#158 The Chantries, Surrey Hills 9.5x12"

Very busy at the moment, as I have two exhibitions in March, one joint with my husband and one in a gallery. So I'm painting like a mad women to supply both! 

I've discovered two new areas I like for painting (The Chantries & Newlands Corner, both on the North Downs). Last weekend I started 4 plein air paintings in 3 days. One was my previous blog post, the other was a disaster! And two more I'm still working on. I went back to the areas - during the past couple of days to gather more information. I found I didn't have enough from the one visit - in the cold and fog! 
So I drew the scene and did another painting on the spot which is this one.
Had battles with it, much scrapping off and repainting. When it gets like that I cant tell if its worked ok  (which is when my Mum and husband are useful for feedback :-) They liked it.
Decided to leave the distant hills undefined and the forground put in more detail. Also keep the colours quite limited to bring a harmony.
                                                                                                      

#157 'The River Wey, Farncombe' 12x12"

A beautiful morning, with a hard frost. I was out with the Surrey Hills Plein Air Painters. A lot of us gathered around to paint this subject. I enjoyed painting with others, and seeing their results of the same subject.

I was attracted to the winding path, frosty white and shadow shapes of the trees.
Again bitterly cold, it comes up through your feet and slowly freezes you! 

I tried a square format as it's different to what I'd normally choose for this sort of scene.
Difficult perspective on the canal and boats. I spent some time blocking in and making sure I got it mapped out as acurately as I could.
The tones are tricky too especially on the frosty areas as its easy to go too dark.
The river was frozen solid and the reflections muted. I repainted them twice before happy!

#156 'Tower House, Portsmouth Harbour' 8x20"

Painted this a couple of days ago in the city I used to live in. It was a good spot on top of the Round Tower (a fort built from the 1490's) being eye level with the big boats going in and out. I also heard a honking it was swan flapping by right near my head!

I chose to do this as a panoramic because the sky and light was wonderful and the sweep of the harbour a good combo. But it was quite hard to make the composition work with the the Tower House building in the foreground. 
By the time I had finished the outside session, I was unsure as to whether it was going to work out. 

When I returned back to the studio I couldn't bare the sea I had painted so wiped it all off and nearly wiped off the rest too but was pleased I didn't! 
Sometimes paintings work from the start and others don't! For example a painting I did last week but didn't post I worked when I got home but it didn't come together and was ditched.  Thankfully this one came together, yay! 

I drew this same scene back in 2003, I made the drawing outside but never did a painting from it until now. Might do another one in this more square format but on a different day and different weather.....

For Christmas this year my husband Nick, designed and made me a Open Box M pochade converter for panoramic boards like this one. Previously I have been taping the boards onto my pochade with brown tape! Because the Open Box M grips the painting on the sides, this one grips top and bottom.  I used it for the first time to do this painting and it worked beautifully, thank you Nick!

#155 'The First Snow, Bramshott Common' 12x12"

Having painting in the morning I went home for sustenance and to warm my hands then straight out again as the snow was melting fast! 
We are at a high point in the area so I walked over to this common. I was lucky to find a patch of snow which was north facing and protected at the bottom of a hill. I was drawn to the bend of the tree and shapes of shadows in the snow. A square format seamed to suit the  uprights of the trees. 
While I was mixing my paint a deer came running past on the path in the painting, I was such a lovely sight. No people were around and its very quiet with the snow damping any sound. 
I didn't have a plan how the stye of the painting would be, it just seamed to happen! It reminds me a bit like Tom Thomson, the Candian artist. 

Even though I was tired from the mornings painting I was so inspired and excited I painted 95% of it outside and loved it! More snow please :-)

#154 'The Look out, Devils Punch Bowl' 11.5x16.5"

So excited to see the first snow of the season! I was out early by 8am to catch the sunrise colours, which were too fleeting to paint but photographed for another time.

The Devils Punch Bowl is a National Trust area. I have painted it several times before but first time in snow and it was stunning! It took me a while to settle on this subject, there's a lot of space, and trees and distance and quite difficult to find a strong composition, but was pleased with this one. 
I started on the darks, so it would show up the whites later and went between greeny browns to reddy browns with Raw Umber as the base. 
The sun was in and out of the clouds and quickly painted the bits of light when it came.

After a couple of hours the weather turned and a front came in with more snow, the distant hills were obscured and the scene looked so different, I finished it in the studio today.

It was fun being out there despite the bitter weather! People said to me I'm either crazy or committed to painting both I think! 
It's my first painting of snow outside, absolutely loved it and want to do more!!

Life Drawing no.1

Decided to go back to life drawing. I haven't done any for over 5 years and before that it was sporadic. I thought it would help my observation skills and drawing for painting. 

I had forgotten how tough it is! So intense and focused, really enjoyed it though. A friendly group local to me in Hindhead.

Here are 3 drawings of about 7 I did today.

This first one I used the grey of the paper for my mid tone and the white and black chalk pastel for the light and darks. It feels likes painting when you use these broad strokes.

The second is the same pose a quick paint brush and ink study trying not to use to many lines to describe the figure. Not easy! 

This final one I actually did near the beginning of the day, finding my feet and feeling quite rusty and slow, but tried to do a careful and fairly accurate charcoal pencil drawing.

#153 Morning Light, Staithes 8x8"

I mentioned a few posts back that I had the lurgie and I still getting over bronchitis and don't feel up to painting outside so I looked through my sketchbooks to find a pen and ink I did in Staithes June last year. (see pic below)

Painting from a photo is tricky as the photo is very limiting especially in tonal value. But it really helped to have drawn and seen the view in person.

When there's no time pressure of plein air painting I can afford to experiment. I put a tonal base layer (see pic below) and then working over the top to bring up the colour intensity and tonal contrast. Doing this allows for a more painterly and harmonised feel.

Getting the light on the water the right tone took a couple of goes as you think it's lighter than it is. Squinting I could see it wasn't much lighter just a different colour!

P.s I painted here in June, looking from the opposite direction no.87

Pears Speed Painting

These look relatively simple to do but they're not! They take a lot of focus and drive to get them done and observed in the 10 minute time. They are still a mini painting even though they are small. They are 3x3" squares I tried apples and jugs last week.
It's to help speed me up when painting plein air and just tune my skills generally. 

Tried thick and thin paint and moving the lamp around to create different shadow shapes. Each time I painted the pear I saw more, like a different tone or shape.
I focused on the planes of the pear - the surface areas, this helped simplify the subject.

My students will be trying this next week, let's hope they enjoy it, as I think its a really useful exercise :-)

#152 Low Tide, Langstone Harbour 9.5x12"

I painted this yesterday out in Lansgtone harbour, similar area to painting no.147
It was bitterly cold with a north wind blasting me. My hands were numb before I even started! I had gloves and hand warmers but it wasn't enough. 

I haven't painted plein air in a couple of weeks and was surprised at how rusty and out of sinc I felt. I had prepared all my gear the night before, and even that I felt resistance getting into the studio and doing it! I can see how artist block could develop by just not painting and not having that art thinking and routine...

The view I chose needed work with the composition - see pic below. But I thought it had potential. I managed to start but was so cold I could barely think. I got the essence in and then retreated home.
I finished it yesterday afternoon (too late to take pic and blog). Something I was mindful about was the dark bank of mud in the foreground I wanted a line of water to lead you to the mid ground and boat. So I added to the wiggle of water that was there already. I took out the second boat as the compostion was unbalanced with it.
I'm happy with the outcome and very pleased to be painting again!

One Year of Daily Painting!

I have committed to daily painting for a year!

Last Christmas I received the book called Daily Painting by Carol Marine. I hadn't heard of this term and it means to paint as often as possible usually small and in one sitting. 

I wanted to write about what I have learnt and my experiences of daily painting...

Daily painting is difficult!

I found it very hard to 'paint daily' it was usually 3-4 a week, but just having the mind set of small and often made me paint so much more than I did before. To give you an idea in the 2.5 years before last Christmas I managed 35 paintings. This year I have painted 151!

Painting often

Means I have improved massively, I have experimented with subjects, colours, techniques more than I have ever done in the past. I've painted subjects that I wouldn't have thought I'd enjoyed painting like shoes, food and jugs…I now see a painting subject in so many more things. I feel proud of the large and diverse collections of paintings in my studio.

Painting Small

Means I experiment more because the time invested is short so it doesn’t matter so much if it doesn’t work out. Experimenting leads to discovery, keeping it fresh and lively and always developing.

The Blog
Means I have interacted and had lovely comments from people plus had great numbers look in on my work (24,000 this year!). It is a blessing, although hard work to keep it going, but worth it :-)

The downside of ‘daily painting’

I did worry if I hadn't painted enough or couldn't post for some reason. At times it has felt a pressure to 'perform'. Also experimenting and having uncertainty on how a painting will come out and yet knowing I need to post something and show it publicly is very hard too! Plus prioritising whether to paint or be with friends and family.

Plein air

Up until this March I had a fear of plein air painting - painting outside. I didn't think I could do it and had a block around it. Facing this has been a blessing and now it's actually my favourite way of painting, which still surprises me! The second half of the year I moved away from still life painting as I enjoy landscape painting more. Although I learnt a lot from the still life observation in my studio - colour mixing and tonal work. 

Every plein air painting there is a little adventure and the unknown of how the weather will be, who I will meet, what I will actually paint, and how it will turn out...quite a mix of excitement and trepidation. 

But again having done a few plein air paintings my learning curve has been massive, with things like how to apply the paint, translucent, thin, thick, translating the complex landscape subject into a 2D painting in 2-3 hours….I know there’s still lots to learn and looking forward to it!

What’s next...

I have decided to take down the term daily painter from my blog which will take the pressure off. But still paint as often as I did this year. I will be concentrating on plein air as it’s what I love and have a passion for. 

I will be continuing the teaching once a month and also working on my own painting skills. 

I hope you will continue to follow me and I would love to hear your comments on what I do. (people think they have to be qualified somehow to comment, not at all! Just say something simple :-)

Wishing you all a Great New Year & happy painting....

#151 1936 Daimler

A long break without posting, due to lots of family and friends descending over Christmas plus I've have had the lurgie again!

It's surprising how tricky it was to paint this! It was a commission, for a father of a bride this year (who you can see in the car) and given to her at Christmas as a surprise.

I enjoyed painting it, the first couple of sessions are simple, blocking in the main shapes from dark to light tone and then its gets harder as you add the details without making it tight and stale. For example the wheels took a whole day to paint!

The person who commission this painting is very pleased with the result, which makes me happy! 
Thought you'd like to see a progress of the painting stages....

Speed Work & RBA

I have my sister here from South Africa at the moment but managed to do some painting over the last few days.

But first I want to say thank you for the lovely comments & emails I've had for my new website thank you!! Really pleased.

It's funny how things I set for my students often help me in different ways. I have started planning for the next term of work for them - looking at simplifying, paint aplication, tonal shapes...without fussing with detail too quickly.

What you do is draw out 8 boxes 2.5-3" square and then do a mini painting in each no longer than 10 minutes! It's tough, because it's still a propper painting with all the same  elements involved.
For me it's helping to really hone my observation skills and translating it quickly onto a 2D surface. I want to speed up the time it takes to do a painting outside and this is an excellent way of practising for that. The idea I developed from Carol Marines Daily Painting book.
There is no time for procrastination of the hard areas, no time for day dreaming or being distracted! Just pure focus and a determined mark making, really helpful. I hope my students will find it useful too.

I did the apples first experimenting with moving it around, and as it's small there's no loss in messing up a big investment of a painting to try things out. I worked on paint application thick and thin, especially numbers 6 & 7. You can see how much I improved from the beginning to the end. Painting the apple once and then doing it again it's surprising how much you remember and do it more quickly, like learning the subject by doing a sketch before you start painting. If I changed the set up a little like turning the apple around, it slowed me down again.
I then tried a cermic pot, which was harder, I liked the apple shape better but the colour of the pot was nice! Also did it a bit bigger 3" square and 12 minutes long.

Other news....
I entered the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) Open Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London and have been selected for the first round! I have to take the painting below in January and they will decide if it makes it into the exhibtion. All things crossed :-)

New website launched today!

www.clarebowen.co.uk

So excited to get this new website out there! Been working on it for about a month with an excellent web designer called Danny Fontaine (Fontaine Web Design) I highly recommend him. 

I wanted a site that would really show case my paintings. Simple, clean & contemporary. Having the blog shows daily work well but not so good for seeing my work as a group - like all my seascapes together.

I have a shop too, with a select few items in there as I will be selling in exhibitions as well.

My blog will be the same blogspot addess but will also link to my website.
   Click on the link above to take you to my site.

I would welcome comments below on it, let me know what you think :-)

#150 'The Barns, Surrey Hills' 8x12"

This is the same area as the previous Surrey Hills painting I did (it's near Compton.) Although this one I traipsed down a steep hill to get this view. 
I made the mistake of arriving too early I got there at 7am it was still pitch black! If it's overcast then I should remember to go later! 
The light, when it did come up was very flat and minimal. I pushed the horizon line up high to take out the sky as it wasn't the focus. The original sized board was 9.5x12" I painted on this size and realised the foreground was too big and out of proportion for the subject. So I will be cutting it off, where I cropped it to post this.
Lots of comings and goings on the farm but I wasn't close enough to get the detail in. One thing I could do was paint the smoke, which looked good against the hill behind.

#149 'View From Lambeth Bridge' 9.5x12"

I went to see the Royal Institute of Oil Painters exhibiting at the Mall Galleries and combined it with an early morning paint on the Thames.

A very grey day with a fine drizzle but still enjoyed it. So much hub-bub being on a busy bridge, very different to painting on the Surrey Hills! 
Met some nice people passing by, 3 police officers stopped for a chat one told me about The Houses of Parliament, the closest and biggest tower in the painting is called St Stevens and Big Ben is known as the Clock Tower, I didn't know this! 
It always encouraging when people are positive about my painting when I'm half way through it's a good boost and keeps me going!

I kept the paint quite thin and loose, it seamed to suit the day and weather. 
The exhibition at The Mall Galleries was excellent and inspiring :-) - It's finished now.

#148 'Frosty Morning, Surrey Hills' 8x19.5"

I painted most of this last Tuesday outside in a very cold field and then I was struck with a nasty bout of lurgie :-( feeling much better now and raring to paint again!

A bigger board which allowed for a bigger scale and freer brush marks. The colours were mainly different tones of orange and blue (complementaries.) I mirrored some of the cool blue sky colour in the frosty ground below.

I arrived 40 minutes before the sun came up but I could do with having longer as when the sun comes over the horizon it changes the colours and tones massively. The photo below shows where I got up to before I had to abandon.

Finishing in the studio is always a little tricky as you want to continue with the essence of what you captured outside but to make it feel finished and complete. I was careful not to overwork the dark tree line keep it fresh and loose. The suns head popping up helps with the composition.

I will go back to this spot again :-)

#147 Sunrise, Langstone Harbour 9.5x12"

Loved painting this! The sweeping shape of the mud flats and gorgeous light. I haven't painting the sun en plein air before. I had to be quick as it's dangerous to look straight at it, so once it peeked over the trees I tried to capture the glow, difficult with the intense colour and light tone. Also restraining how much yellow-orange I put in the rest of the painting to help the composition and give it more impact.
The mud I emphasised the red-violet colour and not the green seaweed. Putting in the big shapes first and the small details last like the mast and boats and birds. The sticky-up shape in the foreground I put in roughly to begin with and then went back to put in detail but when I looked up it was gone, the water comes in so quickly!

I painted this yesterday morning but photographing in the afternoon the result is so poor I had to wait to post it today, I'm missing the long summer days and more time to paint.

#146 The Barn, Woolfords Farm 9.5x12"

This is not a subject I would usually tackle. But I really enjoyed it. 
I have, with 8 other people started a group called The Surrey Hills Plein Air Painters and this farm was our first outing :-) I usually paint alone so it was really nice to paint with others. and I wouldn't have chosen to paint here but actually was really good.

When I first looked around the farm it was hard to find a subject to paint as it was so different to what I'm used to, it took a while to adjust to it. Luckily the weather was bright and sunny which produced strong lights and darks. 
I loved the cows in the barn and may go back another day to do a closer version I didnt feel confident enough to do it on Friday. They were moving about and eating their hay. 

It is quite a tonal painting I started with the darks (Raw Umber, Ultramarine, Red Iron Oxide), and worked up into degrees of light making it warm and cool, transparent and opaque. 
I adjusted the composition by painting in the apex of the barn even though in life it was further along, it seamed to finish it better.
It wasn't long until the shadow crept up the barn ond over the top leaving it with no direct light. I have got used to putting the darkest darks in - it can be scary doing it as it feels too strong but now I need the opposite for the lightest lights! Roger Dellar who is a good artist and in our group commented I needed the lights of the hay even popier. So I adjusted them and wham it came alive!

#145 Winter, Hayling Island Beach 9.5x12"

During the past week I have been working on a commission, I can't post it yet as it's a Christmas present. 

I have also been working along side a website designer for my new website, very excited, it's looking good and can't wait to launch it soon. I will continue as usual with this blog once the site is live.

Today I fancied being by the sea, it's a windy old day but enjoyed being out in it. The light is interesting and so different to summer. Warm apricot colours even in the midday sun. There's not much in the scene so I needed to get good variation of brush marks and tonal contrasts. 
I've just noticed I didn't put in two other channel markers in the distance, meant to do it when I got home - it was too windy for minute detail out there. Will do it tomorrow :-)
Happy to be out painting again....

#144 'Margate Harbour' 8x10"

This is the one I started last weekend in Margate with artist Michael. 
We trooped across mud and seaweed sinking and squelching. We were quite a distance from the slipway. Setting up our gear right next to the fishing boats and used them as tables. Standing painting my feet were sinking deeper and deeper into the mud, I had to give a good yank to get them out again! 
The tide suddenly was there and we had to make a dash for it, we'd only done about 30 minutes. 

I finished the painting today, not easy as I wanted to keep the essence of the light and loose feel but to put enough in to make it looked finished and pleasing.
I took a photo with my phone on the day but the strong low light didn't allow for any detail. Which is good in one way not to get bogged down with it but another was difficult to see what was going on. I tired not to 'explain' everything with my paintbrush but to suggest some areas too. 
I also ended moving the white boat on the left as in life it was squashed up against the boat in the middle. Usually I don't mess around with what is actually there but on this occasion the compsition looked awkward, now it's more balanced.
This painting is different to how I'd tackle it usually and I'm pleased with the result.

#143 'South Parade Pier, Southsea' 6x15.5"

I used to see this view every day as lived across the road and it's where I walked my dog and ran along the seafront. I lived in Southsea (Hampshire) for 11 years, so I am familiar with the pier. I have painted it a few times but never en plein air. 

Being a sunrise, time was short again so I didn't draw it out just blocked in the shapes and tones. It was nice not to painstakingly get each section of the pier drawn 'correctly' before I painted it, which I have done previously in my studio. It didn't take long to cover the board and on my first layer of the sky I didn't make the colours intense enough. It's difficult to get the balance between intense/saturated and light tone i.e. Not too wishy washy! I kept remixing to make sure it was bright but light enough. 
I also love the iridescent look that occasionally happens with the light on the sea. I wasn't sure how I would manage that.  But I did! Pale blue with the orange patches lightly over the top.
The man and dog did walk up the beach, plus the fishing boat puttering along the coastline, good to get some life into it as well.

When my husband saw this one he said fantastic! That's high praise as he's not one to gush :-)

Charity 'Pop Up' Exhibition

Today I did a one day exhibition of my paintings for a friend and student of mine Kim. She held it in her home with a coffee morning in aid of the local cancer hospice (Phyllis Tuckwell.) 
I took all of Kim's paintings down and put up mine! They suited her lovely house.

She raised over £500 and I was able to contribute to that as I sold a good few of my paintings :-) Always exciting to see them going to new homes! A good day but exhausting.

#142 'Margate Beach' 10x12"

I had a really great day painting with Artist Michael Richardson over in Kent. It was bitterly cold with a north wind blasting us. But we managed two paintings this was the second. The first is half done because we were chased off the mud flat as the tide flew in!

This painting was a bit different because I tried one of his boards which was prepared with Gerstacker primer mixed with Raw Umber, the primer has a bit of tooth but paint still glided over it. You can see some ground colour left in the sky.

No drawing with a paintbrush before hand just blocking in the main shapes of general colour and really looking at the tone.
Michael noted that the view wasn't that amazing so I tried to 'improve it' with lively brush marks, putting them on and leaving them. Pleased with the result.

This is Michael wrapped up against the cold! (You couldn't see me for layers!)

#141 'Boats on The Beck, Staithes' 8x8"

I have painted a similar view on the last trip to Staithes in July (#87) I wanted to try again on our recent visit...
...When I got back to the cottage I was happy with it. The format was wrong for the composition and the paint application wasn't what I wanted. 
I left it until today when I looked at it again thinking can I improve this painting? The answer was no! It was fundamentally wrong eg composition. I have attached it below. So I decided to use the paintings from this area and do another one! Pictured above. 

Painting it again meant I had familiarised myself with the subject and so could draw it out more easily and concisely. I was drawn to the boats in the scene so that's what I honed into, cropped off one to improve the composition.

One of the troubles I had outside was the sunlight had come around quickly and was shining directly onto the boats so neither side had shadow. Which was so different to when I started it. 

I used a different method of starting today's painting. Mixing some greys, greens and browns and painting in the mids and darks even over the boat hulls and painting over the top wet into wet, bringing up the colour, intensity and tonal contrast. Which then gives a harmonious and connected feel to the whole. 

It also makes a big difference to the finish with what board you work on. The first landscape format was textured and grippy. The second square was a wood panel with 3 layers of acrylic primer, and slightly sanded as well. I like the way the paint behaves on the this finish more than the brought prepared panels. Very happy with the finish of today's painting, glad I tried it again :-)

Oil Painting Workshop Results

The first set of paintings were done on Tuesday by my Farnham class, we worked on tonal values using just two colours of Raw Umber and White. 

We made a strip of 7 graduated tones from light to dark trying to keep each step as even as possible. Squinting eyes to see the tone more easily and to check the strip for any big jumps, then adjusting when needed. 

Next stage was using the mixed 7 mixed tones for the still life, we also looked at composition eg placement on the board, scale, cropping, and paint application how much paint to use!

The second set is the class I taught today, in Haslemere same subject. I am so pleased with both classes results and how much they've improved :-)

#140 Autumn Reflections, Blea Tarn 12x12"

When we arrived at this small lake it was still and so perfect looking it seamed almost to good to paint! I hesitated for a bit unsure as to whether I could do it justice. But then what the heck....and had a go. 

I wanted to try a bigger square format my previous size had been 8x8" so quite a jump but it was fun having a change and the subject lent it self to it.

The scene didn't have direct sunlight as the mountains behind me were obscuring the sunrise until later, but this soft light worked well.

I got the far mountain in first as it was changing so quickly and seamed the backbone of the painting. The red hill is usually green but with the bracken changing colours its a very rich red going into mustard yellow, fab to paint! And that iconic tree on the waters edge. The last time we were in The Lakes I drew it as I wasn't painting outside then so it's great to have done it now :-)

The reflections were hard because if you don't paint them at the same time as the top half you have to remix and paint it for the second time below! Also getting the direction right to make sure its a mirror image - not easy! I used thinner paint and scrubby brush strokes plus slightly paler in tone to describe the reflections.

#139 'Mist on Lake Windermere' 6x15.5"

A beautiful and still morning on Lake Windermere. It was frosty, zero degrees and very cold hands and feet, but I didn't really notice until I finished as I really enjoyed painting this scene of soft light and pastel colours. 
Initially I was waiting for the mist to clear to paint what was behind it and then I decided to embrace it! 
The yacht was moving 360 degrees about every 20 minutes so I caught it at this point thinking it was a less obvious view than to side on. The boats on the left were tourist pleasure cruises, and they were warming up ready to leave so it felt a little pressured not knowing when they would go! 
I included the jetty to help with composition as the diagonal line of it leads you into the painting and breaks up the horizontal bands - same with the mast of the boat.
This is when a panoramic format works well and I'm really happy with the final painting :-)
I would love to hear your comments on what you think of it....

#138 'Lake Windermere' 8x10"

We are back now from our vist to the Lakes & Staithes. Really enjoable trip painting such amazing places and so it was a very productive 8 days! Lots to post on here... It was difficult to post while I was away as we were out for long days in the Lakes making the most of it!

Sometimes paintings are a real struggle and whatever you do they just don't work. I was working on a panoramic format of hills and lake, it was the composition I was fighting with. So I turned around and was dazzled by this contra jour scene, loved the drama and simplicity of it.

#137 'Sunrise, Staithes Beach' 9.5x12"

This is the last sunrise from Staithes, I have enjoyed painting at this quiet time of the day and capturing the beautiful colours which are so quick to disappear. 
I have been experimenting with thicker paint, and not doing an under painting to start, just doing it in one thick go. Which is working well unless I'm being indecisive or unsure about an area and then the paint gets too thick, so I scrape off and start again! I like the thick lucsious quality of the oils although it's harder to control when there is loads of it on the board.
The early light really influences the whole scene, so to harmonise the palette, every colour mix I add a dab of peach colour from the sky. 
I painted this Monday morning we drove to the Lake District straight after. Lake paintings to follow :-)