The Idle Ivel

Oil on Board, 11 x 15 inches

This painting was one I did as a demo a few months back and dug out yesterday to finish off. Very green subject and that day back in August, there was flat light, so not much in the way of contrasting lights and darks, so it necessitated a lot of close-toned colours and subtle changes throughout. To make the painting convincing, all these close tones must be observed, so much concentration is needed. 

The flashy lights and darks seen on a bright day are much more dramatic, but these quieter subjects have a certain charm about them, albeit lacking in sparkling highlights.

 

Summer Water

Oil on Canvas, 8 x 8 inches

A quick handbreak-turn back to Summer to do this little square canvas as a charity piece I promised to paint to go into an auction, organised by Iona House Gallery in Woodstock, in aid of Mary's Meals (click on the link for details if you want to bid for it!)

Fog on the Nene

Oil on Board, 9 x 13 inches

Continuing the wintry, frosty, foggy theme, I enjoyed painting this one. I painted this first, but then realised that I had made the tones a little too dark, so re-painted it, lightening all the tones. 

I think it's the mystery of what's out there that I enjoy so much about foggy/misty paintings - to capture that enigma, making the viewer make up their own mind, almost seeing the fog clearing, yet no, it's still tantalisingly enveloping the landscape. It lures folks into reaching for their wallet, mesmerised and hypnotised into buying it to study at home, waiting year-on-year for the blanket to clear, yet never quite....

Fog on the Rime

Oil on Board, 7.5 x 10 inches

I do like painting fog, although it is extremely difficult to get the small shifts in tone right - lovely when it comes off. I showed this to Jane when I'd finished it, saying it's going off to another gallery, and she said "don't be ridiculous, are you utterly mad, we're having that one for PBFA!"...seems she liked it! "One of the best you've ever done", apparently - not sure about that, although I was quite pleased with it... 

Rimey Willows

 Oil on Board, 6.75 x 9.25 inches

Well, I've got the brushes out again briefly to do a few small paintings promised for John Noott Gallery and Iona House Gallery, slotted in between countless hours of framing for my Beer Exhibition.

This little one is a two-tone jobby, with the rimey Willow on the right actually in the shade of a bridge over the river, so it appears darker than the sky behind, and the left-hand one sunlit against the slightly darker toned sky - subtle counterchanges that help lift a painting.