WELCOME TO MY LITTLE CORNER OF THE INTERWEB ~ Artist, animal lover, introvert, disliker of chocolate and jaffa cakes! @annhydeartist on Youtube
A studio painting, the scene taken from a screenshot of the pond at RHSRosemoor Garden @rhsrosemoor
Having waited for the Oil paint to dry, I've returned to this painting and completed it. In fact, I have to say, it didn't actually need much work - keeping it 'natural' (in other words...no fuss) was my aim.
That's the danger area though! - you go back to a painting and start 'Changing' it, where's in fact, it already has the look you are going for, but just need to enhance it slightly. To my non-artist followers, I hope that makes sense.
(as ever, click the image below for a Time-lapse of completing this piece)
Okay, so if you want to sit back and see this video, I suggest you make a cuppa - put your feet up and hope you'll enjoy.
I managed to (not only remember to video) but set up my iPhone and record my painting process at Arlington Court the other day. A challenge in itself, as I kept getting interrupted by visitors - but not complaining, that's what it is all about - visitors enjoy seeing something different and an artist at work often brings people to a stand still - they chat and hopefully I impart some useful painting info to them.
....(as ever, click the image below ↴ - it all begins with a blank canvas)
Now to wait for this - part 1 - of the process to dry
That time of year, the weather is to say the least very unpredictable at the moment - so my plein air painting visits to Arlington Court have to be 'adapted' to say the least. On my journey there, I went through mist/fog (again) - to dry - to sunny and back to fog - then it even showered. Finally, on arriving at
Arlington
There is a back-up plan though. I was able to set up my easel in the Exhibition/bookshop room, at least it was dry and reasonably warm (I kept my coat on).
I had previously taken a photo of the scene I wanted to paint - plus I have done some little 'studies' of the scene...
here's the reference
My previous little studies...
I recently bought a leather-bound sketchbook with a lots of pages, looking forward to using this - and I also prepared all the pages too - some with pva and some with gesso - some of those pages I left as is, but others I have toned with various colours....the idea is, when I have a scene that needs a particular background tone, I'm ready to use it.
For now the painting is drying, which will take a week or so - then I'll decide what need tweaking.
......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
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 ~
....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:
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!)
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...
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!
I get to chat with a lot of visitors over at Arlington Court when I'm plein air painting.
I'm guessing they take a lot of photos but I've rarely seen any of me painting.
That is until this week when a picture of me popped up in a local Facebook group....
I had set-up my easel further away from the pathways on this occasion. Not to avoid people, but to get the angle I needed of the House. Even so, a lot of people came over and chatted. I hadn't noticed at the time, a lady sat on a nearby seat who was sketching and eventually came over to chat with me. I quite envied her simple approach to just sitting quietly and sketching on her own......although it turned out she was 'entertained' by listening to me chatting with the various visitors who stopped by. Her comment was a surprise to me, as she thought I was so patient with people interrupting me when I was busy painting. How kind of her to say - then she saw my Notice inviting people to stop and chat. I pointed out that people hadn't even seen the Notice, and she was even more impressed that I was so patient with the visitors. Wow!...this simple little fact really cheered me.
If you click the image above, hopefully the short video will play.
When you're an Oil painter, waiting for paint to dry is the norm. I found that a bit frustrating years ago, as I wanted to get on and complete a piece of art, but nowadays I go with the flow as they say. In fact, in many ways, it works in my favour by giving me time away from the painting, I then look at it again some weeks later and 'see it with fresh eyes', this enables me to know if anything needs more work.
This is exactly what happened with this one...
"Break in the Clouds" had been set aside for some weeks, so when I put it back on the easel again, I could see where to add extra detail/s. The danger is you can keep going, changing this, changing that, and get nowhere - in the end you have to say 'That's it done".... as with this one. It has the atmosphere I was after.
'Where is this scene' I hear you ask. It isn't far from home and sums up so many views across Exmoor. When we go for a drive to Lynton and the Valley of Rocks, I catch glimpses of painting opportunities and have tried to capture some of them in memory but also some quick photos from the car.... as here ⤵︎
Admittedly they aren't particularly great photos ... but they're certainly enough to jog my memory and even, as with the last picture, the clouds give me ideas for paintings.
As an artist, I'm very inspired by other artists. Oh the list is endless. Artists copy other Artists, it's a given and I love watching artists work, in person and also through Youtube. Some of you may remember that I have taken various 1 or up to 5 day Workshops...mainly those have been in Watercolour. They have served me well and I've taken away (even a very small part) some gem or idea that has gone into my work.
The same goes for Youtube and various artists including Stuart Davies (I've mentioned him before on this blog). His Channel is full of inspiration, although he works his landscapes the same every time. Not a bad thing, it has to be said, and one thing he points out is getting artists to 'relax and not worry about applying paint to canvas' - just go for it and not avoid going back over an old painting. The old Masters used to do that a lot. X-Ray's of their works have shown they painted over and changed their artwork several times. Lets face it, they made mistakes or weren't happy with their art, like the rest of us.
I had a 12x12 inch canvas painting which wasn't working, so I gessoed over it. And there it sat waiting for 'Something'. Then the other day I had that "eureka moment" - or at least a moment of "Oh just get on with it". That was enough for me to put lots of lovely juicy paint on my freshly cleaned palette (nothing like a clean palette to start me off) and within 30 minutes I had painted this one ↴
As often as possible I go to Arlington Court to do some plein air painting...(you know that right, I go on about it enough). Of course the weather does change my plans - early in the week the forecast looks good for a specific day I've chosen, and then on the day it is terrible! Okay, I have to be flexible with my days, but generally I do find the day I have in mind works out. Last week was such an occasion and although the sun didn't show itself, the rain stayed away...bonus Yes.
Having recently completed a view of the House itself, I moved slightly further down the path and turned around to face the church. It appears between the trees in one particular spot and that's where I set up my easel.
Another visit to Arlington Court - oh so lucky with the weather (it has since been raining non-stop)
Turned out to be a very good day weatherwise. I did have a major rethink on the painting - the right hand side in fact, but heyho this is how the painting process goes sometimes. It's quite nice to change something when not sure about it.
Yes, inspiration comes from all directions for me. Thankful to those people who take photos (at these times of lockdown and not being able to plein air paint at the moment). Although I have to admit that it does take me a while to get around to some paintings. Take for instance a photo reference from last September 2020 - posted online in Facebook Group : The Official DOING IT OURSELVES. I'll add Links at the end of this blogpost to the relevant groups and Youtube channel.
Sherrie Petherick from Chateau Basmaignee (Doing It Ourselves Youtube) kindly gave me permission to use one of her photographs - a stunning capture of Mont-Saint-Michel on the coast of Normandy France.
I hope I've done it justice, but needless to say, I really enjoyed painting this one.
~ Many Thanks to Sherrie Petherick for permission to use original photograph ~
...that's how this painting makes me feel. Now we are heading out of Winter and into Spring, those chilly - freezing - bitter cold (you get the idea) days are receding, some of my paintings have been on what I call "catch-up". Having started them back in those 'chilly - freezing - bitter cold days' and waiting for the inevitable Paint To Dry phase, I have now completed this 8x10 canvas panel.
Something very nice about completing a painting after the long wait for paint to dry, but this painting certainly takes me back. When the fire was lit, those shorter days seem to be a memory now.
I say 'new' broadly speaking.
New here, but this painting has been in the background drying for a few weeks.
That's the thing with Oil paints, they need time to dry and for me to spend some away time, so I can come back to it and see it with fresh eyes.
I was happy with this and it's a local scene.
Friends who live on Exmoor took photos a while back and, of course, the inevitable happened
Me: "Would you mind if I did a painting from your photos?"
I'm really lucky that they are happy for me to do a painting (or two - eventually)
and I think they anxiously wait to see the results.
So here it is:
~ as ever, click the above image and see a short video clip of it in some detail.
I didn't video the painting process this time....I forgot! ~
It's always good to shake it up a bit and I've certainly done that with this latest oil painting. Seeing how others paint is always an inspiration to me - some I really enjoy, some I don't - hey that's art! However, I recently got inspired by the work of Turner Vinson and having asked his permission, which he kindly gave, I have tried out one of his demos.
Yes, I learned from it - isn't that what it is all about, even when I go back to my own style. So here (do you hear a drum roll)...this small 5x7
Titled: "On the River- after Turner Vinson"
