Starting points

Today I start a new project with a themed title called 'Winter light.'  

For a long time I have wanted to get back to some paintings of Winter landscapes. With a pressing article for 'The Artist' magazine now is my chance to combine these Winter landscape paintings showing the structure, form and linear forms in the landscape from sketchbook and memory for exhibition and article. 

Above
Distant windermere from Kirkstone Pass - Cumbria
Mixed media black and white on Arches 140lb (300gsm) 'Not' watercolour paper.
10 x 15 inches

Drawing is the all important spring board to my work and without exception is the place I start from first.

What we see here is the initial thought process - sketched from the car on the way up Kirkstone Pass in Cumbria one bleak Winter on our way to Ulswater on the other side of the pass (for a brief winter walk and more car sketching with the heater on!). 

Above
Sun after rain towards Windermere from Troutback
Pastel on Bockingford 140lb (300gsm) 'Not' watercolour paper
18 X 18 inches

This was a painting done in the same season on our Winter break in the Lakes many moons ago. It was featured in 'The Artist' magazine a couple of years ago and just flew out the door as the first to sell in a mixed Christmas exhibition in one of my local Yorkshire galleries soon after it was created.

Descending towards Ulswater I later created this (from the car sketches mentioned above). I held it back for a couple of seasons to let it sweat' before completing. It's now on show at  Maiden bridge near Lancaster.

I'm in the list as you can see! http://www.maidenbridge.co.uk/cms/gallery.php
I've several the paintings in this show as well. If you want to see them all, give them a call! 

The weather that winter in the Lake District was bitterly cold! I was all kitted out with my Mountain Equipment gear on and still only could last about 10 minutes outside to take photos before dashing back to the car! Mad weather and mad artists eh! 

This is a  scanned copy of a film print taken with a point and press roll film Canon camera. A bit creased, battered and scratched buy hey...that's life for many of us these days!

Glad I have it and the sketch I created at the same time. Great starting points together for a thoroughly decent expressive mixed media painting on the go...right now!

Watch this space!

Nights with the long knives!

At last, a chance to create some dramatic and expressive moorland paintings for our exhibition 'All Paintings Great and Small' to be held at
'The Inspired Gallery' Sutton Bank, 17 April until Monday 4 May 2015.

Above and close up
Studio painting almost complete
Acrylic mixed media on boxed Amsterdam Linen heavy duty canvas. Bespoke from Jackson's Art Supplies.


With such dramatic scenery in such an inspirational setting, all four artists participating in the exhibition take our influence from this magnificent landscape and other inspirational locations throughout the North Yorkshire Moors National park itself and along the East Coast of yorkshire.

During day I'm busy working on lots of other exciting art projects so, come the evening it is great to put those palette knives into action and expressively layer the acrylic paint over the canvas!

This one is pretty close to finishing showing that working into the small hours has a great benefit on my work with the owl keeping me company hooting in the garden!

Exhibition date for your diary -  Friday 17 April until Monday 4 May 2015,
'The Inspired Gallery’ Sutton Bank visitors centre

http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/visiting/visitor-centres/inspired-by-gallery

See you there on preview night with wine and nibbles and red dots!

Wagner should have visited Bassenthwaite Lake!

The big open vistas around Bassenthwaite Lake are truly spectacular - none more so than when the weather changes so dramatically and Wagner's music enters your head and you paint furiously!

Well, it was a little calmer than that in truth I might add when I was teaching en plein air creative art techniques at Higham Hall earlier this year  painting lakeside at Bassenthwaite Lake 3 - 6 June. 

Nonetheless, the weather was pretty dramatic and the silver light effects across the lake were something to behold - quite wonderful in fact!

Everyone found the experience really exhilarating and it showed in their work. Here is a link so you can see for yourself just how great the experience was for everyone on the course
http://thecreativeprogress.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/saturday-28-june-2014-success-for-all.html

So finally I got my own painting completed and yes, Wagner was playing through the CD player (yes that's right I still buy CD's as I love actually looking at them too), as I worked and layered my pastels with gouache paint on this superb Strathmore Series 300 paper.

Here is the painting as demo lakeside at Basenthwaite Lake...

Above
Lakeside quick demo with pastel and gouache on Strathmore Series 300 Cold Pressed, acid free heavy duty watercolour paper. Size 18 x 24 inches 140lb (300gsm)

...and here is the Wagner studio influenced painting!

Above
Silver light - Bassenthwaite Lake, Cumbria
Pastel and gouache on Strathmore Series 300 Cold Pressed watercolour paper. 
Size 18 x 24 inches 

To create your own dramatic paintings with me in the Western Lakes at Higham Hall here are the next exciting residential art breaks - sketchpads and ipods welcome!

Above
Higham Hall art students lakeside at Bassenthwaite - about to watch the drama unfold!

http://rdcreative.co.uk/art_holidays/expressive_landscape_themed_painting_break_higham_hall_cumbria

http://rdcreative.co.uk/art_holidays/expressive_drawing_art_break_higham_hall

http://rdcreative.co.uk/art_holidays/winter_light_expressive_watercolour_and_pastel_art_break_higham_hall

For further details for all residential art breaks at Higham Hall contact the administration team on

017687 76276

admin@highamhall.com

www.highamhall.com

Office hours 09:00 to 17:00

Higham Hall Bassenthwaite Lake Cockermouth Cumbria CA13 9SH

Drawn to the East Coast Cliffs of Yorkshire! 

As an artist and wildlife enthusiast it all comes together at Bempton and Flamborough on the East Coast of Yorkshire! I've mentioned it before and I'll say it again - just being there is just so creatively exciting, inspiring and just so me! 

Although most of the kittiwakes have gone now the gannets are still there flying past in squadrons and there are many other different types of gulls and sea birds to watch, photograph and ultimately draw and paint in wonderful surroundings.

Being there on a sunny Sunday recently provided me with the ideal opportunity to get out there and paint and draw one of my favourite subjects. 

Here are just some of the paintings created from previous sketches from my 'open plan' office which will be on show at Chantry House Gallery in Ripley near Harrogate, North Yorkshire for the Christmas show. 

Above
Ocean rhythms - Bempton

14 x 18 inches 

Acrylic on board 

Available

Above

Tide in, tide out, Bempton

16 x 16 inches

Acrylic on boxed mdf

It is going to be a really exciting exhibition!

For further details contact Emma Hargreaves at Chantry House on 01423 771 011

info@chantryhousegallery.co.uk

http://www.chantryhousegallery.co.uk/

Cumbrian creative countdown...

Not long to go now before the next Rydal Hall residential art break in Cumbria is due to start. It promises to be another good one!

I'm really looking forward to returning in June again next year (a full class already) and again 25 - 29 May to run another exciting art course painting and drawing in superb Lakeland surroundings close to the magnificent Rydal Hall. I return again in the Autumn next year in 12-16 October to teach you how to paint all those wonderful glowing colours in Lakeland - the reflections will be magnificent!

Here are links to see just how great the art breaks at Rydal Hall with me are for you!
http://rdcreative.co.uk/art_holidays/Expressive_mixed_media_art_break_using_pastel_and_watercolour

http://rdcreative.co.uk/art_holidays/mixed_media_expressive_pastel_and_watercolour_autumn_art_break_rydal_hall

Just to let you know, I finally got to finish my own colourful pastel painting started as a demo from a spectacular view along the lakeshore of Rydal Water for my students art Rydal Hall in June '14. 

Above
Morning glory - Rydal Water, Cumbria
Pastel on Clairefontaine pastelmat
21 x 17 inches 
Available

It's taken a while, but that's how it goes sometimes - the busy schedule of an artist I'm afraid!

Personally I'm delighted with it. I know my students were delighted with their own pastel paintings too created lakeside with me along the magnificent lakeshore of Rydal Water whilst on a superb weeks creative art break staying at the magnificent Rydal Hall near Grasmere earlier this year in in June. Here's a link to it...
http://thecreativeprogress.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/a-great-art-break-in-june-14-at-rydal.html

If you need any further information about any of the residential breaks at Rydal Hall do give me a call - happy to help!

To book your place do get in touch with the friendly and efficient staff at Rydal Hall please contact Rydal Hall on 015394 32050 or email mail@rydalhall.org 

http://www.rydalhall.org

Places are limited so do get your skates on to secure your place!

Those all important missing elements...

Well actually they are not missing if you add them and this is what I have done with these paintings here.

Compare the two paintings in each case as 'before' and 'after' and you will see what I mean. The 'before' are OK paintings - textural, expressive and dramatic but...add the birds and hey presto, the paintings come alive!

Above
'Heading out - Flamborough'
22 x 15 inches (half imperial) Arches 140lb (300gsm) Not 100% rag content watercolour paper.
Pastel, watercolour and gouache over gesso ground.
Available.

Adding 'living' elements such as the birds in this case or figures maybe in another painting, could ruin a painting altogether since the viewer will be drawn to the figures and see nothing else robbing the painting of any chance for exploration and thus equal attention throughout so, more often than not I leave these things out.

However, now and then, adding that all important element to focus on can bring the composition together as a whole and give the painting real meaning. This so happened to be the case with the award winning painting I created earlier this year 'Peregrine above Malham Cove' winning the Royal Talens award at Patchings Open Art Competition 2014. The painting on its own was good but the bird made it great!

This so happens to be the case with the following paintings. Remove the birds and the paintings become soulless and void of meaning. Adding the birds places wildlife in context and gives the other elements with real scale.

In the painting - 'Heading out - Flamborough,' the Knott flying over the sea and the rocks, although quite large and accurately detailed (taken from MY OWN photographic reference with a big long lens), are not too dominant but sit in the landscape and are perfectly in tune with it. Clearly you can see how camouflaged they are with lost and found edges. Adding them anywhere else and they would have dominated.

Above
'Tide in, tide out - Bempton'
16 x 16 inches
boxed mdf gloss varnished and framed with white slip and deep black stained ramin frame.
Acrylic
Available.

In the second painting 'Tide in, tide out - Bempton', the sea birds this time add scale to the cliffs. These cliffs are hugh! Anyone who visits Bempton cliffs and Flamborough cliffs along the East Coast of Yorkshire will be (and are) completely blown away by their scale and majesty. I'm never disappointed by the views along this coast and I go there a lot painting and drawing as much as I can.

More seascapes from Bempton to come soon!

More about Strathmore 

Above
High winds in the Pennines
Strathmore Aquarius II  Cold pressed 80lb (170gsm)
22 x 24 inches
Full original Strathmore Aquarius II  - sheet size 22 x 30 inches 

In my last couple of posts I've focussed on Strathmore. Well, I'm doing it again! 

I've recently chosen these robust papers to create some of my finest Pennine drawings to date from sketches made on site and with my humble knowledge of photography working alongside Pennine photographer Richard Littlewood.

The papers are (as previously mentioned) just fantastic as drawing papers so the artist looking for something different  - these papers are a must!

Personally I have been looking for a really good quality and robust drawing paper for many years on which to express the environs of these hard upper Pennine landscapes justice.

I've tried many but Strathmore papers fit the bill perfectly. The quality and robust strength of the papers, complete with deckled edge on the single sheet 400 and 500 series and that fantastic watermark on each sheet (bottom left hand corner) just stamps authority as a paper of quality. 

For my Pennine drawings the paper has the lot and digging through my sketch book, photos and combining them together here are the results...

Above
Pennine profiles
Strathmore Imperial Not 140lb (300gsm)
22 x 24 inches
Full original Strathmore Imperial Not - sheet size 22 x 30 inches 

Above
Winter in the Pennines
Strathmore 300 Series Watercolour Paper 140 lb (300 gsm).
11 x 15 inches
Full original Strathmore Watercolour Paper - sheet size 22 x 30 inches 

Above
Winter trees and pennine snow
Strathmore 300 Series Watercolour Paper 140 lb (300 gsm).
18 x 18 inches
Full original Strathmore Watercolour Paper - sheet size 22 x 30 inches 

Above
All weathers in the Pennines
Strathmore 300 Series Watercolour Paper 140 lb (300 gsm).
20 x 18 inches
Full original Strathmore Watercolour Paper - sheet size 22 x 30 inches 


For further information on the excellent papers made by Strathmore visit visit https://www.artistpapers.co.uk/