Yes, you’ve seen it before but not quite like this. Someone wanted to buy the original, but then wanted it bigger and whilst I was at it could I put their parents in – along with the dog. So anything to oblige… I also took the opportunity to work out how to do it as a demo as a local group want a landscape demo in watercolour, so all in all, hopefully it was time well spent.
Other landscapes are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
I have noticed that there is less of an appetite for landscape these days. This has come about by observing other people’s superb work languishing in exhibitions. It seems that unless there is a connection with a particular view there is no interest. But I must say I love painting them. This is based on a view I saw looking over a fence in Berkshire the other week. I love the lush foliage and the shocks of light and shade – so I’ll go on painting them even if no one is too bothered.
Other landscapes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com or get one commissioned – I have very reasonable rates.
I’ve done scene before and posted it, but I came across it the other day and wondered if I could try it in the three cool colours I use, following on from the previous post where I used three warm colours. So this was done with lemon yellow, alizarin red and winsor blue. I have tried this combination before and found it quite difficult, when compared to using the warm colours – maybe it’s the more staining effect of the winsor blue and alizarin which can quickly overpower the painting . I must try a few more to see if you get a different feel to the paintings with the cooler colours.
I wasn’t completely happy with the original painting which you can see below and applied the paints on this one in a much looser way.
Other landscapes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
With the equinox turning I thought I might ponder on things to come, well at least for us in the northern hemisphere.
Though no doubt we’ve got a few more good days to come before winter grips it’s pull.
Other landscapes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
These ducks amused me, but really I was taken by the row of distant trees in the morning light which I got by splattering colour into a sprayed paper.
Other landscapes are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
Some time ago I reported, after painting the plein air Downholland Farm I posted, that I had left my portable palette behind. When I came back to search for it I came in my car and had to park on some waste land and the easiest way was to cut through this small copse. I loved the evening light coming in through the trees and the branches and trunks cutting across the scene making an almost stained glass effect. When I came out of hospital last week I thought that I could do this in pastel and sat down and cracked on and produced this pastel below:
I thought that the pastel would allow me to get the criss-crossing branches easier and also allow me to work up the foliage catching the light in the shadows. I was unhappy with the results and decided to have another go in watercolour. I tried a splattering approach with the foliage on the watercolour and got some wonderful textures, but had to go over a lot of it in order to get the tonal contrast I was after. In the end the result was better but still it lacked the impact that I was after.
Other landscapes are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
Being a sort of obsessive I do paintings over and over again. This is the latest version of this path which connects the north end of Formby with the sea via the pinewoods and skirting one of the many golf courses here. I am beginning to feel a bit satisfied with the outcome. I initially went in with warm red, blue and yellow and mixed the colours all over the paper, spraying and mixing the quite strong colours. Then, when dry I rewet some of the paper with spray and mixed in the foliage, extending the trunks at the same time. I am pleased with the effect of the light even though I have painted over the whole paper. On a previous edition I deliberately left the area of the sun white, yet it doesn’t have the same impact of lightness – see below.
Also the trees on the right now have more vitality and their warmness complements the colder colours on the left. I feel there is a greater sense of mystery in the new painting.
Other landscape paintings are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
