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...