#421 'Summer Hay Bales' 30x40cm

Painted from a sketch I made in July, spotted from the car as we drove into Patchings Art Centre, near Nottingham. Hay bales, tree lined and shadows/light what a fab combo! I didn't have my painting gear with me so thought I get the warmth of summer back in the studio after all this rain!

I can recommend Patchings Art Festival if your a keep painter in the UK, with loads of art equipment to buy, and demos and workshops....

#341 'Afternoon Light, Albert Bridge' 6x12"

The sun was from behind and directly lighting the bridge, not easy to paint as it's more about colour less tonal than I have been working, but a good challenge! This was the final painting of the day with my 1:1 student Christopher Mike. 

I wanted the bridge to stand out, so I made the sky a strong rich colour and the same for water with less white in the mix.
The boats I only suggested a series of marks, not much 'detail'  as they weren't the focus.
There was a refection in the water of the pink bridge, I put in a swath of pink below but then painted the deeper blue over the top just leaving a few areas of pink showing through to give an impression of reflection and rippling water.
The white struts on the bridge implied but not all drawn in. Its surprising how little the eye needs to know what is there.
Pleased with this little painting will do more sunny colourful pictures!

A happy student at the end of a good painting day!

#318 'Snow Shadows' 9x10"

On the last day of snow the sun came out, I wanted to find shadows and light to paint. I loved these colours. The sun was behind me and close to the tree line, I didn't know how long I had to paint the bit I liked! Usually I would have started on the structure first - the trees. But this time I quickly put the bluey shadows in the and the different colours of snow, it was peachy and warm because of the low sun. See pic below.

One important factor to the composition was the light through the trees contrasting the dark foreground trees and shadows. The distance needed to be bright and light and not very defined. The path is also good for leading the eye through.
Thickness of paint can give emphasis to an area, so the snow is important and also light in tone so it gets a thick application. The foreground trees are darker and thinner in paint as I don't want the eye to linger on this area as long. I did repaint the tree area as it was too thick and it made the area to strong, scraped off redid and much better! I'm not worried to do this in a painting as it can add a depth to it. The blue shadows were applied and left alone no retouching or fussing.
I am happy with this one especially the application of paint.

#222 'La Vila, Spain' 18x24cm

I was experimenting in my studio with techniques. Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) used this process by putting down swathes of colour and drawing with a brush over the top. He used black. I mixed a black with Ultramarine Blue and Red Dioxide - which lends itself to the iron works on the balconies.
The whole town was like this  (previous painting of #217 blue house in Villa Joyosa) This street looked like it was painted to harmonise together!
I started by painting the light blocks of colours in the middle, no drawing out, estimating where things should go. Mixing a tonal range of each colour, especially the green, yellow and pinky orange. 
I have put 9 progression stages of this painting on Instgram - my name is: clarebowenartist. Have a look :-)

#220 'Evening Sun, Bosham' 21x29cm

It's been gorgeous weather and I have made the most of it by doing an evening paint where the light gives me the subject.
Husband Nick and I went down to Bosham and this view grabbed me as the sun was dancing on the water and warm apricots in the sky. I knew it would be a hard one because it was changing so quickly. I painted some structure of the harbour side and building first and then whacked in the light. Keeping in mind less is more and not putting in too much detail letting the eye do the work.
In 40 minutes the water was this height and then see the pic below to what it drained to...

Spot Nick taking photo in the edge of the shot.

I finished at this point as it was very different to when I began, and refined it in the studio, tricky as you don't want to loose the fresh quality but it needs to be resolved as well.

#218 'Finestrat, Spain' 8x10"

I did the same thing as the previous painting and looked for light and shade. Finestrat is inland from the coast and quite mountainous. I climbed to the top of the village to get the morning light hitting the buildings. I liked the downhill curved of this little street, plus the mountains behind were a bonus.

Very quite only one person walked down this street and I was busy looking at his cute dog rather than painting him! So I got my husband to walk down it so I could paint and have a figure to add to the composition.
I'm pleased with this one :-)

I have posted the 5 painting stages of how I put this painting together on Instagram. You don't need an account to look, click the link.
One more painting to post of Spain after this...

https://www.instagram.com/clarebowenartist/

#217 'Villa Josoya' 8x10"

Wonderful coloured houses in this Spanish town. I was in a shady square with friendly locals.
When I was scouting the town for a painting, I looked for light and shade patterns, not so much about the subject. The light and shade fell nicely on this building and I liked the strong blue.
I had to be quick as by the time I got to paint the shade had nearly all gone. I painted the bottom half of the house first to make sure I got it!

Usually I like subjects depicting more space than this, but this painting is more about light and colour :-)

A Spanish chap came out of his house and over to me, he was very pleased I was painting his house! He took photos of me and the painting for the residents Face Book page.