Beach groin with autumn waves oil painting

Beach groin with autumn waves oil painting

Beach Groin with autumn waves- oil 16" x 12"

This painting was finished in early December 2016 and shows a view of a large wooden groin on the sandy beach at Bournemouth, Dorset on the south of England coast. The beach is largely empty so the dominant noise is the sea crawling up the wet sand and the waves brushing along the damp wooden groin. It is set during autumn and is based on a photo taken a number of years previously. It measures 16" x 12" and is painted in oils on an acrylic under-painting, done on stretched paper. The finished painting can be seen clearly here.
#beach #artist #Bournemouth #oilpainting #seaside

Artwork for end of year 2016

Artwork for end of year 2016

Winter scene with castle - digital painting

 This small (960 x 1280px) picture was digitally painted as a small project on my Samsung Galaxy tablet using the  'Auto Desktop Pro' art app. The programe responds to pen pressure input through the tablets built in 'Wacom' pressure sensitive screen, enabling painting on the device. The only part done outside of the app was when the image was exported and placed in Photoshop where the type was added on a PC. I have used the app for some sketching from life outdoors during the summer and sometimes for roughing out ideas, where the image would be exported to Photoshop to be refined in to a finished painting. This example is the first time that a painting has been finished (as much is practical) on the tablet. 
The scene was not expected to be a Christmas card for followers on social media, but as it was finished a few days before and had a suitable subject, it was made so.

Beach groin with autumn waves oil painting WIP

Beach groin with autumn waves oil painting WIP

WIP oil painting beach groin Bournemouth

The photo show work in stages of an oil painting showing a wooden groin situated on Bournemouth beach, Dorset, on the south coast of England. The time of year is autumn so the light is not as powerful a few months later on the deserted beach.
The first panel shows an orange acrylic wash on paper with the drawing applied with brown acrylic paint. In the second panel, 'underpainting' has taken place in which darker versions of the final colours are applied, using acrylic paint, which then acts as a base for the final, finished paint application. This final stage is shown in the final panel where the final detailed paint application is done in oil paint rather than acrylic paint in this case. I felt that oils suit natural subjects and help with colour blending and creating the feeling of natural light. Acrylics works well for man made subjects, for instance architecture.
The final finished painting can be seen here. 
#beach #WIP #artist #oilpainting #Bournemouth

Southampton Bursledon Brickworks open day ART WIP

Southampton Bursledon Brickworks open day ART WIP

Bursledon Brickworks open day painting WIP stages

This panel shows an oil painting in stages, done in 2011. It features a scene at the Bursledon Brickworks, just outside of Southampton, in Hampshire, during an open day. A number of privately owned steam traction engines would be invited for display at the open weekend to join ones held by the brickworks on its premises, a heritage industrial museum.

In the first panel can be seen the basic line drawing done in brown acrylic paint on top of a brown 'base' wash. The second panel show further development with a wash using diluted oil paint to fill in basic tones and base colours. The final panel shows the finished art using oil paint straight out of the tube (undiluted). There would have been approx a weeks drying time between stage two and three.

The painting is done on a stretched canvas measuring 20” x 16”.

The finished painting can be seen here.

 #Southampton #Bursledon #steam #brickworks #painting

working on closeup 18

working on closeup 18

A small snippet of a marine based oil painting of a Dorset beach.... 

WIP of groin on Bournemouth Beach oil painting

Titanic wreck painting WIP

Titanic wreck painting WIP

This image show some of the working for a painting done back in 2012, on the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic. The final painting was to be an oil painting, but to get there I had to do some research as it was not possible to go down to the ocean floor and take a photograph! I used Photoshop to draw out what I wanted to achieve in terms of composition and how to draw the ship in its wrecked state. I referred to a number of books on the subject and studied diagrams of how the ship hit the ocean floor with such force that the bow buckled and ripped along the hull. During the drawing up of the Titanic I wanted to understand what the ship is like when new and how it is constructed so I spent some time looking at photographs and illustrations which aided me in creating the ship as it is now.

WIP titanic wreck oil painting

After creating a working drawing I then did a small rough colour painting, again in Photoshop which allowed me to find what colour and lighting values using the same drawing. It was quicker and easier to do this than use real paint to find the values as I was able to constantly fiddle around until getting what I want. I also did not want to spend time experimenting when doing the actual painting in oil, because as it is quite a technical subject it is not practical to be 'loose' on the depiction, the danger being that the details get distorted and lost if not adhering to a disciplined work flow.
The finished painting can be seen here.
 

Winter Hilliers Garden Hampshire - oil painting

Winter Hilliers Garden Hampshire - oil painting

Winter Hilliers Garden Hampshire - oil painting 20" x 16"

This painting shows a scene at Hilliers Gardens, Hampshire, near to Romsey, during a sunny winters day. The lake has already been the subject of two painting by myself and this feature of the gardens is probably the focal point for the gardens and looks good whatever the season or weather. The gardens have many permanently installed pieces of art to be found, mainly done as metal work. The figure in the lake is in fact a life size metal statue.

The painting was completed during November 2016. It is done in oils on paper sized at 20” x 16”.

#hilliers #Hampshire #garden #art #painting