Howth Head Painting -- Day 4

Today I worked for around two and a half hours on the painting, concentrating on the sky and the land in the distance. I have used six colours in this painting so far, viridian green, lemon yellow, naples yellow, raw umber, cerulean blue and titanium white. For the sky I used various mixes of the latter two. For the land in the distance I used raw umber with the blue, and adding white to this as needed to give various shades of shadows on the hill. Then I used lemon yellow with the blue and small touch of viridian to paint some of the green specks of lighter areas. Finally I have used washes of the blue and raw umber to further enhance the bluish haze of the distance. I also worked on the sea just below the land a little, but haven't really got stuck into it yet...check back again in a day or three as I am likely to be busy tomorrow. That's it for now and thanks for stopping by.

Howth Head Painting Progress -- Day 3, Harry Patch RIP

Here is a couple more steps down the road for this painting...just about the undercoating stage finished. As can be seen I mostly used the same colours as before, Cerulean Blue and Titanium White, with some Raw Umber mixed into the blue for the distant penninsula of Howth, and the small shadows from the dog, the waves and the children. I could have used a few more colours but decided to keep it rather simple for now. I am mostly trying to establish the light and dark of the image at this stage, not that there is much dark in this one. I'm painting a little each day at the moment, not more than two hours at a time. I have other things to do as usual. Still, progress may be slow but steady. I have a few more ideas I may get up and running and progress in tandem with this painting, so check back as usual and see their updates.

Now I want to pay my respects to Harry Patch (pictured here) and Henry Allingham, the last survivors of the First World War who both died this week past. Harry died last Saturday, aged 111 and Henry about a week before aged 113. Henry was the oldest man in the world at the time of his death, after the previous holder, Tomoshi Tanabe died not so long ago. With their passing, the last first hand accounts of the sacrifices made by their generation are now gone. May they rest in peace. I will write more about them another time. Here is a link of interest, Harry Patch Biography.

Howth Head Painting Progress - Day 2

This is the second progress shot from my painting -- Howth Head from Portmarnock Beach, showing the undercoat painted for the sky. I used Cerulean Blue and Titanium White, and also tried something I hadn't before, Liquin impasto for to thicken the paint a little. It gives a thicker feel to the paint, and lessens the transparent look of undercoat painting. The paints I use are Artists Oil Colour grade, so have the most intense pigments. I think it shows in the final paintings, so I am glad I invested the extra when I bought them, although they were costly at the time. I bought twelve or so colours (spaced equally around the colour wheel) at the time I replaced my old paints, about two years ago. I didn't have so much time today to work on painting, so this is it for now. As the underpainting progresses, the main thing I want is to build the feeling of a certain type of light into the painting and to create the feeling of depth and distance. For me, as for most people, this is an ongoing learning curve. However, I do feel I am making some progress in that department. So comments welcome, as I post more shots of this painting's progress.

That's it for now, if you like my art, check out my other work. Click art slide show. I have prints available for many of the paintings shown and also sell originals as and when I have some available, so send me an email, jimsartemail@hotmail.com if you see something you like. Thanks for stopping by, and catch you again soon!

Latest Painting -- Portmarnock , Initial Sketch

This is the initial sketch I have done for my next painting. It is a view from Portmarnock beach of Howth Head. Howth Head is a penninsula on the edge of Dublin city. The beach is a long strand which is north of the penninsula, and a popular place for getting a breather from city life. I am working from a photo I took on my birthday. I drew the above onto the canvas, but only drew the cloud shapes in charcoal. I learnt from the last painting that the waterproof marker I used here is hard to cover when used in the sky. So hopefully I can progress this further during the week, as I have other time demands too this week. Check back tomorrow or the next few days to see a slight bit of progress or perhaps more...

Seascape in Donegal -- Last Photo

As promised here is another shot of painting progress of the sky from my seascape, Crohy Head. Unfortunately before I sold this painting I forgot to take any further shots of it, so this is the final one I have to show. Nevertheless my technique for painting is to gradually work on the clouds and sky shapes in a similar fashion to my previous demonstration -- see Snowy Track from last year. It's a gradual working up of colour and shape until I begin to feel that it is close to what's needed. Hope you can enjoy seeing some of my progress shots. That's it for another short post. Better to post little and often than not at all....

Oil Painting Demonstration -- Seascape of Donegal

The following are photos of progress on a painting which I reprised recently, Crohy Head in Donegal. It was painted over approx. 20 hours, in May. I drew out the drawing using a watercolour marker which can be painted over easily. The above shows progress at about 5 hours, one of painting and four of preparation.

Each of the photos here is approximately one or two hours apart.

The above is about halfway stage of the painting and the below is about completion stage of the sea and rocks. I will post some more shots of the sky progress in the next day or so. So feel free to check back in to see it...also if you like my art, why not tell your friends to visit the site. I will be posting new art as and when I can. I am now able to offer A4 inkjet prints for sale -- price 12 euro, alongside A3 size laser prints (price -- 10 euro) of many of my most popular paintings. So if you like a painting you can send me an email regarding availability in print to jimsartemail@hotmail.com

I'm going to try to raise the profile of this site, by posting on a more frequent basis as much as possible, as I have been finding an increased interest in my work from visitors to the blog. So that is encouraging. As a result, and due to the increasingly difficult environment of recession hit Ireland, I am going to concentrate on the potential market available through this medium. So far this year, I have sold almost every painting I have done, within a short period of time, approximately 2-3 months. So I must be doing something right. Apart from that, I also find that posting frequently encourages me to paint more frequently too.

Finally Cosyheart are launching their beautiful range of wall heaters featuring various artists work, including my own this August, so visit http://www.cosyheart.com/ to see them.

A4 Prints are now available....

This is just a quick post to say that this week I have purchased a printer. I am now able to offer A4 size prints of some of my paintings. The price will be euro 12 (approx.16 dollars). I have several of my paintings photographed and ready to print -- so if you see a painting on site that you would like me to make a print of, send an email to jimsartemail@hotmail.com

A review of my art progress from blogging.

The blog is just a little over a year old. Happy Birthday! So it's time for a review!

What has it achieved in that time? I have a counter on the bottom of the page and it is now reading 8450 or so, but I reckon several hundred of them are mine. So perhaps 7500 people have viewed the blog in that time. That's an average performance as I haven't pushed it too much. As expected the english speaking countries have predominated. I haven't been the most prolific blogger in the recent months but have managed to keep the blog going. However the real value of the blog has been that I have used it as a reference point to refer people to it, who want to view my art. It has helped me to license my art, and it has been responsible for some sales. All in all, it has been enjoyable and worthwhile and I don't see myself losing interest in it in the immediate future. So I look forward to creating more art and improving as much as possible. I am very pleased with how the last few months have gone. Despite the recession, I have managed to sell pretty much everything that I have painted this year! So the future looks more than positive!

What's happening with the blog? Cosyheart...Check it out.

Any regular followers will be wondering why so few posts...all I can say is that I have been working on the preparation of files for and cooperating with a newly formed company to market my art in England and elsewhere. The name of the company is Cosyheart. They manufacture beautiful heaters which can enhance your home. Obviously I am biased now as they are using my paintings for their range of designs. If you are interested in having one of my paintings on the wall and also the functionality of a heater combined, go along to their website and check out my designs. They are in the process of launching in August, but the site is more or less ready. The above is how my painting Snowy Track appears on their square heater. Here's the link to my profile on their site. Tell all your friends!! Thanks.

The second reason for the lack of posts is that I encountered a problem with my last artistic effort which I have to yet to fix...due to time constraints so I didn't post any of the progression shots of it, even though it is almost complete. I might get around to fixing and completing this painting soon but I have to do an exam in a different pursuit which is distracting me from painting lately. I don't put all my eggs in the one basket!! Anyway I intend to keep this blog going and also improving as an artist - so there will be more posts.

That's all for now. Check back in a week or so....I can't be sure when I will post again but it won't be too long.