East view interior

Red sail at East view

Well of course... it's the first thing I noticed when I walked in to this beautiful fishermens cottage in Staithes... a big red sail in the window. What a beautiful cottage and a beautiful subject. I painted this in situ with my small antique pochade box but I'm keen to also paint a version in the studio at a later date. I love love love coastal cottages :-)

Dottys tearoom

Dottys tearooms
10" x 8"

If I lived in the area, Dottys tearoom vintage shop and boutique in Staithes would definitely be my regular haunt. I do recommend a visit if you're exploring the North Yorkshire coast.

I painted this especially for a magazine article I was writing for The Artist magazine, called 'How finished is finished?'

In it I discuss ways that might help to avoid overworking a painting - firstly you need to know what you want to say in the painting and then it is easier to know when you have said it. 

And yes, that is all easier said than done!

The article will be published in the September issue of the magazine I think, which will be in UK stores in August.

‘A fine suggestion, a sketch with great feeling, can be as expressive as the most finished project’ Eugene Delacroix

International subscriptions to the Artist magazine are available here - www.painters-online.co.uk

Storm before the calm

Early morning, penny nab
Oils 8" x 16"

You know that saying 'calm before the storm'? Well, it's the other way round for me at the moment. I'm enjoying (enduring?) a week or two of heavy work in the studio getting odds and ends tied up before going to France in a few days time for three weeks of calm. So I've been finishing paintings, painting frames galore, waxing frames, varnishing and signing paintings, fitting paintings into frames, wrapping framed paintings, delivering paintings... the list goes on, but I've probably bored you enough!

I'll just show you this newly framed plein air painting then from my trip to Staithes last month. Oh and also, my £250 Pro Arte award arrived - feeling rather self indulgent I chose these absolutely gorgeous four watercolour brushes. Now I am rather afraid to use them, they're so special! Think I will take two of them to France with me to dabble in my sketchbook and see how I get on...

The latest round of seemingly never-ending framing has almost come to an end! Hurrah!

Ha ha! Someone on Facebook said the large brush in the middle looks ready to stand guard at Buckingham Palace! So funny, and true. It's now been named Buckingham.

Have you seen my Facebook page yet? Feel free to like it if you, erm, like it!

View from the top

View from the top
Oils 24 x 30 cms (unframed size)
£550

Here's another from my Staithes weekend, started as a demo painting and finished off in the studio this week. For this view you need to walk up to the top of Cowbar rise, and then you get this wonderful scene whereby the horizon line rises so high up against the cliff side. When the sun was shining the sea became that beautiful deep rich blue against the warm sunlit rock. When the sky was grey and full of rain the sea became a light grey too.

My main point of interest in this painting was the sunlit side of the nearest white house, and the dark of the shadowy green foliage adjacent to it. As a secondary point of interest the boat in the beck, with a rope leading your eye down to it in a pleasing arc. The grassy foreground provides a useful rest area within the painting. 

This is one of the paintings I'll be taking to the Studio Eleven gallery in Hull at the weekend.

Back from Staithes and London

Sketchbook watercolour Staithes

How is it possible that it's July already? Yes I know it's been a couple of days now but it's taking a while to sink in...
Sorry I didn't get a chance to blog from Staithes, I really was too busy teaching and chatting and eating and painting and dodging the rain showers. We had a really lovely few days with variable weather. I will show you a couple of paintings I was able to do up there. It was fascinating watching the way the colour of the sea changed according to what the sky was doing.
This is a watercolour from my sketchbook that I did on the afternoon before the painters arrived, while eating a nice lunch outside the Cod and Lobster.

Have been very busy framing in the studio since getting back, and yesterday I drove down to London to drop off six paintings for the Russell Gallery's summer show. I also visited the Society of Women Artists exhibition at the Mall Galleries where I have two plein air paintings hanging - one from Morocco and one from Cornwall. The show finishes on Saturday at lunchtime, and disappointingly I couldn't get a catalogue as they'd run out. It's a real shame as I like to keep all the Mall Galleries catalogues from shows that I've had work in, so if you know of anybody that might have one spare I'd be really grateful.

Staithes

Limited time with wifi so just sending you a quick photo postcard! Have arrived in Staithes ready for my painting weekend with twelve lovely eager painters. Let's hope that the weather continues as it was today...

Staithes rooftops at sunset

Staithes rooftops at sunset 8" x 10"

I did a lot of walking in Staithes, it's a place where you're either walking uphill or downhill in any direction. After one uphill walk I found this great view as the sun was starting to set. I loved the sky and this view over the rooftops of the village. Behind me here was a bench overlooking the sea.
If you've ever tried painting at sunset you will know that everything changes at an alarming rate! I knew I would only have an hour at most.
After an hour of painting I packed away and clambered back down the hill and it was really dark and cold down there when I got there. I had a lovely meal with friends waiting for me though :-)
I'd love to paint here in summer and have a longer painting day.

The high viewpoint looking over the village

The painting when I stopped on site

This is how the painting looked after the session and came back with me. I still liked the concept but wasn't satisfied it was finished so when it was dry I painted a blue/green glaze all over every part of the painting except the sky. This had the effect I wanted of tying the land mass together, unifying everything and providing more tonal contrast with the bright sky. Some of the building roofs and walls got a bit too gloomy though so when the glaze was dry a couple of days later I painted those bits back in and also lightened parts of the sky and I'm happy with it now, yet unfortunately I've given you a rather poor photograph again!