Plein air painting 83

Following on from the previous post, this is a further view from Andrews Park, in the middle of Southampton city. It is painted a day later,(during October 2022) from a location just a few feet away but looking in a different direction. Here various tall buildings can be seen (one in scaffolding) along the Brunswick Place/ Charlotte place roads. University buildings are in the centre with the Jurys Inn hotel on the right. 
Oil painted on cardboard sized at 12" x 9.5".

Plein air painting 82

The famous tower clock of the grade II listed Civic Centre building is seen here rising above the trees. The location is Andrews park, in the centre of the city of Southampton. Painted one early Sunday morning with sunshine, in October,2022 on mounting board cut to 12" x 9.5", using oil paint.

A park scene with a giant head building - digital illustration

It was common in an alt Victorian steampunk world to have various public buildings built around giant heads. These would often be seen in places frequented by families on a day out, such as parks or town centres. The heads were not fully operational, but used for simple data processing. Often small viewing areas were built on top of the head, with access through it for passage to viewing platform. It's unknown how much of a body was attached to the heads in the ground.

Plein air painting 76

Some vegetation in a shady spot as seen on Southampton Common during a sunny afternoon in early October. Painted in oils on cardboard, sized at 12" x 9.5", 2022.

 Plein air painting 09

old cemetery Southampton on a sunny sunday sketch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This painting shows a view of the 'old cemetery' in Southampton, Hampshire. The cemetery is a victorian one, now mostly overgrown which gives it an extra quality with foliage twisting over the tumbled headstones. It was painted on Sunday morning, 13th September on a board measuring 12" x 9".

 

Plein air painting 06

A sunny Southampton common morning plein air art

A view of Southampton Common, near to one of the main routes through the area with a tarmaced path in the mid distance. Painted in early September on an early morning, with many dog walkers exercising, and others going to school or work. It is done in oils on mounting board, sized at 12" x 9". It was painted on a very light brown colour (ground), rather than white.

Southampton Common view towards Hill Lane - oil painting

Southampton Common view towards Hill Lane - oil painting

Completed painting of strollers at Southampton Common art

 A late summers scene at Southampton Common is the subject of this oil painting, sized at 20” x 16” and painted on canvas. The view is looking west with the busy Hill Lane running across the picture hidden behind the trees in the distance, the painting showing the west entrance/ exit for the common. The 'Bellemoor' pub is just beyond the entrance as is the residential area of Shirley. Some trees have started to shed their leaves and the early evening shadows are quite long at this time of year. This painting was partly done in public during a publicity event at the Marlands Shopping centre, Southampton during late January/ early February 2020, where the public were encouraged to ask questions about the artwork as it was worked upon.The painting can be seen in greater detail on this link.

Working on closeup 73

Working on closeup 73

A small snippet of a park based painting...

Brick Lane London - oil painting

Brick Lane London - oil painting

Large oil painting of Brick Lane in London

This large oil painting, which measures 60” x 40” was produced during May 2019. The subject is Brick Lane, on a sunny day in the east end of London, an unglamorous street but very popular in recent times. The lane itself is shown running left to right across the painting, with Hanbury street cutting through the centre. Originally a site for making bricks and tiles in the 15^th century, it is very close to Spitalfields, known for the Jack the Ripper killings and later criminal nativities of the Kray Brothers. The area was largely avoided and forgotten, but during the latter part of the 20^th century it became a large Bengali community, and is famous for the amount of curry houses in fierce competition with each other. The area is also host to an art community, with most notably artists Gilbert & George, and Tracey Emin living in the area, and the ex Truman brewery now given over to art exhibitions. Nowadays the area is quite a tourist destination and has large crowds in the area during the weekends. This painting was exhibited in the area, in a small gallery along the lane.

The painting can be seen in greater detail by following this link.

Bishopsgate London - WIP stages

Bishopsgate London - WIP stages

WIP stages of Bishopsgate/ Liverpool street oil painting

This landscape oil painting is of a central/ east London view. The area is known as Bishopsgate on the edge of the busy financial district of the city. Painted on mounting board, the artwork measures 33” x 24” approx, and the image above shows progressive work on the painting.

In the first panel can be seen the drawing, done in dark brown acrylic paint on a yellow ochre 'ground' wash, also done in acrylics. I use such paint for this part of the process as it is quick drying, rather than oil paint. Next the oil paintings are opened and a basic colour wash is applied with the paints being diluted with thinner as seen in the 2^nd panel. The colours and tones are 'blocked in' to give a rough indication of the direction of the artwork. Once this level is dry then thicker paint levels are applied with careful views to getting the correct colours and tones. Also details are added at this stage, as can be viewed in the 3^rd panel. Finally the 4^th panel shows the finished oil painting of this urban landscape.

The artwork can be seen in detail on this link.

London Piccadilly Circus with evening light - WIP stages

London Piccadilly Circus with evening light - WIP stages

WIP stages of the Piccadilly Circus oil painting

The panel above shows progress in three stages of the painting 'London Piccadilly Circus with evening light' finished during April 2019. The first picture shows the drawing of the scene done with brown acrylic paint applied on a brown wash. The sky area has been filled in with some white acrylic paint as a rough base at this stage as it is the lightest item in tone in the image when compared to the other elements in this landscape painting. Moving on, the second panel shows the scene with underpainting applied using oil paint. This level acts as a colour base to illustrate basic tones and colours within the painting. The last panel shows the finished painting, in which the oil paint has been applied on top of the previous, dried layers, in a thicker consistency and with the correct colour values and details added. The artwork of the London scene measures 60” x 40”.

It can be viewed in detail on this link.

Working on closeup 59

Working on closeup 59

A small snipped of a street scene at London's Bishopsgate...

Men At Northam Southampton Boat Yard - oil painting

Men At Northam Southampton Boat Yard - oil painting

Finished oil painting of men working at a Southampton dry dock

In this marine based landscape painting we see some men standing in a boat yard next to a crane. Their job later will be to lower one of the boats in the drydock they are stored in, in to the water, using the crane. The river behind them is the River Itchen, which starts north of Winchester and joins the busy shipping lanes of Southampton Water, at Southampton city. This particular boat yard is at Northam.

Painted in early 2019 and in oils. The size is 28” x 20” and is painted on mounting board.

A more detailed view of the artwork can be seen on this link.

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - WIP stages

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - WIP stages

WIP on London financial district oil painting

The picture above shows development work of the painting 'London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn'. It measures 60” x 40” and is painted in oils on canvas. The first panel shows the drawing, done in brown acrylic on a brown wash. White areas have been added to illustrate the intended areas of brightness, such as the sky. Darker tones are added using a brown wash built up in layers. The second panel now shows the underpainting of the scene, done ias a wash in oils. No detail is added at this stage and the colours are of a slightly darker tone than what would be the final colour. In the third panel detail and more colour is added to the overall painting, with the colour paint becoming more thicker in the way it is applied and truer to the final required tone. Finally the forth panel shows the completed oil painting of this busy scene, set in the heart of the financial district of the city of London.

The completed artwork can be seen on this link.

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - oil painting

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - oil painting

Oil painting of a busy autumn day at Bank, London.

'Bank' is an area of London situated in the financial heart of the city. This painting features a number of famous buildings of different ages. Dominating the scene is the Royal Exchange, while on the left is the Bank of England. In the background can be seen the tower 42 (Natwest) and the Scapel. In typical London fashion the streets are littered by plenty of red buses at this busy junction.

This painting is quite large, measuring 60” x 40” and is painted in oils on canvas. Work on it was completed during very late December 2018.

The london landscape painting can be viewed in greater detail on this link.

Passengers Boarding The Hamble Water Taxi In Hampshire - oil painting

Passengers Boarding The Hamble Water Taxi In Hampshire - oil painting

Oil painting showing the river taxi in operation

This painting, created in oils during summer 2018 shows eager passengers awaiting to board a 'taxi' service one sunny summers morning. The ferry operates on the river Hamble in Hamshire, in the south of the UK, and operates between two villages on each side of the river, Hamble and Warsash.

The painting is sized at 28” x 20”. The artwork can be viewed in closeup on this link.

Passengers boarding the Hamble Water taxi in Hampshire - WIP stages

Passengers boarding the Hamble Water taxi in Hampshire - WIP stages

WIP on the Hampshire 'water taxi' service oil painting.

In the panel above can be seen progression of work on the painting 'Passengers boarding the Hamble Water Taxi in Hampshire', completed in September 2018. The first stage is to painting a yellow ochre wash with acrylic paint on the support, in this case mounting board'. When this is dry then the drawing is done on the surface using dark brown acrylic paint. Moving on to the second stage the underpainting is applied, which means dark base tones are added through out using oil paint. Once this is dry, then the final layers of oil paint are applied. This final application is when the colours are more truer in value and detail is also applied at this stage, but the underpainting is still visible underneath. The final panel now shows the completed painting (20” x 28”) with all colours and tonal applied.

The painting can be seen in detail via this link

Boat out of water with dumped parts at marina - oil painting

Boat out of water with dumped parts at marina - oil painting

Oil painting of boat dumped at a marina, Southampton

This marine based painting was finished during August 2018.It depicts a scene at a boat yard in Northam, East Southampton. The yard is on the banks of the River Itchen, and the marina features a lot of boats under repair or in dry storage. This part of the yard has older boats, some poorly maintained and various spare parts littering the site.

The painting is created in oils on primed mounting board, with the image sized at 20” x 28”.

By following this link, the painting can be seen in more detail.

Working on closeup 53

Working on closeup 53

A small snippet of a marine scene based in Hampshire...

New Forest Path In Summer Evening - oil painting

New Forest Path In Summer Evening - oil painting

oil painted artwork - New Forest Path In Summer Evening

Created in June 2018 this landscape oil painting shows a path in woodland leading in to open countryside. The location is the 'New Forest', situated in Hampshire, on the south coast of the UK. It is based on a photograph taken during a late afternoon one summers day, so the long shadows play a role in the look of the picture. The painting is sized at 28” x 20” and is painted on primed mounting board. It can be seen in greater detail here.