A PAINTER’S PROGRESS
A completely unexpected phone call this morning has meant a day dedicated to painting has been anything but. The possible long term implications of this call means it will plant me firmly in the centre of my beloved Northumberland landscape. Lots of hoops to jump through. In the meantime the Italian theme continues, intentionally with less trees this time.
An Italian landscape. Day 1.
Its a question I was asking myself all afternoon. Bad light stopped play at 8pm, at least that is the excuse I’m using. I don’t want to paint any more trees!,
It is starting to take on that manic intensity of a Lucian Freud or a Stanley Spencer and I don’t want to go down that path even if I could. I’m still not sure its finished, I will asses the situation tomorrow.
View from Montepulciano. Day 6.
I had the bright idea that I could improve the sky even though it was close to how I wanted it. After several hours I have come full circle back to where I was!
It is better, but do I count this as a real day or a Groundhog Day? The issue here is a lack of knowledge, which can be solved by some outdoor cloud studies. I will have to let that gnaw at my conscience before I act upon it.
View from Montepulciano. Day 5.
This feels more familiar. About half way through the morning I began to wonder if I was making any progress at all. I have been looking at Cezanne recently. I am beginning to question whether his deft modelling of trees is a result of technical genius or sheer frustration. Where one brushstroke may suffice he puts down ten. I know how he feels.
Anyway, at some point my determination was rewarded and I have pushed a bit further up the mountain.
View from Montepulciano. Day 4
The beauty of running your own website is that you can write anything about yourself however fanciful.
Only the first part of this headline has any validity. It seems I am shifting stylistically from painting to painting. This I believe is because the switch to landscape is still in its infancy.
The second part of this headline is what keeps us all going.
View from Montepulciano. Day 3
A good painting session always ends in a late dinner, or a late lunch, depending on when you start. Not only was my dinner late, I also subjected myself to an endless loop of Strauss waltzes. Still, things could be worse.
I thought the most challenging aspect of this painting would be the sheer quantity of trees. They are emerging in an Impressionist, Cezannesque style, and I am quite happy with that.
View from Montepulciano. Day 2
The longer I look at this, the more it reminds me of a deluge. There is quite a lot of symbolism in this view, if you read it in a particular way. The landscape here is constantly undulating, it almost seems to be in the process of moving. There is a strong right to left perpendicular movement and the houses seem to be overwhelmed by the landscape. In contrast the church is on high ground and rises above all this. Being made of white stone it also has the highest contrast.
This is going to be the general thrust of the painting.
View from Montepulciano. Day 1
Maybe a very distant school, one based in Northumberland. Despite that, I think this is my most successful landscape to date. I like the way the landscape has been fragmented, yet at the same time it can be read as a landscape in terms of light, undulating planes and space.
It seems my landscapes are centred on man and how he has changed the landscape. Up to now that has only meant the land. The introduction of the town is a new factor. And an interesting one.
There will be a brief interlude of a week when I am on holiday and this painting is now finished.
View from Pienza
Sometimes it takes an age before you get beyond your initial fumbling’s at the start of the day. Just when the painting is beginning to flow you feel your stamina draining away. Today things were progressing so well I pushed beyond my normal limits. Quite right, with the Olympics just around the corner.
View from Pienza. Day 5
I keep getting drawn back to this artist. There is a brilliance to the light in his painting that I find compelling. I want to introduce this into my own work. 'View from Pienza' is the closest I have come to achieving that. There is also a fullness to his forms that is produced by an exaggerated use of colour and lighting (these things are essentially the same). The fact that most of his painting is in watercolour and mine in oil makes things doubly difficult. Also, there is a clarity and ease of expressing space. I have set myself a hard task, but that is how it should be
Overall I am encouraged by this recent painting and I don't think it is a coincidence that these ambitions have been raised by using Italy as my backdrop.
I have always held early Italian painting as the yardstick to measure myself against. This is a dangerous game!
Although the scene in real life presents itself as a rural idyll, the painting has an element of chaos. The painted landscape doesn’t quite make sense, there is a madness to the way the land has been carved up. Things are a bit chaotic. I like this, this was the intention, to keep the order and chaos in balance. Much as man has tried to do with his own ‘town planning’ and the landscape.
View from Pienza. Day 4
What I love about some of these unspoilt views in Italy is you are very conscious you are looking at over a 1000 years of history. Man working the land, carving into it and changing it over time. The sunset, is meant to symbolize the closing of another day, marking the passage of time. At least, that’s how I see it.
View from Pienza. Day 3
I never thought I would be uploading Italian scenes to this website. I think this was a necessary move in order to expand the range and look of my painting. A prolonged period of Italianate landscapes is quite tempting. One question would be, do they have to be my own photographs?, clearly not. This would not have been my answer just a few months ago. I am unloading a lot of unnecessary prejudices about painting the longer I continue.
View from Pienza. Day 2
I have not abandoned my beloved Northumberland, but I needed a change of scenery. A detour into Italy seemed like a good idea. I may do a Grand Tour from the comfort of my home studio. There are several destinations I may cover, all around Perugia and Tuscany. The purpose of this detour is to introduce some different elements into the painting, like the hilltop town outlined in the top right corner.
View from Pienza. Day 1
Its one of those paintings that never seems to be finished and I have spent the morning chasing nuances. I like the square format, it seems to suit my style, which is slightly skewed. The paintings are slowly growing in size, and in quality. Things are looking promising, this is finally finished.
A journey of shapes
There is often a diminishing law of returns towards the end of a painting. I had been debating whether some of the tree areas needed more detail. I knew all along the answer was yes but I was reluctant to invest the inordinate amount of time required for such a small return.
The results from this mornings painting although small, have been worthwhile.
For those of you who continue to check in, thanks for your patience, the agony is almost over.
A journey of shapes. Day 6
I don’t know whether to view these 2 hour painting sessions in a positive light or not. Yes, I could do more, but then again something is better than nothing. Hardly inspiring, and not the kind of philosophy that Van Gogh would follow.
I am nearing the point where changes do not lead to improvement, therefore I must be getting close to finished.
A journey of shapes. Day 5
If like myself you are not one of the fortunate few to possess real talent then you may have to rely on pig headed determination to keep yourself going.
Who knows why artists struggle for years. Maybe the work offers a hope for better things to come. Or maybe that despite disappointments, painting offers you more than any other activity.
I have called upon my PHD today, and it has not let me down.
A journey of shapes. Day 4B
This is not a days work. I will call it start of day 4 and then have a second day 4 when I recommence. Just added a bit of clarity towards the horizon line which has improved it.
I am coming into a highly disrupted period, the start of the Tour de France. Hopefully I will be able to maintain some discipline and the painting will continue.
A journey of shapes. Day 4
As an ‘artist’ I recognise that I am working in the entertainment business and will endeavour to keep my titles and thoughts as fresh and as interesting as possible. The afternoon with Barry was a very pleasant one.
In my painting I am realising that although my compositions are highly edited and reduced they need the intensity of observation to make them compelling. That is, retaining the most idiosyncratic elements of the view. In this case the line of trees on the horizon and the isolated groups of trees in the mid ground.
There is also a dark tonality and Shakespearean sense of drama that suits the Northumberland landscape.
A journey of shapes. Day 3