Gone Fishing- New painting

Gone Fishing
Mixed Media
15x15 inches

First post in a long time but glad to be back!

This one was from a sketching trip from the cool harbour town Eyemouth just down the coast.  It had been on the easel for quite a while but glad to have now got it finished and signed!

Ryan

Waiting for the tide, Oban

Waiting for the tide, Oban

Soft Pastel on Colourfix paper

19 x 27 inches

I just got back from a walking holiday in Glencoe to find out I'd won the Pastel Guild of Europe's Get Dusty landscape competition with this painting- superb!!

Can't wait to try out the set of Girault pastels prize, I've never seen them here in the UK.

I just loved how these boats were sitting in the mud at funny angles and thought that it would make a good but challenging composition.

Ryan

Loch Lomond Sky

Here's a new landscape painting I did.  It is a dramatic sky over the view south/west looking down Loch Lomond. The view was stunning close to the second day of the West Highland Way and this point we'd just walked the length of Loch Lomond (~27miles) heading to a well earned pint at the famous Drover's pub.

You can see one of the tiny islands that dot the Loch.

Loch Lomond Sky

Pastel on Sennelier Pastel Card

24cm x 24cm

Ryan

Brooklyn blues, new mixed media painting

Happy 2013!

I'm back from a bit of a Blogger break, can't believe its been so long since my last post.

Anyway here is the finished mixed media painting that my last post showed the start of:

Brooklyn Blues

Mixed Media on canvas

80x60cm

There was a fair bit of collage and layering of textures to get to this point.  There's lots of subtle relevant inclusions as well that hopefully will mean there's a lot of looking longevity!  My research on New York style building made me realise I'd picked architecture with LOTS of windows, phew!

 This painting now has a new home in my brother's music room and thankfully he was really happy with the way it turned out

Ryan

Last rays- Glen Sannox

Last rays- Glen Sannox
Soft pastel on board
18x12inches

Another landscape from Arran. The previous Bastion painting was from the top left of the ridge looking down to spot this painting is from. Here we are looking back up Glen Sannox with the Bastion on the left guarding the entrance. 'The saddle' can be seen at the far end of the valley. We almost went that way till we say the descent!! Opted to come down 'the Devil's Punchbowl' onto the lush (and boggy!) slope on the left middle distance!

This painting was started on Canson board but I have to say the surface did not suit my heavy impasto style. Lesson learnt. I used one of the Canson boards and used Colourfix 'Supertooth' pastel primer tinted warm red on top to give my grip for my thick pastel layers.


Also tried out my new Henri Roche pastels- very lush and high quality sticks with high pigment content. Very nice - thanks to la maison du pastel

Here's the sketch

Ryan

The Bastion- amended!

I got some great new Unison pastels yesterday- their 'Heavenly Shadows' set. I'd not been happy with the shadows in the mountain of 'The Bastion' painting but didn't seem to have the right colour. The great thing with pastels on Sennelier la carte is that using a bristle brush, you can remove layers of pastel and the paper keeps its grainy surface and you can paint over the top.

I've lightened the shadow overall, especially as the Bastion ridge gets further away. By lessening the contrast between dark and light and cooling the shadow colour, it helps to acheive the effect if the ridge receding into the distance.

Ryan

The Bastion, getting a little late in the day

The Bastion, getting a little late in the day

Soft pastel on Sennelier la carte
16x12 inches

Here's another landscape from the recent trip to the Isle of Arran. The mountain is called The Bastion- quite fitting! The valley below is called The Devil's Punchbowl. The bay in the distance is Sannox Bay where our B&B (and the pub!) were waiting. As the title suggests it was getting a bit late in the day and legs were very tired at this point. Home was in sight but there was no easy path down. Plan A was to work our way along the ridge to te Bastion, where according to the map there was a route down (??), we decided against that!. Take my word for it though the Devil's Punchbowl is no easy shortcut!!

With this painting I was trying to capture the sense of distance and aerial perspective. The contrasts of the deep shadow were tricky to control and not dominate the scene. I opted on keeping it simple and just suggest the forms of the slopes in shadow.

Ryan

Standing Stones, Machrie Moor

Standing Stones, Machrie Moor
Pastel on Sennelier La Carte
16x12 inches

Here's a landscape painting, the first I've done in absolutely ages. These stones are one set of about 13 on the amazingly atmospheric Machrie Moor on the Isle of Arran. We stopped for a while here and soaked up the atmosphere (and a dram of whisky).

In the painting I wanted to capture that atmosphere and sense of peace and remoteness that we felt there.

Ryan

House painting commission

Hillswick

Acrylic and mixed media on canvas

80 x 60 cms

Here's a recent house painting I did for a friend last month.

Ryan

Eyemouth- plein air

Here's a great spot I found a couple of weeks ago down at Eyemouth- about 45mins from Edinburgh. I had a day off and the sun was shining so I decided to head down the coast for some plein air painting.

Cliffs at Eyemouth (sketch)

Oil on board
8x10 inches

Here's where I got to after about an hour and a half- though by this stage the light was really starting to change as it was hitting the cliffs. Since this was the main focus of the painting, I decided to call it a day. It's just a sketch, but something I could use for a studio painting.

Ryan

Heading for home

Heading for Home
Pastel on paper
8x12 inches

A local scene that I've worked up in the studio from a plein air sketch. Added the surfers from a reference photo taken on the same day.

This was a nice day- bit windy as I recall!!

Ryan

Morning light at Bass rock

Morning light at Bass rock

Pastel on paper

12x8 inches

I realised how long it was since I posted a landscape! I've been focussing mostly on figurative/portraiture work for the last year or so and have neglected landscapes

Better late than never! Here's one of my favourite muses, the Bass Rock. This was worked up in the studio from a plein air sketch I did a while back. I really liked the soft light that I saw that day- nice violets and peach/yellows.

Ryan

Stormy seascape study

Stormy Seascape (study),

Oil on canvas

14x10 inches

Trying to improve my seascapes, I realised that I needed to study the movement of the sea a bit more. My coastal scenes tend to focus on calmer sea, and the sea in itself is rarely the focal point. It took about an hour and a half. I'm reasonably happy with the way it turned out and I definitely learned a fair bit from the techniques side of things. The one thing for me is that the pallette of colours doesn't really work here in Scotland as the blue and browns in the rock are too intense. The colours here are much more slate blue/grey for the sea and the rocks locally are a lot darker.

Next I need to try to put some of these techniques to use on original stuff from local scenes.

The beach at North Berwick, Winter sun

The beach at North Berwick- Winter sun

Oil on canvas

16x16 inches

January is a cold month for sure! The sky is usually like this, threatening to hit us with snow, sleet or rain- every now and then though the sun peeks through and lights up the landscape with warm light. Wanted to capture that contrast in this piece.

Ryan

Stormy sky, Cockenzie

Stormy sky, Cockenzie

Oil on canvas
16x16 inches

Painted from sketches and reference shots I made the warmth of my car on the way back up the coast. I liked the energy an colours of the sky over the 'ugly' power station at Cockenzie.

In the distance further round the coast is Edinburgh with Arthurs Seat visible. Wanted to keep these elements subdued and secondary to the sky.

Ryan

Early morning light over Bass Rock

Early morning light over Bass Rock

Acrylic on canvas paper

16x12 inches


I think the summer (what little we had here!) is just about over, so glad I managed to get out for this plein air sketch. This was from a clifftop walk down by Dunbar called Belhaven bay. All in all took about 2 hours.I was excited by the yellow band in amongst the purple/violets/blues going on in the sky.


Ryan

Safe Haven

Safe Haven
Soft pastel on Murano paper
16x12 inches

This was a sail boat moored up in Musselburgh harbour along the road from me. Made sketches and took some reference shots. I've simplified the scene (removing other boats that distracted) and played with the composition a little to make sure the placement of horizon and mast sit on the 'golden mean'.

Plan to work this up into oils later

Haven't posted in a while as my PC finally died and had to be replaced!


Ryan

Cliffs at Dunbar, a plein air sketch

Cliffs at Dunbar, a plein air sketch

Managed to get down the coast at the weekend again (the sun is being very kind). Found a great spot on the beach at John Muir country park near Dunbar, a small fishing town on the East Lothian coatline.

Really enjoyed this one. Was using Acrylic again for PA this time I was armed with some retarding medium and a water spray gun to stop it drying out too fast. This worked much better than the PA I did at Newhailles house (previous post) as I felt much more in control.

A cool thing that happened was the breeze kept blowing sand into my paint which really added to the painting!! A Scottish artist I really like must do this, as this is the effect he gets and I wasn't sure what he was doing. His name is Davy Brown, if you want to google.



Finished Sketch

Cliffs at Dunbar

12x8 inches

Acrylic on board

(~1 to 1 hour 30)

Cheers
Ryan

Lighthouse on Fidra

Lighthouse on Fidra, Scotland

Oil on canvas12x15inches

Fresh off the easel! From just a short drive down the coast, this wee island looks pretty spectacular. The author Robert Louis Stevenson (who lived in these parts) supposedly was inspired to write Treasure Island after being inspired by these little islands here- according to the tourist board anyway!

Ryan

View to Cockenzie, Evening Light

View to Cockenzie, Evening Light

Oil on canvas

18x14 inches

Painted this mostly with painting knife and a little brushwork. Not a traditionally beautiful scene for a painting- dirty big coal burning power station!! That made for an interesting challenge. This is a view along the East Lothian coastline from the beach where I live. Had really interesting colours and hazy effect going on that I wanted to capture.

Ryan