The Chicken's Bridge

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here

Well, this was a fun and interesting piece to paint! I took the photo during a trip to Yorkshire a couple of years back - as we were driving past a little farm half-hidden by trees, I noticed a chicken crossing the bridge over the river. It struck me as a great image, and I promised myself I'd try to paint it one day. But it scared me for a long time because it's quite a complex composition, and I wasn't sure how to handle the building in the background. All those windows! Scary... Then I had a brainwave.

I said in a previous painting I'd found a new trick for windows; here it is in action! I've found it's easier to paint the window-area with a dark colour, and then scrape out the lighter lines with a colour shaper. It took a few tries to get right, as I learned to handle the new tools, but I had a lot of fun with them! They were also useful for adding texture to the brick walls, and the highlights on the chicken.

Cloud Shadows

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here

Will I ever get tired of painting these skies? I think not! In this one, I particularly tried to focus on the shadows - both those on the undersides of the clouds, and the shadows the clouds cast on the landscape below them.

Off Into The Waves

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here

So, this unquestionably turned out a bit cheesy, which isn't really my thing. I prefer landscapes that you can project your own mood onto. But I guess flipping through all those old photos made me a little nostalgic! I questioned myself the whole way through about whether to paint out or leave the figure. I left it, deciding I was happy with how it was painted. Even without it, the painting has a similar mood - that 'memory of a happy summer holiday'  feeling. I think the colour palette is what does it! I might try another version sometime that's a bit more toned-down.

I'm happy with this painting - but I definitely surprised myself with how it turned out, because as I say, it's not the kind of image I'd usually seek to create. Still, I hope it strikes a chord with people!

Sunset Over The Waves

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here

While flipping through old family photos, I came across a fantastic one of light hitting the waves as the sun set. I've always wanted to try capturing that 'sparkle' of light on water, and this was the perfect opportunity. I upped the contrast slightly from the original photo, to create a more dramatic and atmospheric composition, and enhanced the purple, which I hoped would complement the golden sunlight.

The wave in the foreground was probably the hardest part, getting all those little strokes to pull together convincingly. But I'm really happy with the result, and I hope you enjoy it too!

St Michael's Mount From Long Rock

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here 

As the weather gets warmer, I always feel more like painting seascapes. However, living in a landlocked county, there's no conveniently-close beach for plein air work. So I dig in my archive of photos for ones I haven't used yet...

This was painted from a photo I took quite a few years ago during a family holiday to Cornwall. I really like how the seaweed on the beach came out!

Fruit & Veg Stall, Whitechapel Market

6x8" acrylic on canvas, $45. Available here

Another I forgot to upload; this is painted from a photo I took at Whitechapel Market on an unusually hot April day. The market was bustling, full of colourful stalls; most seemed to be selling fruit and veg, or scarves. I've said before I love painting markets, and this was no exception. I was happy to catch this pair mid-transaction, a bit of human interaction makes for an interesting challenge. Though I must have re-painted that white shirt a dozen times!

It was a very challenging scene to paint generally, because of the sheer amount of stuff that's everywhere; stacks of boxes, the striped canopy folding and catching the light, the hanging blue bags... And the fact you can see through the back of the stall to the other side of the street! I hope I managed to create a cohesive painting out of it all.
 

Crossing the Meadow

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here

Another May plein air, this one in a different meadow near home! I was determined to try and capture the warmth of the day. But that warmth meant I had to work quite quickly, because I was becoming exhausted from sitting in the sun!

The windows were easily the hardest detail to get right; I think I had to wipe them and re-paint a few times. I've found a better technique for doing windows now, which you'll see in a newer painting I'll upload soon. In the mean time, though, I'm satisfied with how they came out here.

I also challenged myself to add a figure, one of those things I rarely do - but whenever I do, people tell me I should do it more! So it must work out all right. I hope it did this time.(Also, again with the bright buttercups - I love when they're in bloom and I'm so glad I caught them in some paintings this year!)

A Return to the Meadow

6x8" oil on canvas board, $45. Available here

Here's a plein air sketch I completed in late May. It was a lovely warm day, so I went to one of my favourite painting spots. I like returning to the same view each year, to see how differently I approach it this time around. I seem to be going a month earlier each time, though! The original was August 2016, and then I returned in June 2017.

I was very lucky when I arrived; there was a pleasantly shady spot on the path, and the grass was full of colour! There were big swathes of beautiful yellow buttercups catching the sun, and the little shed at the end of the meadow was cast mostly in shadow. The painting came together quite quickly, and I had a lot of fun working on it! It's interesting how it seems to combine the bolder and more confident brushwork of the August piece with the brighter colours of the June one. And how I've shifted the shed to the left this time around.

Piglet

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here

Just up the road from our house is a farm. A while back, I went along to do some sketches of the animals for a college project. I took some photos as well, and this is painted from my favourite one; the piglets were absolutely adorable! Noisy, but cute. This was a really enjoyable painting to do, quite a change of subject matter for me, I learned a lot. Maybe I'll go along again this spring and take some more photos to paint from in future!

Before Dinner

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here

I went downstairs one day and found these lovely leafy cabbages sitting on the counter. I can never resist painting them, but I had to paint quickly, before mum came downstairs to cook dinner and needed them back! I'm really happy with how this turned out, the veins on the leaves were great fun to capture.

The o2 From The Air

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here

This is a view of the o2 at Greenwich Peninsula, London... as seen from the Emirates Air Line, a cable-car route which travels over the docks. It gives a fantastic view out over the city. The day we took it was almost blindingly bright sun, and the buildings cast long shadows over the water. I was entranced by the colours!

Sitting by the Fountains

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here!

I've done a few plein air paintings in the town centre lately. It can be intimidating to work with people passing by all the time, and there are a lot more distractions. But it offers a whole new array of subjects to explore, and that's been a lot of fun. This was a real challenge to paint; I wasn't entirely happy with what I produced on location, so I touched it up a bit when I got home. I'm satisfied now!

A fun fact; the people sitting on the bench were one of the first elements I painted- a good thing I did, because they left about five minutes later!

Hidden Pond

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here 

Here's a plein air which I forgot to post a couple months back- a little overgrown pond, tucked away on our local nature reserve up a tiny side-path. It's a very quiet spot, mostly filled with the buzzing of insects and the rustle of wind in the trees- a pleasant place to sit and paint.

Last Autumn Leaves

6x8" oil on canvas board. On sale, $25! Available here

Well, perhaps not the very last, but with the winds we're getting lately, they won't last much longer! I painted this one on location, and VERY fast, as I was sure it was going to start raining while I worked... luckily it stayed dry. I'm going to have to start carrying my fingerless gloves again though... my hands got pretty cold!

Bookstore Alley

6x8" oil on canvas board. On sale, $25! Available here

I don't know what this alley is called, but I do remember that there were several bookstores along it! Including one second-hand one I could have spent hours browsing. I'm trying to do more urban landscapes recently, they're an excellent challenge; in this case the hardest part was getting those bicycles right, leaning against the railings. A small detail, but it doesn't look like Cambridge without them!

The Phone Box

6x8" acrylic on canvas board. On sale, $25! Available here

A little study of Highgate, based on a photo I took there recently. I really liked the lighting! And I quite enjoy painting phone boxes; it must be the bright colour and the interesting patterns of light and dark seen through the windows. The parked cars were the biggest challenge here; figuring out how to simplify the reflections of trees in their windscreens took me ages.

Golden Autumn

6x8" acrylic on canvas board. $45 Available here

It's almost October and the trees are starting to turn golden! I can't wait to get out and paint them. It's my favourite time of year for plein air...

Get Ready for the October Sale!

As October's my favourite month of the year, I'll be holding a big sale at Daily Paintworks from the 1st to the 31st, with original art on offer at fantastic prices!

Here's a preview, and a link to my gallery, so that you can get a better idea of what will be on offer...

St Pancras Hospital Water Tower

6x8" acrylic on canvas paper. $45 Available here

I was struck by this view of the water tower from outside Camley Street Co-op, on the other side of the canal, and had to paint it. I really enjoy the browns and greys of the buildings set against the green foliage and blue sky! This was a real challenge to paint and I almost gave up on it at one point, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

Summer Path Study

6x8" oil on canvas board. $45. Available here

Another plein air- this one of a path I've painted many times. At the moment, it's lined by the soft purples and blues of the comfrey, which I'm falling in love with painting! Still trying to learn how to paint dappled light- but there's no better teacher than nature, so I'll continue getting out there as much as possible!