A cold misty day....

 ......not the sort of day for standing outside painting.  That's what I was faced with yesterday at Arlington Court.  My intention was to paint a plein air study of a hydrangea - they have some lovely shrubs over there, so before the flowers went over too much, I wanted to capture at least one of them.   

A good idea in theory, but it was cold and misty when I arrived yesterday - life of a painter!  Thankfully the staff at Arlington are really helpful, they agreed for me to paint in their Exhibition area (currently the bookshop, where I painted the other week).  But first, I needed some reference photos, so off I set with my camera...

As you see, some of the flowers were going over, but even so, there was something very nice about them too.  In amongst all the blues, there was one pink flower...

did you spot the spider!

As tempting as it was to paint the pink version, (and that would have been minus the spider),

I opted for blue

and went with this photo for reference - thought it had a nice shape

My easel set-up

work-in-progress stage

At this point I left it.  This oil painting needs to dry, otherwise I would be moving paint around too much.

It also gives me the chance to set it aside, and come back to it when it is dry.

I will then work on it again, to hopefully complete.

~ Will update you on this in a week or so ~

Alla Prima

 

(Alla Prima = painted in one go) 

I will leave this one to dry, then look at it again in a couple of weeks time.  It was painted very spontaneously (the weather changes here so quickly) - but does convey the drama of the day.

and yes, it will be listed for sale.

 

Finally this one is considered done...

 ....I think

Apart from a bit of drying time, for those completed tweaks, this painting will eventually be online.

I really enjoy doing these landscapes - all based on the views from nearby Exmoor and also, not so far from us, Dartmoor.  They are both a wealth of information and inspiration for painters.  

here's a very short little clip from my Tiktok showing this painting

- as always click the image:

Some alla prima indoor art at Arlington

Had a great day at Arlington Court yesterday - not my usual plein air painting in the grounds, but this time setting up my easel in the bookshop - Arlington have been fortunate to have been donated a large collection of Art related books for their shop, so it made an opportunity to have an Art in the Bookshop Day.  

Worth all the prep work and meeting some lovely visitors - plus painting an alla prima piece. This little blue chair is part of the collections at Arlington, so it was a good opportunity to paint an Indoor scene for a change. I have also Donated a collection of my artworks to Arlington, which will be on display for purchase (see images). Many thanks to the staff at Arlington for their support, you are very much appreciated 🎨

"Little Blue Chair" artwork : Oil painting 8x8inch box canvas

ref photo ↴

hopefully the above paintings will help raise money for Arlington Court

(note: I donate 75% of the raised funds to Arlington and 25% will help me buy more canvases and paints)

The beginnings of a Landscape painting

I actually remembered to do some video filming yesterday when I was painting plein air again at Arlington Court - National Trust - (click the image below, you can always scroll to speed it up!)

Vignette time

 

Decided that on this occasion it would be useful to paint a small study - this will inform a future larger painting.

I've added a short vblog to my youtube channel too...

https://youtu.be/GMQtQMhbWKw

(or click this image)

Palette knife

Recently picked up my palette knife and did a series of paintings.  Set aside to dry, so they are in various stages of work.  Here’s the first to be completed and as you see it is dramatic….the weather here can change rapidly, so storms are a part of life.  How could I not capture this! 

8x8 on panel

I would love to know your thoughts.

Silly season weather

Can't seem to plan anything due to the weather changing, especially for plein air painting.  I try to set a particular day in the week for Arlington Court painting, but then the weather has other ideas.  Even when I look at the weather forecast it all goes off kilter!  ☔️

Hence the other day I grabbed a sunny-ish day at last, whoop whoop 🌤

The advantage to painting, is you can move things about from the actual scene.  When trees are in the wrong place, I move them in the painting.  Not too much though, I still want the scene to be as realistic to life as possible.

I was going to take my other easel (the one in the photo above is a pochade box on a tripod) - my french easel would have been fine but I'm finding it way too heavy and cumbersome - some things are better used in the studio.    I had hoped to video using my iPhone, which meant needing the tripod (dilemma time!).  Semi-resolved as I held the camera briefly for a very short clip of painting, but later turned to Amazon for a cheap tripod just for the iPhone in the future.  At least that should work much better and I'll be able to take you all along on my plein air painting days via my Youtube channel.

Meanwhile, click this image for the little clip I did manage to get...

Another update on the Agave Americana

 Measured it yesterday and now grown to 25ft

Agave Americana