On the move.

Coastal Tones 3   Oils on canvas board  7 x 5 inches   £ 60   $ 75

On the way out.  Tidal flows.

Studio Musings...

The tonal journey continues.  Day three at the coast.

The six paintings have all taken on a coastal theme.

I really like the colours...so gentle and grey tones like our Lincolnshire shores.

Tide's out.

Coastal Tones 2   Oils on canvas board  7 x 5 inches   £ 60   $ 75 

A range of tones on this coastline.

Studio Musings...

Imagination plays a large part in my working day.

I placed three small canvas boards in a row on my easel and made a start.

Using a limited palette of colour I wanted to practice my tonal skills.

With a large brush and dark paint I scrubbed it onto the board.

Just shapes to begin with and nothing particular in mind. 

I let my mind wander and soon a composition began to appear.

Lightening the scene I worked up the board to the top.

The painting gradually moved away from initial abstract shapes towards realism.

My exercise had become a seascape albeit imaginary.

During this time my only conscious decision had been to make 5 tonal values in the picture.

I think I achieved this and I like the painting.  More will be posted later.

Studies.

Coastal Tone 1   Oils on canvas board   7 x 5 inches   £ 60  $ 75

Ebb tide and a range of tones.  

Studio Musings...

I was looking through some photographs of tonal studies by

 another artist and it inspired me to paint a small series of my own.  

A useful exercise, tonal studies are a reminder of how my paintings 'ought'

to be each time I work.  The range of lights to darks add depth and interest.

I shall be looking through my past work to see how I score on this subject. 

Some re-working and a few glazes could be on the menu.

From the door.

Autumn Landscape   Oils on stretched box canvas   20 x 20 inches  £ 450   $ 550

A view from my studio in autumn.

Studio Musings...

 I love abstraction.

 Such a challenge but a great sense of achievement.

My studio is set in our wild garden and when I stand at my easel 

there is a view which inspired this painting.  

When I say view...I really mean shapes, colours and tones.

Autumn flowers in pink, purple and yellow with sunlight through the trees.

Over the hedge the field is a red brown, freshly tilled with a spring crop.

Fragments of blue sky are glimpsed between the tree branches.

A season of mellow fruitfulness.

All mine for the taking and I share it with you.

I hope you enjoy the view.

Song of summer.

Summer Landscape   Oils on stretched box canvas  20 x 20 inches   £ 450   $ 550

English summer.

An imaginary point of view.  

Studio Musings...

Continuing my excursion into the abstracted world.

When I move the oils around the canvas my sub-conscious mind must be full of stories.

Stories of walks with Whippet, my garden or a visit to the coast.

Away from a need to depict reality I can be free to express whatever I choose.

The main concern is a sense of place though not one in particular...

Perhaps a collage of things seen and enjoyed.

Spooky.

October Moon   Oils on stretched canvas  8 x 19 inches  £ 240  $ 295

The moon at Halloween...a figment of imagination?

Studio Musings...

I like the crispness of the edges against the softness of the sky.

It is also a tonal study.  I am planning to paint a series of tonal studies this week.

October Moon

 Viewed in a black float frame.

Seasonal.

Autumn   Oils on stretched box canvas   16 x 16 inches  (unframed)  £ 330  $ 400

Autumn flowers in a wild garden.  Splashes of colour and light.

Studio Musings...

When I look at the landscape I see colour in an abstract sense.

Going away from fine detail this canvas has been such fun to paint.

Textured and tonal, there is energy here.

The painting fits into a white hand-painted wood float frame.

Alternatively, it can be hung on its own as the sides are painted.