Blue and Gold

Blue and Gold, oil on canvas 46 x 55 cm

A reprise, of sorts, of 2016's Gold and Grey, this is a view from a local footpath. These distinctive trees are visible for miles around and are a welcome landmark as well as a favourite subject.

Blue and Gold

oil on canvas, 46 x 55 cm

£340

Ridge - SOLD

I am very fond of these trees, which sit upon a ridge close to my home and are visible from many local footpaths. I've painted them before (using the title "Skyline"), and no doubt will again.

Ridge
Oil on canvas, 33 x 41 cm

SOLD

Full Length (Watership Down) - SOLD

Watership Down is rather long, and that is what I tried to demonstrate in this painting, made in the studio (mainly on Sunday, but I kept spotting problems and spent an hour or so sorting them out on Monday and on Tuesday10.

The local TV and radio mast (Hannington mast, on Cottington's Hill) can just be seen to the left of Watership Down, while to the right, Ladle Hill can be seen.

The painting was based on a series of photographs with an extra bit of borrowing from Watership Down and Ladle Hill and some imaginary grasses and flowers in the foreground.

And... here's an animated gif of the in-progress shots:

Full Length (Watership Down)
Oil on box canvas, 30 x 100 cm
SOLD

Cross Path

I had a busy day yesterday, but I had promised myself a walk and a plein air paint.

View from Rock - Commission - SOLD

Rock is a village in North Cornwall, just across the Camel estuary from Padstow.  I was asked to paint a view across the estuary, so we detoured that way at Easter and were fortunate enough to find Rock basking in wonderful sunshine.

Hackpen - Commission - SOLD

Today, I went back to Hackpen, parked in the car park near the horse, walked along The Ridgeway a bit and then down to the spot I'd identified on Wednesday (slightly further along the path than the place I made Wednesday's sketch at, so that the Field Barn - as described on the ever-useful Ordnance Survey map - fitted in front of the hill, not to the side. I sat in the field margin and painted the hill.

There was a fellow with a remote control aircraft, or something, just down the path. I didn't see what was making the buzzing mechanical drone, so I'm not sure. It wasn't annoying, though, and when he came to say hello, we had a delightful conversation.

He told me that the three clumps of trees on the hill (the leftmost is partially hidden behind the central one in my picture; I don't think that the clump above the white horse counts) were planted for the purpose of rearing and shooting game.

Coincidentally, I surprised a pheasant on my walk back up to the Ridgeway. It - with its sudden explosion of movement and loud whirring wing strokes - rather surprised me, too.

Oil on canvas, 30 x 60 cm

Corfe Cirrocumulus

This is Corfe Castle in Dorset, painted this afternoon from a photograph that I took last year.

The Beeches - SOLD

With your back to Watership Down, you are looking down the line of The Beeches and the footpath to Ladle Hill (the footpath is part of the Wayfarer's Walk, a long distance path). You can see the sloping side of Ladle Hill through the trees to the right.

I took a few liberties with fences (largely removal thereof) and I also took a tree out to improve the view.

Oil on canvas 33 x 55cm
SOLD

EDIT (20 December 2013): High quality "giclée" prints will be available of this painting in the new year.

Purbeck from Studland

A little palette-knife oil based on a sketch made on Studland beach, Dorset.

Oil on board, 7x5"
03 September 2013

Watership Down and Ladle Hill in progress

A series of photographs taken of today's painting as it progressed. Photography occurred at tea breaks or other such random interruptions.

Watership Down and Ladle Hill

The weather was miserable today; it was definitely not a painting expedition day. And, because 40 inches isn't a painting expedition sized canvas, I decided that today was the day to do a big(gish) painting of an earlier sketch and photograph from October last year.

EDIT: Click here to see the "in-progress" post for this painting.

Oil on box canvas, 16 x 40"
For sale

Barrow Hill, New Year's Day 2013

This is based on a chance-taken photograph from the A303.

We were in a car. It was moving. I was not driving. I caught sight of this striking hill and - because my camera just happened to be in my hand - snapped a shot through the car window. Amazingly, it was in focus. Even more amazingly, the picture included the intended subject.

This procedure very rarely works.

I'm glad it did this time, because the scene has lots of things I like in it. A hill. Trees on the skyline. An interesting sky. And, from the name, which I didn't know at the time, the hint of prehistoric activity.

Palette: Phthalo Blue, Rose Madder, Lemon Yellow, Titanium White.

Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm
For sale