Green Luangwan Sunset

NFS

It has been difficult to photograph this painting, and get the colours 'true'. It is a composition derived from 3 photographs, but certainly not a Photo-shopped pasted image. 

It is in my imagination, held in my emotions......... and the wonderful experience of being the person in the back of the small khaki coloured 4WD with my husband, and our two amazing guides. The guides have stopped the vehicle for us to admire the beautiful spring sunset, whilst they discuss where it might be possible to see leopards.

The orange light on the tall green savannah grasses creates quite geometrical swathes, as do the routes of the night strolling hippos. A wonderful experience....... the hush of the night, the wonder of an African sky so clear....... magical, precious, unspoilt Zambia. May it stay that way forever.............

Quick Alla Prima

NFS

A quick one hour study to explore the differences between under painting and glazing, and quick brushwork. I have found doing the 3 increased my 'feeling and connection' with my choice of subject matter. The process is essential if you want to scale up. What next? if I were to scale up, and this were not just a study, I would explore the use of different 'sky palettes' against the green/blue-green of the landscape :-) which would give you a much sharper contrast, rather than marshmallows pinks! Perhaps it's a knee jerk reaction to the harshness of the glazes ...........

Sunset stage 2

NFS

A quick experiment with glazes, using only transparent colours, no opaques. I enjoyed the experiment, but will stick to the Alla Prima in future :-)

The process of glazing with layers of paint diluted with Liquin is just too tedious for me - the energy of painting with enthusiam gets lost in a process. It was fun to try.................... and that's it.

Sunset Stage 1

NFS

This is a quick exploration of the use of a chromatic black under painting using ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and titanium white. My darkest darks are the chromatic black, my far greys are blue bias, and my near greys blue bias/warm bias. I used a size 10 filbert on an A4 sized board. To speed up the drying process my pigments were mixed with Liquin.

This study developed from Richard Robinson's online workshop 25

The Macaw has Landed

NFS

This is my response to an artist friend's challenge to paint animal statues in saturated hues. Mr Macaw is just a few centimetres high and sits on a little branch - I just couldn't resist perching him on a lemon to get the plastic model to a suitable painting level. Thank you Dirk for the challenge and the persistence to get it done before my packing and travelling to Tuscany.  The painting took just under an hour using Harding's oils on canvas, and pressure and speed paid off :-)