A bigger picture, a bigger message.

I am painting my largest canvas to date!  120cm x 100cm.  Having put the initial washes on outdoors, I have been working in acrylics, building up colour to give the painting depth. I often get a virtual painting in my head, inspired by a photograph I have taken.  This virtual image is of  the sea on a windy day looking down a very steep sheer drop into the sea.  It suits the theme of Mordros , “the sound of sea” very well as the waves crash against the cliff and the wind almost draws you over the edge as it eddies around the cliff edge.  This bigger picture will give a bigger message as you are enveloped in the expansiveness and depth of the sea with the wind around you.

Below are three taster sections of the painting measuring approx 30cm x25cm

   

 

 

 

This throws up various challenges as I try and convey the wind and movement of the sea in a larger scale.  Being such a large canvas, I have had to move it from the easel where I can barely reach the top, to the floor and even outside. Anyone who thought painting was relaxing…. well it can be…. unless you are painting such a large piece!  From straddling the corners to moving away from it the whole length of the hall to get a perspective on it,  Having created the dark areas I am not concentrating on bringing the light back into it and using oils which have greater weight and light reflective qualities. But enough for today.  I am sitting on the sofa writing this with a glass of red wine and bed is beckoning me.

But… I can’t wait to get up tomorrow morning and get going again.!!  I am finding that I get my best ideas when I first wake up, so after a quick cup of tea I will get going straight away as I am finding  the early morning  the most productive. It has helped my painting practice that I am working towards an exhibition and this one should just be dry enough to be hung, but I am finding it increasingly obsessive, wanting to go back to it frequently to move it forward as I get inspiration for colour and how to convey movement. It’s like a lost friend who is in need of a direction.

 

Go for it!

I am painting my largest canvas to date 100cm square.  It requires a large brush and lot of bravery to get the first paint down.  I had an idea in mind and like to paint my underpainting loosely.  This gives me a feel for it and I love what the paint does sometimes when very wet, running into other colours and creating great effects which I try to preserve leaving them to show through subsequent layers.   Cobalt blue for summer skies was applied liberally. My first intention was to paint a distant seascape looking over a cornish hedge, but when dry I viewed it from different angles and a different painting completely was coming to me.  I have ended up turning it upside down as lovely foamy waves started to appear.  So it is going to be a large seascape with the tide running up the beach.  I will leave it to your imagination at the moment as all will be revealed in due course.

 

Spring sparks new creativity

I have now finished three new paintings for a forthcoming exhibition in June.  I had always wanted a studio/shed to paint in where I could make as much mess as I wanted and treat it almost like going to work.  But for me this doesn’t work.  I can’t afford to rent a workspace, so since I have realized my eldest son has definately flown the nest, his bedroom has become my studio. And…. I have realised that my concentration comes in short bursts. Whilst a purpose made workspace would be great, the advantage of working at home is that I can dip in and out whenever I want.  If I suddenly have the urge to make a mark, put a colour down, I can in an instant.  And…. I can also get the dinner done in between, weed the garden and hang out the washing!

New Painting. Oil on Paper