Margaret's Blog - Page 7 of 16 - Margaret Hall Fine Art

January 18, 2022January 18, 2022

Going Back to Cafe Sketching

Good morning everyone. At last, I managed to do a bit of cafe sketching, especially when in a well ventilated space, reasonably distanced from other customers. Actually, it’s probably also the first time I felt relaxed enough to do it. Anyway, we went to the Carding Shed cafe last week and I hid my sketchbook behind my bag and discreetly sketched a couple on the next table to us.

Unfortunately, I had left my tiny water bottle behind, so I couldn’t do a watercolour sketch and I had to make do with pencil only. Not my usual style. But, I completed this before they got up and went, so that was lucky.

Honestly, this is something I rarely do, add colour afterwards at home. Because I much prefer sketching with the brush and splashing colour around on the scene as I drink my coffee! And, I feel that the resulting painting is more lively, even if it’s a a bit less accurate. However, I really enjoyed myself and I now look forward to doing more cafe sketching.

There are lots of paintings and drawings in my Gallery on the People section here.

Finally, I realised I had done lots of imaginary people sketches over the past year or so. No doubt missing company and lifedrawing classes, so I leave you with this latest one.

January 15, 2022January 15, 2022

Revisiting Old Sketches for Inspiration

Good morning everyone. This is a gouache painting I did before Christmas and I had a look at some old sketches for inspiration. Actually, I remember this day very well – we had gone for a short walk in Derbyshire. And we were in the beautiful Burbage valley on a hot August afternoon, when my son was small. The heat was shimmering up from the moorland grass and there were no trees to sit under. In fact, this beauty spot was quite busy with people who had come out for some fresh air. But, everyone seemed a bit subdued in the heat. As we neared the car park, my husband and son went and queued for ice creams. Meanwhile, I sat on a rock and sketched the view in my tiny sketch book.

As I worked quickly, I thought about the ancient peoples who once lived here. Incidentally, behind me there was an Iron Age hillfort a field away. So it’s not difficult to imagine figures walking the paths all those years ago. By the way, that brings to mind a painting of mine showing a prehistoric man walking home at dusk. I must find it to show you. Anyway, if you look at this post here, you will see another sketch of the area that I did recently. Or, have a look at my page Gallery – Landscapes for more country scenes. (I’ve just updated the page). As you might have realised, I have many old sketches done over the years. Happily, I find them quite inspiring to repaint. Not to mention the lovely memories they bring back.

January 11, 2022January 11, 2022

Black on Black, Colour Experiment

Good morning everyone. This acrylic painting is painted on a smallish black box canvas that I have had for ages. Frankly, I had no idea what to paint on it, but they were all the rage at the time. Anyway, I decided to have a go, just after trimming this year’s Christmas tree.

And so, as you can see, the colours red, gold and white were on my mind! Well, I put down some shapes intuitively, with the idea that the canvas would stand as the background. My daughter-in-law thought it looked quite festive! However, I hated the effect of unpainted canvas. So, I carried on my usual method of shaping the composition by layering paint. Of course, this included painting over the untouched background. Hence the title.

Incidentally, I also discovered, or perhaps consciously realised that I prefer colour to be nuanced and subtle. Rather than flat with only one tone, like the black canvas. Sorry about the glare, it’s quite difficult to photograph these colours.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my intuitive abstract – there are loads more on my Abstracts page.

By the way, this is the room I designed the painting for!

January 8, 2022January 8, 2022

Green and Gold Gouache Landscapes

Good morning everyone. Now that everything is getting back to ‘normal ‘ after the festive season, I am catching back up. So, here is a little green and gold scene I painted in gouache, back in November. As I recall, the reference photo was a touristy one I saw somewhere. But I altered it quite a bit and added a figure. That’s me, standing on the rock in the cool morning air with my cagoul hood up. And, I’ve probably got my field sketching kit in my rucksack. Perhaps you’ve noticed that I’m looking at the leafless tree on the left. Unfortunately, a much more common sight now when we’re out walking. Anyway, I still managed to fit in plenty of green and gold to cheer me up. Also, it was good practice to paint in gouache and I am gradually getting more used to manipulating the paint.

Actually, the title says it all! For this scene, I used an old watercolour sketch I did when we were in Wales. However, I can’t remember the location other than it was a lovely ornamental park in North Wales. And, we had the place practically to ourselves. Because the season had been quite wet, all the late spring flowering shrubs were really blooming.In addition, the foliage was glistening after a brief shower. On the technical side, the paint was gouache and I built the painting from my watercolour sketch and , surprisingly, a bit of memory. In fact, it’s really addictive and I have a huge archive of sketches to mine!

The Flowering Shrub in my Green and Gold Gouache Landscape

Incidentally, there’s another uplifting green and gold painting in this post here , this time a woodland scene.

As ever, all my work is for sale at reasonable prices. Just go to the Contact Me page and send me an email for further details.

January 4, 2022January 4, 2022

Some New Small Sketchbook Abstracts

Good morning everyone. Well, I don’t know about you, but I didn’t seem to have much time to start on big projects lately. So, I thought I would show you some of the small sketchbook abstracts I managed to squeeze into my busy days. Actually, I find it quite a comfort to grab the nearest small sketchbook, relax in my armchair and paint!

However, this first one started life as a rapid ink sketch, intuitive really. Then watercolour, but this time I made an effort to keep the colours very clean. That is to say, adding glazes on top of the three basic colours to add tone, instead of creating mixes on the palette. Also, having seen something online about adding depth to abstract shapes, I tried to think of them as 3d objects. Incidentally, this is very pleasurable to try. In fact, I’ve just realised these small sketchbook abstracts are arty experiments, as well as being good for stress management.

As you can see, this small sketch book abstract has been built using watercolour pencils. Actually, I haven’t played around with these for ages and I was considering taking them on an outdoor sketch trip. So I wanted to remind myself how easy it is achieve quick, bright colour. Obviously, it is very easy and so I took a couple of pencils with me when we went to the Danum museum, before Christmas. And I really enjoyed using them.

Above all, I really love painting intuitive abstracts, whether they are small or larger, like this one in this post here.

December 30, 2021December 30, 2021

See Father Christmas in Green

Good morning everyone. I’m back after three days of technical difficulties – don’t ask! And I reckon there’s just enough time to show you my gouache painting of Father Christmas, before it all comes to an abrupt end. Well, this is the way Santa was portrayed traditionally, before he was changed into red. And I’ve tried to show him as a quiet, kindly old man, on his way through the woods. Obviously delivering a sack full of gifts to some hopeful children. Happy Holidays to you all. See this post here for last year’s festive images.

December 21, 2021December 21, 2021

Christmas Eve in the Mountains

Good morning everyone. Well, obviously it’s not quite Christmas Eve just yet, but it’s been on my mind a bit this year. Because it will be different again, due to restrictions here in the UK. Normally we would visit a big house to see the lovely decorations, but we’re not too keen to be indoors with lots of people. So, just before things started tightening up we we went to the Carding Shed cafe, which is quite large and, luckily, was not crowded. And the coffee is very good! Not to mention the home baked pastries.

Incidentally, I’d just like to explain that the business is part classic car repair shop and part cafe with an American diner, fifties style. So, that might help you to make sense of the photos.

Anyway, just to explain, the premises is a renovated industrial building in a Pennine valley, near Holmfirth. And I think the name ‘Carding Shed’ refers to one of the processes in preparing raw wool into yarn. Actually, weaving was one of the main occupations in this area of Yorkshire back in the day.

Christmas Eve in the Mountains

However, although we haven’t been very far at all this year, I do travel virtually in my paintings. For instance, I went to a beautiful little valley in the mountains here! Then I came home and painted myself this souvenir. Seriously though, I was very pleased with this as I painted it all from my imagination. And, for me, this is a big deal – something I find hard to do. So, on that note of traditional Christmas card scene, I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year ( remember, snow is optional). You can find another Yorkshire snow scene in this post here.

December 18, 2021December 18, 2021

New Exhibition at the Market

Good morning everyone. As promised, here is a review of our new exhibition at the market in Rotherham. By ‘our’ I mean ROAR – Rotherham Open Arts Renaissance, an artist’s group that I am a member of. And, we have displayed our art on a glass wall in the covered market building in the town centre.

As you can see, this space was a bit of a challenge to use, but I think we have done well. The windows were actually different dimensions and all landscape orientation. So I could not show two nice life drawings, because they were portrait. And, obviously, framed paintings were not possible. However I think the display is excellent, including prints and some originals. Here are the other three of my paintings on show.

Actually, our work is quite varied, comprising acrylic paintings, contemporary watercolour portraits, prints and mixed media collage.

Because of the pandemic, we have not been able to meet up so much. So it felt really good to be involved in a project together. And, also to show off our new exhibition at the market. Have a look at this post here when we went out sketching at the Steel Henge.

December 14, 2021December 14, 2021

The Power of the Sea

Good morning everyone. Today I’d like to show you this intuitive abstract in acrylic- it’s all about the sea. Well, it wasn’t about anything at the beginning and I was playing about with colours. As usual, I put the first draft down fairly quickly, in some gorgeous shades of green, gold and blue. Actually, if you follow my blog, you may have noticed that I love this palette. And here is another seaside picture to prove it!

Anyway, to get back to ‘The Power of the Sea’, I worked on the picture from all four sides next. Then, at the end of this second session, I decided which version I liked best. And I chose the one with hints of waves, a cliff edge and a busy sky. Honestly, I don’t really know how this happens! But,the next hour is spent strengthening these images, And then I do a lot of looking over the next few days( or weeks!) Finally, I spend some time balancing up the composition and adjusting colours and tones. Until the painting says ” I’m done”. So, I suppose I can’t call this only an intuitive abstract. But, also a collaboration between my subconscious and my thinking brain.

Details of ‘The Power of the Sea’

As I say, I don’t know how it happens, but it’s a lot of fun, and, quite addictive! And just look at the sea in this post here, in a very different mood.

All of my work is for sale, at reasonable prices. Just go to the Contact Me page and send me an email for more details.

December 11, 2021December 11, 2021

Coffee for One, Lockdown Painting

Good morning everyone. Well, there are only two more days to see my lockdown painting at the Open Art Exhibition by Fronteer Gallery in Sheffield, UK. But it looks really good up on the wall at Exchange Place Gallery – see this poster for details.

Honestly, I was thrilled to bits to be accepted for the Open, this is the first time I got in! And, I decided to enter a lockdown painting in acrylic that I did last summer. Actually, I just sat down to do an intuitive abstract and gradually this figure emerged. So I ran with it and developed a cafe setting around it, with the light emerging through the tall windows, revealing the stripped pine floor. She sits alone at a table for one, covered by a gorgeous pink and yellow embroidered cloth. And you can almost smell the dark brown coffee and taste the dainty chocolate cup cake. In fact, the yearning for cafe society that I suffered from last year probably inspired me to paint this picture!

However, this is what I see, and you can obviously see into it anything you like! Anyway, I’m so glad that the gallery gave my picture its few minutes in the limelight! Have a look at this post here for another intuitive abstract in a similar colour palette.

December 7, 2021December 7, 2021

Some Sunshiny Paintings in Acrylic

Good morning everyone. Today I wanted to show you another one of my sunshiny paintings – finished at last! As you have probably realised, I like to complete projects fairly promptly, before I forget all my ideas. And, this one was started a couple of months ago. So, it only needed a few finishing touches and at last I got round to it.

For example, I strengthened the figures so that you can spot them better.

And I also tried to make the background recede further back by blurring the vegetation on the headland. In addition, I dulled the colour of the sand near the cliff, so that it seemed more distant.

As you may have guessed, this is a bay in Australia, somewhere, sadly, I have never been. But, I really enjoyed painting this as part of the online course I am following. Plus the fact that , in these dull, cold winter days, it cheers me up just looking at it! Actually, I might frame it and hang it on my wall so that I can feel its warmth everyday.

Finally, here’s another of my sunshiny paintings. In fact, I did this a couple of years ago and, there is some memory painted into it. Because I visited France many times and well remember walking down streets like these. Always on the shady side of the street!

In case you didn’t know, all my paintings are for sale at reasonable prices. Just go to the Contact Me page and send me an email for details.

December 4, 2021December 4, 2021

My Painting in New Exhibition

Hello everyone. This is just a very quick post today because I’m dashing about, being involved in four exhibitions at the moment. And it feels very strange after all that time with no arty activities, then, suddenly so many opportunities. Anyway, today I’ve been to the new exhibition at the Gallery Gate gallery in Doncaster, South Yorkshire to see the Christmas show.

Well, the new exhibition is looking very good and I think my painting fits in really well. So, many thanks to Kim, curator of the gallery. I think the expression on my face says it all!

Actually, that’s all I have time for today. And, tomorrow I go to a lovely gallery in Sheffield to see my painting, which was chosen for the Fronteer Gallery Open competition. So, look out for a report on that soon.

November 30, 2021November 30, 2021

Summery Days – Painting the Sheep

Good morning everyone. I’ve been doing a bit of finishing off again and this little watercolour, Summery Days was started about a month ago. Actually, I was following a free tutorial one evening. And, putting the first layer down was straightforward, But, after that I found it difficult to make progress. So I left it to one side for a bit, busy with other projects. After a while, I couldn’t ignore it any more. So I tried to move it along by myself. Honestly, I wasn’t very confident. I often feel like that when painting a subject that wasn’t really of my own choosing. However, I persevered and I’m reasonably pleased with the end result.

Summery Days – Painting the Sheep

On the plus side, I learned how to make the sheep look more realistic . Initially I did this by putting a medium tone on the body, reserving the white of the paper for the light patches. Then I added the dark tones after. And, most importantly, I did all this as soon as possible so that the animals look part of the scene from the beginning.

Well, that’s all for now. And, I’ve now got a lovely summery picture to look at while we wait for the snow to melt here in the UK! (And here is another post with summery pictures in it.)

November 27, 2021November 27, 2021

Work for our New Exhibition

Good morning everyone. Well, I have been quite busy again doing “art” business. In fact, I’ve realised that I’ve made myself just a bit too busy. But, in my own defence, it’s probably a natural reaction to the situation. First, no art activity for a long time. Then, say yes to every opportunity that comes along! Anyway, what could be nicer than taking part in Rotherham Roar artists’ group exhibition? Because it’s the first one we’ve had for quite a while. And so, I took these two pencil and watercolour sketches I did at life drawing class ages ago , for our new exhibition.

In fact, the space we are exhibiting in at Rotherham Market Hall is like a wall of glass. So, works on paper and unframed are the way to go. Therefore I choose these two prints.

As I recall, the flower painting was part of a project at my art society to capture the colours of flowers as the light faded. See here for more of my flower paintings.

And, finally, these last two made the final choice for our new exhibition. Up first is my version of a microscope photo of a neuron (one of those things in your brain that makes everything possible).

And, finally, one of my favourites, a mixed media piece I call a semi abstracted memory of a walk in the woods.

To be honest, I’ve probably got enough work to fill the whole wall, not that I’m an excessive painter or anything! But, for now, six is enough!

November 23, 2021November 23, 2021

Sketching Faces – my New Challenge

Good morning everyone. After I’d finished the Inktober challenge this year, I realised how much I had benefited from the daily drawing exercise. So I was pleased to find a new Instagram challenge – sketching faces on #facetasticfriday. Actually, this is hosted by a great group I joined a while ago – Kick in the Creatives. And I think the reference photos are very good and sometimes different (like the one above!) As you can see, I couldn’t resist adding watercolour to the image, to bring it to life a bit. But, I drew most of my sketches just in biro, with no pencil sketch beforehand, just to add that bit of excitement when sketching faces!

Well, I’m only writing a short post today, because I’m just getting busier and busier! So, I’m off to the printers, getting some stuff ready for an exhibition, more of that later.

However, if you want to have a look at some of my adventures in portraiture, see this post here.

November 20, 2021November 20, 2021

A Pink and Blue Intuitive Abstract

Good morning everyone. I been trying to catch up a bit recently and finish off some paintings that I had left midway. For example, this pink and blue painting first started life as a quick abstract sketched out in marker pens. In fact, I was in my studio early one morning watching the sunrise through my window. And the glorious colours – pink, soft blue and turquoise really inspired me. So, I grabbed a pack of cheap felt tip pens and a drawing pad, and created this.

As you can see, I added greys to tone down the brightness. And these became quite a feature in my acrylic version on canvas board.

Well, I really enjoyed applying the paint thickly and creating texture in this acrylic painting on board. However, it still didn’t seem quite right and so began the long wait! Actually, I looked at it everyday ( there’s stuff all over the house being “looked at”!) And then I got busy! Does this story sound familiar? Finally, I quickly finished it with some subtle marks, so, lots of thinking led to quick painting.

And, I was fairly pleased with it, so I put it on the dresser and I’m still looking at it. But now it’s stopped talking to me, so that’s ok.

You could see more of my abstracts here in my gallery . And all of my work is for sale at reasonable prices, email me via the Contact Me page for details. And here is another pink and blue abstract, acrylic on board.

November 16, 2021November 16, 2021

A Little Gouache Story Picture

Good morning everyone. Well, this story picture is finished at last! In fact, I started it back in August as a response to an open call, online. But, I didn’t like what I produced at all. And, it has been hanging around the house ever since, staring at me reproachfully. And whispering, ” Why won’t you finish me?” Anyway, I gave in on Sunday and repainted it, changing the figure into something I like. By the way, as well as the original reference photo, I looked at this image a lot for direction ( see below)

When I looked him up a bit more, I really like this Hungarian artist’s expressionist painting. Hugo Scheiber 1873 – 1950. And to me, still modern and fresh looking.

What’s the story? Actually, this story picture is quite an open image and full of possibilities, what do you think? And, here’s another of mine, still waiting for its story to be told.

November 13, 2021November 13, 2021

Castles, Palaces and Stately Homes

Good morning everyone. At this week’s meeting for our art society, we are having a Studio evening. By that we mean an opportunity to sit and paint together and have a bit of a chat. And the theme for the night is ‘Castles, Palaces and Stately Homes’, in any painting media and style. Of course, this is only a suggestion for inspiration and members often bring their own work to continue instead. But we find that it’s sometimes helpful to concentrate the mind that way.

Conisbrough Castle

This is a quick watercolour sketch I painted in September and my intention was to show the huge, overwhelming feeling of standing at the base of the castle keep.

The Fairy Tale Castle

Actually, I really enjoyed painting this acrylic a while back, taking inspiration from one of my favourite artists – John Piper. But I gave it my own spin and emphasised the out of this world magical quality of it (I hope!)

Castles, Palaces and Stately Homes

As you may know, I spent a week this August in Derbyshire and saw a few beautiful old buildings. Including this imposing stately home, Calke Abbey which was rather forbidding in real life, built in greyish stone. Now, that could be a real challenge! However, I’ll show you how I get on later.

If you like looking at English stately homes see this post here.

November 9, 2021November 9, 2021

Going Out Sketching in Wakefield

Good morning everyone. This is just a quick post to update you on my plein air sketching. And we spent a lovely morning, going out sketching in Wakefield. Actually, I was with Urban Sketchers Yorkshire and it was great to see everyone after a long break.

Well, the city is full of characterful streets and imposing buildings. So we headed straight for the cathedral and me and my art buddy found a little wall to sit on. Luckily, the cathedral precinct was a little quieter than the main streets. And I particularly liked being so close to the huge building. In fact, that’s what I tried to capture in the watercolour sketch – the stone work towering above me.

After about fifteen minutes we had enough of the battering gusts of wind, blowing round the building. So, I slapped some colour on the pen sketch and we went for a coffee in the octagonal shaped cathedral cafe.

As I recall, there was almost too much to choose from in the beautiful church. But, my eye was caught by this modern statue and I found it was very moving. Somehow it reminded me of what’s really important in this changing world – the love of family and friends.

If you like looking at sketches of English churches, see this post here and here.

November 6, 2021November 6, 2021

Northern Fringe Exhibition Now Open

Good morning everyone. Well, as I write this, it’s not quite true because we are opening the show tomorrow, see poster above for dates. Anyway, we have waited a long time to put on our Northern Fringe exhibition. Obviously, due to lockdowns and so on, so I’m really looking forward to going tomorrow to see everyone’s work.

As I have mentioned before, the theme is a really meaty one that you can get your teeth into! In my opinion, at least, ‘Inspired by Yorkshire Writers’. Perhaps you have seen my first entry already. But, here’s another chance.

**The Green Knight, Waiting for Sir Gawain at the Doorway of his Church**

And, I felt inspired to paint this by the poem ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ‘ by Simon Armitage. In fact, he reworked the medieval poem about King Arthur and his knights. And it’s a really good read too.

The House on the Moor

Secondly, I painted this view of the ruined farm house on the moors near Howarth, probably the setting Emily Bronte chose for her novel, Wuthering Heights. But, I was also inspired by the poem by Ted Hughes about the day he and his wife, Sylvia Plath walked up to Top Withens.

Now, after having painted both of these, I was tidying my stash, and I found my Egyptian Temple painting. Actually, I did it a year ago, when I did a series of gouache paintings about Egypt. And, I had forgotten that my imagination was fired up by the exhibitions put on by Joann Fletcher in our town. Joann, born locally, is a well-known Egyptologist – her exhibitions were very good, as were the documentaries on tv. In particular, I remember her striding around the sites in baking heat, with the sun striking off the white stone.

I explain all about this painting here, it has just come back from an exhibition.

Two More Paintings for our Northern Fringe Exhibition

Finally, just before I had to take the paintings to the gallery, I had an idea about one of Ebenezer Elliott’s poems, Trees at Brimham , in North Yorkshire. You see, this Victorian poet lived all his life in my area. And I especially like his poem about this area of rocky outcrops. As he says, the rocks and trees are shaped by each other, and live in ‘union strange’.

Literally, I painted this acrylic painting on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and then delivered it on Tuesday! As our exhibition themes are usually ongoing, I’ve got time to paint more! Watch this space….