6.00 am, plein air, oil on board apprx. 15 x 20 cm.
9.30 pm, plein air, oil on board apprx. 15 x 20 cm.
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Chywoone Hay Bales, Dusk, 13th July 2018, 9.30pm
Plein air, apprx. 20 x 15cm
The last of the current batch of hay bales. To my surprise nearly all of the hay bales have already been removed from the field. I wonder now if there will be a second batch in a month or two, or that’s it for this season.
Sky Colours
Plein air, apprx. 20 x 15cm
A rapidly executed sketch trying to catch some aspect of the sky over the Atlantic just after sunset. During the last week or so of fine weather the skies have been cloudless, presenting an ever-changing parade of colours from sunset through to late dusk.
It’s a challenging discipline to try and match ( guess? ) the colours in the fading light, for as quickly as one determines a colour and then tries to mix an approximation of it on the palette, the colour one is trying to match has already changed when one looks back at the sky moments later. Nonetheless, studies like these coupled with pencil sketches and written notes taken from life prove to be a far more valuable reference when making a painting in the studio than a library of photographs .
Hay Bales at Chywoone
It’s that time of year again, and unlike last year when wet weather rapidly put paid to the prospect of painting the hay bales in the fields, this year we are having a run of fine, sunny weather, so I thought I would get in early with some studies before the bales are taken away or the weather turns.
8th July 2018, 11.00am, plein air, oil on board approx 20 x 15cm
7th July 2018, 9.15pm, plein air, oil on board approx 20 x 15cm
Pond Revisited
Plein aire, oil on board, apprx. 20 x 30cm
A slightly ‘deeper’ and more resolved sketch of the pond up on the moorland at Carn Kenidjack. Hoards of brilliantly coloured dragonflies hunted and chased each other in the breeze, flitting over the water surface in a wild acrobatic dance. The sound of wings rustling and whirring as they collided with each other in mid-flight broken by the wind and the distant call of a cuckoo.
Three sketches, 12th May, 2018
A day of early morning spring sunshine followed by heavy showers and dramatic clouds at sunset.
Plein air, oil on board apprx. 15 x 20 cm
6.30 am
Plein air, oil on board apprx. 15 x 20 cm
2.40 pm
Plein air, oil on board apprx. 15 x 20 cm
8.40 pm
Moonset, 30th April 2018, 5.50am
Plein air, oil on board apprx. 15 x 20 cm
For a few months in spring and autumn the Moon, just after full, sets over the ocean overlooking the cape a little before the first light of the rising sun touches the landscape. In the 15 minutes or so after completing this sketch, scattered, ragged-edged clouds came up from the south and caught the light of the sun, the colours running quickly up the spectrum from red to orange to yellow through to creamy white, the light mirrored in the ocean while bathing the shadowed landscape in subtle, warm, shades. A morning to be long remembered.
