Plein Air Painting

21 cm x 16 cm oil on canvas paper

We don't always have to seek out the exotic to paint, sometimes the act itself is enough and the subject unimportant. It's great to be able to sit outdoors this weather and paint from life.

Article In Leisure Painter. Acrylic Like Oils

Why not take a peek at the summer issue of Leisure Painter out now and read my article, Acrylic-Like Oil, here’s the blurb for the article:

 A set of acrylics in your paint box gives you two media for the price of one. In the previous two issues Steve Strode looked at how this versatile medium can be used like watercolour. This month and next he takes advantage of it textural quality and shows how to use it with oil painting techniques.

For more details follow the link.    http://www.painters-online.co.uk

Kynance Cove II. Painting From Photographs.

29 cm x 20 cm acrylic on watercolour paper

SOLD

We were working from photographs in class this week and I used this picture from a much visited site I have painted at many times in Kynance Cove Cornwall.

Why paint from photographs at all?

Photographs are a great reference as to what was actually there and can so often be the only way of recording what may have been a fleeting effect. The subject could be moving so fast, the lighting conditions fading quickly, or the opportunity to paint just not possible.

Use your own photos.

Using other people’s photographs lacks so many other additions to the scene. You were never there and the photograph is all you have to go on, at most your painting will be a competent copy. A photograph cannot call to mind the experience, the smells, the sounds and the weather that all go into the creation of a piece of work. I still recall these experiences from looking at many of my outdoor paintings, but find it hard to remember even snapping a photo

Don’t be a slave to copying.

Lose the detail, alter the edges, colour, tones and shift around the composition to suit the painting not the photograph. Don’t feel the need to copy everything. Shadows and light can be bleached and black. True colours and contrast are easily lost in the cameras effort to record light and dark.  If you are you are using the camera to gather information to paint at a later date, it’s a good idea to make notes or do quick colour studies as well.

Set yourself a time limit

I find this to be one of the most important things to do if I have to use a photograph. If I paint outdoors I know I’m usually done in a couple of hours. However the temptation with a photograph is to keep going because the weather or the light is not changing. The shadows are not going to disappear, or the colour and values alter. Don’t be tempted to take your time, chances are the painting will become overworked with far too much detail and lose any vitality you strived to attain.

Winner of The Royal Talens Prize

I heard today that this painting won The Royal Talens Prize at the Patchings Art open. See their website for the runners and riders and other winners of assorted prizes.

http://www.patchingsartcentre.co.uk/festivalexhibition/onlinegallery/exhibition2013/painting.php?ta&pic=38

Charlie and Pete, Cape Cornwall.

27 cm x 21 cm watercolour on paper.

I've been getting a little more practice with a medium I really neglect but would like to master(should only take the rest of my life then).

I'm using photo's as a reference, and studying the likes of Charles Reid, John Singer Sargent, and Edward Seago et al. 

The list goes on, but if I had to define the type of  watercolours I like, I'd probably say the work is loose and alive. I've a long way to go but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Still Life Then And Now.

The benefits of dating your work to assess your progress really hit home today. Clearing out some old stuff in storage I came across what was probably my first still life back in 1983. This was done using chalk pastels and precedes any work I later did with paints.  I can compare it to the effort I have on exhibition with The Artist and Leisure Painter 2013 Open Art Competition.

How time flies.

The Artist and Leisure Painter 2013 Patchings Open Art Competition140 selected paintings from this year’s competition shown in two of Patchings galleries.
Prizes and awards. Full exhibition also online

Ticket PricesStandard Tickets  Advanced - £7.50    On the Door - £8.50
Concession Tickets  Advanced - £6.50  On the Door - £7.50
Two Day ticket offer  - £12.00Ticket prices includes VAT and a full coloured Festival Guide and ParkingChildren under 11 are free when part of a family group.

http://www.patchingsartcentre.co.uk/patchingsfestival/patchings_festival.php