Coloured Glass Challenge

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

For this week's challenge. I love coloured glass, the way the light shines through it and you get a combination of reflections and highlights. I realised as I was painting that you can see the lightbulb's shadow through the lightbulb itself!

This is still drying; I'm uploading it now (11 April) so I can submit it to the challenge but please bear in mind it will need additional drying time before it can be shipped.

Gospel Oak

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

I'm finally starting to feel up to painting city scenes again! I went through a bit of a block for a while, and they just weren't working out - but I'm hoping that's clearing up now. The other night I was feeling brave and decided to do a painting from a photo taken in London last summer. The composition made me a little nervous - the railings, the placement of bridges - I was worried they'd confuse the focus. But I stuck with my instincts and painted the scene anyway, and I'm actually really pleased with how it came out!

Hello Avocado

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

...I haven't tried painting you before! In fact, I'm managing quite a few painting 'firsts' lately, which is fun. I went for a much cooler colour palette here, to contrast all the reds and warm purples I've been doing lately, but I tried to keep things bright and cheerful; I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. 

Beetroot and Blood Orange

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

It's not often I get to do it, but I love using all three secondary colours in a painting! But on this occasion, I had just the subject matter; the blood orange, which I was eager to paint again, and beetroot. The leaves were an interesting challenge; I found myself treating them in an almost abstract way while blocking in the lighter and darker areas.

Red: The Sequel

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40 Available here

I had so much fun with my first 'Red' painting I did another! This one might be even more vivid- the pops of green help. I was excited to paint all of these elements; the blood orange, which I'd never tried before, was great fun. The deep, mottled colour is so striking! The kiwi is a rematch - I'd tried painting one before and it came out terribly, but I think I've conquered it this time! Chilli peppers are always fun to paint, though I tend to handle them very gingerly. I am not a fan of spicy things personally! I just love the shape and colour. And cherry tomatoes, my old friends, I'll never desert you...

As with the previous works, this artwork is still a little wet at time of posting (11th April) and may need additional time to dry before being shipped.

Limited Colour: Red

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

How about this for a splash of colour! Red is one of my favourites, but I don't actually use it lots in painting - mostly in little accents here and there. So I was a bit uncertain about how a big swathe of it would work out... But I love it! It's so powerful and bold; the small size of the canvas board stops it from being too completely overwhelming, I think. I was planning to add small touch of a contrasting colour, but once I'd settled on the arrangement, I actually felt it would look better without.Please note that at the time of posting (6th April) this painting is still wet; I would not be comfortable shipping it for a week or two, until I'm happy it's completely dry. However I'm putting it up early so I can submit it to the Weekly Challenge page.

Limited Colour: Turquoise

6x6" oil on canvas board, $40. Available here

A more on-theme submission for the weekly challenge- this time using one of my favourite colours to paint with! I didn't have too many items this colour- I used a sketchbook and a shirt for backdrop, a translucent plastic plate to sit the jug on (the jug was bought in a charity shop purely for painting, and I love the shape of it!) and a spool of embroidery thread.I threw in the orange scissors as my one small thing that's a different colour, and I am really pleased I did; they balance the cool colours out. Please note that at the time of posting (6th April) this painting is still wet; I would not be comfortable shipping it for a week or two, until I'm happy it's completely dry. However I'm putting it up early so I can submit it to the Weekly Challenge page.

Red Onions Aren't Actually Red

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

I loved this week's challenge, all about using limited colours in a composition. I really wanted to do a painting based around the colour of a red onion, which is not red at all, but a dark purple-brown. I decided to introduce the little green Haworthia plant as my 'one small thing' that isn't. The colours got a little bit more varied than I intended as I worked on it, and then I added a green marble, so it got away from the theme a bit - but I'm still happy with it. Please note that at the time of posting (6th April) this painting is still wet; I would not be comfortable shipping it for a week or two, until I'm happy it's completely dry. However I'm putting it up early so I can submit it to the Weekly Challenge page.

Back To My Roots

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here 

I like painting root vegetables! For my first college painting assignment, my composition was a still life including two onions - one brown, one red. They're always fun, trying to capture their shine and the way their skin peels off in layers. This was my first time painting a parsnip, though!

Old St Lawrence Church, Ayot

6x6" acrylic on canvas board. $40. Available here

Here's a painting of an old church on the Ayot Estate. We were taking a walk past, and luckily I got a chance to stop and do some sketches. It was a very atmospheric location! I also took some photos, knowing I'd want to paint it, and I did! It was very interesting to try and convey the texture of the stone.

Among the Greenery

6x6" watercolour on paper. $40. Available here 

This is a little local scene. There are lots of houses tucked in among the trees and shrubs at the edges of country lanes; the white and green make for a really nice contrast. I love painting architecture like this in watercolour- and I had fun with all of the leafiness too!

The Killary 1

6x6" watercolour on paper. $40. Available here

I've been having trouble with oils and acrylics lately so I've started painting watercolours again- it's been a long while since I've used them. I'm having a lot of fun, remembering all of the techniques and tricks I like using! Here's the first of two little Irish landscapes I painted a few days ago.

Late Autumn Leaves 3

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

Finally back and uploading again! Here's the third of the 'Autumn' series I started last year. This tree caught my attention- it has such a great shape, and the colours were really bold and vibrant, I loved them!

Late Autumn Leaves 2

6x6" acrylic on canvas board, $40. Available here

Quieter residential streets are building up a good collection of autumn leaves for scuffling through! This one had a particularly thick covering and I had to do a little painting to celebrate it before they all get blown away...

Late Autumn Leaves I

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

I'm determined to capture the Autumn colours before they fade! Here's a little view from the town centre, where the pavements are still lined by piles of gold and orange leaves...

Golden Sunset

6x6" acrylic on canvas board. On sale, $22! Available here

A sunset study for the weekly challenge- this is one of the trickier ones I've had to do, capturing the soft pinks and yellows proved much more complex than I expected! I usually do more dramatic, contrast-y sunsets and this was very gentle in comparison.

Autumn in High-Key

6x6" acrylic on canvas board. On sale- $22! Available here

Following on from the last painting I posted, here's the high-key study! I really struggled with the leaves while painting this, they seemed to be changing position. I realised as I was deconstructing the arrangement they'd been curling up as I painted... no wonder I was confused!

Autumn in Low-Key

6x6" acrylic on canvas board. On sale- $22! Available here

After reading a new book on painting, I decided that I need to dedicate some time to studying tonal keys. I tend to paint tone exactly as I see it, and have never really 'taken control' of it; learning to tweak values to create a particular mood will really help me to progress to a new level.

I decided to do two studies of an arrangement, one low key and the other high, to see if I understood the concept properly. Here's the low key, with dominant darks. I love the dramatic feeling this has, the way that the light shines off the leaves, and the dark background accentuating the rich, saturated colour.

Vases and Bottles

6x6" acrylic on watercolour paper. $35. Buy now with Paypal 

...and a sneaky orange slice! I went digging in my still life objects crate and found this bunch of things, they've featured in my paintings in the past, but not all at once. I really enjoy seeing them together, the different shapes and colours.

Patchy Cloud In Places

6x6" acrylic on watercolour paper. $35. Available here

I've been busy the last few weeks finishing up college work, hence my lack of daily painting- but I'm hoping to get into the swing of it again soon. Here's a sky painting in anticipation of a little visit to the fens in early September- the views of the sky there are to die for! I'm really excited to go back.