Studio paintings

It's been a while since the last update. I spent a week on 2 studio paintings from a couple plein air sketches from the Iona series. Both are 14" x 18" from 6" x 8" sketches.

I used the plein air sketches for colour, value, drawing and brush stroke reference. For design I made thumbnail drawings to improve on the sketches. Lastly I used photos for the details that were not in the sketches.

Afternoon on the sand dune at Iona - oil on panel - 14" x 18"

Morning at Iona beach - oil on panel - 14" x 18"

This is the size difference from the transformation:

After a week sitting at home I welcome the chance to go out and paint with fellow artist James Koll. I guessed I got rusty from staying indoor too long. Both paintings I did that day required some heavy re-work back at home to make them presentable.

Edge of pond - oil on panel - 6" x 8"

Colours of the forest - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

This one was done today. I wanted to paint the clouds as they were just so interesting, so I went to the Penzance beach for a wide view. It was cloudy in the beginning, then started to rain, then sunny day at the end. If you have been reading this blog you would know that this seems to happen every time I paint on this beach. It is cursed.

This one didn't need any retouching at home, maybe I am back on track?

Late spring composite- oil on panel - 9" x 12"

mixed plein air/studio painting

I had spent hours at different locations and I did not find anything I wanted to paint. Finally I found this view as the sun was setting behind me. I was standing on a pier and I couldn't find a way to set up my pochade box with clear sight. Determined to paint the view, I did 2 pencil drawings on one 6" x 8" and one 9" x 12" panel, with slightly different compositions. I also wrote down colour notes of what I was seeing, and just spent time standing there and trying to soak it all in, know the photographs can only record so much.

A few days later I painted over the drawings, using the colour notes, photographs as well as memory. I was happy with the results as they felt to me like I had painted them on the pier. If you look closely you can see the pencil drawing underneath the painting.

Timber rafts on the Fraser river #1 - oil on panel - 6" x 8"

Timber rafts on the Fraser river # 2 - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

 The reason I did the drawing then, was because I knew a photo would distort the lines. If I just did the drawing from the photograph, the end result would look more photo-like, and not as life-like.