Castle Crag, above Grange-in-Borrowdale

Oil on Board, 6 x 8 inches 

 

A quick oil sketch of the River Derwent where it turns under the iconic bridges at Grange, with Castle Crag in the background.

Still endeavouring to paint more loosely and painterly - the journey continues...

Barns near Hawes

Oil on board 12 x 17 inches.

 

Strong sunlit lights and dark shadows, with lovely stone and metal textures, this was a dream subject. Lots of tones to observe and replicate in this, and if you can get them right, you can create a sense of depth and distance.

 

Learning to loosen-up a little, with trees that look as though they've been painted by someone else, but really enjoying the process - you never stop learning in this game, and if you think you know it all, you don't!

Langstrath Beck, by Eagle Crag

Oil on board, 6 x 8 inches. 

I particularly enjoyed painting the backdrop of Larches, moving the oil paint around with a large flat Rosemary&co Eclipse brush. It looks complicated, but the painting came together very quickly - always lovely when that happens! For sale at https://www.peterbarkerfineart.co.uk/shop/viewcategory.php?groupid=40 #langstrath #lakedistrict #lakeland #cumbria #landscape #waterfall

Towards Wardley Wood

Oil on board, 10 x 12 inches. 

I don't often paint on a squarer format 10 x 12 board, but this subject lent itself perfectly, with those towering cumulus clouds as a backdrop. I'm persevering with the big flat brush to describe the trees, which definitely gives a more painterly feel, so a new chapter continues with my painting...
For sale at https://www.peterbarkerfineart.co.uk/shop/viewcategory.php?groupid=40 #wardley #rutland #clouds #landscape #oilpainting

The Borrowdale Derwent

 Oil on board, 9.25 x 13.25 inches.

I painted a very similar view some years ago, but wanted to attack this one with a much looser approach, and am quite pleased with the result. To paint really loosely is practically impossible for me, so a middle ground might be a happy compromise...
For sale soon at https://www.peterbarkerfineart.co.uk/shop/viewcategory.php?groupid=40
#landscape #riverine #riverDerwent #artlovers #artwork #artist #allaprimapainting #oilpainting #oilpaintingsforsale #representationalart #realisticpainting #Lakedistrict

Early Spring at Barnwell

Oil on board, 6 x 8 inches

 
An experimental small painting, done from a photo, using much freer, looser brushtrokes than my 'normal' way of painting. I'm liking the looser look - just looks as though it's been done by someone else! Now SOLD #landscape #riverine #artlovers #artwork #artist #allaprimapainting #oilpainting #oilpaintingsforsale #Barnwellcountrypark

Purple Loosestrife by the Nene

Oil on board, 10 x 14 inches

This started life as a demo earlier this year, so it deserved to be finished off. It's a little easier to paint water with Alkyds, but just about got away with it with standard oils - might try with a little white Alkyd next time...
Now SOLD #landscape #riverine #rivernene #artlovers #artwork #artist #allaprimapainting #oilpainting #oilpaintingsforsale #representationalart #realisticpainting

Afternoon Glare on Rutland Water

Oil on board, 7.5 x 10 inches

 
I painted this one last August en plein air, and polished it off yesterday. The sky changed very much in the two hours I was on site, so by the end, the light had changed hugely. In these circumstances, it's almost impossible to carry on, because you will have two pictures in one. There was no sparkling light at all on the water at the end, so it was very different. Time to pack up and head for the studio with aide memoire of a photo, which, in this case, I didn't take, so memory had to do!

Langstrath Beck

 Oil on Board, 7.5 x 10 inches

Experimenting again using a reference photo, this is similar to one I painted a few years ago from a different angle. I really loved painting the main tree with the wet, standard oil paint. It's a bit tight in places, but the overall result I'm reasonably happy with. Work in progress...

Reflections near Tixover

Oil on Board, 9 x 12 inch

I painted this one en plein air and finished it off in the studio. It's a mixture of my old familiar style and new, looser mode of painting. I think my new method will prove easier to paint en plein air, and I can feel a new chapter beginning...

Stormy Sky over Farmstead by Lyddington

 Oil 7.5 x 10 inches 

Still experimenting with my looser method of painting, which I'm really enjoying. The entire landscape was done with a large flat, quite different to my modus operandi, but great fun.

Addendum - I wasn't convinced about the brown ploughed field in the forground, so I changed it to a stubble field, which I think improves matters - see the two versions above!

Evening Hack, near Glaston

Oil 9 x 12 inches. 

I painted this one a couple of weeks ago out in the raw, if a very warm September evening can be considered 'in the raw'! It was a bit of a struggle with the light changing all the time, but I wanted to capture that lovely, golden light as evening comes. I finished the painting off in the studio. This is a slight mix of techniques, using a large, flat brush to paint all the trees, but I switched to my trusty 1" decorator's brush to paint the foreground roadsides - this is a very quick method and although the effect is a little more photographic then painterly, perhaps, it works, is fast and helps to give depth to the painting, rather than being all painterly, or less fully described.

Bright and Breezy

Oil on Board, 10 x 14 inches

This one was a last second (literally!) submission for the ROI exhibition, painted much more loosely then most of my efforts. I've used a decorator's brush to depict tree foliage for years, but here I again used just a large, flat, Eclipse synthetic brush from Rosemary & Co., and the entire painting was painted with standard oils, rather than my usual fast-drying Alkyds - I'm enjoying the different technique involved, placing colour on top of wet paint.

Harvest fields near Morcott

Oil on Board, 10 x 14 inches

I started this painting on site, in extreme heat, even at 10am, with the sun beating down on me from my left, but after 3/4 of an hour, it became unsustainable, not from the heat, but the thousands of small flies in clouds above my head and landing on the wet paint every few seconds, requiring lifting off with the corner of the palette knife. So, I got as far as I could then finished it off in the studio.

I again adopted a far looser approach than has been my modus operandi for a long time, using a big, Rosemaryandco Eclipse Short Flat brush for all the tree, hedgerow and field work. I'm liking the more 'painterly' feel, the less photographic look, so might even submit this to the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and see if they like it...

Sun Going Down, Harvest Bales

Oil on board 7 x 10.75 inches

Another very loose painting, for me. For small paintings like this, I have always used fast-drying Alkyds almost exclusively, but for this I used only standard, slow-drying oils. The technique is different - previously, I have always scrubbed in the dark shapes and by the time they have dried sufficiently, half-an-hour or so, I have worked into these with heavier paint, using a 1" decorator's brush. This can give a very realistic finish, which buyers do like. But this can be difficult to achieve in the time allotted to en plein air work. So, here, I painted in the dark shapes with reasonably heavy paint, and worked back into them with the paint obviously still very wet - quite enjoyed it actually. 

The foreground 'stripes' of stubble were going straight out of the picture, stage left, so I used some artistic licence and painted them turning inwards, directing the eye through to the descending sun. The temptation to depict the stubble in much more convincing detail was strong, but somehow I managed to curb the urge! My feelings are that artists will prefer this looser approach, but will the collectors who give me a living...?