landscape painting Archives - Page 3 of 5

August 6, 2022August 6, 2022

New Gouache Paintings for Exhibition

Good morning everyone. As I promised, this is one of my new gouache paintings for my solo exhibition in September. By the way, I apologise for the fuzzy quality of the photo – I forgot to photograph the painting before I took it to my framer. In fact, I finished it Tuesday morning at art class and took it straight there! Perhaps you spotted that it’s another Australian scene from my tutor’s Outback trip. And, I just love painting these dry landscapes.

Here are the four pictures just back from John, my lovely framer. Actually, I left six more with him to be framed soon, a selection of acrylic and gouache.

Anyway, there will be a nice mixture of brand new gouache paintings and some slightly older acrylics. But, all in all, a lot of stuff that I haven’t shown before to my artfriends. I wonder if you remember my painting (Somewhere in France) here, this is in the show too.

Finally, just a little look at one of my new favourites that I completed to be a part of Rod’s project. And there are loads more photos at my disposal to be painted when I have time.

August 2, 2022August 2, 2022

How to Paint the Sea

Good morning everyone. Yesterday I went to see my acrylic painting at Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield and I was very pleased with it. Such a good exhibition of a variety of excellent painters, showing how to paint the sea.

In fact, there were oil, acrylic and watercolour paintings, resin, textiles, ceramics and photos. And what a thrill to be exhibited with them. And a nice opportunity to paint the sea.

Finally, here’s another of my seascapes, I’m taking it to be framed this afternoon. Then it’s all ready for my solo show next month. But more of that later! Meanwhile, here is another seascape to look at.

July 27, 2022July 27, 2022

New Australian Landscape in Gouache

Hello everyone. At last I can write a new post! After a few tension filled days when I couldn’t get into my website! But my host provider did a great job and banished all the glitches promptly. Thank goodness. And here is my new Australian landscape in gouache. In fact, there is a story behind this painting. Perhaps you remember that I follow a great course online by Rod Moore here . And we have just been on a virtual trip into the Outback with him. Well, virtual for us and very real for Rod. Along the way we watched the travel videos and sketched and painted the spectacular views. Actually it was very enjoyable and quite inspiring. Of course, I don’t know much about this type of landscape, as I’ve never been to Australia. However, I feel I know it a bit better now. And I really enjoyed the challenge of portraying the dry soil and the faded vegetation in my new Australian landscape. Because of course it’s winter there at the moment. Well, that’s all for now and I’ll show you my next gouache of Australia as soon as it is finished.

Meanwhile, here is my favourite of all the landscapes of Australia that I’ve painted on this course.

July 23, 2022July 23, 2022

Look at this Wintry Scene

Good morning everyone. I decided to show you my acrylic painting of this wintry scene. Although it might seem a little odd in the middle of summer! Anyway, I started painting it a few weeks ago and I enjoyed the ruggedness of the trees. Also, the cool colours of the icy cold stream. Well, I reached this stage of the painting after two sessions and then decided to leave it a while. As usual, I left it in full view in the living room to try to assess it. But quite a bit of time passed by and I had spotted all the bits I could smooth out. However, I realised that if I carried on ‘improving’ it, it might look over painted. And then, in my opinion, it wouldn’t reflect my style. So, for the first time ever, I decided to leave it and show it as finished. I hope you see my wintry scene as finished too!

There are more landscapes in all weathers and seasons in my gallery here. And, finally, I found my other painting of a brook, this time in gouache paint. And, this time in summer!

July 19, 2022July 19, 2022

Half Way Through Our Exhibition

Good morning everyone. As it says in the title, we are about half way through our exhibition at the ‎Mirfield gallery. So I thought I would show you one of my paintings that you may not have seen before. Actually, I painted this after a lovely holiday in the English Lake District. And, I’ll tell you the idea that inspired me. When people in the farm house looked out of the window at the back, they would see this glorious view. In fact, this hill is part of the Langdale Pikes, if I recall. And, it would be part of their back garden, in my imagination.

By the way, this painting makes me smile every time I look at it. And, I remember how much I enjoyed painting it. Of course, the challenge was to make the skin of the animal appear real, varying the colour from shades of brownish grey to delicate pink. Just to finish this quick post, I include here two snapshots of the launch party. Firstly, me and a friend discussing subtle effects of paint, and how to achieve them.

And here you can see some of our members, deep in discussion about our exhibition. If you look carefully, you can see my elephant in the background! Perhaps you would like to see my post about the launch here.

July 12, 2022July 12, 2022

See Australian Landscapes in Gallery

Good morning everyone. We had our last meeting before the summer break at Art Society last Tuesday. And, as we usually do we had a pop-up gallery evening. And everyone brought a picture or two to show off to the other members. If you want to see my report on Facebook click here. Even if I say so myself, the work was outstanding! Anyway, I chose two Australian landscapes that I completed on the online course I follow. Actually, I said a few words about the most difficult challenge in this scene, as I saw it. And that was creating the illusion of distance with the crags at the back. Because this is something I find quite difficult to do when the wooded slopes are very green. But, overall I was pleased with the end result, especially the bare rock, visible through the vegetation.

Next I showed everyone another of my Australian landscapes. And this time it was an idyllic scene of a hot, lazy day spent on the beach in Queensland. However, the main problem for me was the aerial perspective of the lush green headland. And how to give that feeling of it receding into the background when it’s a warm green colour. Hopefully I managed to make it sit back by muting the green.

Secondly, I was pleased with the tiny figures on the beach as I always find people hard to draw. Happily, everyone felt confident enough to say a few words about their artwork in this supportive group. And the evening went very well. Finally, click here to see another one of my Australian landscapes, at present in the Summer exhibition, Open Gallery, Halifax.

July 9, 2022July 9, 2022

How to Paint a Castle

Good morning everyone. As you may know, I love painting castles and old ruins. So, when I saw an article in a painting magazine about how to paint a castle in poster style, I had to have a go!

Actually, the instructions in this article by Andy Walker in the Leisure Painter magazine were very clear and helpful. First, we had to restrict ourselves to a very limited palette of colours – blue, yellow ochre, deep red and white. Of course, these suited the subject very well. In particular the dull greens of late summer vegetation and the weathered stone of the castle. Next we had to simplify the composition and the shadow areas. And, finally, restrict added detail to a minimum, the most difficult part for me! But, I must admit, I’m really pleased with the painting. It’s a strong, appealing image and people really seem to like it. And, there’s a lesson in there somewhere for me – don’t complicate or over elaborate! Therefore, I had to paint another castle. However, as you might have noticed, this next one is in my own painterly style.

The Next Step in my How to Paint a Castle Mini Course

In fact, for this gouache painting, I remembered the tuition about restricted palette and simplifying the composition. But when it came to painterly details, I followed my instinct and added as many as I wanted! For me that’s really a lot of the pleasure of painting.

Well, the next step in my project on how to paint a castle is an attempt to put these new principles into my painting. But also to retain some of my own approach and style. So I’ll show you this unfinished gouache, and I’ve not yet decided how to complete this. What do you think, how much more should I add?

And, while you are thinking that over, have a look at this happy, sunshiny watercolour painting of a castle here.

July 5, 2022July 5, 2022

Australian Landscape Paintings in New Gallery

Good morning everyone. On our way back from the Yorkshire Dales, we made a detour to Halifax. Because I wanted to see one of my Australian landscape paintings in the Open Gallery. And I was pleased to see it in a good position in a smart new gallery.

Unfortunately, we were not able to attend the preview, so it was good to have a chat with Alina, the curator. In fact, the show was full of really interesting works. Also I had the chance to catch up with another artist about the art scene in the north of England. So, all in all, a very enjoyable visit.

Finally, we managed to find time to dash to Hoylandswaine church, to see my paintings in the village festival art exhibition. Actually, it’s a very good show. To tell the truth, we haven’t been so active during the pandemic. So I really enjoyed being with fellow members of the Arts Group in the beautiful setting of St. John the Evangelist church.

**The Village** **Art Exhibition in the Church**

As you can see, the church is quite beautiful, with a stained glass window by William Morris. And a mural by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope. And I was pleased to show my paintings there, work very different from my Australian landscape paintings (see here for another).

July 2, 2022July 2, 2022

A Holiday in the Dales

Good morning everyone. We have just arrived home from a holiday in the Dales. That’s the Yorkshire Dales, UK, a peaceful, fairly unspoilt rural area about an hour and a half from my home. Anyway, we drove up to Kilnsey Crag, and sat on a bench overlooking the trout fishing ponds. And I attempted to capture a bit of the ridge rising up to the skyline. Actually, the most impressive part, the sheer drop of the crag is a bit more difficult to get to. So, that’s for another time!

Actually, this watercolour sketch is not quite finished, but I’ll show it anyhow. Well, we spent the afternoon in Grassington, a town which is always very full of tourists. However, we found a peaceful spot to sit for a while. And I painted away, lost in my thoughts, until the rain made us move away.

Finally, we spent a lovely day in Clitheroe on this holiday in the dales. And I couldn’t resist painting the imposing ruin of the castle keep. Amazingly, I wasn’t alone – there was a local art group there to keep me company! Perhaps you think that I make a habit of going on holiday in order to paint castles! And, you may be right – see this post here. By the way, these are plein air watercolour sketches, completed on site in roughly 40 minutes.

June 18, 2022June 18, 2022

New Narrative Paintings for Mirfield

Good morning everyone. This is a quick post today, I’m insanely busy right now. Why is it that you wait two years for an exhibition and then five come along at once! Anyway, I wanted to show you another two of my narrative paintings. And, as we speak, this should be hanging on the wall at Creative Arts Hub Gallery, Mirfield. Well, I hope so, it’s the launch of our art society show ‘Every Picture Tells a Story’ in the morning!

Actually, you may have seen this on this blog before, along with the next part of the story, in this post here and here. In fact, I did paint five pieces to tell the tale of ‘ The Progress of Mankind ‘. As illustrated by me! Simply put, this first chapter shows the unspoilt paradise that the earth once was. Perhaps you can see the suggestions of an insect, a bird, a butterfly and a flower.

And here is part two – my interpretation of the way our world is almost destroyed by the exploitation of all our resources. Perhaps you think it’s pretty bleak. But by Chapter Five of my narrative paintings, things are a little bit more hopeful.

I’m really looking forward to seeing all the other stories on the wall tomorrow morning.

June 11, 2022June 11, 2022

One More Quick Watercolour Abstract

Good morning everyone. I’m very busy at the moment, arranging exhibitions, visiting galleries and so on. So I don’t seem to have had much time to do any bigger painting projects. And I have also been finishing art society projects. Not to mention planting things at the allotment garden. But I did complete this quick watercolour abstract, thank goodness. As you may know, I hate leaving work unfinished. Anyway, this is quick abstract number 8. Actually, for this one I had a picture in my mind beforehand of hexagonal shapes. And, that along with the golden colour made me think of the shape of honeycomb. However, that was as far as the similarity went. As I painted, I got more interested in blending the gold and mauve together harmoniously. Of course, these two produce a range of soft browns. Therefore, brown was my third colour – I prefer to restrict myself to a few colours in abstract work now.

Areas of soft blending in my quick abstract

Then I decided to do the surface pattern over the soft background. On another day, in a ten minute slot of free time. Perhaps you can see that I used oil pastel, coloured pencil and markers for this stage. Frankly, the problem is knowing when to stop! Well, I added an accent of red and scribbled in some small pattern with black ink. Incidentally, I don’t think I am quite finished with this idea, so I may visit it again. Possibly with acrylic paint this time. As you may have seen on this post here, I am quite fond of the yellow and purple combination!

Finally, I can’t sign off without a mention that our Northern Fringe Gallery exhibition ‘Yorkshire Makers Inspired by Yorkshire Writers ‘ opens tomorrow at Skelmanthorpe Library Gallery. And it’s presented by Village Art. To be honest, this is the third venue on our tour! And this is one of my pieces – Top Withens, the ruined farmhouse near Haworth. Widely agreed to be the inspiration for Wuthering Heights, the famous novel by Emily Bronte.

June 7, 2022June 7, 2022

New Painting at Halifax Gallery

Good morning everyone. I’m so delighted, my new painting has been accepted for the Summer show in the Open Gallery in Halifax! And this is a new gallery, so I’m really looking forward to seeing it and the current show on the walls. By the way, the theme actually is Summer, so I thought that this painting would fit in very well. In fact, I created this while I was studying a module in an online course. And the tutor, Rod Moore lives in Queensland, Australia. So, most of the reference photos he provides are of his local area. Maybe you can see that I tried to create an atmosphere of heat rising from the fields in the late afternoon. And a hint of heat haze on the distant mountains.

Of course, we have to deliver it soon, so we can spend a morning walking around historic Halifax. And perhaps potter around the wonderful Piece Hall, as I described in my post here. And you can read all about this Grade 1 listed building.

If you’re in the area, please join us at the opening event on Saturday 25th June, 5 till 7pm.

June 4, 2022June 4, 2022

Painting Old Houses in Watercolour

Good morning everyone. I don’t think I have shown you this watercolour, where we were painting old houses at art society. Actually, Tony Burke, a local artist, came to our evening meeting and led us through this painting step by step. It was quite a challenge but very enjoyable. And we found this curved row of houses in a small village very unusual and inspiring. So, the perfect subject for painting old houses. In fact, this was the first time for ages that we invited a guest artist to work with us. Of course, the society was closed a long time during the pandemic. And it’s taken us a while to get back to normal. Anyway, in this exercise I learned how to blend a sunset colour into my sky. Also, Tony taught us how to add character into trees by twisting the brush when painting foliage.

This is another old house in West Yorkshire, but this time it’s a more famous one! Perhaps you remember this post here. Where I explained that this ruin is widely accepted as the inspiration for ‘Wuthering Heights ‘ by Emily Bronte. And I painted it for our Northern Fringe Gallery exhibition, Yorkshire Makers Inspired by Yorkshire Writers. Firstly we showed our work in Creative Arts Hub, Mirfield. Then in Queen’s Mill, Castleford. And now Skelmanthorpe Library Gallery have invited us to exhibit in a week’s time. It was a lovely surprise. What a shame you can’t all come to our preview event – you would be very welcome!

May 24, 2022May 24, 2022

Some Beautiful Old Stone Buildings

Good morning everyone. I thought I would show you the last of the three watercolour sketches I did on our mini holiday. ( See the other two here) Perhaps you have noticed how much I love painting old stone buildings. So, here’s another one! In fact, I did this as we were driving home from the coast. And we stopped for an hour to eat a sandwich at Kirkham Priory, a beautiful ruin looked after by English Heritage. Well, this was the view from the picnic table and we we were in the old gatehouse. Obviously, I couldn’t resist sketching this section of the massive wall and a glimpse through the door. Meanwhile, my husband walked around the site with a guidebook, trying to imagine the splendid buildings as they once were.

Actually, we seem to do a lot of this, trying to imagine what old stone buildings once looked like. But, just to show you the exception to the rule, here is the keep at Conisbrough castle which is completely restored. As I recall, when we visited in November last year, we saw all three floors. Then we climbed up to the viewing platform at the top, to see a glorious view over the town. If you want to see another historic English castle, see this post here.

May 19, 2022May 19, 2022

A Day by the Sea

Good morning everyone. We’ve just spent a lovely few days by the sea. And I painted this quick watercolour sketch looking down at North Landing Bay at Flamborough on the Yorkshire coast. Although it looks deserted in my sketch, there were actually some families playing on the beach. And the snack bar was open and doing a roaring trade. Also, a small boat came back to the shore, with a few crates of fish. Then they pulled the boat up the ramp to the boat house. After I had finished my sketch, (about 30 minutes) we walked a short way along the cliff path on the headland. Actually, we were looking out for puffins, but they were all hiding! What a beautiful way to spend an afternoon.

In fact, I had paddled in the sea on the beach at Scarborough that morning, in freezing cold water. And when I got back to the flat I decided to do an intuitive abstract. So I painted an impression of the movement of the water, as the tide receded around my feet. If you look at this post here from last year, you’ll see another sketch of this coast.

May 10, 2022May 10, 2022

Another Fine Day

Good morning everyone. I really enjoyed painting this landscape in gouache, Another Fine Day. And it was one more step in my journey in mastering this medium. Perhaps if I painted solid for a few weeks I could get more confidence in using gouache. But, because I adore using all sorts of media and paint all kinds of subjects, my progress will be slow. Actually, what do you think – is this a disadvantage or instead, is this a gift? Anyway, I posted this on our MeWe group and then started another one!

April 26, 2022April 26, 2022

Two Paintings from my Archive

Good morning everyone. As part of my grand tidy-up, I looked through this old sketchbook to check for any empty pages. And I found these two paintings from my archive. Admittedly, I am not very organised, I have several sketchbooks on the go at once, with no particular plan! But the time comes when I must fill them up and put them away. Actually, I found that I had filled up this book and, in the process, I discovered these two mixed media pieces.

Although I love them both, I must confess that I can barely remember doing them! Except, I do recall that it was round about the time that I was busy experimenting with coloured pencils. Perhaps six or seven years ago, possibly. And, me being me, I also couldn’t refrain from using watercolour pencil, oil pastel and marker pen too! Anyway, I am certain that I drew them from postcards or magazine cut-outs, not plein air. However, when I examine them now, I can clearly see bits that remind me of places I love to draw from life. For example, Over the Bay is definitely influenced by the hours I have spent looking and sketching at the Bay at Scarbrough on the north east coast of Yorkshire.

As for the mountain one, I can see in it the vegetation that grows on the moorland around where I live. So, I do remember happy days when I look at these paintings from my archive after all! You could see some more evocative landscape paintings in my gallery here.

April 12, 2022

Look at my Group Projects

Good morning everyone. I did a bit of tidying yesterday, because we could hardly move in the living room and hall. And all because I brought my stuff back from two exhibitions and failed to store it away! Anyway, to be honest, the space was already packed to capacity with sketchbooks and loose pieces on paper. And while I was shuffling paper, I came across some work I had done for my group projects. Somehow, this kind of painting ranks a bit lower in my mind than my own self lead creations. Actually, I shouldn’t really think that way, so, to make up for it, here they are in the spotlight.

Gouache Paintings of Brazil – one of our Group Projects

As you can see, the title says it all and this was for our Beginner Gouache group on the Mewe platform. In fact, we are a friendly bunch. None of us claim to be experts and we help each other along the way. And help is very welcome when you’re trying to make progress with this challenging medium!

The House for a Folding Book of a Street Project

While I was tidying up, I found these paintings I created for some of my group projects. I love the variety of inspiration they give me for my art work. — **A House for the Street**

This is my second offering for the street and it is also in gouache paint. (Because it is so easy to take out and use at our art society meetings). If you would like to see my first house, look at this post here and keep watching this channel for an update on the book. In construction as we speak!

An Unfinished Project

Finally, here’s a finished painting for one of the group projects I intended to enter, but never quite completed. To be honest, I didn’t think it was quite good enough, the brief for the open call was very restricting. And the image I ended up with didn’t inspire me. So, this princess stayed at home! And now I’ll get back to finding space to store all of these paintings I’ve “tidied”!

April 5, 2022April 5, 2022

New Pale Abstracts to See

Good morning everyone. As you may know if you read my blog, I am at present working my way through an excellent online course by Yvette. And I am learning how to create pale abstracts, which are completely different in style to my usual paintings. In fact, in this module we are taking the approach of first creating a background of patterns in dark paint, then applying layer after layer of colours and shapes. Have a look at this image below first to see the process half way through. Then see how it ends up in the next image.

In fact, this was my first attempt and I relied quite heavily on the tutor’s version. But this next one I really consider to be my own. And I think it looks well presented in this virtual room. However, my paintings are small and the blown up images really demonstrate how effective large scale abstract paintings can be. See what you think.

Well, I’ve been very busy with these new pale abstracts – they do take some time to do for smallish paintings. Actually, I’m half way through the third one just now, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer to see that one! Meanwhile, here’s a link to a post showing some of my ‘old style’ abstract compositions.

March 26, 2022March 26, 2022

Art Work Inspired by Japan

Good morning everyone. This is a painting I did for this month’s theme in our Beginner Gouache group, Of course, the theme is Japan and I looked up works by Hiroshige and Hokusai, two masters of the woodblock printing technique. Actually, in this art work inspired by Japan, I did change some of the elements in the design when I painted this tribute to the artist. And I just loved working in this gorgeous limited palette of colours, a couple of blues, black and white. Perhaps you agree with me how effective these choices can be, creating a mood of calm and serenity.

You may remember seeing this acrylic painting before, if you like to look at this blog. Anyway, I painted this in response to a theme for a Northern Fringe Gallery exhibition a couple of years ago. In fact, we chose from a long list of a hundred objects selected from the marvellous British Museum collection. And I chose that well-known print by Hokusai, The Great Wave. But I set it in a local beauty spot, so that the keen fisherman on the bank was blissfully unaware of the coming deluge!

Another Art Work Inspired by Japan

Finally, I couldn’t miss out this acrylic painting of the familiar iconic view of Mount Fuji. It shows the view from over the water. And this painting is at present on display at Rotherham Roar Buzz Gallery. (Incidentally, we take it down next Wednesday, the month is nearly up). So, I found at least three paintings inspired by Japan. And there are two more in existence, if only I could find them!

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