Hydrangea VII - Stage One

Hydrangea VII - Finished Underpainting

Just an update on the underpainting stage. Once this is dry I'll start to add colour, which I'm intending to keep quite subtle. I'm not sure whether to keep the skeleton flower in the foreground, I think maybe the composition is stronger without it, so that may change in the final painting.

Hydrangea VII

Hydrangea VII - Work in Progress

This will be my second large (24 x 36 inches) painting in my Hydrangea series. I'm enjoying the change of scale having just completed three small paintings. I want this one to really capture the faded flowers with their bent stems and twisted leaves. I'm trying to include a little bit of the flower that has so deteriorated that all that remains is a skeleton of the flower, with only the supporting structure of the veins left behind. If I can manage to get that right, I think it will really add to the fragile feeling I'm trying create.

I started with a simple outline drawing then mixed ultramarine and burt sienna with varying quantities of white paint to produce a range of tones. I'm quite a way on with the tonal underpainting and will post the finished underpainting once it's completed.

Hydrangea Series

Hydrangea Series - Small Painting Number Three

Another small painting, oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches.

The subjects for this painting are a few very dried up and largely faded hydrangeas which I cut and saved from last winter. I made an attempt in this painting to recreate the faded, almost dusty look and I changed my colour scheme as I progressed in order to achieve this. I also decided to include a flowerhead in the background and try to suggest depth by blurring this background image. The underpainting was produced using a mixture of ultramarine and burnt umber with the addition of varying quantities of white paint.

A Couple of Small Hydrangea Paintings

Both paintings are 16 x 12 inches, oil on canvas. I started each painting with my usual underpainting focusing on the main shadows and tonal relationships. I've included photos of the stages in each painting and a couple of detail shots for painting one. I'm particularly interested in the subtle colours evident in the dried flowers but I don't feel I've yet captured the faded fragile look I'm aiming at which no doubt means there will be more to come in this series

Painting One

I struggled to get an accurate photo of this one, the actual painting has more depth than is evident from the photo

Finished Painting

Details

Painting Two

Finished Painting

The final stage consisted of adding glazes here and there to indicate the red tinges.

Both Paintings Together

Summer's End

Summer's End

oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches

For this painting I decided to work on a larger scale than I've been used to and I'm now keen to try some more larger paintings as there are advantages to working on this scale, not least that I can more easily add detail.

I returned to one of my favourite subjects, hydrangeas, and in this painting I wanted to focus on the changes from the fresh, vibrant summer flowers through to the faded dried flowerheads (saved from last autumn). I love the way the flowers go through a whole range of colour changes, both when left on the shrub in the garden, and when cut and allowed to slowly dry out. Last years flower heads still have slight touches of blue and pink here and there. I intend adding these subtle touches of colour using glazes later when the paint has dried, but for now here's the painting from the initial underpainting to the final result.

Impending Storm

Another painting inspired by the dramatic landscape and changing skies of the Scottish Highlands. The underpainting was completed using burnt sienna mixed with ultramarine and white. Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches.

Melvaig - Finished Oil Painting

Melvaig

Here are photos of the progress of the work from the underpainting using burnt umber and white to the finished painting. The work is oil on box canvas, 18 x 24 inches.

Scottish Landscape

Melvaig, Wester Ross


This is number one in what I hope will be a series of landscapes inspired by my trip to the Scottish Highlands in July. The first piece is an ink and coloured pencil study of the hillside at Melvaig which is about nine miles from the little town of Gairloch. I'm now in the process of translating that into an oil painting and have so far completed the underpainting using white and burnt umber to create a monochromatic rendering.

Ink and Coloured Pencil, 16 x 12 inches


Oil on Canvas, 24 x 18 inches

Details of Underpainting

Another Portrait - Stage One

Isaac

16 x 12 inches, acrylic and oil on canvas. The initial painting was done with very thin acrylic paint, almost like watercolour. When that was dry, I painted a simple tonal image using white and burnt umber oil paint. The next stage will be to introduce colour.

Finished Work

Close up of Detail