The Spelling Mistake

The Spelling Mistake, Oil on canvas, 22 x 30 inches

Mackerel !  You can't actually make out the sign on the pole on the left of the painting - it says 'Mackeral Fishing Trips' - hence the title. 

This was a triumph over adversity; there are 2,623,714 pebbles on this bit of Beer beach in Devon.  Did I paint them all you're asking ?  Don't be ridiculous, I only painted the ones on the surface.  How did I do this ?  If I told you that, I'd have to kill all of you..........

The fabulous reflected light was the inspiration for this big painting, for me.  I love a subject looking directly into the light, especially when that light is bouncing off water.  I wanted to capture that blinding light that almost obliterates anything set against it, in this case the flags on the light blue boat and the fisherman in the dark blue boat beneath it, about to launch.  There's also lovely pure sunlight catching the damp boards and metal rails on the two foreground boats.  Pure Titanium White is the hopelessly inadequate brightest colour an artist has in his arsenal, so you have to employ a few tricks to try to create that illusion of blinding reflected light. Again, I can't possibly tell you how it's done, or....................

I never think bigger paintings photograph as well as smaller ones, and I had a lot of trouble trying to get the colours anywhere near the colours in the painting. This is the best effort, although the warm shades are a bit hot.  You'll just all have to come to my show in Devon in July to see it 'as is'.

I've now done a hand-break turn and am painting another 22x30 of my local river, the Welland......will post soon.

Walker below Eagle Crag

Oil on canvas,  18 x 24 inches

This is the last of my Lakes paintings for now. The inspiration for this one was the sparkling, clear water with the stones on the bottom appearing almost turquoise, with the jagged rocks on the right catching the bright sunlight, set against the dark far bank, with the giant blue Eagle Crag looming out of the top of the canvas. Don't you just want to get into that water ?  I did and it was wonderful.

The Langstrath Valley

The Langstrath Valley, Oil on panel, 18.5" x 26.5"

Here's my latest Latest Cumbrian painting from the truly glorious Langstrath Valley of The Lake Distirct.  I loved the different textures in this composition - the calm water just before the rapids, the jagged, angular, rocky outcrops with the tree in its winter garb and the distant blue mountains shrouded under the clouds. Lots of different brushes used for this one - hogs, mongoose, riggers and my trusty household paint brush.

Don't forget you can see a full size version by clicking on the image, and zoom in by clicking again.

Thanks for looking and please leave a comment if you wish by clicking on 'comments' in the box below.

Lakeland Paintings

I've just painted these three Lakeland scenes after my recent trip up to that fabulous part of our country. I was going to say back in my comfort zone, but those still-lifes I posted earlier were a blast and I really enjoyed the hand-brake turn !

  'Derwentwater'  Oil, 18 x 26 inches

This was a beautiful, calm morning by the south end of the lake, with mirror-like reflections and Mr and Mrs Mallard in the foreground - Mrs doing some preening and Mr with his head stuffed in his feathers, wondering just how long she's going to be...............

 

'Stonethwaite Beck'  Oil, 18 x 26 inches

As I mostly paint rivers down in my neck of the woods, this was a right challenge, painting tumbling water through a valley of thousands of rocks. Painting the way I do, it's tricky to paint these anything like loosely.  There is such a lot of light and shade on every damned one, it was great to finish it !  What a stunning valley, though. 

'River Derwent, Borrowdale'  Oil, 16 x 22 inches

Blue distant mountains, un-clad trees, wonderful reflections and just the odd few orange leaves left, like little jewels - what a subject, largely close-toned with muted colours, save for that bit of orange as a complementary colour to the blue of the mountains.

"How'd he get in there?"

 

I gave a demo of a still-life set-up to the Melton Mowbray Art Group on Thursday last. The bottom photo is how far I got on the night. On getting it home I realised that the coffee pot and jam-jar were leaning to starboard a bit, so I set the still-life up again in the studio to re-assess, correct the draughtsmanship and take to the finish. Of course, setting it up away from the original setting and lighting necessitated re-painting most of it again, but hey-ho.

I'm quite pleased with the final draft, the last still-life for my upcoming solo-show in Devon. Again, it was an elliptical challenge - I must be a masochist ! The main idea of this demo set-up was to show how to tackle three very different textures; the waxy skins of the satsumas and lemon, the see-through distortions of the angular jam-jar and the highly polished reflective surface of the coffee-pot. Can you spot my distorted left hand in there (reflection, that is) ?

It was an absorbing contest to capture all those reflected lights and colours on each surface, but as I said and always say to my audience, it's simply a matter of close observation and painting what you see, not what you think you see. Easy-peasy really, but observation is the key. I think artists (representational artists, that is) see the world differently than most people; we get so used to REALLY looking, that putting it down with paint gets easier the more we do it, and that is my advice to any aspiring artists - look and look again - there's no secret, it's just training the eye to see, then applying the paint to replicate what you see. Style is another thing - that's how you apply the paint.

Now, how did that satsuma get in the jar .............................?

"Yokel"

 This was a joyous struggle...ellipses...phew, the drawing's got to be right or it doesn't 'read'. It needed a little adjustment - I don't draw out the composition in pencil or charcoal, but go straight in with a brush and paint - I find that easier, more flowing, especially as the panel surface has a real grippy 'tooth' to it.  Looking through a viewfinder and holding the long brush at the end also allows the drawing to flow better, then I find it easier to refine with subsequent brush strokes.
  
I've painted eggs and eggshells before in pastel and watercolour and gouache, but I really enjoyed this in Oils and am pleased with the result.  Back to landscapes tomorrow, then one more 'live' still-life when I give a demo at Melton Mowbray on Thursday in 3 days time.

You probably all know, but if you click on any image on my Blog you get a larger version.

Thanks for looking in ! 

"You'll soon grow up"

Here's my latest effort at still-life, 6"x8" Oil.  Painting glass with liquid in is a joy; the subtle colours and reflections and distorted bends of the flower stalks was an enjoyable tussle.  No secret to it, just paint what you see, not what you think you see - that's real-life painting in a nutshell.
I've tried painting these still-lifes a little looser than I normally do with my landscapes, but it's tough to change the habits of a lifetime!  Regardless of how loose you paint, the drawing of objects, especially round ones, must be accurate - if the ellipses are wrong, the whole painting collapses and just doesn't read right. 

Beckstones Art Gallery

I've just returned from a painting trip to The Lake District; did a lot of walking around the Borrowdale/Stonethwaite area, collected tons of reference material, did one plein air painting and ate lots of good food!  The Stonethwaite and Langstrath Valley is surely the most beautiful place in all England!
I also had two paintings accepted by Beckstones Art Gallery at Greystoke Ghyll (www.beckstonesartgallery.co.uk/index.php/Artists/Peter-Barker.html), images below:

Little Langdale Tarn, 12"x17" £1425 SOLD

 

September sunshine, Grisedale, 14"x20" £2150 SOLD

STILL-LIFES !

Yes, don't rub your eyes, these are my first forays into still-lifes for about 20 years !  I've been following two brilliant artists, Carol Marine and Qiang Huang (links opposite), who predominantly paint still-lifes.  Their wonderful paintings have inspired me to have a change of tack from my landscapes and wildlife and here are my first efforts.  Any comments would be gratefully received.

So What Happened To You ?

Oil 7 x 10 inches
I thought I would play on the 'normal' onion and the red onion, so inclined them towards each other for the composition

D'you Know Him ? 

Oil 6 x 8 inches
I arranged the Red and Yellow Peppers so their curled stalks were talking to each other about the Green guy following them.

Does My Bum Look Big In This ? 

                                

Oil 6 x 8 inches
I had forgotten the joy of painting metal !  I dug this little tea-pot out of the back of the cupboard and placed the Garlic and Apple so their distorted reflections showed prominently.  But which one is asking the question ?

Affordable Art Fair

I've no idea how many people read this blog, or even what a blog is, but it's about time I up-dated it. Being a luddite, I've also no idea why this bit is underlined in blue and have no idea how to get rid of it! How do you get rid of it and what does it do - it's like a website or email address gets underlined automatically.

I digress - I've been incredibly busy working for my one-man-show in Devon in July, and have also just produced 12 paintings for the Affordable Art Fair at Battersea Park from 10th-13th March. Here's a preview of the paintings that you'll find on the Marine House at Beer stand.

I'm also considering posting here the new paintings as I do them for my solo show - anyone interested in that ?

Thanks to both of you for looking !

Balmy August, Oil 14x16

Sunlit Left Bank, Pastel 11x15

Blinding Reflections, Oil 6x8

Warm June on The Nene, Oil 10x14

Pheasant Surprise, Oil 9x12

Snow Shadows, Oil 10x14

Trout Rise on The Teign, Oil 10x14

Atholl Palace from the Tummel, Oil 12x17

Time to Get Up, Oil 12x17

Snouts in The Trough, Oil 14x20

Blue And Gold, Oil 19x27


Cotswold Grazers, Oil 20x30

To all my lovely patrons who have forked out their hard-earned cash on one of my paintings, may I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2011 and I hope to see some of you next year !
Best wishes,
Peter

Vouchers

If anyone would like to buy an OPEN VOUCHER to spend on an original Peter Barker painting at any Gallery that represents me, as a gift for Christmas or any occasion, please contact me via the 'CONTACT' page or direct to peter_barker@tiscali.co.uk, thank you !

New Work

I have some new work in Marine House at Beer, Colomb Art Gallery, York Fine Arts and Stamford Artists Gallery and have had two paintings accepted for the Royal Institute of Oil Painters at The Mall Galleries in London until 19th December 2010

Solo Show at John Noott Gallery

I have 16 new paintings in a promotional solo-exhibition at the John Noott Broadway Editions Gallery, starting on Saturday 9th October. All the paintings can be seen on the Paintings/Galleries pages of my website and on the John Noott Website. Here are a few of them - click on any image for a huge version:

Injury and the RSMA Exhibition

About time I posted an up-date : Having torn my right shoulder muscle and damaged the thoracic nerves back in June, painting action has been somewhat curtailed lately. I've been reliably informed that my injury will take up to 12 months to get better, so I may be forced into producing abstract art (that'll be the day!)I'm very pleased to have got 5 marine paintings accepted for the Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA) Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. The 5 paintings can be viewed on the 'Painting/Galleries' page on my website, but here they are anyway - the first 3 are Oils and the last 2 are Pastels - click on any one for a full-screen version :