The Side Entrance

Tripped on this as my painting buddy and I were looking at a water feature nearby that was much darker that I wanted to do on this really grey day. The photo doesn't really come close to showing the greyness of the day.  

 

I wanted to play with a limited pallet of white, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. Interesting what happens to the mind when you don't have a fuller range of colors and you have to reinterpret colors to what you have on hand.

I didn't think that the scruffy little tree would be the center of interest. I was going to make it smaller and have the entrance as the centre of interest. But, as I began to downplay the tree, it's presence started to speak to me of more than just this view. England has many paths and entrances and walkways that have a bit of overgrown foliage in the way. I have come to like that. Not all is neat and in order here, but it remains beautiful for sure. Thus the attention I gave it.

The Side Entrance

12 x 9

Finished product got more of the grey day in it. There are lots of them here. The owner invited me to come back to paint there again. I love the perk of meeting new people when you paint out.

I will do some more paintings with this limited pallet to explore it even more.

More inspiration from our walks

"Casting Shadows", 5 x 7, oil on panel
SOLD

What is it about long shadows that is so intriguing? I guess that it is because it puts more drama into sunlight. It breaks up the visual space into so many cool abstract pieces. I am working on several 

5 x 7s gearing up for summer shows. Wouldn't it be nice if I just had to keep doing loads of them because they were sold. That would be a nice problem to have.

"Red Weeds", 5 x 7, oil on panel

Another one with those rickety fences that are so prevalent here and that have such character. I have another 5 x 7 in the works with one of them in it. You will see it soon.

More Gypsy Horses

"Nibbling", 9 x 12, oil on linen panel

(C) Eileen McConkey 2012 

Once again this one shows how much I am drawn to the dramatic light and the close-up and different poses. I think I do the close-ups because I really would love to be eating that closely with them. I want to be touching them so I guess that I want others to as well. It helps me to have a more complete experience of them.

"In Mama's Shadow", 9 x 12, oil on linen panel

(C) Eileen McConkey 2012 

This one is not a close-up but I was really struck by the way the sunlight seemed to pervade all parts of the scene - even into the shadows, thus the lack of stark contrasts. I just don't see how gypsy horses and highland cattle can see with all of that hair in their faces.

I have joined an on-line group on Facebook called Equine Artists. There are some pretty amazing artists there - some mediocre ones too I must say. I am always pushing to be above the mediocre ones. Sometimes I am better and sometimes I wonder. Such is the psychological life of an artist - at least me as an artist.

Sheep and Mountains. Trees and Shadows

A Walk in the Mountains of Peru

9 x 12, oil on panel

My daughter's friend Anna does beautiful things in the world for other people.  Along the way she traveled to Peru and allowed me to use a photo of this scene as reference for this painting. I very seldom use other peoples photos but I am happy to have used this one. Once again, there is something about butts that is fascinating to me. This is actually a painting that I sanded down and started again. I don't recall if I had posted the first version but if I did, and you want to bother finding it in the old posts, you will see that there is quite an improvement.

Late Afternoon Shadows

100cm x 100 cm,  oil on canvas

I started painting a non-objective abstract here. I haven't done an abstract in maybe a year or so and I wanted to dive back into that pool. But the call of the oils and the call of the representational subject matter was too strong so it came down to this. I must say, it did feel really good to be working big again. Too bad my storage limitations does not allow for lots of the bigger ones. I suppose I could sell more of them and then I would not have to worry about storage.

There are some wonderful things about England that I love, and the paths is one of them. Plugging in my love for the dramatic and there you have it.