PAINTING EQUIPMENT

All The Gear & No Idea!

I decided to have a clear out in my home office / hobbyroom and it was at that point that I realised just how much stuff I've collected over the years. I obviously have some sort of fetish for palettes! Here's just SOME of the stuff I found. In addition to this, there's more at the caravan including the magnificent OpenBox M Pochade set!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INSPIRATION

KEVIN MENCK

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we are all able to explore the galleries of the world and I especially like to study the work of plein air painters. Of the many hundreds, my favourite has to be Kevin Menck.

I find Kevin's work so inspiring. It is exactly what I aspire to in oil painting. There are many other wonderful  painters out there whose work I adore too, but if I had to pick just one set of paintings to look at, then it would be Kevin's. Take a look at his BLOG and friend him on FaceBook.

 

 

BILL SHARP

Here's another artist who I very much admire. He's a huge fan of plein air painting and although I wasn't too sure about his palette when I first saw it, I have come to love it. I particularly like his pieces from a trip to Ireland. Have a look at his BLOG.

 

 

ROB ADAMS

 

I could go on forever, but finally (for now) is another favourite of mine. His work is just amazing to me and again, he's a real outdoors kinda painter. See his BLOG.

 

 

It goes without saying that other sources of inspiration include the usual suspects, SEAGO, WESSON, CHAMBERLAIN and YARDLEY.

 

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IN THE CITY

This morning I was rooting around the internet looking for sources of inspiration (as I do) and came across a couple of paintings that I fancied having a go at. They are both 8x6 inch panels, painted with water-mixable oils. There was a 50/50 use of brushes and palette knife.

 

 

I must admit to liking them both and I am going to play with this style a while longer to see where it goes.

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BUMPER BANK HOLIDAY

This weekend (first May Bank Holiday 2013), I arranged it so that I could have 5 consecutive days off work. I was going to stay at the caravan for the weekend with my wife and I took my OpenBoxM Pochade with me, loaded with eight primed panels. Because the weekend was gloriously sunny, I spent most of it out on my motorbike, so there wasn't as much time for painting as I'd thought there would be. Nevertheless, I managed to complete 3 quick paintings and started a fourth.

The first one was this "ORANGE & CHERRIES" on an 8x6" panel using Cobra water-mixable oils and I really enjoyed painting this one. Usually, I'm the first one to slate my own work, but I do actually like this! I found the picture on the internet and I'm going to look out for similar subjects.

The second painting I am much less than pleased with, but it's all part of the learning process, so it's being shown on here. Again, it's an 8x6 panel with Cobra oils. It really annoys me when I look at this sketch because it highlights every area of my colour mixing that is wrong. I really do need to stop and think instead of just ploughing ahead with no real target in sight.

The third 8x6 painting is another disappointment but only in as much as it looks absolutely nothing like the image I was trying to capture. It's a copy of a painting done my Stephen Higton and his looks nothing like this....

Still, I was painting and I was enjoying myself, so not a complete waste. I find that I have to force myself to paint these days - not because I'm not interested - quite the opposite!! I think of painting all the time, but I usually end up finding an excuse not to start because I focus on what I believe will be another failure instead of being positive and looking at it as a much needed lesson.

The fourth painting was a 10x8" oil and was, in fact, an attempt to revive an earlier painting which I'd "wiped out" because I was disappointed with it. It's a VW Transporter and has some way to go before it will be anything like finished. I'll post it when it's done.

UPDATE :
I have just framed the Orange & Cherries with another fruity painting. I think they look well together...

ANOTHER FOR MY COLLECTION

PAINTINGS BY MITA HIGTON

Professional artist, Mita Higton from Suffolk, very kindly painted two portraits of my beloved dogs Ruby and Lucy. Mita is incredibly talented and you can't imagine how pleased I am not only to own some of her work, but for the work to be based on a subject so close to my heart. Take a look in her gallery by clicking HERE or HERE.

 

 

You may also be interested in her husband's work, Stephen Higton.

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West Pennine Moors

I went for a walk a few days ago, over the West Pennine Moors, close to the Winter Hill TV mast. It's on my doorstep and is a beautiful area, especially on a lovely sunny early evening. Whilst up there, I did this small 8"x6" sketch. It has no detail and especially lacks the wind-turbines in the distance, which are a feature of this landscape. When I improve my painting skills, I'd like to attempt a bigger study of this area.

Update - tried putting in the wind turbines but they look a bit daft :-)

OPEN BOX M - DESKTOP POD

If you use the "OpenBox M" Pochade system for your oil painting as I do, you will know that it's not designed to sit on a flat surface such as a desk, so it is invariably used on a tripod which is fine when you're outside, but much less convenient when indoors.

Tonight, I designed a simple "Desktop Pod" which allows the Open Box M to be used on a desk with the minimum of fuss. I know a few people have come up with other solutions, but the ones I've seen are quite cumbersome and unwieldy (plus you have to find somewhere to store them when not in use).

My design is incredibly simple and to be honest, I don't know why OpenBox don't include something similar as standard - especially as they'll probably be able to come up with something even simpler!
Anyway, here it is. It's using a few bits and bats I found in the garage along with a 1/4" tripod screw from an old knackered tripod.

I went to the local art-club tonight and instead of being the only person there setting up a tripod to hold my painting-panel, I simply sat the panel on the desk using the new pod and painted a picture. It works superbly.  I posted photos of this little mod to the guys at OpenBoxM and they said they might consider designing something similar :-)

One thing's for sure though, some sort of anti-scratch covers are needed for the bottom of those four screws because without some protection, they  will scratch your table. Up to now, I'm just putting a mat down to protect any delicate surface that I use the palette on.

JULLIAN FRENCH EASEL

A local artist here in Bolton, Brian Hartley, died some years ago and his old Jullian French Easel was passed to his friend and then he passed it on to his son before finally arriving at my door. It was in a right state, so I decided to refurbish it to bring it back to its former glory and give it another 30 years of life hopefully.

 

This sort of project is right up my street. I love to sit in the garage tinkering away, avoiding all those nasty soap-operas that my wife insists on watching for 3 hours a night :-)

First job was to strip the easel down and I was surprised at how many bits and bobs there were in total. If I hadn't taken lots of photos prior to disassembly, it would have been a right puzzle putting it back together, lol. Most of the work involved in the refurb was getting the layers of paint off that had built up over the decades. The area around the lower canvas-carrier was the worst and I couldn't get rid of every last bit of it, for fear of damaging the woodwork, so I had to accept that some faint traces would remain.

After copious amounts of sanding, I treated all the wood to a couple of applications of teak-oil with a lint-free cloth and then put the unit back together again, making sure that all the screws were nice and tight. I added a set of rubber feet at the bottom so the unit wasn't getting damaged when stood on the floor. I also added a couple of brass hooks to hold cleaning pot, rags, etc.  When I'd finished, it felt stiff and strong and like new again! Very pleased with the overall result.

Now to get it dirty again!

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PURPLE HAZE

This is a 20" x 16" oil painting I tried recently. As usual, it didn't turn out as I'd hoped but it was popular enough with my sister to make her splash out on an expensive mount and frame, so it's now on illuminated display in her home. I was also asked to produce a few prints for friends, so at least it ended up being worth painting after all.

If nothing else, this piece has got me back in the swing of things and I've just finished preparing a number of 8"x6" boards. I was just reading Jeff Mahorney's blog and under the section called "WHAT HAVE I LEARNED", he wrote this...

This is the short version of what I've learned:
Consistent repetitive practice and tolerance/acceptance of negative emotions/thoughts are critical. Everything else will be learned on the way.

So that's it, I'm just going to paint, paint, paint and not dwell so much on the failures. I've seen Jeff's work (and other like Carol Marine), go from strength to strength through repetitive practise, to the point where they are now fabulous painters.

BOUGHT ANOTHER PAINTING

RACK & RUIN
by Carol Owens

I was in Garstang at the weekend and spotted this painting at the local Art Exhibition. It struck me as soon as I walked in, so I was extremely pleased to find that it was on offer at a measly £20!!!

It's a 16 x 12" study on a canvas board, done in acrylics. Looks fabulous mounted and framed!

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CAMPER VAN (Oil)

Sadly, I gave up on this one and wiped it out. It just wasn't going the way I wanted it to. I had every intention of it being a quick "Pochade" style piece, but it quickly became laboured, so I stopped, photographed it and then painted over it.

I'm aware that the red van is "floating" and there's lots of textures missing from the lawn and building, etc. If I had carried on, I would have sorted all that out - I just didn't want to carry on with it :-(

I think I'll go back to doing simple still-life subjects until I get my colour-mixing skills honed and hopefully find my own "pallete".



BOUGHT A PAINTING!

Fishing Boats at Mevagissy
10 x 8 Oil

It's not often that I buy a painting from another amateur artist (Patrick Ley-Greaves), but when one stands out at me like this one did, I just can't resist. To be honest, I felt like I 'stole' this from the artist because I offered a lower price than he was asking and he accepted. Now that it's arrived, I feel even more guilty because it's a beautiful painting, well framed and perfectly packaged.

Keep an eye out for more sales of Patrick's here on eBay.

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RIVERSIDE (oil)

After a year's absence, I rejoined my local art-club and took my oils with me to have a play. Did this one on an 8x6" panel and didn't finish it, but I'm just going to leave it as it is. I didn't learn anything from it, so I'll just leave it there and move on. It was a nice relaxing evening and nice to see some friendly, familiar faces.

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THE MEADOW (watercolour)

Decided to have another stab at the meadow painting but in watercolour (pen and wash). Lots of people preferred this to my oil attempt and it is now owned by a lovely lady in Wales.

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THE MEADOW

Wahaay!! An oil painting at last. I saw something like this on the internet and thought I'd have a stab at painting a flowery meadow myself. It didn't come out as I wanted, but when I posted this on FaceBook, it received an unexpectedly good amount of praise and my sister "claimed" it for her house.

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GLENCOYNE

Here's a monotone study that I think turned out pretty good for a change. Nothing special, but I do like it.

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COTTAGE WINDOW

Another watercolour - because my sister asked specifically for this one for her birthday, so I thought I'd show it here.

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MONOTONE STUDY

Oops!! Another watercolour :-(  Never mind, for every watercolour on this oil-painting blog, I'll add another oil later, lol.

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SKETCHBOOK PAINTING
This is a quick "Pen & Wash" sketch taken from (yes, you guessed it) my sketchbook. It's not an oil, but at least it means I'm still keeping a hand in one way or the other.