Semi Recovered Fail

Oil No2

Tomatoes and coffee bon't make a great snack but they serve well enough as a still life subject.
I took a bit more care over this one. I really want to be able to paint in the 'studio' and in the evenings so I sorted out some daylight lighting and used a box to reduce background interference.
I got some 20w (100w old skool) low-energy daylight bulbs from 'nulightuk' on eBay http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/nulightuk/. They work well for the subject using a desklamp but I really need another source to light the canvas. One light is just a bit constraining.
An old cardboard box with the front and top removed contains and controls the scene. It should probably be black but I figured I'd done enough prep at that stage and really wanted to start painting.
I also painfully re-learned that painting over graphite pencil with oils is not a good idea (it lifts).

It's so much more enjoyable when you can focus on painting without the time pressure of shifting light. I can see loads of ways to improve this pic but I'm still pretty happy with the result. Can't wait to do another.

Oil

I fancied trying a more robust medium so I got myself some oils. I'd used them once before, years ago got frustrated and never stuck with them.

I know this is a horribly flawed image, I was just getting a feel for the paint again. To be honest it felt alright, I could do with being bolder and less faffy but it seemed managable.

 

The biggest shock was realising just HOW LONG it takes for the blasted stuff to dry.

The Moat at Elstead

Not a terribly exciting image but it has some things going for it. It's of The Moat behind Elstead.

I took off for a couple of hours this morning to see if anything convinced me to paint it. After strolling around The Moat for a bit (remaining unconvinced) I decided I had to do something rather than pack it in so I sat myself at the far side of the pond, looking back on the little sandy beach.

It's not a bad representation the scene but it looks a lot better in the thumbnail than it does enlarged. Lacking crispness and a bit muddy again but I'm happy with it considering I wasn't that motivated.

It's a lovely spot, very relaxing, ducks paddling, ripples rippling, a couple of biplanes droning overhead on the way to the Dunsfold airshow. In the end, as always, it didn't really matter what I came up with, it was just nice to be out and about painting.

I might just treat this and another I did at the time as sketches and have a go at a studio image later.

Mackeral

It's too easy to get used to good weather. This weekend we forgot we were in the U.K. followed a break in the clouds and went line fishing off a boat (Kraken) out of Lyme Regis. The sea was spectacular, a gently undulating glassy surface with a seamless blend between it and the pearly cloud backdrop. Quite a beautiful and surreal experience for an infrequent boater like me.

Of course the weather borked and everyone was soaked within 10 minutes despite coming equipped with perfectly good tee-shirts and even some socks. Anyway, once you're really wet you're probably as wet as you're going to get so we carried on.The company and the fishing was pretty good though; interesting chats and enough of a catch for dinner.

Mackeral are a beautiful fish to catch (easy), eat (tasty) and to look at (stripey). Unfortunately I haven't really done them service here, E.Mc has done much better in the past. To make amends I later headed off to Tesco to have a crack at an iced one but they only had Herring. Arguably as tasty but not such a looker if you ask me.

Cliffs at Burton Bradstock

More of the crazy cliffs at Burton Bradstock near West Bay in West Dorset with the Isle of Portland in the background. This one on a really hot August day with the crowds out. Sun-cream and ice-cream as as as the eye could see.

I'm pretty pleased with this pic; It feels like the place and the paint is going down a lot cleaner than recently. I'm being more agressive with it which seems to be paying off. It's certainly a big improvement on last year's visit to West Bay a bit further west along the coast.

This one is about A5, watercolour with some gouache to help with the people (the dotty bits in the middle). Thanks to A.S. for suggesting adding more green in the summer sky, paradoxically it does feel warmer and helps remove the 'straight from the pan' quality from the F.U.Blue.

Last Year's images http://paulmcsblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/west-bay.html

Grey Day by Golden Cap

A Bleak day and quite a bleak picture. Had an hour between downpours to rattle one off on the beach by Golden Cap (Lyme Regis in the background).

I had some problems with laying down the initial tonal values so it's a bit overworked but worth doing, any practice is good practice.

Beer Garden

Some success (by my standards) though. It was a wet Sunday but later in the day the sun came out and we retied to the beer garden of the Manor Hotel in West Bexington.
Ordered cider for the first time since being a student, good choice, I suspect there's more to follow if the summer holds out.
Anyway, this pic has some annoying shortcomings but I'm happy enough considering I was 2 pints in.

The second image is a kitchen repainting I did later (for Maria and Si) which presumably relegates the first one to sketch status now. I suppose the repaint has lost a bit of spontaneity but I actually think it's a much nicer pic and captures the mood of the place more effectivly.

Coastguard

If anyone needs an image to put on a souvenir tea-towel or box of fudge then I'm yer' man.

Here's a quickie of the fields behind the coastguard cottages at West Bexington.

Later in the day I tried to recreate the feel of the place from memory. I like the way it's become more stylised but there's not much in it really. That said, the process of reimagining the scene was an interesting exercise in itself, worth doing if you get the chance.

Behind Elstead

Another empty landscape. This one is to the back of Elstead village. I 'm lucky enough to pass this way most mornings. It's pretty parched now in mid Summer but it's amazing how it changes through the seasons.

This pic' might not look much to you but I'm really happy with the way the paint is going down here and the fact that the image captures the colour/light pretty successfully. I'm going to try some other similar, simple compositions to keep paint options to a minimum and reduce the potential for messing up.