River Kyle; Tollerton

This is a scene that I have painted before. It's a view of the river Kyle, a small river (at 6 miles one of the smallest in the country) which flows through our village (Alne), on  through Tollerton and into Newton-on-Ouse, where it joins the river Ouse. Although some stretches are straight and featureless, the Kyle is really beautiful in parts, and quite wild. It is a small river but it does have fish in it; I have seen shoals of roach and dace, although you don't see them very often. Occasionally the Kyle has otters in it. Sara saw one in the village a couple of years ago, and I've seen foot prints. It bursts it's banks fairly regularly, including twice recently. After the first of these we drove past a heron every day for a week on our way to work, hunting fish in the flooded field next to the river, stranded after the river level had gone back down.
This is a painting of the flood plain; Tollerton Ings.

As usual I have put the painting on in stages. At the end I have included the first painting I made of this scene. It's a bigger painting, done a couple of years ago, and is obviously in winter. 

It's good to see them side by side.

Blocking in. Reflecting on this approach, and questioning whether or not I should try starting in a different way has given me an idea for Year 8 work now that they have finished their clay masks. I'm thinking Japanese notan designs as paper-cuts.

 ..laying in the main colours...

..trying to establish the contrasts as a design. ..

..laying down some texture and more local colour.. 

..autumnal colours added. Finished.

River Kyle; Tollerton Ings.

The same view 2 years (?) earlier, in the winter.

River Kyle: Tollerton Ings.

Long Time No Post: Stonegate

I nearly didn't post this painting because after I had finished painting it, and spent ages over it, I found that I don't actually like it. I need to be a bit more ruthless sometimes, I think, and be prepared to stop when I don't like what I'm doing. The problem is, most paintings go through a stage where I don't like them. As I regularly tell the students; you have to try to look beyond where you're at, and visualise the finished piece.
It can be very difficult scrapping something that you have invested time in. I'm the same reading books - I'll get so far into a book, decide it's not for me...but I've got to finish it!
This is a painting of the corner of Blake Street and Stonegate.
Apparently 6 feet under Stonegate lies the Roman Via Praetoria, the road that connected the basilica at the centre of the fortress to the bridge over the river Ouse and, therefore, the civilian settlement on the other side. Francis Drake, in 1736, records the name coming from the amount of stone that made it's way down Stonegate as they built the minster.

The Importance of Proof Reading (from the mona lisa to dawn of the living dead).

It's so easy, when you're engrossed in the creative process, to stay 'too close', and take your eye off the ball. Things go wrong........ and there are happy accidents. That's why we proof read. That's why we need to step back, look at what we have done, objectively, and question the decisions we have made, whether they're marks made with a brush or words on paper. It's about exercising control over the vagaries of the creative act. 'Proof Reading', or in painting, standing back and reflecting on what we have done, is the control mechanism. It's about checking that the horse is still pointing the direction that you want to go in...and sometimes it's best done after a bit of space, so that you can look with fresh eyes.

The painting, of Feasegate in York, is a an example of getting wrapped up, making mistakes, and not spotting them until I did a little 'proof-reading'. The painting was fun to do, and generally went quite well. It wasn't until I had finished for the day, cleaned up, and had sat and watched a little Desperate Housewives (read my Kindle) with Archie, that I spotted the problem with the perspective. Look at the first 'finished' version, and compare the figure behind and to the left of the central figures, to the figures in the background to the right. Wrong size on the right. It worked in the same way as the Mona Lisa (hence the title to this post) - if you block off one side of the background, it worked, or block of the other side, it worked.......just not with both showing together.

I adjusted it this morning. Unfortunately the figures in the background now look, to me anyway, like zombies from 'dawn of the living dead' (second part of the title)! Sara said I should leave it as a quirky feature.

Let me know what you think

The name Feasegate comes from the Norse Fe-Hus mean cow house, and Gate meaning street. This is the street that the 18C artist William Etty was born and lived on, his father being a baker and confectioner, famous for selling ginger bread.

 Blocking in the get the underlying structure in place.

starting to establish tonal relationships. 

 ..building up details..

'Finished' #1...Feasegate (The Mona Lisa) 

Finished #2.....Feasegate (Dawn of the Living Dead)

Free Saturday.

I decided to put my first free saturday for ages to good use, and paint...after sorting out the guttering.....again.
This is another painting of Coney Street, which is apparently named  after the Danish word for king; Kunung (so, not rabbits then). The original meaning of the street was King’s Highway, although it's not clear which king the word relates to. Coney street has also been known as Cuningstrete and Cunegestrate, and is possibly the one of the first paved streets in York.
This painting is oil on canvas. The canvas in question being cannibalised from our garden swing, which bit the dust this summer. I glued the canvas onto a piece of reasonably thick card. As I write this, the swing's wooden frame is merrily burning away on our log burner, keeping my legs warm (still wearing shorts as a mule-headed point of principle; it is still september).

 Blocking in the main design

 Adding a few touches of colour.

 establishing the tonal relationships.

 ok..let's start to get stuck in and 'find' the image.

 This is the fun bit..

Coney Street (finished)

Detail.

Last Day of the Holiday.

Back to school tomorrow....reluctantly. I tried to make the most of the last day by going out and doing a painting. This is of the river Kyle, near Newton-by-Beningbrough, and is an oil on canvas. The canvas is from our old swing seat, which I broke up over the holiday. I decided to cannibalize the canvas, so stuck it down on boards. It needs proper primer though, as the primer I have used is a little absorbent.

 The view.

Set up and started. 

Blocking in. 

 Making progress.

The finished painting.

Bridge Over The River Kyle.

Last Few Days.

Well, we go back to school in a few days, and I haven't painted anything like as much as I should have. Nor have I been out on the river (too much rain), or gone running (too little motivation). That said, I did paint a small canvas today. Scratching around for something to paint (house-bound whilst Sara has the car), I decided to paint a photo that I took of the river last year, from the kayak. The photo is buried somewhere on my blog.

The River Ure. 

oil on canvas.

Holiday Bugs.

One of the things that me and the boys like best about holidays in hot climates, are the bugs. Here's a couple from France this year, including scorpions that we found in't hills.

York Ghosts.

I found the last two paintings a  bit of a struggle because I haven't painted enough, so I decided to set myself a bit of a challenge. This painting  is 100 x 100cm, and is on a canvas that has been staring at me in my studio for a few weeks.
I decided on a view of the minster, something that I have avoided painting. I didn't want to paint it straight on; I wanted to show reflections of it, and include the minster as just something in the background. That seems to be pretty much what the minster appears to be to those who live in York; something in the background.
I like the buildings in York, and the streets. It is a great place for the light to bounce around. What I am really interested in though, are the reflections - those things that we can see, but we can't touch...that don't stand still and don't really exist. The real ghosts in York..

Day 1. Initial sketch, with the figure that will (probably) be going in the middle ground.

Reference photos, some of which are joiners.

 Blocking in the main shapes.

 Starting to establish a few of the structures.

Day 2.  Mapping out the reflections.

 Establishing the main colours.

 Day 3. Added a few details. I decided to paint it building by building; not my usual approach.

 .. ...working into the minster - the most difficult bit and adding some reflections.  

 ...worked into the shop n the left a little..

 A longer shot showing the reference photos. 

Day 4.  It's starting to come together a bit.

 Day 5. Today I added the objects in the jeweller's shops. the panelling and the street furniture. I need to let it dry off a bit again now so that I can work into the reflections in window, and start to add the figures.

Day 6. I've added he figures and some detail into the floor, and whilst this ought to be finished, they both need attention.