A painting a week. Week 47

“Winter morning at Knowlton church.”

The weather is getting colder and colder. And wet, and windy... Anyway, today, at least it wasn’t rainy. Hence, I decided to do another plein air. Temperature was 4 Celsius in the morning, but the sky was clear, so the white frost disappeared by the time I set up the easel. Later on, it become cloudy, with a cold breeze blowing.

I went again to Knowlton church, the ruin of an ancient church. The ruin is of a Norman church built within a Neolithic henge monument, in the middle of one if the three circles, known as Knowlton henges.

It belongs to English Heritage and is open for the public, with free access. The place is large enough and can be used for picnic; lots of people come here to walk their dogs. There are not any parking facilities, though, but few cars can be parked simultaneously in a couple nearby laybys, or in front of the gate.

As I said, the day started brightly, and then changed to overcast, and a bit warmer, temperature went up to 7 Celsius.

I painted using a reduced palette, white, 3 blues (cerulean, cobalt and ultramarine), 2 yellows (cadmium medium and light), an earth red, and some burnt umber and some phtalo green yellow shade.

I am pleased with the result, although I was frozen at the end of the painting session.

So, here it is:

“Winter morning at Knowlton church”

Oil on linen.

30 X 40cm (12” X 16”).

A painting a week. Week 46

 “A beer bottle and a book.”

Week 46 of this year, and week 46 of my “A painting a week” project. So far, I am quite pleased with it. Because of this project, I started doing lots of still life paintings; before, I only did a few in almost 3 years. Lots of experiments with composition, light, shadows, colours, painting style, the list can go on and on forever. Endless possibilities.

For this week I have chosen another composition with a bottle of beer, my favourite beer, of course. They are lovely models, and easy to work with. They always stay still. And I always enjoy a good bottle of beer. Next to the bottle I placed an old book, which I have for many years. It belonged to my grandfather and it is an old English travellers guide of Great Britain by Karl Baedeker. The book is dated 1927, but I don’t know when and how came into possession of my granddad. Funny enough, the book is English, came to Romania and when I came here, I brought it back with me. Complete cycle.

For this painting I used a canvas toned with orange and I painted it alla prima, rather than my usual style of layering.

I painted it in few sessions, from an hour to couple of hours, but without allowing the paint to dry in between sessions. I haven’t used medium, just Turps to thin the paint. I still used a reduced palette, Burnt umber for the under drawing, burnt sienna, sap green lake extra (Old Holland), vine black, titanium white, golden yellow, alizarin crimson, cerulean blue and a touch of lapis lazuli and lemon yellow.

So, here it is:

“A beer bottle and a book.”

Oil on linen.

30 X 40 cm (12” X 16”)

A painting a week. Week 45

“Christmas cactus in a pot.”

Usually I am full with ideas, but this week I struggled a bit. I was initially thinking to do some plein air, but the weather was against me. Cold alone wouldn’t have been a problem, fine drizzle / autumn rain was. In the end, I decided to do another still life. Earlier in the week, I experimented with greens, doing a still life with composition in green, so I thought I would play more with it.

So, the Christmas cactus came in handy. It is still long before end of December, hence no flowers, or even flower buds, still a good looking plant.

I experimented more with this one, working in thick impasto, alla prima.

For the greens I used three blues and two yellows. Additionally I used burnt umber, burnt sienna, transparent oxide brown, bright red and titanium white. The canvas used, was covered with a layer of bright orange beforehand and left to dry about a week or so.

It is my first still life done in this style and I am quite pleased with the result.

“Christmas cactus in a pot.”

Oil on linen.

24 X 30cm (10” X 12”).

A painting a week. Week 44

“Beer bottle and mug”

What a fantastic week has been. I had a week long full course at Sarum Studio in Salisbury, studying more life and cast drawing. And because it was a full week I have decided to work in oils on linen, a very good experience. I even did a charcoal portrait.  Exciting! At home, I had more time to experiment with still life, working on lights and shadows.

I enjoyed doing the beer bottles last week, hence I decided to do a beer bottle again, and again my favourite brand. After setting up the objects I have played with the light till I obtained this lovely cast shadow.

Reduced palette again, just burnt umber, a warm black (vine black), cadmium yellow medium ,alizarin crimson, a green (for convenience) and titanium white. I used turps to thin the paints and just a touch of medium (de Mayerne), only for the labels and the mug.

“Beer bottle and mug.”

Oil on linen.

30 X 40cm (12” X 16”).

A painting a week. Week 43

“Pink cottage at Little Durnford”

After a very long week at work, a fun weekend with our friends in Salisbury.

Party on Saturday and a long walk through the lovely countryside of Wiltshire. From Old Sarum, along a bridleway to Middle Woodford and then on a lane to Little Durnford, where we visited the Little Durnford Manor Garden, a lovely little farm with lamas, alpacas, camels and other creatures.

On the way towards the garden, I stumbled upon this pink coloured thatched cottage, which inspired my little painting of the week.

I took a few photos and I completed the painting in the studio, using the reference images. I painted it alla prima.

“Pink cottage at Little Durnford.”

Oil on linen.

25 X 35cm (10” X 14”)

A painting a week. Week 42

“Kingfisher beer and cheese straws.”

Another week gone and more bad weather as well, so I ended up painting another still life.

I didn’t know what to paint, but inspiration stroke on a lazy evening, me enjoying a bottle a beer with some homemade cheese straws. So, I decided to paint exactly that. Two bottles of my favourite beer and the cheese straws. The cheese straws were home made in Romania and just received them few days ago.

I struggled a bit with composition, but, working with my trusty lighting unit I obtained that gorgeous shadow and some wonderful reflections.

Again, I haven’t used any medium, just a touch with the red on the labels. Everything else was done with paints and turpentine. And again, reduced palette, one blue (cerulean), two yellows (cad yellow medium and Indian yellow), alizarin crimson (red), titanium white, ivory black and additionally some burnt umber, transparent brown oxide, unbleached titanium oxide and a touch of cad yellow lemon.

A nice little painting, summing up a lazy evening, listening to good old music, a bottle of beer and some cheese straws.

“Kingfisher beer and cheese straws.”

Oil on linen.

30 X 40cm (12” X 16”)

A painting a week. Week 41

“Wooden wishing well in my garden”

41 weeks in my project and the most difficult part of it, is deciding what to paint next. Although in the past I painted a lot from photos, I still do, but not as much as before, I try to avoid it for the weekly projects. I still experiment with the still life, but for the painting of the week I have chosen another plein air. Because I wasn’t sure how weather will be I stayed in my garden, choosing as subject a wooden wishing well feature, which is near the cornelian cherry I planted early this autumn.

I used a reduce palette, 3 yellows, 2 blues, a red, titanium white and additionally burnt umber and amethyst.

I didn’t use medium, just turpentine to thin the paints.

So, this is my 41st painting of my weekly project:

“Wooden wishing well in my garden”

Oil on linen.

24 X 30cm (10” X 12”)

A painting a week. Week 40

“Trees on a field near Stubhampton, Dorset”.

I started this week in the studio, doing another still life and finished it out in the field.

The weather was lovely, dry and sunny, perfect for painting outdoors.

I have discovered Tarrant Gunville about two years ago, a beautiful countryside region of Dorset and already have done few paintings, from photos taken by me on site. I now have decided to do some plein air paintings there.

So, for this week, I ended up in Stubhampton, a little hamlet, part of the Tarrant Gunville village.

I stopped and set up my easel, by a gate to a farm or some sort of housing development.

I painted without any medium, just paints and turpentine. The palette used was reduced, just burnt umber, burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow lemon and white.

I did the under drawing using burnt sienna and blue and then built up the painting in few layers, starting with diluted paints and then more concentrated. In the first layer I placed the position of shadows, so that I don’t forget how they looked when I started.

So, here it is, my 40th weekly painting:

“Trees on a field near Stubhampton, Dorset”.

Oil on linen

30 X 40cm (12” X 16”).

A painting a week. Week 39

“Squash and onion”

Lovely autumn weather. Rain and drizzle and rain and some dry spells in between. This means more time in the studio, playing and experimenting with still life. A genre which I like more and more.

This week I experimented with kitchen foil and a pomegranate, working on reflections, still Need more practice with it.

For the painting of the week, I have chosen a subject inspired by the soup I have cooked last weekend with squash. So, I found a small winter squash, variety “delica” and I set up a composition using the squash and a red onion.

Again, I worked with glazing layers of paint diluted with turpentine and undiluted paints for the final layer. I didn’t use any medium. Colours I have used: titanium white, ultramarine and cerulean blue, lemon yellow and cadmium yellow medium, alizarin crimson, transparent brown oxide and unbleached titanium.

So , here it is:

“Squash and onion”

Oil on linen.

18 X 24cm (7” X 10”)

A painting a week. Week 38

“Tree tunnel in September.”

Another week flew by and more work done, mostly in the studio, as I want to do and learn more in still life genre.

Luckily, the weather was milder and dryer, especially towards of the end of the week, so I was able to do a little outdoor painting as well, which I have chosen as this week painting of the week.

It was a windy, but dry afternoon, when I painted it. I painted it alla prima, using my slow drying oils, a mixture of paints from Michael Harding, Blue Ridge and Vasari. I use these brands, only because I like different colours from each one, as they sometimes use different pigments and have different textures and consistency. And I use the ones that work best for my style. I haven’t used medium at all, just turpentine.

I have painted in the same location before, it is one of my favourite places, with more than 7 or 8 painting done so far. The subject matter chosen, however, I only painted once before and it was from the other side of the road and further back. And it was late autumn as opposed to the early autumn now. The place is somewhere around Cranborne, on the way towards Sixpenny Handley, before A 34.

Probably, I will try to paint it in other seasons as well in the future.

So, here it is:

“Tree tunnel in September.”

Oil on linen

24 X 30cm (10” X 12”)