A Work In Progress: High Ousegate, York.

I had intended spending Saturday and Sunday painting, but couldn't because I spent Saturday in bed with a sickness bug (which brought me home early from the cricket club on Friday evening). I did manage to start the following this afternoon, whilst Sara built 'The Great Eggscape' with Archie, for his school's egg decorating competition.
This canvas is an old one, saved from the skip at school, and is an odd shape. I have had several goes at painting it, with no real success. Hopefully this will be more successful than previous efforts..

I'm using linseed oil to thin the paint. I usually use turps...if I use anything. Oil makes the paint more fluid, which is quite nice to handle, but will inevitably require more drying time. I intend working on this painting over a longer period of time.

It's nice pushing the paint around, without 'scrubbing'. It's nice not have the sicative effect of turps/white spirit.

Slowly building up and indicating where the figures will go.

Detail. 

I intend keeping this much more painterly than some of my other paintings.

That's it for now.

Stage 2.

Having let the paint dry for a week, I have had another go at it.

I'm starting to build up some of the details a little, but trying to retain the painterliness.

Hmmm... I like the left hand side more than the right. Time to let it dry again and then work back into it.

Stage 3.

The paint had dried sufficiently to work into this (I have been working on another piece whilst waiting for it to dry - a woodland scene, to be added later). I have worked into both shops, left and right, cleaned the sky up a little, and worked into the floor. After this I had a look at the figures. I will leave it for a while now and live with it for a bit. I may feel like coming back to it later.

A few details...

High Ousegate, York.