Yellow Marble

Yellow Marble - oil on panel

SOLD

Onion & Plum

Onion - oil on panel - 5"x6"

SOLD

 

Red Plum - oil on panel - 4"x5"

SOLD

Skeleton Key

 

Skeleton Key - oil on panel - 5" x 7"

SOLD

Apple & Aubergine

Apple - oil on panel

SOLD

 Aubergine - Oil on panel

SOLD

A couple of autumn studies.

Pocket Watch

Pocket Watch - oil on panel

SOLD

Garlic Clove

 

Garlic Clove - oil on panel -3.5" x 6"

 SOLD

Fig & Orange Segment

Orange Segment - oil on panel - 3.5" x 6"
SOLD

 

Fig - oil on panel - 4" x 6"

SOLD

Retro Cola Bottle

 

Cola Bottle - oil on panel - 3.5" x 5"

 SOLD

 I suppose a year and nine months is long enough since my last blog post....time for an update.  Over the last couple of years I have strayed away from my smaller oil paintings and have been working on other projects, mainly within my publishing contract. I haven't had much time to post to this blog (or the work to post to it), so it has become a bit neglected.  I’ve recently started painting small still life pieces again as a part of my daily practice. These are mainly miniatures - around 4” - 6”, and most will be available for sale via this blog.  Just click the link underneath the painting to bid.

Flower and Pear

Flower and Pear - oil on panel

A study of "dark light".

The Gloaming

 

Red Flower - oil on panel

I have been looking for something very specific in my recent paintings. Something which I have been trying to understand for quite a while. There is a certain aspect of the light which exists between two extremes. Between the light and the darkness is an area of twilight - the dusk of the light -the gloaming. Not shadow or halftone, but a darker light.
The area of intense light which hits the surface of an object directly falls away very quickly from the highest point. Most of the remaining light sits within this twilight area. Rather than a building up of light towards a high point, It is a falling away of the light from the source into a more subtle state. Colours are more subdued -  becoming generally cooler and more muted. It is an area which at first seems quiet, but is actually full of life.

Glenmorangie

 

Glenmorangie - oil on panel

Translucence #2

 

Oleifera - oil on panel

.....and another one.

Studies in Translucence

  

Galliano - oil on panel

Not sure if translucence is even the right word, but here are a few studies where I'm just trying to get the jewel-like quality of the light as it passes through coloured liquids.

Faustino (for "The Routledges")

 

A bottle of fancy Faustino dedicated to "The Routledges", I suppose you can have it back now!

...and another one - Pink Converse #2

Pink Converse #2 - oil on panel

Here's the second converse. A bit tighter this time.

More Converse - Pink Converse #1

Pink Converse #1 - oil on panel

 Following on from an older converse painting - and still keeping with the loose approach (this time probably to the extreme).  Here's the first of two more converse.

Linseed Oil - Staying Loose

 

Linseed Oil #2 - oil on panel

Occasionally - either accidentally or deliberately - I revert to a much looser style of painting, allowing a large amount of the ground of the painting and the canvas to show through. For me, this is usually a raw umber tone. When using the stained canvas itself as a major unifying value within the painting, I'm always surprised by how little actual painting work needs to be done to make the painting work.  When I do this, I do no real underpainting - using a fairly dry brush to just block in the basic shapes and suggest the structure of the subject, as quickly as possible -  whilst allowing the stained canvas to hold the piece together in a unified way. The umber ground acts a middle tone for the entire piece and does the bulk of the work. All that's really needed are the darkest darks and the lightest lights, along with some suggestion of structure and mass in the middle range. I suppose the key is to put just the bare minimum onto the canvas to make it look like the subject. The painting comes together surprisingly quickly and, when it works out, I think is much more interesting to look at - warmer and more dynamic.

Anders Zorn was a master of this technique in his looser work as well as Sargent in most of his portraits….

Anders Zorn - Antonin Proust

Anders Zorn - Coquelin Cadet

John Singer Sargent - Robert Louis Stevenson

I know this isn't a new or surprising technique, but I'm always aware that I don't do it often enough. Staying aware of this approach and keeping it in mind is the challenge, and like most people I never know when to stop and usually end up overdoing it and spoiling the simplicity of the painting. 

Keeping this in mind I picked up the old linseed oil bottle again and had another shot at it, trying to stay simple and let the underpainting do most of the work.  The result is above.

Four Fruit Studies - #4- Strawberry

Strawberry - oil on panel

Four Fruit Studies - #3- Tomato

 

Tomato - oil on panel

Four Fruit Studies - #2- Two Cherries

 

Two Cherries - oil on panel