Adventures In A Painted Landscape

I’m slowly, creakily, getting back to my painting and it feels, as always, like starting from scratch. So these oil sketches are a bit dauby and clumsy, and I expect that’s how it will be for a while.

It’s much easier to paint when you’re already in the habit of doing it. Once you stop, the fear (or whatever it is) builds up and beginning again seems like quite an obstacle. Whether it’s fear of failure, or success, or both, I’m not sure – but it certainly gets in the way, and not just for me – I know other people who have the same feelings.

I think really it all boils down to something Lowry once said: Painting is ‘damned hard work’.

cloud study, oil on canvas, 6x8 inches

cloud study 2, oil on canvas, 6x8

light over Dentdale, oil on canvas, 6x8

Finally, some of the paintings are dry. All are 6×8 plein air oils carried out in quickly changing conditions!

a gnarled and twisted hill

ran out of time - crazy sky!

light breaking through

hurried sketch

hills and sky in turmoil

low cloud - after slight fettling at home

Well I’ve managed to foolishly run out of both canvas and white paint! So a hurried order has been placed and in the meantime I’ve been doing some oil sketches on pieces of paper, ekeing out the last few blobs of Flake White, and trying to look at the world upside-down as much as possible.

These are some of the sketches that resulted. I’ve scanned them now that they’re dry enough as my photos were so hopelessly dark and blurry in comparison with the real paintings. Everything is really colourful at the moment and lots of hay-making is adding yellow to the landscape. Also, looking at things upside-down brings out a lot of the blue and violet in the distance for some reason.

Green into yellow - 6x8, oil on paper

High Summer 6x8 oil on paper

Sky Colours - 6x8, oil on paper