#89 'Fishing Boat, Staithes Harbour' 7x9.5"

I painted this on Saturday afternoon, bright sunshine and a busy beach. Lovely to be amongst the children playing in the sand and the dogs rushing into the sea.

Love this boat especially the coloured buoys catching the sunlight. It was quite windy so I depicted it in the sky, painting it quickly and loosely with some medium.
I painted the figures as they walked into my view. The guy next to the boat was up and down and bending he was painting the boat, quite tricky to capture him while he was moving! But I'm happy with the result and his yellow wellies :-) 

This pen and ink I did while I was in Staithes, a great view I may paint at a later date. 

#88 'Staithes Beach' 7x9.5"

Second painting in Staithes on the Plein Air workshop. Love the little red boat so much so I painted it another 2 times after this!
Blocking in the dark tones first gives a good backdrop for the sunlit boat house. Also careful to observe the sand colours - not just yellow :-)

The photo below shows I have cropped in to paint the areas I am drawn to.

#87 'Staithes, The Beck' 8x8"

I had an amazing 3 day Plein Air workshop up in Staithes, North Yorkshire. A wonderful teacher, Haidee-Jo Summers and I loved being immersed in painting to eat drink and sleep it :-) Also lovely to talk to other artists and exchange tips.

I produced 6 painting over the weekend, I will post them daily on here. This was my first.
It's an estuary off the harbour, soft greys and those rich red roofs. The boats have a certain shape and colours (very paintable.)  I can't believe what an inspiring place to paint it is, definitely going back there!

I tried a new technique in all the paintings. Putting a slightly thinner mix in of the darkest and mid tones which were muted down. This gives a harmony to the whole and helps with tonal connection. Also it blocks in most of the board in 30 mins or so. Then add the lighter tones and more intense saturated colours. I am really pleased with the outcome. Although it felt tough doing a different method and out of my comfort.

Here is a pic of what I saw and my palette...

Oil Painting Course

These are my students from one of my classes in Farnham. They have nearly completed a years worth of lessons, no longer beginners! It was actually a mixed class of abiliities from complete beginners to painting for 40 years. I have really enjoyed teaching them all. We were painting roses in this class on Tuesday.

Today I am going on a 'Plein Air' painting workshop weekend to be a student myself, the same artist as before Haidee-Jo Summers, very excited. It's up in Staithes, North Yorkshire, a seaside town.  I probably wont get to post until I'm back on Monday.

#86 'Sunflowers' 6x6"

Love the vibrancy and sunshine feel to these. They could be in the sunbaked Mediterranean but sadly not! 

I was unsure about the centre area before I painted as it seamed so dark and boring but looking closely when I was painting it there are so many vairations and interest.

Yellow is tricky especially when you want to keep the bright freshness. It's hard to make it dark enough and still work. But I'm happy with the outcome :-)

The Surrey Open Studios is now finished. Really enjoyed it and so pleased with how many paintings I sold, 20 at the last count! Thank you to everyone who came and supported us.

#85 'Rose in Bloom' 6x6"

A beautiful rose, I don't know the name of, I like the full rounded head and two tone petal colours. Really difficult to paint! There is a tendency to get lost in the layers of complex petals - simplifying! But still getting the essence of it.
The photo has a bit of shine on it so I may take it again tomorrow.

Had a busy Open Studio day which we weren't expecting for a Friday. Nick, my husband is also showing his photographic work in his studio opposite mine. Here he is on my studio floor with our dog Matte getting cuddles in between visitors today.

#84 'White Rose' 6x6"

I had one of those days today. I went to get a rose for this painting and was so excited and focused on getting one I forgot to pay the car park. I didn't remember until I saw a parking fine on my window, very upsetting! So upset I then got lost on the journey home! 
Anyway, I am pleased with this rose painting, it feels a bit of a break through in my flowers. I painted it in a different order and way, from the inside out - see pic below.

I used a new palette today, called 'Posh Palette' from New Wave in America it's super smooth and wonderful to mix my colours on. I'm used to a perspex with white paper underneath, so it will take some adjusting to a mid tone grey but it is lovely to use.

#83 'Reflected Watermelon' 6x8"

It's been so busy I haven't had the time or energy to do any painting. But I was itching to do one so I got into my studio by 6am this morning which gave me time to focus and work on this painting before any Open Studio visitors arrived at 11am.
I put the melon on tin foil and was pleased with the reflection it created of the skin. 
Painting it I was aiming for the translucency at the top and richness of the red, fun to paint and will have another go. 

The photo below is of me over the weekend painting in between visitors but didn't get much done so it was abandoned. I'm not complaining about having people come and visit as the Open Studio is going well :-) Making sales each day we are open and meeting some new arty people especially in the local area which is really great.

#82 'A Bowl of Cherries' 6x6"

I enjoyed the previous cherry painting so I thought I'd have another go. I haven't done this in the past as I was scared to try and repeat something that was successful but decided to go for it and I'm pleased with the result. Lush colours and shiny cherries!
I chose a range of cherry colours and tones for composition. The little bowl has appeared in 3 paintings now, it's a useful size and favourite colour! The past two were - 'Citrus' & 'Turqoiuse Pots'.
My light box where I usually place my still life set up is dismantled for the Open Studio, therefore it was harder to paint as I had about 5 different light sources, I kept turning off and on my lamp to see its light to paint.
Using my primed boards is a much more slippery surface than I'm used to and although it gives a nice result I'm not used to the slipperiness. For example adding a dark tone over an area I have to lay the brush at a really low angle to the board and load it or else it just takes the paint off underneath. 

The Open Studios went really well at the weekend we had a good number of visitors and I sold 7 paintings, really pleased :-)  I had some great feedback and I enjoyed talking art with people. We are open for another two weekends, looking forward to see what that brings. I will include some pics next post.

#81 'Reflected Cherries' 6x6"

Loved painting these cherries! So luscious and shiny, I ate some while I was painting too.
I haven't tried using tin foil to reflect a subject before, it's an idea from an excellent daily painter called Carol Marine it works well and adds a challenge and interest while painting it hopefully to the viewer as well.
I didn't use any white in the main of the cherries, which keeps the paint more translucent and shiny looking - like the cherries. The highlight is thick paint and nearly white makes it more shiny too.
Opening our doors tomorrow for the Open Studio, quite nervous for it, painting this helped calm me and good to get back to the painting again.

Preparing Boards & The Studio

It is the longest I haven't painted during this year and I miss it, I'm itching to do one! I brought some cherries a few days ago and started to set up a composition but focus when I knew I still had loads to prepare tor this Saturday.

My studio is now ready for the Surrey Open Studio's so I wanted to do a messy job before we open the door to visitors.

The above picture is boards or panels I've prepared with oil primer (the equivilent to Gesso a water based primer) I got a little carried away with how many boards I did - 38! Which should keep me going for a bit :-)
If your interested I used C Roberson & Co primer the drying time is about 16 hours. I mixed Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna and sometimes a little Yellow Ochre. Making quite weak mixes so its not too dark in tone. - a warm and cool version. (grey and brown) I prop them up on glass pots (saved from deserts) to keep the floor clean and easier to put the primer on as well.
Using these boards means I get the surface I want - not too slippery or too rough also not a stark white board.

You can see my displayed paintings on the floor behind the boards I ran out of wall and shelf space :-)