Landscape Paintings, People in Landscape Oil Painting Update

Following on from earlier in the month, this is a further stage in what is a large painting by my standards. I still have a lot of work to do on refining tones and background. This is 30" x 20" oils on canvas. In this painting I have to get the tones just right for to allow the bright areas to really glow, as making the feeling of light on a flat surface with paint is limited compared to how bright things look on say a television or with actual light sources. Hence achieving this in a painting really makes them come alive. Hopefully I can get it as good as possible here. I also hope to finish this soon, maybe in the next week or so. Jim

Painting people in Oils - Painting People in a Landscape

The above is a snapshot of progress in this large oil 30" x 20" of three girls walking along a fence pole. This is a further practice work to get better at painting people and painting people in a landscape. I will post further when it is progressed as always. That't it for now, just to show progress. Jim

Snow Scene of Trees -- Snow Tree Finished Painting

This is my latest finished painting of a beautiful tree in the snow. I have included it for sale in the gallery below, and will be hopefully making prints of this soon. This is a quick post today to include it here. Comment s Welcome -- Jim

Claude Choules -- Last Link to WW1 RIP

As I have an interest in the last veterans of this war, I mark the passing today of Claude Choules who was living in Australia and was the last remaining living link with what has been known as the Great War. 65 Million were involved in this war and he was the last to pass away at the great age of 110. He was also the only living veteran of both world wars and the 7th oldest man in the world. He was dancing and swimming until aged 100 and wrote his memoir two years ago at the age of 108. It is titled The Last of the Last. He was the last after the death in 2009 of Harry Patch and Henry Allingham, who himself became the oldest living man in Europe and if I remember correctly lived to be 112. I watched a documentary a few years ago about them, and one anecdote they told was standing in line for a meal, one saw a small girl. He turned to another veteran and said "Do you see that three year old girl, I am 100 years older than her!" To which the other replied "That's nothing, I am 103 years older than her!" Amazing to think of the changes that these people have lived through during the course of their very long lives. May they rest in peace.

Watercolour Fairy Painting - The Magic Lesson

I am returning to a loose end (this painting of fairies - the little sprite is receiving a magic lesson from a fairy) which needs tidying up this week, in aiming to complete this watercolour which I inked out a while back, last year if I remember or longer.... Anyway, I am interested in painting fantasy images as some followers have seen in the past. I aim to complete a few more of these type of watercolours while hopefully improving my technique. As can be seen here, watercolour is tricky and I still need to work on the background. I might decide to paint in oils even for these type of images. The main advantage of watercolour is the lovely effects you can get in manipulating the paint with rubbing alcohol, salt or various other methods. Glazing and dry brush technique, etc.. are all great and help to create that atmospheric look. Here I have used salt on the foreground rocks, but I need to improve the background and still a bit to do in getting colours to balance. I will be working on my other oil paintings along side this so check back soon for updates on them. Jim