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.

St Paul's Cathedral London in early Autumn - oil painting

St Paul's Cathedral London in early Autumn - oil painting

Completed oil painting of St Pauls cathedral, London.

The world famous landmark of St Paul's cathedral, London, is the subject of this oil painting, created in late December 2019 and finished off a few days in to the New Year. The building is shown in early autumn light from a south easterly aspect. The main road populated by mainly buses, including one of the famous new Routemaster buses ( Boris Bus) is Cannon Street. The building itself has hosted various important public events and is a big landmark in the city. It was the tallest building until 1967. Its designer was Sir Christopher Wren, who also built a number of London's famous churches surrounding the area. Work was started not long after the fist St Paul's was destroyed in the great fire of London in 1666, and was opened for use in 1711.

The artwork is painted in oils on acid free mounting board, as is sized at 33” x 23”. It 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...

Southampton old cemetery looking west early autumn - oil painting

Southampton old cemetery looking west early autumn - oil painting

Landscape painting of a westerly view of the Cemetery.

Southampton's 'old' cemetery is approximately 27 acres in size and was opened during the 1840s in the town of Southampton, on the southern coast of the UK. Now in the 21^st century it sees very little use due to a lack of space. Some parts have been reclaimed by nature which adds an additional level of beauty and interest with views of headstones covered in ivy and bramble. This painting show a view over the cemetery looking west, with Hill Lane running parallel behind the viewer. It is painted on canvas sized at 30” x 20”, and completed during December 2019 over a couple on months due to other projects. This graveyard oil painting can be seen in better detail by following this link.

A young Dinosaur fan!

A young Dinosaur fan!

An elementary student from Omaha recreated a scene based on one of my Dinosaur illustrations, which in turn is based on a famous Manet painting. The student is named Avry Hermandson and is a pupil at the Nelson Mandela Elementary School. The class project was to recreate a scene from a famous painting and Avry whose fanatical about dinosaurs, found my illustration online. As well as dinosaur friends, a fruit picnic and drawings of trees can be found in his mock up!

Original illustration link.

My illustration, and the photo of Avry by his teacher.

Southampton Common view towards Hill Lane - WIP stages

Southampton Common view towards Hill Lane - WIP stages

Stages of the painting featuring a part of Southampton Common.

This outdoor scene shows a view within Southampton Common, within the city of Southampton, UK. It is a sunny day in the autumn with long shadows being cast by the trees and over the path of one the main routes through the common. Locals are seen to be taking an afternoon stroll through it.

The picture below shows four stages in the development of the oil painting, created in late January 2020 and in view of the public at an art event held locally.

In the first panel can be seen the subject drawn on to a canvas with a light brown acrylic wash. The drawing is done in brown acrylic and high value tones painted in white paint. The second panel shows areas of colour added in using diluted oil paint, so that it is thinly applied. This is the 'under-painting' and in which the colour tends to be on the dark side with little detail. Once this layer is dry, (usually a few days) then the final application of paint is painted on. At this stage the paint is thicker and true to the intended colour value. Also details are now painted in as seen in the third panel. The final panel displays the finished landscape painting, which is on canvas sized at 20” x 16”. The artwork can be seen in better clarity by following this link.

Southampton old cemetery looking west early autumn -WIP stages

Southampton old cemetery looking west early autumn -WIP stages

Stages of creating this westerly viw of the graveyard at Southampton

Completed in December 2019 this landscape painting depicts a westerly view of Southampton city's 'old' cemetery, situated near to the common. It is painted in oils on a canvas measuring 30” x 20”. The image above shows four stages in the development of the painting. In the first panel can be seen the drawing of the scene in brown acrylic paint on a wash of lighter brown paint. Brighter areas of the scene have been indicated with areas painted in white, such as the sky. Moving on to the second panel it can be seen that colour oil paint has been applied thinly to the painting, basically blocking in the darker tones in the landscape. This is the underpainting, and acts as a guide to the next layer, which is in the third panel. Here the paint is applied more thickly and with the correct hues and values Also elements are painted in detail, but some of the underpainting remains and shows through on purpose. After the paint has all been applied it is left to dry., after which a 'glaze' is added on top. The glaze is like a hint of coloured paint held in a transparent medium, a bit like coloured stained glass, which gives the colours an extra dimension. The final panel shows the completed painting which can be seen on this link.