A day at the seaside up in Cumbria: I spotted these rock poolers on their summer holidays and took a few photos. The lad quickly wandered off but I caught a pose as he stood by another pool and in this painting drew him in a position that gave some narrative.
Other seaside paintings are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
Rushing around looking at replacement paintings for the exhibition after the sudden sales, I considered a number of local landscapes for display. Some I had affinity for but was reluctant to put on show. So when the dust settled last week I thought that I should see whether I could get them to a stage where I would put them in a frame to exhibit.
This is the first one – the beach at Southport in the evening. The first version was quite large – a half imperial sheet. I realised I could get the essence by compressing it, with the sand, grasses and reflections on the water constained by a narrow format. I also kept a tight reign on the hue, reflecting the beach in the sky.
Other local beach scenes are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
One of the limestone stacks just off the beach at Krabi, Thailand. This was painted from a beach in a national park where some of the rules on the sign as you entered were: no food and dont feed the monkeys. How could you feed the monkeys if you weren’t allowed food?
When we got to the beach there were some exclusive hotels – but you couldnt get anything to eat as they firmly said Guests Only. So I just sat on the beach and contemplated the view. It was pretty good and there there was even a long tailed boat in view.
On another day we went on an island hopping boat trip to some exclusive beaches – though they weren’t that exclusive as everyone else was doing the same. So we had small pockets of sand overrun with tourists like us, wondering why they had come. Outside our hotel there was a vast sandy beach with hardly anyone on at all – oh well… .
The second sketch was done whilst we jostled for space on Paradise island, named possibly as it was one of the few islands with a toilet.
Other landscapes and seascapes are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
OK an old image for the New Year, but I wasn’t happy with my first attempt at ‘Entering Ainsdale Woods’. So here’s a second go and a title that saves overtaxing the troll’s sticky fingers.
I always have difficulties with light foregrounds against dark backgrounds and on the first one I had to resort to gouache to make some reclamations. I also felt the background tree trunks were too uniform and the dog needed repositioning. The first one looked quite good on the screen but the original didn’t stand up to close scrutiny – so that’s why you’re getting it again. This one has a lighter touch and brings out the sunlight on the autumn leaves which was something I was after.
So in compensation for repeating work, here’s a second painting, this time a repeat of ‘Receding Tide’. Hopefully I have now got the still wet feel of the shingle which I felt was missing on the first go and I extended the amount of shingle to break up the textures .
Paintings for sale are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
We had some French people staying with us at the weekend and on Saturday we all set off for a walk along the woodlands, dunes and coastline to the north of Liverpool. It was a warm, glorious day and at lunch time we descended the dunes and had a picnic on Formby beach. Probably the last opportunity this year to do such a thing. This was the view as we searched for somewhere to settle down to eat.
The next day the weather was markedly different as we walked along the Mersey in south Liverpool. We had to find shelter from the rain and had our lunch in the car. Though later in the day, as we were leaving, the sun broke the clouds and the exposed Mersey mud glistened, allowing the Oystercatchers to find their evening meal. I might have a go at that view in the coming days.
Other views of Formby and the coastline are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
Taking a break from my series of watercolours, I thought that I would do something with acrylics. I have to give an acrylic painting demonstration in Blackpool next week and decided to feature this piece which I posted on my blog some years ago. It is done with square brushes to block in colour and, hopefully, encourages looseness and produces a more painterly piece, which some people prefer. I like to have a run through of a demonstration to ensure that I can complete it in the allotted time and this one is a bit bigger than the normal size I demonstrate.
Other acrylic paintings for sale are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
Well maybe I’m starting to get somewhere on my project of painting local scenes. At last a picture I am happy with. I was aided by some scratching out on this one and I also must admit to using a bit of gouache – but all in the best possible taste.
I did the original version of this on site in May, sitting in the evening sun. It does contain a wide range of colours, but then that is how it is, though on the final version I did some glazing to try and unify it. Looking back I didnt post the original sketch, so here it is.
Below is a snap of the scene, as I sat on top of the dunes.
Other paintings of the local area and further afield are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com or my new version: grahammcquadefineart.co.uk
