#182 'Table Mountain, Cape Town' 24x30cm

I made this painting from the drawings I did in Cape Town on our recent visit (see below). I didn't have my paints with me so it was great to actually paint it! 

Sunrise, with beautiful soft light on the mountain and deep turquoise blues and apricots of the sea and beach, a wonderful combo :-)

It did the painting in two stages firstly blocked in an approximate colour and tone of each area. When dry did a second layer of thicker paint and more closely observed. 

I drew the mountain in pen and ink 4 or 5 times, so when I came to paint this the mountain shape came easily. It was one of those paintings I didn't have to wipe off or redo anything, this doesn't happen often! I'm pleased with the final image.

#181 'Spring, Devils Punch Bowl' 24x30cm

I started this one a few days ago....

But decided I wanted to get more information to finish it so I went back the next morning to do a drawing and really look at the shapes and tones.

It was early morning light between 5-6am it had a warm glow and strong contrasts. An hour or so later there was no lovely shadow shapes from the gate as the sun had moved around, so getting up early was worth it!

The gate was tricky as I didn't want it too defined or with hard edegs. I made the tone lighter and cooler than the trees. I didn't try and straighten the slatted edges or fill it all in. Leaving it allows the brain to fill in the missing information and makes the gate look back lit.
I'm pleased with the outcome and will do more there :-)

#180 'Spring, Bramshott Common' 18x24cm

I started this one outside 30 mins in I looked behind me and saw and big bank of dark cloud coming. It didn't take long before the light I was painting was obscured! So I painted what I could remember and then finished in my studio. 

To show you how different it was without the strong sunlight, see pic below. The scene looks so ordinary without the light!

It is a medley of greens! Light to dark in tone and yellow green to blue green fun to paint and a good exercise in learning to paint light.

#179 'Frensham Little Pond' 8x8"

I zoomed in to be close to the subject as I wanted to study the colours, reflections and light. Subtle variations in tone, with just a few really light, bright greens. It isn't a classic view of this pond but still hopefully has a feel of the reeds and water!

#178 'Emsworth Habour Jetty' 5x10"

This is the second one I did a couple of days ago in Emsworth Harbour. I was running out of steam by then and the light wasn't as beautiful as the early morning so I packed up. Back in the studio I ended up wiping most of it off see below as I wasn't happy with how the paint was applied. 

So there was a ghost of a painting left and having been closely looking at the subject the day before I could remember it quite well, so it came together quickly.  I also looked at the drawing again because what had attracted me was looking through the uprights of the jetty to the boats behind. 
A mistake possibly was using too small a board so the scale of the boats were mini! 

#177 'Morning Reflections, Emsworth Harbour' 18x2cm

I got up at 4.30am for this painting! Rather early but needed to get down to the coast and paint and get back again before my husband went to work at 8.30am - we have our shared dog staying, he's blind and can't be left alone.

It was beautiful at this time so still and quiet. Although rain wasn't forcasted it rained enough to make the mixing and applying paint difficult, it goes sticky with the moist air and the board resists the brush. 

Choosing a subject I ended up trying 3 separate paintings. The first I wiped off. The second is this one I'm posting now. The third I finished yesterday and will post tomorrow.
The tide was going out so it was hard to find something that wasn't going to change radically. Choosing a subject that was further out fromt he shoreline allowed for this. But the two boats in the foreground were moving with the movement of tide, everytime I looked up they were in a different position!
The reflections were so perfect and fun to paint. I really studied the tone of the boat and how the reflection compared to it - lighter or darker...

#176 'Low Tide Emsworth Harbour' 18x24cm

Back home I wanted to explore what I had learnt with Richard Pikelsey as soon as possible. 
So I set off early to paint in Emsworth harbour. With a very low tide I was able to stand out on the mud flats and use a little boat as my table :-) see below

I liked the bright green with the blue boat combo. The green was being lit by the sun and it was difficult to mix. Because if you just mix pure say Lemon Yellow and Cerulean Blue it's an intense colour but too dark in tone, add white and it lighter but the colour is then chalky and not so intense! I think you get a feel in my painting with what was there?
I have attached the beginnings below as I thought you may want to see the different way I started this one in practising what I learnt with Richard. Not drawing first and blocking in colours & tones and covering the board quickly....

The man walked across once I tried to paint him while he was walking. Mixing a colour then looking up and he's gone! So difficult but it has the essence of him! And I think helps the composition.

#175 'View Towards Abbotsbury' 18x24cm

This is the second painting I did with artist Richard Pikesley.

We struggled to find something decent in the murk of drizzle and low cloud. The view we eventually settled on you could easily have driven past as it wasn't spectacular but it had some great light in the skyline and the atmospheric perspective was strong. 

I was stuck behind a bush of yellow flowers (not sure of the name) the board shape seamed to fit having the flowers in the foreground of the painting. I didn't want to descibe them with too much detail but I emphasised the flowers with strong colour and shapes which also added to the ariel perspective.

No drawing out before hand straight in with paint! Feeling your away around the composition this method allows for more flexibility as the painting develops. It also encourages to paint in slabs of colour and not 'filling in' to linear lines. I didn't find it easy though and half way through I was really doubting it all! Richard encouraged me to go on and I'm pleased with the result, it's not how I'd usually paint a landscape but it's fresh and painterly and feels like I'm on the right track :-)

An amazing day with Richard and I'm sure its going to have a great impact on my paintings to come......

#174 'West Bay Harbour' 18x24cm

I feel very privileged to have had a painting day with an English artist Richard Pikesley he is a wonderful painter and the president of the New English Art Club.

I felt like I needed some input and direction on how to progress my paintings to another level. I took a selection of paintings to show Richard and he gave me some great advice and guidance. We then painted in two locations morning and afternoon. The first I will post now the second tomorrow.....

West Bay Harbour 
What Richard told me to work on was less linear and more blocks of colour. To help me do this I didn't draw the subject first I went straight into looking and comparing two colours next to each other - I started on the reflection on the front of the boat. Trying to match the colour and tone. Also aiming to get the board covered quickly so you can relate the colours in the subject and not be distracted by the colour/tone of the board.

It definitely felt out of my comfort! Although I am pleased with the result and Richard liked it too! (The little boat was called 'Henry' and I love the character it has!)

The conditions weren't easy, it was chucking with rain when we started so sheltered under his Land Rover boot and at times the subject disappeared in the haze of rain! Thankfully it did stop but you can see it's a quiet tonal painting - not big contrasts like when the sun is out, which still has a beauty to it.

'Painting is about looking' a quote from Richard and something I am really working on :-)

#173 'Morning Light, Southsea Promenade' 9x12"

I went back the next day to paint looking west into the morning sun. I featured the sky and old fashioned lamp post. The sun on the sea was bleached white just some warmth from the yellow.
The string of fairy lights were fun to paint, I used 4 brushes one for each colour and alternated, making sure the perspective of getting smaller and closer together worked. The people in the yellow shelter gives a focal point. 

This painting didn't come as easily as the one before. I drew it out in situ but was battling with gale force winds. I tied my easel to a lamp post but my arm was being buffeted so much and it was hard to do any line work. Then it clouded over and I lost my subject - the light! So I completed back in the studio today.

I like this area and I may go back and making some drawings to do a bigger works from this subject.

#172 'Southsea Promanade' 9x12"

I have been out painting over the past 3 days. The first day at Queen Elizabeth Country Park nr Petersfield. Being early morning there was no sunlight and the tones were very close together and a bit dull on the wooded subject I chose. After an hour and half of painting I wiped it off. I don't often do that at such a late stage in the painting. Someone recently asked me what is your 'success' rate for paintings? About one in five I scrap. I'm not sure if this is acurate - typical I scrapped the next one I did! But all was not lost I moved 20 feet to the early sun shining on a pond it was Monetesque and I will finish it in the studio soon....

This painting of Southsea Promanade is a familiar scene to me, as I walked my dog and ran along here for 11 years. Yesterday was a bright, sunny day, packed with people, it had a lovely English seaside feel to it, with people eating fish and chips and seagulls hovering above.

I spent quite a while getting the compostion right I changed board sizes from an 8x10" after drawing it too small. I didn't want too much promanade but enough to get a feel of it. Contra Jour again with the sun directly opposite me. I really checked the tones, comparing each area with the next. Saying to myself is this part lighter or darker? Like the promanade would have been easy to paint too dark.
The people I sketched in with the brush as they were walking by, adding some light and darks (and the dog!) in the studio today.

I enjoyed painting this one, so many people stopped to say hello and take a look, good to be out there painting again....

Sketches of South Africa

Arrived back home yesterday from South Africa, a wonderful trip visiting my sister.
Pen & Ink, Table Mountain. We saw the sunrise over Table Mountain twice - It was so good we had to go back and see it again! Beautiful colours and I was itching to paint them.

We went on safari in Madikwe Game Reserve (up near the Botswana boarder). We stayed in an eco bush camp called Mosetlha, the stars at night were unbelievable! These group of African pots were outside in the couryard next to our cabins. Really strong shdaows because of the blazing African sun - I fried when I did the drawing! 

This was the same water soluble pen I used in the Table Mountain drawing but with out a wash on top.

Drawing lions

Really loved the game drives, saw so many animals up close (the safari trucks were able to go off road.) I took photos but I also wanted to try drawing the animal. Not reasy! As you usually had only seconds to complete it buy getting the general form down before they moved again. It was fun to do and I'm sure helped my observational skills.

I did the same thing at Boulders Beach in Cape Town where the wild African Penguins hang out. You can't help smile at them especially when they waddle about. It was blowing a gale when we were there and being sand blasted while I drew added an extra challenge!

#171 'The Red Boat' 8x10"

This was taken from a photo a took last year in Harridge, Essex. Contra jour with the flags lit in the sun. I didn't feel confident enough to paint it then. So I had a go yesterday in the Museum, not easy when the subject is nearly all in shadow. I painted the boat too red to begin with - as I liked the red boat! but darkened it and it sat in the painting better. 

Sometimes I need input from others like my husband (a photographer) or my Mum who has a great eye she helped with this one saying the jetty/pier behind wasnt right - it had been straight across the painting, she suggested I cut it off. I don't usualy change what's actually there but sometimes it's needed! And it does help the compsition :-)

I have found occasionally it's good to practise a subject or type of light in the studio from a photo so you can learn from it which is harder to do en plein air as the elements are often against you and getting the painting down at speed, with no time to think too much!

Yesterday was our last day in the Musem for our exhitbion. (It continues without us till next Tuesday) It was sad to finish as I had enjoyed painting and showing there and chatting to people and lots of children! We are thinking of doing another show at the Museum in two years time.

Today we are off to South Africa to visit my sister. I'm not taking my painting gear just sketch book as I want to spend time with her.

#170 'La Plagne, The Alps' 9x12"

This was taken from a drawing I made while in the French Alps. (see below)
It really helpd to have drawn it as the tones are quite close together and having studied it in person helped with the painting. (didn't make it easy though!)
The light source was very subtle, being sunset and the light just catching the tops of the mountains. The roofs of the chalets were a lighter tone even without direct light on them.
This was a real study of tonal observation. Fun to paint though and so different from a green landscape!
Last of my snowy paintings till next season... onto spring.

#169 'Morning Light, Devils Punch Bowl' 8x10"

This is the second of the snow paintings in this area. I really enjoyed putting the light in - once all the darks and mids were in place. 

I'm starting a painting by mixing the main colour and then using that paint if I can as a starting point to mix other main colours and then mixing a range of light and dark tones. So I end up with piles of paint all connected with each other and therefore hamornising well. Starting like this means, it feels you are on top of it before you begin and having a lot of paint so you dont scrimp with it - I wanted a thicker look.

Just two days left for our exhibition. Here was a photo from Saturday at the Museum....

#168 'Morning Shadows, Devils Punch Bowl' 8x10"

I made a sketch of this scene back in February when it was snowing, see pic below.

I liked the feathery tree with the dark behind and the wonderful blues. I worked on using thicker paint to create a more shimmery light.

I enjoyed painting it so much I have done another snow scene of the same area and will post it tomorrow. 

I am doing these paintings while we get visitors to our ongoing exhibition at the Haslemere Museum, it's going well! :-)

Haslemere Museum Exhibition & no. 167 Langstone Study

We had our Private View last Thursday. It went well, had a good turn out, lovely feedback and some sales! You can see some daily still life paintings and my plen air land and seascape. I hung 44 and had 10 left over, I didn't want to crowd the wall. Everyone said it worked well in that room and together with Nick on the opposite side. 

I am manning the show every day (till March 12th), so it's a great opportunity to paint while I'm there. I have missed painting as I've been so busy getting this show ready (framing 55 paintings!) It's also nice that I can greet people when they come and have a chat :-)

I painted this scene outside a couple of weeks ago and didn't like the result, but from it I painted this a small 8x8" a study of tone and contra jour (sun shining towards you.) Painting the sky a slightly darker tone than the dazzle on the water, which is true to what was there but also really shows up the water sparkle.
The boats on the left were a tricky because they were mainly in shadow, just a shape no light or dark. Happier with this painting.

#166 'Frensham Great Pond' 12x12"

I have been itching to do some painting especially outside. It was a beautiful day yesterday and so lovely to be by the water and painting again, I even had to take my coat off it was warm!

Initially I was disappointed with the view, but when I looked into the sun - Contra Jour it came alive- the water with big ripples and reflections, the reed head light against the darker trees, and the light sparkling on the water, yay! Enjoyed painting it. 
It's a similar view to painting no.164 Sunset Frensham Pond but with a different emphasis.

With 3 main colours red-violet, a dusty blue and a mustard yellow, all mixed together to make nuances of the colours.
It was a peaceful area appart from the Moore Hens and Cootes in the reeds and then honking right next to me and making me jump! Great to be out.

Drawing The French Alps

We recently returned form our ski trip in La Plagne France. It snowed and snowed! The drawing above was after a big dump of snow overnight. I used 3 tones - dark, mid and light - the white of the paper.
The one below is when it started to melt, and there was no snow left on the trees! This one was more about scale. The huge mountains, tiny chalets and big foreground pines. Both views from our balcony, wished I drew more but 6 hours plus of skiing there were limits! Hope to make these into paintings...

Update Post - Away & Exhibitions

I am away for a week or so skiing for my birthday :-) very excited as I used to be a ski instructor in my 20's and love being in the mountains.
I am not taking my painting gear, a hard descion as I'm sure there will be lots of inspiration in the Alps, but will take my sketching materials and hope to paint from drawings on our return.

I also wanted to tell you about 2 exhibitions this month....

Haslemere Museum Exhibition

I have worked for the past 8 months and produced over 50 plein air paintings to show in our forthcoming exhibition.

I am excited to show this new work, the subjects are mainly of seascapes and boats (my passion) with some local landscapes as well.

All are welcome to come and see us. I will be moving into the museum with my art gear and painting most days, email to check if I will be there.

It's our first joint exhibition and we have cards, prints and my framed originals.

I have attached the flyer below which we had made for the show, to give you a bit more information.

Hope to see you there!

Magpie Exhibition 

I am also taking part in a joint 'pop up' exhibition in the Sands Village near Farnham, Surrey.

16 - 19th March

I'll have around 15 pieces in this exhibition shown in a wonderful setting.

If you're interested email me for an invitation.

#165 'The Gate, Devils Punch Bowl' 11x14"

I did a quick sketch (see below) when we had a dusting of snow a couple of weeks ago. I liked the limited colours and that you could see the Punch Bowl sweeping around in the distance - when the mist cleared a little!

I drew it out three times on two different sized boards. I wanted the composition to be similar to the drawing I had made - just off square and cutting the the tops of the trees.

The first stage of this painting was made with thined cool and warm darks see below. 

I quite liked it at this stage and the next day when I wanted to complete it, it was scary painting over it as I didn't want to loose the quality I had. I also reassured myself when putting the white snow in which was so contrasted in tone and colour but I knew I needed to be bold!
I kept some of the thined painting but modulated the edges of the path with opaque lighter tones. The sky I put a yellow tinge which there wasn't much of on the day but seams to work well with overcast snow days.

Really pleased with how this one came out :-)

#164 'Sunset, Frensham Pond' 9.5x12"

I had made a dash for the Pond as I saw the sky had potential to be a wonderful sunset. But in my haste I forgot my Pochade (outside easel) very annoying but took my board, and sketch book and drew the scene several times to try and learn the subject and imprint it on my memory. I took photos to help with colour reference.
While I was painting it today I thought this would be a great one for my students to have a go at :-) As they haven't tackled a sunset sky and some water reflections to go with it! That will be in the April workshop.

I have learnt that if you paint dark areas to thickly and with opaque colours they tend to look heavy and dull, this is a translucent mix with no white. The little sailing club had very little light but I threw some onto it, to show it was there and give the land more interest.
The mirror reflections in the sky and water, was easier when I turned the board 90 degrees so I could mirror the patterns more easily. The sun felt a risk to put in as it was unsual but went for it and quite pleased with the end result!

#163 Dawn, Langstone Harbour 9x12"

Before the sun showed itself and the warm glow of light. This is the 6th painting of the Langstone area and as I get to know it I see more subtleties and details which I try to include in my painting.
Difficult to manage all the dark tonal areas but I worked from the darkest grading back to the lightest adding paint at each grade. The main two colours are Red-Violet & Yellow-Green tertiary complementaries, which work well together. 
The boat in the foreground, I had to really hold back with the tone, as I wanted to paint it lighter, (as its a white boat) but there is no light source on it and facing away from the light direction. So it was very dark just a suggestion of a boat and I quite like that you don't see it immediately.
I want to paint a bigger one of this area but it feels quite a leap after small boards...I have an 18x24" in my studio I'll let you know how I get on!

#162 Langstone Mill 9x12"

When I arrived it was about 10am and being winter the light was warm and soft, no wind and perfectly still waters. 
The tide was going out and the reflection soon disappeared but I blocked in the main shapes before it did! 
I painted the sky in a very light and delicate way to contrast with the heavy buidlings. Although I worked on making the buildings not too fussy or heavy.

A good note to remember is light tones are darker and darks are lighter in reflections, which helps when you trying to decipher it all.

The composition is more unusual to the iconic Mill paintings - usually across the water and quite small in scale, having bigger buildings makes it harder to paint!

I found this quite a challenging piece but pleased with the outcome.

For those interested Langstone Mill was built in 1730 and is one of the rare water and wind mills in the UK. Pictured below is a drawing of it in 1869 and you can see a little of whats left now.

#161 'Langstone Harbour' 9x12"

I wanted to try my favourite subject of the moment in daylight. Previously I have painted the area at sunrise. Going back today the colour of the light was different, I could see more in the mud flats as they weren't as silhouetted and they had a green tinge instead of pink. I focused on the the tonal values, really observing the subtle changes.
I managed 3/4 outside and then a chap came up to me to talk about painting and by then the wind had frozen my face and my I couldn't form the words to talk to him! 

It's funny how just one thing out of kilter can throw me. When I arrived I unpacked and found my Sansador solvent had emptied out into my bag! So I couldn't ware my pink pinny and had very little solvent to thin the paint with but once I was into the painting these things were forgotten.... 

I noticed I have used a different make of board on each of the 4 paintings I've done of Langstone and they all give a different finish:

1. Belle Arti, Italian canvas panel - fine cotton but quite grippy, I gessoed and sanded before painting.
2. Gerstaeker German canvas board - less of a canvas feel and not so absorbent.
3. Seawhite of Brighton English wood painting panel - bare pine wood require 3-4 layers of gesso, with sanding on the final layer.
4. Gesso Ampersand - an American, high quality, very little texture, the paint doesn't sink, nice to work on. I put a layer of raw umber stained gesso to colour the white.

See post numbers 159, 147, 142 to compare the boards and Langstone paintings :-)

#160 'Newlands Corner' 8x20"

I started this last weekend. But when I got back to the studio I found I couldn't finish because I didn't have enough information, it was the fist time I had visited and it was misty with the sunrise. 

So I went back and did two drawings of the subject. I must haven chosen the coldest day of the year to do it! With wind chill -7 so bitter my teeth were chattering and I couldn't draw for shaking! But I was able to finsih it today, and I'm pleased with the outcome :-)

I met some friendly photographers when I was painting that day, one of whom, Sarah took some lovely photos while I was painting, here are a couple of them.

#159 'Langstone Mud Flats' 12x12"

The past week or so my time has been dediatcated to the two oil classes I teach. We did a 3 boat seascape,very pleased with how the students managed a tricky subject!

Today I was itching to get out there again, and I managed a weather window before storm Doris blows in. 
Beautiful light, I love this place! It's the third painting of this area (numbers 152 & 147) 
The contrast of the dark rich flats and light from the sunrise, I can't get enough of!
Keeping the mud interesting and making the really dark areas a little translucent so they're not too heavy. The sky has light, bright thin paint which lift the darks.
Hope to go back in the next few days, I did two quick drawings as well to gather more information for a possible bigger painting later.