A PAINTER’S PROGRESS
I think the sky is almost finished. I like the space in it which is not easy to pin down and seems to shift around. My initial idea to really tone down the land and trees will be abandoned. I like the mirroring effect of land and sky and will go this route instead.
Big clouds, sun setting. Day 3
I love it when I pick up a pure apple green colour and start painting the sky. I know I am in for an interesting painting. Its always a bit tricky to then follow it with more unnatural sky tones and create a language for the sky that makes sense spatially and in terms of creating the ‘mood’ for the picture. In this case a late winter sunset and the clouds are really big, dark and dense. I think it is making sense and it looks like a good start, there is also the right light in the hill and tree area to suggest it is evening and not the middle of the day.
Big clouds, sun setting. Day 2
Some of the biggest recorded clouds have been found in Northumberland. Some of them are over 1000 years old. We have some of them on the edge of our village and they sleep in the valley. The photo I have used for this painting is quite impressive. The clouds recede in banks of different colours. It is a sunset shot and all the warmth is in the sky, the land is in shadow and quite cool. This is the effect I want to get in the painting. Maybe the last of 2025?
Big clouds, sun setting. Day 1
I am entering my late Guston phase, I know it sounds a bit ridiculous but with another 25 years of painting ahead of me its better I start now. I am reducing these trees to lollipop and jelly baby forms in my efforts to simplify them, and I am enjoying the process. At the same time I am trying to be very particular about the characteristics of the trees so that the landscape looks observed and my simplification does not appear lazy or random. Liking this strength of colour, even though this has been ramped up and exaggerated I feel there is a lot of subtlety and there is a real sense of space in the painting. The painting is finished.
The doctors tower
I like this painting but not all the areas are painted consistently, its only subtle but it is there. I don’t mind that because it means that things are still in transition and I’ve always believed this is a good state for your painting to be in. I need that curiosity of what does this all mean to keep me going. The sky has improved, it has drama but serves more as a backdrop for the rest of the painting. It is painted tonally and in a softer and looser style which for me is an interesting contrast.
The doctors tower. Day 8
Blowing my own trumpet (because nobody else will) a good painter is always better than a good photographer because with painting the technical and imaginative possibilities are endless. A good painter can create from nothing where as a photographer is mostly reliant on what is in front of them. What’s my point, well the foreground in the photo was quite ordinary and I knew I had to do something with it. I had a hunch that if I threw in an almost pure orange field that would create a strong dynamic from which to transform the foreground. The line of hedges is in the photo. I like the way the landscape is working, this whole area just needs a little fine tuning, as does the sky, still.
The doctors tower. Day 7
Empty spaces to me, are featureless fields and blue skies, which I absolutely loathe. I think I have got enough going on in the foreground fields to say they actually add something to the painting in terms of suggesting the underlying landscape and a pleasing abstract combination of shape and colour. I like the circular sweep on the left from foreground to distance. What I wanted also with the foreground and the sky is not to detract from the main subject which is the tower and surrounding trees. I think this is working well.
The doctors tower. Day 6
I’m ignoring doing anymore to the sky for the moment because its not that far off. If something was really annoying me Id go back and sort it. What I don’t want is a dark and menacing sky, that is not the mood of the painting. I think things are improving quite rapidly overall in the last 3 or 4 paintings, not sure why that is, I think it has to do with more certainty as to how I want these paintings to look. I keep thinking of Guston when I am simplifying all the elements.
The doctors tower. Day 5
That’s almost middle of the road dull, that’s not like me. I like the sky but its only half way there. In the photo its a few tones darker and acts as a quiet backdrop for the rest of the scene. I think thats what I am aiming for in this painting. What I like about this painting is that the subject is exactly in the middle of the composition but you would miss it if you hadn’t read the title. Progressing well, and back on track in terms of a consistent stylistic approach which the previous painting did not share.
The doctors tower. Day4
I think the previous painting was a success but it was a bit experimental. I am realizing its the big landscape I like the most. This allows me to explore space, play around with scale and more recently take a greater interest in more dramatic lighting and its affect on the landscape. This painting is going well and I think contains all those elements.
The doctors tower. Day 3
Happy with the tower and its immediate surroundings. It sometimes takes an age to get the right tones and forms at the beginning. I do this because that becomes the blueprint for all that follows. I never used to paint like this but I think now I know what I want.
The doctors tower. Day 2
Not at all clear in the drawing, but in the painting the white stone tower stands out clearly against the trees behind it. It is just to the left of the tree in the foreground. The tower is an 18th century observatory financed by a local doctor to provide employment for out of work farm workers. There is a road that runs along side it but this is not the best view for a painting. My photo was taken from a high hill about a mile from the tower where you could see the woods and hills rising behind it. Wasn’t keen on the square format for the painting but it was the only board I had left. Seems to have worked out ok.
The doctors tower. Day 1
I am still trying to adjust to this artistic revolution that has occurred in the last month. Revolution because this it was a conscious leap into something that is quite unfamiliar. My landscape paintings followed the traditional landscape palette even though my outlook to painting has never been traditional. I think the colour now, and my philosophy are now properly matched. This painting is finished.
The old tree
This is quite a chaotic scene and I am trying to make more sense of it so the tree and its environment are clear. Good progress today, the base is there and more clarity will arrive. On a studio note, a good upgrade, its own dedicated router which means streaming music through my hifi, I am not roughing it.
The old tree. Day 3
This is a slightly different subject and composition and I wasn’t sure how this would all turn out. I think I am winning the fight and there is potential in this painting but there is a lot of sorting out to do.
The old tree. Day 2
How many times have I driven and cycled past this scene without realising what an extraordinary site it is. Its late autumn which means there are areas of golds and reds which outnumber the greens. Helped by a clear autumn sky, sunshine and a Leica M8 for any aficionados out there. The colour journey will intensify, I hope all of this comes through in the painting.
The old tree. Day 1
It seems like the previous painting ‘Pike House Hill’ was the springboard for this painting. I liked the autumn colours so much in the previous painting that I decided I was going to keep those colours without a need for an autumn theme. This painting is finished.
Approaching storm
That’s what it feels like, I think when I came back from Mexico in March I wanted to retain the much stronger purer colours of that climate. I think not only have I done this but I have applied it to the landscape of Northumberland and pushed it on again. I was concerned at first that I wouldn’t be able to make it work, as it relies on a lot more invention. It seems that I shouldn’t be concerned. This painting is almost finished.
Approaching storm. Day 9
Has become a growing interest for me this year. I am going out an hour before darkness with my camera and am getting some very useable photos in terms of painting. Hoping to continue this theme with the next painting.
Approaching storm. Day 8
Is the best place to see a tropical summer storm, at least as far as this painting is concerned. I think the sky is finished. Its pushing the pastel palette about as far as I want to go and is a million miles away from the grey scene of my photo, although the photo is quite spectacular. The land is taking shape nicely, I am wondering if I can increase the big tonal contrasts in it to emphasize the strong and dramatic shafts of light.
An approaching storm. Day 7