Plein air painting 51(c)

This is the third painting done at Warsash, Hampshire on a day in August 2022 and follows on from the previous two posts. It is of one bench to be found near the local ferry. Painted in oils on mounting board sized at 7.5" x 6.5".

Plein air painting 51(b)

Painted on the same day as the previous post (a) is a view from exactly the same spot but turned to look across the river Hamble/ Southampton water. Here can be seen a ship docked near to the Fawley oil refinery on the edge of the New Forest, Hampshire. This painting was done in oils on a small (8" x 7") piece of mounting board.

Plein air painting 51

Plein air painting 51(a) 

A number of paintings were done on a visit to Warsash, Hampshire, situated by the river Hamble as it runs into Southampton water. This spot shows the nature reserve at Hook during a sunny day in August. The water shown is situated in an overflow area for the high tide. The long horizontal structure is a jetty that travels into the river for some distance.

Painted on mounting board sized at 12" x 9.5" in oils, summer 2022.

Plein air painting 49

Southampton Cenotaph, located in Watts park, is seen here from across the road from neighbouring East Park. Above Bar Street runs between the grass and structure. It is designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, whose later designs, included the Cenotaph in London. The memorial is a Grade I listed building. 
Painted in late June 2022 on cardboard sized at 12" x 9.5", in oils.

 

Further characters from 'The Walking Dead'

A further collection of characters from 'The Walking Dead' as to be found on Amazon Prime and Disney. These characters as depicted, come from the earlier seasons of the successful horror show.

Painted in oils on cardboard, sized at 12" x 9" during summer 2022 using a limited palette.

Two horses with burnt trees in the New Forest - oil painting

Oil on canvas 20” x 16” 2022.

This painting was done as a demo during an event at October Books, Southampton during the summer. Unfortunately, I became ill and messed up the painting. A few weeks later I returned to it and shoved some more paint on it, in an attempt to tart it up and get something out of it. Various pieces of photo reference were used from previous visits.

The painting can be seen in greater detail on this link.

Plein air painting 47

Painted late summer 2021 a view along Bernard Street, Southampton is shown. On the left is St Michael's Church, a Tudor rebuild of an earlier medieval building with its impressive spire. The church (ruins) on the right is Holyrood, built in 1320 and destroyed in 1940, and dedicated as a memorial to sailors. Painted on mounting board sized at 12" x 9.5", using oils.

Plein air painting 46

A row of Georgian shops in Oxford Street, Southampton on the Southern coast of the UK features in this painting. It is painted (plein air) in oils on mounting board sized at 12" x 9.5". and painted one afternoon much to the interest of passers-by. The current shops are leased by more 'upmarket' traders.

Head painting exercise - 03 

A collection consisting of a variety of heads, with reference sourced off the internet. Each one is painted with a limited palette, using oils. Primed cardboard, cut to 12" x 9.5" is used as the support for these exercises. Painted during mid-summer 2022.

Plein air painting 48

A view of the ornamental lake situated within Southampton common. This time the view is from the part most people look at, as in the 'island' with the tall trees growing from it and looking outward across the left-hand bank.
Painted in very late September 2021 in oils on mounting board, sized at 12" x 9.5".

Plein air painting 45

Painted in late summer 2021 this landscape 'plein air' painting shows a view of St Andrews park in central Southampton, Hampshire in the UK. The famous rose garden is coming to the end of the season and the afternoon shadows becoming longer. In the background on the left is the recently opened John Hansard Gallery.

Bust of Major Raymond Smythies - oil painting

Bust of Major Raymond Smythies. The plaster original dates from 1912 and this casting, as found at the Southampton city art gallery, dates from 1971. The artist was Gaudier-Brzeska.

The bust is wonderful to look at, with the sculpted form really giving a clue to the character of the Major.

Painted from life during early June 2022. Oil on supermarket cardboard, sized at 12” x 9.5”.

Plein air painting 44

Shamrock Quay, a boat yard in Southampton is the location of this 'plein air' art done in late summer 2021. Piles of wood, used to stabilise boats when in dry dock and old oil barrels can be seen in the foreground. The river Itchen is seen to be very wide at this point, with Southampton (Hampshire) in the background. To the right hand side can be seen St Marys stadium. As one moves toward the left, various business that deal with building materials can be seen on the dockside.
Painted on mounting board sized at 12" x 9.5",  using oils.

Plein air painting 43

In this plein air artwork, done in the late summer of 2021, can be seen the 'Bellemoor' pub or tavern, Southampton. It is to be found on Hill Lane, and runs along a side of Southampton Common. The painting itself shows the entrance into the common, the road running across the scene. Painted on primed mounting board, sized at 12" x 9.5" using oil paints on a Saturday afternoon.

Head painting exercise - vintage horror stars

Three famous stars of horror. Peter Wilton Cushing OBE (1913 – 1994), Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee CBE CStJ (1922 - 2015) and Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (1911 – 1993).
Each painting is done on cardboard measuring 12" x 9.5", in oils, using a limited palette. All painted during summer 2022.

Plein air painting 42

Southampton common is shown in this summer 'plien air' painting, created on a sunny afternoon. A main tarmac path through the site is shown with the 'old' cemetery on the left and the duck pond, hidden behind the trees, on the right. A fence can be seen where the water comes close to the path.
The artwork is painted on mounting board sized at 12" x 9.5", and done in oils over a period of a few hours. It is always interesting how the shadows move across the scene, so one has the 'freeze' them to complete the landscape painting.

Head painting exercise - Princess Elizabeth

Pictured is a portrait sketch of a young Queen Elizabeth II, as a princess. it is based on an old B/W photo presumably taken in the very late 1940s. The painting used a limited 3 colour plus white palette, and painted in oils on a piece of cardboard sized at 12" x 9.5". Uploaded on the 18 September 2022, one day before the funeral of her majesty. 

Plein air painting 41 

Avenue St. Andrew's is a Victorian united reform church built in 1889. The impressive red brick building is (part) grade II listed and can found along 'the Avenue' a main route in and out of the city of Southampton, and very close to Southampton common and cemetery. 
This plein air painting was done on a busy Sunday afternoon in late August 2021 at the entrance to the common, looking across the Avenue (A33) toward the church. It is done in oils on mounting board, sized at 12" x 9.5". 

Southampton Central railway station signal gantry 1950's - WIP stages

This historical railway scene is based on an old B/W photo taken by John Bailey. It is painted in oils on a 33” x 23” piece of mounting board. The photo above, divided into 4 panels shows various stages of creating the painting. In the first panel, upper left, can be seen the drawing done in brown acrylic on a lighter brown wash. Moving on to the second panel that is upper right, some diluted oil paint has been applied to act as an underpainting. This is to indicate basic areas of colour and tone, and act as a foundation for future thicker layers of paint. The third panel now shows some thicker paint has been applied which is now the 'true' intended tone of the colour, or putting it another way the final intended paint layer. This layer is also painted with detail in mind unlike the previous layers which are rougher in comparison. Finally the last panel, lower right displays the final painted image, full of detail. In addition some glazing was performed on the painting when dry, which is when a small amount of paint is mixed with a pure oil medium and used to tine areas of colour for extra effect.
This transport painting can be seen in greater detail by following this link to an external site. 

 Head painting exercise - side views

A collection of 4 heads painted from the sides. Each painted sketch is done on cardboard sized at 12" x 9", and painted in oils, using a limited palette. Generally one sitting is taken to do the one painting. These are based on reference pulled off the internet.

Head painting exercise - politicians

Two famous leaders of opposing political leaders in the UK, are shown in this entry. Leading the Conservatives (and was the PM) is Boris Johnson. His opposite number leading the Labour party is Sir Keir Starmer. Each of these two paintings are done on cardboard (from a supermarket) sized at 12" x 9.5", primed ready to accept oil paint. A limited set of colours has been used to create these sketches, painted during mid summer 2022.

Head painting exercise 01

These painting exercises were done during June 2022, and taken from photos pulled off the web. The palette is a limited four colour one using crimson alizarin, cadmium yellow, french ultramarine and finally white. Each one is painted on cardboard measuring 12” x 9.5” over a few hours.

 Working on closeup 90

A small snippet of an interior with figure painting...

Southampton Central railway station signal gantry1950's - oil painting

The end of the platform at Southampton central station (Hampshire) is shown in this oil painting, created during late 2021. It is based on a B/W photo taken by J Bailey that was taken at some point in the 1950's.
One dominant and famous feature of the station is the large semaphore signal gantry situated at the western end of the station, which was removed in 1981. A small Victorian build 0-4-4 tank locomotive is receiving water before continuing with its journey to Fawley, on a branch line, with the main line running to Weymouth in Dorset.
The painting is sized at 33” x 23” and dome on primed mounting board. It can be seen in greater detail on this link. 

Female head- Zorn palette  

A further painting of an unknown woman, from the internet, done in oils using the 'Zorn' limited palette. I have now began to use a different limited palette for future studies.

12" x 9" oil on cardboard.

June 2022

#face #head #oilpainting #woman #art #zorn

 Getting rid of old paintings 2022 batch 1

I have in the past had culls on artwork, but not done so for some time. I dislike old paintings and have no attachment to them. This batch of 20 or so were canvas/ canvas board and have been broken down into chunks that can be thrown away in household rubbish over time. The frames and fixings are saved. I still have another 50 or so to go, some probably as recent as 2019. My aim is now to only keep paintings for up to 3 years, so as to keep the management of them simple and current, meaning that even some recently exhibited paintings (over 3 years) are for the chop soon.

Nice to get back space!

Plein air painting 40

Painted in August 2021 during a hot afternoon this early 19th century grade II listed pretty Georgian house is pictured. It stands in Westgate Street in the 'Old town' area of the city of Southampton, where a number old buildings are to be seen, some of which are Tudor. West Gate itself is a Tudor archway that lead to the dock side, when the town was a walled one and had a castle very close by. The area is built on angled land leading to what would have originally been the port in past times. The extreme angle can be seen on the pavement, and continues around the property on the side road shown right. 

This plein air painting is done in oils on mounting board, sized at 12" x 9".

Characters from 'The Walking Dead' - Zorn palette

A collection of characters from the popular TV series, 'The Walking Dead.' Each one is painted in oils on cardboard sized at 12" x 9.5", and done using the limited colour palette as designed by Anders Zorn, Victorian artist.

Plein air painting 39

Southampton common is 365 acres in size and situated in the middle of the city of Southampton. Its origins can be found in the 13th century. There are various types of area withing, including open land for sports and recreation, woodland areas and play zones for children. There are also a model boating/ paddling pool, a 'cemetery' lake and an 'ornamental' lake which is the subject of this plein air painting, done during August 2021. The small 'island' within is pictured. 
This artwork is done in oils on supermarket cardboard sized at 11.5" x 9.5".

Working on closeup 89

A small snippet of a railway based painting...

 Painting faces exercise 07 Zorn palette

More paintings of unknown people plucked off the internet. Each one is sized around 12” x 9.5”, and painted using the limited 'Zorn' palette.

Two clematis flowers in my garden - oil study

Two clematis flowers in my garden

On one wall in my garden i have three clematis plants attempting to occupy the space. The 'passion' one actually has is roots in another part of the garden but most of it seems to like this spot to grow. Painted from life in June 2022. Oil on mounting board (7" x 8").

Plein air painting 38

Painted during one late August afternoon in 2021 this plein air artwork shows a view of Southampton Docks, as seen standing on Town Quay. Looking toward the river Test, a few miles beyond, we can see the 'Western Docks', built in the 1930s with some large cruse ships moored. The closest one is unknown, but is run by 'Royal Caribbean Cruises'. The second one with the red funnel is 'Queen Mary 2'. The third ship in the distance is a car transporter. The weathered and dilapidated wooden/ metal structure in front of the scene is the remains of the late Victorian Royal pier which closed after a troubled history in 1980, although there are plans to restore it.

The painting is done on a small piece of cardboard from the back of a sketch pad, sized at 11.5" x 8", and done in oils.

 Plein air painting 36

Painted in July 2021 on a friday afternoon. The building shown is a gatekeepers cottage situated within Southampton common's public park, Hampshire. Hill Lane and the Bellemoor pub are situated just behind, as are some small buildings connected with the upkeep and storage of equipment for the common. 
This 'plein air' work measures 12" x 9.5" and is painted on a piece of cardboard from a local supermarket.