A PAINTER’S PROGRESS
Have I mentioned before that I loathe blue skies? As Francis Bacon would say its the boredom of familiarity that is so disappointing. I felt this straight away when viewing the painting this morning. Introduced my favoured palette of browns and purples, turned the clear blues into greens and now I am back on familiar ground. For me it just opens up surprising colour possibilities. Only a short session this morning but now the painting is showing some potential.
Another day in the valley. Day 3
Another way of saying, its not quite as intended, but you have got to put something down and get far enough into the painting before you can start steering it in the right direction. Its not far off, but as always the idea is just a fuzzy notion in my head at the moment and getting it onto the canvas is an entirely different matter. Good start though.
Another day in the valley. Day 2
I am beginning to run out of original titles, I fear they will become more detached from the subject. Still I will try anything apart from ‘untitled’. The sky reminds me of The Simpsons, I quite like that though I think I will temper it down a little. High hopes for this one, there are some odd looking trees in this painting, a result of extreme simplification and disregard for academic drawing.
Another day in the valley. Day 1
To escape the bank holiday heat than sitting in a sweltering painting studio wearing your overall onesie. For some reason it was only 2C cooler inside, a not very pleasant 25C and barely comfortable. Anyway, the afternoon passed well, streaming 1970’s rock classics while the painting was progressing nicely. I think it is finished, and I will review it tomorrow. Always a relief to get the result I had in mind, pleased with how it has turned out. The next one will be easier, or not.
Yellow field, rain imminent
Anyone who wants to struggle their entire life without achieving mastery should choose painting. I do think had I tried something else like pottery I would have given up decades ago thinking it was all too easy. Maybe I don’t understand pottery? Another terrific struggle this morning, pig headed determination got me through and out the other side so now the painting is beginning to look like the initial idea. Happy with the way it is looking, now the end goal is more obvious.
Yellow field, rain imminent. Day 5
Which isn’t as certain as imminent, but I am getting there. Pink clouds retained, which was the priority. The sky does need some more work but I am happy with the pink curtain of cloud which is pressing down on the landscape. The whole landscape still needs that El Greco charged lighting, maybe I will take a look at my books, but it has moved on significantly since yesterday.
Yellow field, rain imminent. Day 4
Given myself an uphill task here, pink storm clouds with imminent rain?. I think I can pull it off but I will have to build a bit more menace into the sky and surrounding landscape. There is that dramatic light to dark contrast within the landscape that you often get before a storm so I will have to focus on that. Short session again due to other commitments but hopefully a longer session tomorrow.
Yellow field, rain imminent. Day 3
There’s a lesson in there somewhere but whatever it is telling me I fail to learn. Its been going on for decades now, so there is no turning the corner on that one. I seem to have covered the painting fairly rapidly given that it was only a short afternoon session. I thought the bright yellow field would dominate the painting too much but the other vibrant colours are helping to balance things. Enthusiasm is back, and the whole thing looks quite promising.
Yellow field, rain imminent. Day 2
High hopes for this painting. A big yellow field has appeared in the valley that hadn’t been there in previous years. Heavy clouds and dramatic lighting across the field and foreground trees. Behind these acid green trees is a band of mauve trees, I suspect from me playing around with contrasts in the editing process, but I will take that. I think my painting has moved into a rich vein of form, which is a constant, more hits than misses as I understand more what I want to do with my painting.
Yellow field, rain imminent. Day 1
This isn’t something I do very often. Not because I can’t take instructions, its because I often find something more interesting as the painting develops. However, whilst not exactly pink there is a strong reddish cast to the whole painting, and something that can’t be mistaken for a natural phenomena. Probably could have pushed the pink idea a little further but it has turned out as I had hoped. The painting is finished.
Pink evening
I used to hate painting trees, so much so, that it played a major part in me painting still lives most of my life. However, in the last 5 years I’ve painted more trees than I’ve had hot dinners, that might be factually inaccurate. But they are still tricky buggers to pin down and if I fill my painting with them it can sometimes prove quite tedious. Good progress with this painting, I think its going really well and is 75% there.
Pink evening. Day 3
Well, I went for it and it is working in the way I had hoped. I was going to keep it almost a palette of pinks, purples and greys but when the painting started to appear I realised it was going to be a sickly, gooey mess. Its a bit raw at the moment it I like how it is looking.
Pink evening. Day 2
I knew I was never a provincial landscape painter where place names and faithful representation to place was important. I have consciously dropped any reference to a particular place. Now it is moving much more to a mood, a time of year, a certain light. I might have called this painting pink clouds, because they are the only objects that are pink. However, the intention is to give everything a pink cast. Lets see how that goes.
Pink evening. Day 1
And thankfully the trajectory seems to be up. I can see a marked improvement between my first painting back in the UK, ‘Heavy Spring weather’, finished early April and the two that have followed it. It is moving further away from more local colour although still not going to a purely decorative Paul Klee like effect, although that has an appeal. I see the painting settling down more and following its current course. I think this painting is finished.
Trees in the valley, early Spring
I often leave just a small amount of the painting unfinished when I am nearing the end. This isn’t laziness. Often I feel some other areas of the painting need attention and when I return my batteries are fully recharged again and if the painting takes a few more hours then I have the mental capacity to see it through. Good painting session this morning.
Trees in the valley, early Spring. Day 5
These titles are getting worse with every posting, I suppose there is only so much you can say when things are just plodding along. At least its in the right direction. A warmer light has entered the painting. In the photo the clouds had been recorded as a monochrome grey, something I didn’t want. I find myself injecting the paintings with areas of more vibrant colours just to get things animated. Happy with the way things are looking now.
Trees in the valley, early Spring. Day 4
Final garden project is taking precedent over painting. The upside of this is that its the final big project ending 3 years of hard labour. Nothing on the horizon to interfere with my painting apart from my own indolence. Painting is slowly coming to life and has triggered some enthusiasm, when you get an instinct that it could turn out to be a decent painting.
Trees in the valley, early Spring. Day 3
I think the landscape is almost there, I think its more of a backdrop to the main theme.
Trees in the valley, early Spring Day 2
At least when it comes to titling the paintings, in all other areas anything is possible. Another early Spring photo and the trees are quite bare so there is a predominance of greys and purples, I think I will have a stab at this colour palette just to see what can be done. Like this design, reminds me of late Edward Burra, I would like to get some of that space in this painting.
Trees in the valley, early Spring. Day 1
This painting is much more self assured than the previous one. I feel there was a slight dip in direction on my return from Mexico, but this painting puts me right back on track. I especially like the sky, the Guston influence is evident and I’m more than happy about that. This painting should kick start the rest of this year in the UK. Painting is finished.
Springtime arrives in the valley
