Moorings at Thornham

Oil on Board, 10 x 14 inches

This was a demo painting I did at the Peterborough Arts Society a few weeks ago, finished off in the studio. It's going into the Royal Society of Marine Artists Exhibition at the lovely Barn Gallery, Patchings Art Centre, from 13th May - 25th June.

I wasn't sure that this would make a great painting, but having worked on it and judging by the reaction on Facebook, maybe it would have made a big painting! I certainly enjoyed painting the glistening mud at low-tide, especially the darker reflections beneath the boats and the gorgeous purple/grey cast shadows. Bits like these are really the fun part of a painting - the posts and masts, rigging and rails on the boats are a bit of a trudge quite honestly, but then when you move on to these most important incidentals, you can use the palette knife to describe the dark mud in the shadows, and they can really make the painting.

Pines by Buttermere

Oil on Canvas, 18 x 26 inches

This is the first relatively big canvas I've painted for a good while, and it involved a lot of standing back to assess the drawing and tones - it's so much easier when you're working on a small board, because the whole picture plane is so much more condensed.

I loved painting the blues of the distant mountains, conveying the sense of depth and space. Probably the most enjoyable passage was the water in the foreground, where you have the combination of reflections and being able to see the lake bottom with the different coloured stones - magic!