SUNLIGHT PRIES THE FOREST GLOOM – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

Sat alone in the pop-up gallery on Friday, I had time to give a forest scene another go. I wanted more colours to come through with the underpainting and thereby give the undergrowth some more umph, so to speak. The light at the end of the tunnel worked, though I am thinking of a red glaze and a few more darker areas to ramp up the drama in the foreground. It is only as I am writing this that these thoughts occur. Anyway, take a look before it nosedives.

Other forest scenes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

MORNING AT AINSDALE WOODS – PASTEL PAINTING

I attempted this small painting three times until I was happy with it. This version was done on Pastelmat support and it gave me the saturation I was after. For the background sky I scraped different pastels onto the board and wet the scrapings with a brush to get an even transition of colours.

The first attempt was done on pastel paper. This is the one below. Here, I used gouache to get the background sky, not pastel, as I did above.

The pastel colours do not sing out and appear flat and dull to me. I also felt there was too much foreground. So I tried again:

This time I obtained the background sky, as I did with first painting – scraping various pastels and wetting the scrapings to get an even background on pastel paper. I also reduced the foreground. It had a better saturation of colour at the end, but some of the darker colours failed to sing out. So that was when I resorted to the pastelmat.

I have used Clairefontaine pastelmat in the past and have always been happy with the results. I did not use it much as I couldnt find any larger sheets of it. The top painting was done on a 30x40cm sheet. Recently, someone told me bigger sheets were available and now I can get 50x70cm sheets which allows me to tackle slightly bigger pieces.

The downside of the pastelmat is the price and the lack of even bigger sheets. However, I wont be using it for life painting, and it is here where I go even larger, but it will allow me to do my small and medium size paintings and get some great vivacity of colour.

Other landscapes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

EDGE OF THE FOREST – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

Another view of my local woods at Ainsdale. This time it wasnt so much the light that attracted me – but the colours. The orange and yellows pitted against a blue grey background. I also loved the mistiness and mystery of the forest beyond, with ghostly shapes of pine trees appearing and disappearing.

Then there was the bracken – always a pain to paint – well it is for me. I viewed it as a challenge and I think it comes over as the ragged mess that it always seems. I did think of leaving it out altogether but the dead orange foliage might have been too much on its own and the bracken sets the scene and leads the viewer into the action. Well, that was the plan.

Many other forest scenes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

LIGHTING THE PATH – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

Another in my sporadic woodland series illustrating the magic conjured by light and shadow. You may be flagging of the subject, but I never tire of these scenes that I happen upon in our local woods at Ainsdale. This is one of the many pathways that criss-cross the forested dunes and at the end; a beckoning light, just over the horizon. It makes me realise how superstitions grow.

Other woodland scenes are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

SUNLIT BIRCHES BY THE FOREST PATH 2 – PASTEL PAINTING

A few weeks ago I posted a version of this painting of Ainsdale Woods, near Southport, where I live and multiplemichael multiplemichael offered the criticism that it lacked a focus. I thought that I would repeat the painting and test this idea out. The only way I could introduce a focal point and maintain the spirit of the piece, as far as I could see, was to place two sunlit birches into the foreground to lead the eye into the scene and onto the spotlighted trees which was my initial impetus for the piece.

So here is my interpretation and I do think that the addition brings something extra to the image. Though, as is often the case when you repeat any painting, some of the subtleties of the first painting, which I liked, got lost. I may be able to regain these by further small adjustments.

A big issue I have had is getting a faithful reproduction of these images which, having a wide tonal range, can give some strange colour effects.

I have put a copy of the first version below for comparison. I certainly appreciate any critical comments, as it makes me aware of issues I may have overlooked. It can prove very useful and I value it higher than praise.

Just a pity the spineless troll doesnt possess the same skillset, then it might be worth reading its splenetic autorepeat-rants.

Other forest scenes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

LIGHTS OF THE FOREST – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

A fellow painting blogger mentioned her drawer of shame for paintings that failed to meet expectations. I felt that the title was harsh but then thought she could mean: ‘shame, a few bits let it down – I’ll have another go later’ drawer . This latter title describes a pile of paintings that I have. They just need tweaking to get to the conclusion I would be more comfortable with.

A version of the painting above – of a summery Ainsdale woods, the same place I did a mini series of paintings recently – was on that pile. I liked the contrast of lights and shade in the first version, but too much of it was variations of green. So the other day I picked it up and had another go. This time I accentuated the colours: greens, blues and purples in the shadows and a real hit of red on the path. Just taking the scene and pushing it a little further.

There may be a little more to be done. I have, so far, resisted putting texture on the path as there is loads of texture and busyness everywhere else and I am wondering whether to further darken the shaded areas at the sides, but am wary about losing the gentle purples and blues. So this may be the finished version.

Other forest scenes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

PATH AMONGST THE BIRCHES – ACRYLIC PAINTING

You would be almost correct if you thought you’d seen this before. It is another version of a watercolour I posted earlier in the month. This time I put it on a 76×50 cm canvas and used acrylics. I pushed back the thicket on the right, compressing the trunks and focussed more on the shadows they created on the path – adding a few more for good measure. Hopefully I’ve created a bit more energy on this one and it more accurately reflects the feeling I had cycling through our local woods in Ainsdale on that recent sunny Saturday.

Other landscapes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

A SHADY COPSE IN AINSDALE WOODS – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

Here is the third of the paintings from my recent afternoon’s cycle trip. This one is from the start: as you exit a small copse onto a long open path that runs alongside the woods – before entering the main body of the forest. Again, the glow of the birches is evident, tempered by a canopy still provided by, mainly, sycamores.

I painted this in a direct style, a different approach than I normally use in watercolour. It was more like one I use in acrylic painting, where I build up blocks of colour. In this case, with watercolour, I worked light to dark. After enough applications you get a wonderful muddle of woodland foliage and the contrast of the light and shade lifts it that bit further.

Hopefully, it encapsulates a sunny autumn day.

Other woodland scenes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

SUNLIT BIRCHES BY THE FOREST PATH – PASTEL PAINTING

I mentioned in my previous post about a cycleride in the afternoon sun, last Saturday. Here is another in the small series of paintings from that trip. This one’s a pastel. The low afternoon sun pierces through gaps in the forest, picking out skeletal birch trees, which hang there, like automatons on a ghost train ride, scaring no one.

A fellow blogger, N, from Ink,Yarn and Beer told me to look at the pastel work of Karen Margulis. In one utube video she used a wet brush to spread and mix the pastel across her support. When I’ve done this the paper cockles, making further work difficult. But recently I have been using gouache as a base for dark areas in my pastels and havent had any issues. So, for the forest background, I dragged down purples, siennas and browns with a wet brush to create a backdrop, using Karen’s approach. I also did it in the sky. With the amount of water kept to a minimum it seemed to work. When the sky and backforest was dry, I went in with the foreground trees, grasses and the leaf covered path.

It is a dark piece and I am a little undecided about it, particularly its commercial potential, but I’ll put it up and see how I feel about it in the coming days. I have another watercolour on the go from this trip and am thinking of making the previous painting of the birch copse with shadows, into a bigger acrylic piece.

Other landscapes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

PLEX MOSS LANE – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

Here are a couple of old paintings I reworked recently. This one, of the local reclaimed farmlands behind our town and the roller-coaster lane that runs across it, was washed with water and almost half of the painting removed or reduced in tone. I then repainted the foreground. Hopefully it now has a softer feel. more appropriate to an early morning scene.

And another painting given a similar treatment. This one, of Rivington Pike, which you can see across the moss from Southport, where I live. A similar approach was done to this, washing off the lower half to increase the impression of morning light and then reworking the fore ground.

Both were long format paintings which I am presently short of, ready for any upcoming exhibitions.

At present I am working on some big commission pieces with one almost finished, allowing me to start on the second one. I have posted sketches of them earlier and hopefully will have something to show soon.

Other landscape paintings are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com