Barn interior

Barn interior

I finally managed to get a half decent photo of last week's barn painting as well as a couple of other recent ones. I've also been planning a trip to Cornwall to paint, coming up very soon!

Lots going on as always, including two workshops this week on painting a still life with flowers in acrylics. One was for the lovely members of Newark art club and the next one is this coming Friday. Today I was painting at the allotments again (hooray!) and last week had a try at painting canal barges - it was tricky -pictures to follow! :-)

Mystery in shadows and brilliant greens

This barn is only a few hundred metres from my house and I often notice great painting subjects around and within it while walking past with my naughty but cute dog. I painted this corner last summer, but less barn and included the lane going up the hill.
This week it was all about those bright fresh greens of early summer and the deep mysterious coolness of the barn interior in shadow.
To my absolute delight I had an unsuccessful painting to work on top of.

I was really fed up with this painting back in Easter on Bréhat. I got caught in a real downpour stuck out on the rocks!
Now I was thrilled to have this dry base to work on, with it's existing colours and textures.

I started with a dark glaze over the barn area...

Starting to place the greens, at this point it's becoming less of a seascape!

Putting more definition into those greens...

Adding the light colour of the sky...

All starting to come together, working on what is going on inside the barn from here on and little highlights for the cow parsley flowers.

I will try to take a better photo of the painting to show you tomorrow...

Plein air demo at Patchings

At the corner of the Barn gallery

Again a great big welcome to all new blog visitors who have found their way here from the Patchings festival!

Amazingly the weather stayed fine for the whole event and really cheered up for Sunday afternoon, the last day. I painted this plein air demo down at the corner of the Barn gallery. Of course I was attracted to the bunting tracing a line across the dark foliage, linking the two red brick buildings. The flowers in the foreground add a second point of interest, and as for the wheelie bin... well, a lot of people thought it was a shame it was there but I disagree! It creates a useful step between the foreground and middle distance, and also is a marker of modern life. I love to include signs of modern life in my paintings, where I can. I also embrace the ordinary!

And here's how I went about it...

Starting quite dark to block in the buildings, more interested in getting tonal values right from the beginning than accurate drawing...

Moving on to block in the medium dark greens all around....

And then going darker into the darks ... oh look, the wheelie bin's gone in!

Starting to place some of the lighter values

The whole painting was finished on the spot in less than three hours, including talking time!

Patchings festival day two!

Plein air painting at Patchings

As you can see we were blessed with glorious weather again for day two of the festival! Thanks to my wonderful helper Sue taking care of everything in the marquee I was able to demo plein air painting down in the pretty courtyard at Patchings art centre.
It is so lovely to be here meeting everyone! I will be on my stand all day today, and tomorrow I will paint plein air again. If you're able to get over to Nottinghamshire please come, you won't regret it!
There's so much going on here :-)

www.patchingsartcentre.co.uk 

Patchings and a workshop and... a prize!

Some of today's lovely workshop attendees and their very fine work!

Today was the first open day of the brilliant four day event that is Patchings festival, and what a very busy and fun day it was with glorious weather! 

This afternoon I was teaching a workshop painting still life with cupcakes - my favourite kind of still life! As you can see I had a very talented bunch working with me today and all go home with a lovely goody bag which includes paper, paints, brushes, palette and a few little gifts from me including a delicious cupcake :-)

The Patchings/The Artist exhibition that I've been talking to you about also opened this morning and I'm delighted to tell you that 'Chicken huts in the snow' won a £250 Royal Talens prize and also I hear that the painting has already sold! So all in all a very happy day :-)

You can see the whole of The Artist and Leisure Painter exhibitions online now on the Patchings website, well worth a look if you can't visit in person. I wish you could all visit in person, but it's the next best thing. Click here!

And I also should say a big welcome to all my new blog subscribers who are meeting me at the festival and meeting my blog for the first time, we're glad to have you here!

Repose at Guerzido beach

Now we're in France on the island of Bréhat for a family holiday. Today and yesterday the weather has been gorgeous! I've brought some work with me to do, but am also relaxing a lot.
This afternoon I persuaded Milly to pose for me at the beach. It only took around an hour to paint her.
She is lying on the rocks which are very pink because the island is part of the granite rose coastline in France.
I did take step by step photos of this one as I went along, but I'll have to show you those when I get back to a computer as I can only seem to post one photo to my blog when I send by email.
I hope you are having some sunshine wherever you are!

Working on Jennifer Mitch

Working on Jennifer Mitch
12" x 16"

This one was painted in the boatyard at Carrabelle, on my Forgotten Coast trip. It was early evening hence the long shadows in the foreground from trees and the last of the sunlight striking the top sections of the boat. I was comfortably standing in the shade, but alarmed by the number of ants around my feet and midges and mosquitos buzzing around my face!

I started off with placing the darks with a green glaze, and rubbing out the lighter shapes with a rag. I painted the car in early on because I didn't know how long it would be there. I liked the way the car showed the scale of the boat and I also liked the colour and the extra interest added by the inclusion of the car.

I next placed the highlights of the sunlight on the boat, because the sun was rapidly lowering behind me and I knew I would soon lose it.

I was pleased to manage to get the chap in on the right. He was talking to another man up on the boat but I didn't get time to include him as well!

I've been framing again, this time for The Artist/Patchings exhibition. I drove over there with them this afternoon. I love how they all look in their frames and thought you would like to see them too!

Le médina, Essaouira
£650

Chicken huts in the snow
£495

Snow on the beach, Sutton-on-sea
£695

Wet morning on Water Street

Wet morning on Water Street
8" x 10"

The first painting of my first day of the Florida trip, in the rain in Apalachicola. I loved the reflection of the red plastic storage container on the wet concrete, and the green fishing nets sprawling along the ground. I was standing in the same spot as with yesterday's painting, but this view is looking to the right of that shrimp hut.

Shrimp hut on Water Street

Shrimp hut on Water Street
11" x 14" Sold

I painted this one on my first day of the Forgotten Coast event, in Apalachicola. It rained the whole day as I recall, but we had a great spot to paint under cover, and this was my second painting of the event. I was delighted that this one sold in the wetroom. I feel especially happy when something sells which is not usually what you'd term a picturesque subject because it contains litter, trash cans, graffiti etc. It wasn't even pretty weather! I love to reveal the beauty in the unexpected. 

Here are a few progress shots from the day...

Sunrise over the marsh at Cape San Blas

Sunrise over the marsh at Cape San Blas
Oils 9" x 12" Sold

Another early morning one from my Florida trip. Again I was really inspired and 'in the flow' and pleased with the results. I was especially excited with the distant fishing boat and it's figures, to me they seemed as though brightly lit and so of course I painted it that way. I love the contrasting textures of thin, glazed paint and thick opaque paint in the lighter areas.

This one also sold in the wet room exhibition.