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!