Autumn Landscape...process

I actually finished this piece before Christmas, I just didn't get round to posting it on the blog. It began as a class demo, but as is my way, if I'm into it, I'll finish it off in my own time. I'm pretty happy with the depth I've managed to convey, which is something that remained elusive to me for a long time. It ended up being my mothers Christmas present in the end.

Waterfall study process...

Last semester I did a demo of me painting a waterfall in oil, here is the method I followed. I was very careful to include each stage of the process for my students; initial thumbnail sketches to figure out composition, design, values, etc. These drawings are probably the most important stage of the whole process, not to sound hyperbolic. After that I like to do a couple of colour studies to establish the basic colour world of my image before I dive in (which is what I used to do with my work in university, much to the distress of my tutors). After those steps, I feel better prepared for the main event, and have more confidence in general about how I'm going to go about it all. Now, I tone my surface with a neutral like Raw Umber or Burnt Sienna. You can tone your 'ground' with whatever you like, but make sure it makes sense for the specific painting you're working on (for example, I wouldn't use bright red for something like a naturalistic waterfall). Then it's time to paint, outlining my basic shapes first, then blocking in my most obvious values, from dark to light usually...

Maligned Species: Nettles...process

This is a book cover for a series entitled Maligned Species. Some of the other topics included frogs, spiders, and grey squirrels. My topic of course was nettles. This painting is based on a sketch I did on a walk on the outskirts of a small town called Stradbally in Ireland. As soon as I came across this wonderful scene I knew it was going to be my book cover idea. What I was going for is the idea that nettles often seem to encroach on once busy pathways, and man-made places that have fallen into ruin and abandonment. Where once there was thriving human life, now there is only nature enveloping mans emblems of achievement and vanity. So although a maligned species, nettles are often found in secretive places, hiding forgotten wonders, and therefore possess something of a semblance of mystery. I sometimes transfer my drawing onto board or canvas, so it acts as a guide as I paint. This is most usually an illustration technique for me. For this painting I dispensed with the drawing stage, and instead blocked in the basic forms with paint right from the beginning. This can be a much looser, more painterly approach. I think it helped to add some extra spontaneity and vigor to the final look of it.