Oil on Linen Canvas, 16x22 inches
This and the last painting I posted, Down in the River, are commissioned pieces if you were wondering why I'm painting Summer pictures in Autumn.
High Summer by the River Welland near me is a riot of Summer colours in July and this is really a study of greens. Whenever I have given a critique of amateur painters' work of similar subjects, the one thing that lets them down is the uniformity of their greens. At the risk of repetition, you must train your eyes to really see what's in front of you. There really is a rich variety of subtlely different hues and tones of green, and it is just that variety that makes a painting appear convincing, and not just a boring sea of monochrome green.
For any of you who have seen me paint at demos or Patchings Art Festival, you will have witnessed me using a 1" household paintbrush to paint the dense bankside vegetation and tree foliage. Some of you have taken a leaf (see what I did there) out of my book and tried the same technique. If I see any paintings subsequently produced that are better than mine, there's going to be a LOT of trouble - I know where you all live......
Really beautiful paintings Peter, so full of summer atmosphere. I can hear the birds singing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips on greens, it's the one thing I struggle with in my landscape paintings which is probably why I haven't done any for a long time.
Thanks Bev. I'm sure you can see those greens - you've got a great eye for fur and feathers, so it's only an extension of that!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I stumbled across your site ... your paintings are so beautiful and to throw your own words back at you :
ReplyDelete"You will be surprised just how approachable I am, despite the extraordinary global celebrity status I enjoy.........................."
that's certainly true ... you are generous with your support and advice and I'm going to follow instructions (honest)!
It's true Sue, megastardom hasn't changed me, as I was only saying to Graham Norton the other day on his show.
ReplyDeleteI shall be looking out girl!
excellent paintings, the treatment of light is wonderful, Peter : )
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Sadeu!
ReplyDelete