the painting finished.
The road to Scotland. Day 9
but the taking part that counts. This painting and the previous one are going to be entered into our village annual summer show. With a top prize of £3 and £5 if I can scoop both first and second prize, I could potentially fund a return bus trip to Newcastle. There is every chance of not being in the prize money and the winner being a watercolour of one of the committee members grand daughters. Happy with the way the right side of the painting is looking. The bottom left needs a lot more work. I hope the judges don’t think I am taking this too seriously.
The road to Scotland. Day 8
If this is the way I see my local landscape its no wonder I wanted to move here. The thing is its hardly exaggerated. The autumn colours in the bottom left corner are blocked in, but in terms of colour its quite close to what is there and I like how it looks in the painting. There is also a giant red cabbage in the centre of the painting that is correct in shape but not colour but I find it intriguing, I may leave it as is.
The road to Scotland. Day 7