Hay bales

Hay bales
Oil on board
15x12 inches

This was a recent work completed en plein air, again using a combination of brushes and painting knifes. I love the texture contrasts that you can acheive this way. The brushes allow a degree of control and you cannot help but paint loosely and expressively with the painting knife.

I used deliberate colour contrasts in this one, starting with a cobalt violet under-painting, establishing the tonal contrasts and sketching out the composition. Yellow is obviously the complementary colour to purple/violet and I have deliberately left some the underpainting show through in spaces to enhance the yellows in the field. The blue/violet sky also deliberately complements the orange highlights in the field.

I almost never got to do this one as the farmer turned up as I was about to set up. He was not too happy having a stranger in his field, but when I explained what I was up to he got pretty excited about it. I promised him first shout at purchasing it, but by the time I finished it he was long gone and I could not find him.

Ryan

Sail Boat at Cockenzie

Sail Boat at Cockenzie
Oil on Canvas
15x15 inches

Another scene from the East Lothian coast. This boat was sailing in the Firth of Forth with the Cockenzie power station in the background. Although power stations aren't traditionally beautiful buildings, this dominates the coastal views from Leith to North Berwick and depending on the quality of light has its own unique beauty with its strong vertical chimneys- its a subject whose beauty is an artists job to convey!!
This was painted from a pen and ink sketch. I exclusively used the pallette knife and paint texture to emphasise the abstract attraction of the scene.

Ryan

Contemplation

Contemplation

Oil on canvas
8x8inches

This is a new work in a series of small figurative works. This was based on a sketch I made of this old guy sitting on a wall. The scene just had a great composition and needed little from me to enhance the mood of the scene. I have no idea what the man was thinking of when I sketched him, but I was excited about the idea that he was contemplating his life. Compositionally I added the 'rose-tinted' sky to increase to the feel I was after.

Cheers

Ryan