A look at Leading Lines

Leading Lines are important in a painting, although they may not be obvious. They tell the viewer where the focal point is and draw the viewers eye around the painting.  Not a new invention, the old masters used leading lines in their works and we still do today.

Here's my reference photo taken on a recent holiday in Cornwall

Veryan Beach

I do a quick sketch to get an idea of layout

in the next image I've added notes to show where the leading lines are

- also you will see a barely perceptible grid of thirds,

that's why I made a note about moving the building over to it

                                      ⤵︎

This was enough information for me to set out the drawing onto a

6" x 4" board for this oil painting

(small and quite fiddly to paint in detail, but nonetheless I enjoyed this little piece)

Palette Cleaning

I know!

not the most riveting of videos, but after all the oil paintings, thought you may be a tad interested in seeing how the 'palette' I bought a while back is cleaned up

(don't worry, it doesn't show ALL of the clean up, only part)

A small canvas on the easel

I tend to select a canvas size according to the subject I'm going to paint.

In this case it was a photograph our daughter had taken of a Lamb,

and I happened to have a small

8" x 8" canvas read and prepared with an acrylic background...

Looks very garish in pink doesn't it.

I love the anticipation of this stage in the process, itching to get paint on the canvas

and at the same time wondering if it will work.

In the eye of the beholder, of course, 

and it's up to others to decide if it's their cup of tea.

"A Day in Spring"

Oil on canvas

(think I did a slight "tweak" of this lamb AFTER I'd taken this photo,

but it was only slight and basically this is the finished piece)

As I have quite a few canvases prepared, and knowing there will be Wet Canvases sitting around in the studio, I decided to clear some shelf space in readiness for those wet Oil paintings

Oil painting on canvas

You may have noticed this painting yesterday in the slideshow,

thought it was worth it's own blogpost today.

This is one of my favourite Arlington paintings as the angle is so different.

It was also fun to paint, lots of thick paint on the palette knife...nothing like it,

and the painting virtually paints itself.  Believe me, that's true. 

Get the Tones right for each colour and your away.

Title:  "A Walk in the Meadow"

Size: 12" x 12"

Knightshayes National Trust

Visiting National Trust properties always gives me lots of opportunities for Painting Reference Photos, and Knightshayes was no exception.

 Oil painting on canvas 16" x 16" (40 x 40cm)

alla-prima textured paint

Title:  "Once in a While"

Textured Oil painting

Painted this little 8" x 8" (20 x 20cm) yesterday.  

When dry it will fit into a deep white frame.