My fascination with sunsets continues unabated! After a muted and mellow sunset over Findhorn beach, I decided I would go for a bit more drama over another of my favourite seaside locations along the Moray Firth: Cummingston. This is my second painting from this location, which is a rocky headland that juts out from the beach below the little village. Here we're facing west, as the Firth narrows on its way to Inverness, about 30 miles distant. The interesting rock formation in the cliffs below Cummingston forms the focal point of the scene, whilst Burghead can be seen jutting out into the Firth in the middle distance. The mountains of wild Sutherland, on the far side of the Firth, provide a faint backdrop; the area shown here would be just a little north of the entrance of the Cromarty Firth. These colours were just irresistable to me, both in the sky and reflected on the water's surface, which I have kept calm to show the reflected colour better. I can't think of a better medium for a sky like this one than watercolour!/the-coastline-gallery.html
0 Comments
I hope that this painting is an example of saying more with less. Sometimes skies are so beautiful and eye-catching that I can't resist painting them. But the clouds are constantly changing and usually very complicated - which wouldn't work in a painting. In this picture, I've simplified the skies and smoothed them out to create what I hope is a serene, mellow atmosphere. I've deliberately lost a lot of detail on the land, too, saying just as much as necessary to create a simple but beautifully compelling scene. So here is 'Mellow Sunset over Findhorn Beach', watercolour, 34 x 25 cm. Both the original and prints are available - please see my Coastline Gallery for details or just click on the picture. The Royal Air Force's Nimrod MR2 Log-Range Maritime Patrol aircraft, as well as the Sea King search and rescue helicopter, make a welcome return in my latest painting: 'Top Cover', watercolour, 53 x 34 cm.
The scene was painted as a commission based on the customer's memory of his participation in this rescue. The sky and the sea-state are as they were, and the ship is the actual ship involved. The Sea King is winching an injured trawlerman to safety for the transfer back to hospital in Cornwall, some 200 miles away. At this distance, the Sea King is at the very limit of its range and far out to sea, so the Nimrod is flying a 'Top Cover' mission to assure the safety of the helicopter. A Nimrod, loaded with a bomb-bay full of dinghies and search and rescue apparatus was on standby every day of the year at RAF Kinloss and these missions were common, although not always in this beautiful weather! The Nimrod will stay with the Sea King until it makes landfall near Land's End, then depart home to RAF Kinloss in northern Scotland to resume its standby. In my past career I have flown many search and rescue missions on the Nimrod, but the real heroes here are the helicopter crew, and especially the man or woman on the end of the rope. These people put themselves and their helicopters in some very risky places in some atrocious weather and seas. In this painting I wanted to convey this, with its focus on the rescue itself, as well as the huge combined effort which has gone into bringing this injured man to safety from far out to sea. I hope you like the result - a limited edition of 100 prints are available. Please see my aviation gallery for details. As a watercolourist, I am focussed on colour. It's a complex subject, and I put a lot of work into ensuring my colours have the right degree of warmth and contrast with their neighbours. But not everyone wants colour. This is 'Elgin Cathedral', painted as a commission to match a collection of monochrome images: I'd never painted in monochrome watercolour, although I've worked in pen and ink a lot in the past. I bought in a new colour for me - lamp black. Normally, I mix my darks, and I've never had any use for black. I usually prefer the colour harmony you can achieve with mixed darks in a colour setting. Lamp Black was quite a surprise - it produced an effect just like water soluble graphite but, unlike most watercolours, it can't be removed (at all!) once its been applied to the painting. Most watercolours, apart from heavy stains, can at least be faded if you get something wrong - not this colour! As it happens, it didn't matter, as the painting went very well. I came out beautifully (IMHO!) in fact, and I'm pretty sure there'll be more paintings like this in future. Now, here's another commission in colour: 'Romany Morning'. In this painting, which was commissioned to show the details you can see in the foreground, I also wanted to portray a sense of the outdoor life, and sense of space - and places to roam! I have deliberately lost the 'distance' to atmosphere. There are a million places you could go from the gap between the trees! I also enjoyed painting the horses and the detail of the caravan and this domestic scene.
So, did I prefer the colour, or the monochrome painting? Actually, I loved doing both. Colour allows more options as a painter, giving the opportunity to use colour contrast to give depth and life. Monochrome produces a considerable challenge, where only tone can be used for these things. I like to think they both have atmospheres of their own - and I'm happy with the results of both! There'll be more black and white, I'm sure, but there'll also be plenty of colour! It's been a little while since I've updated the blog - sorry about that! It's a busy time at the moment. I've been busy with quite a few commissions - in fact, I haven't had the chance to produce much of my 'own' work for a few weeks! Anyway, I thought I'd wrap up the last few in one blog post. These paintings are a pair. They represent all the aircraft types and Squadron numbers that the commissioner had served on during a career in the Royal Air Force: Firstly, 'Gassing Up'. A formation led by a Victor B2 tanker conducts air-to-air refuelling above the clouds. It's pair is 'Flightline Beat-Up', watercolour, 52 x 35 cm. The Jaguar's flypast is not something that any flying supervisor would accept, but it's my made-up world so why not?! Lastly, and in a nice landscape break from aircraft paintings, here's 'Glenfiddich Distillery', watercolour, 50 x 33 cm. I live in the middle of malt whisky country here in northern Scotland, so it's quite surprising that I've not painted a distillery before. Hopefully this will break the mould! Prints are available of the second two images - please see their pages for details! Cheers for now!
Here are two of my new paintings which were both inspired by the weather and painted spontaneously. In the first painting, 'Autumn Cloudburst', I had been out sketching during the morning and had just returned home and was sitting in my garden. contemplating the evening when this happened in the sky. How could I resist? You can't paint this from life - the effect doesn't last long enough. Instead, I watched and took in as much detail of the scene as I could, then dashed into my studio and got to work!
In the second painting, 'Dawn Breaking near Keith', I was returning home from dropping my wife off for an early start at work. I hadn't really noticed the sky on the way into Keith, as it was still quite dark. Only a few minutes later, though, the scene was captivating! Everywhere I looked along the horizon, the early morning sky was a different colour. I have had my eye on this scene for some time, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to paint it. Luckily, I keep my painting 'go bag' in the car, so out it came. I don't think I've enjoyed doing a painting more than this one. Painting spontaneously is great fun and, when all goes well, it adds real life, sparkle and freshness to the work. I like to think that happened in both paintings here! This is 'The Old Guard', watercolour, 53 x 34 cms. It shows a Nimrod MR1 maritime patrol aircraft and a Vulcan B2 and Victor Mk 2 of the British V-Force forming up in formation over a beautiful coastline. The coastline is inspired by the coast around the Scottish islands, which can look almost tropical from the air.
All the aircraft colour schemes are as authentic as I can make them for a period in the late 1960s and early 1970s. During this period, both the Vulcans and Victors carried Britain's nuclear deterrent in the form of the Blue Steel standoff thermonuclear missile. You can just see the large missile protruding below the belly of the Victor. I love the beautiful colours in this one, and I hope that the aircraft are posed in an exciting way to suggest the movement of the formation. And I have massive affection for every aircraft type here! No, I've not been commissioned to paint the Queen (although I'm available if asked...!). Instead, this painting is of a Wessex Helicopter landing at Sandringham House, one of Queen Elizabeth IIs privately-owned residences near Norfolk in the East of England. It is her custom to spend many Christmases there, and spends the anniversary of her father's death (and that of her own accession) there each year. All the details of the Royal Flight's arrival are genuine, having been based on reference photographs of the vehicles and helicopter. This is a very detailed painting for a watercolour, even by my standards, but the work was very worthwhile. I'm pleased with the results! As a nice coincidence, I painted most of this painting on the day on which Elizabeth II became our longest-reigning monarch - no mean achievement in view of the length of history associated with the Royal Succession. I will take this opportunity to congratulate her and wish her all the very best, from me, for the remainder of her reign. I still remember her waving to me - and just me - as I stood by my motorcycle in my leather jacket and long hair many years ago! I have taken the opportunity to include my own private tribute to her and the work she does within this painting. I don't think it will be obvious to anyone else - and I'm not telling! One of the wonderful things about painting is that you can decide what you want your painting to look like. You have complete control and a license to create your own world if you want to. In this painting, 'Sunset, the Forth Bridge', I've had to remain reasonably true to life - the iconic Forth Bridge has such a characteristic shape that I could not hope to take liberties with it and have it recognised. However, anyone who knows this scene will realize that something is missing. In this case, it's two entire bridges! Because the Forth Rail Bridge (this one) no longer stands alone. Just behind it, in reality, is the Forth Road Bridge, a more modern suspended construction, and a third bridge is currently under construction behind that one. I didn't want to complicate this picture with any of this, so although the photograph I used for the painting included a lot of background clutter, here the single bridge stands alone and serene against the backdrop sunset. I really enjoyed adding the lights along the shore in the background too - I think they really add to the evening atmosphere as night approaches!
|
AuthorA professional artist living and working in the beautiful north of Scotland. My work is realistic and quite traditional, though strongly interpretational in nature. My inspiration is the beauty of Nature, and the wonderful colours and moods she shows everywhere. Archives
April 2022
Categories |