I’ve begun a series of small paintings based on my trip to Inishturk and Caher island recently. It was such a thrill for me to have the perspective of the islands from the sea – all that blue/black/green in the foreground with a gorgeous slice of land in the middle of it all. I decided to work small and quickly rather than give myself the pressure of a large canvas so I chose acrylic paper, small pieces – 3″ x 4″ and 5″ x 7″
I prepared several sheets with a wash of blue and white.
Next I outlined some rough compositions and I used acrylic paste for texture.
Once the paste was dry, I went in with lots of colour – some charcoal first for the cliffs. I used paint and ink applied thickly and thinly in turn to maximise the effects that these two materials bring when used together. I worked quickly and back and forth between several pieces. The one in the cover photo ( also below ) was the last piece I worked on. I think it works best because I had figured out what I was doing by this stage. This is what it looked like when wet below.
Here is the same piece when dry – the paint has settled so the textures are clearer. The colours will brighten when I coat the surface with an acrylic varnish later, which will not effect the texture.
Here’s another piece – the first photograph below shows what it looked like when wet.
The same piece when dry below.
I’ll be taking a break from painting and blogging soon as I have a job for the Summer months which I have already started. I’ll post more about that in a little while..
