I have not posted for a while. Pittenweem is one excuse, the other is my studio is getting some work done on it. Walls have been painted and the new flooring goes down next week. I spent loads of time trying to decide if I wanted a grey tone on the walls but one grey Scottish day decided it for me – all white stays!
I have been busy preparing for Pittenweem. My holiday in Venice has inspired a number of paintings for the show. As usual I will have a varied selection of my latest work, some of which can be previewed on my web site. Visit my Pittenweem Arts Festival 2011 page to view them.
This is a detail of a new painting I have just finished. About one month to go until the Pittenweem Arts Festival.
I am aware I have not posted for a while. I have been busy preparing for the Pittenweem Arts Festival. Here is another painting of Venice. The trip has given me so much inspiration.
This is a small oil painting of a night time scene in Venice. We were really lucky with the weather which made it very enjoyable exploring all the lanes and canals.
I am just back from a fantastic holiday to Venice. What a beautiful city with so much to offer. I did quite a lot of plein air sketches to try to capture the atmosphere of the place. These will help when it comes to do some studio paintings. The weather was sunny and warm which enabled me to get around and about. My bag with my art materials was a little on the heavy side. However it was better to have them with me as inspiration came in the most unlikely places.
The colours of this scene were what first attracted me. Then the boats lined up awaiting repairs and a coat of paint were the next point of interest. The houses behind had been newly painted.
On Monday with it being such a nice day I set up a still life outside. I enjoyed the challenge of working directly from my subject. The daffodils were picked fresh from my garden for the still life. The shadows were lovely in the sunlight.
This is a little different as I started the painting with torn pieces of card, paper and thread etc. I then did washes of acrylic paint to tone and enhance the texture on the surface. I enjoyed starting in this loose manner.
I have not fully cropped this image to show what colour of pastel paper I used. I often use the edges for testing colours as I work on the painting. The paper I used was Sennelier La Carte Pastel paper. It has quite a rough sandpaper texture which grips the pastel really well.