My new look website is operational

I have re-launched my website.  It was in need of updating, and had been in situ for 10 years in it's current format.  I have my suspicions that the amount of java that was in the template I had been using was detrimental to the ease of use with smartphones too, but I can't complain it served me well for the decade at a cost of about $60 when I bought the license to use it.  

I decided to keep the new (improved, I hope) site simple.  It is just a basic html and css setup with little to download other than the images to facilitate smart phone accessibility.  Hopefully it will bring a level of sales similar to the old site when  I was actually updating it.  I'd messed up my shopping cart for about the last two years without realising it by changing my email address and forgetting to update the paypal shopping cart- even though the new email is on the same account the paypal cart was only operating - or not operating as the case was- on the now defunct email.
Thankfully a buyer contacted me to let me know there was a problem, hence the rush to update without fully testing.  I still need to finish off my alt tags and keywords etc. but the site is fully operational (as far as I know until someone actually buys from it again ;)) I added a link to here on the site to add to the functionality.

Springtime, and the painting is Plein air...

 Four Plein air knife paintings on 10 by 8 inch panels.

 

Glenasmole and the Dublin City Golf Club, from Bohernabreena

 

Howth head and Dublin City from Bohernabreena

 

 

The Upper Liffey Valley Manor Kilbride

 

 

The Upper Liffey Valley Manor Kilbride

Springtime has arrived...  at least for now, we have had a couple of warm sunny days.  The 17th of the month was almost balmy, and I put the warmth to good use by doing some plein air studies down the road, and in Wicklow.   It was great to be able to go out and work after the winter, and I am considering setting off back to the Liffey Valley in the morning if the weather holds for tomorrow.  There is a view I want to work on in a larger format.  It will need a lot more detail than these four did, and will probably take a couple of plein air trips before I come back to the studio to finish it.  The latter two images will help me recall the co,lours and conditions when working on the proposed larger work.
The light had softened by the time I got to Kilbride, the fields looking greener and the trees turned more grey than brown on the shaded side of the mountain.  But looking east from Bohernabreena the sunshine  had the trees looking much brighter and brown, yet the golf club in the first painting also showed signs of a cool light in the shaded greens and fairways of the course.  The fresh greens of new growth in the grass fields has a deep green and silver look at this time of the year.  Later on in the year the greens will become much warmer, even in the shade.  The fresh shoots of the grass give an almost magical light in the early spring sunshine, much more silvery than the early growth of the leaves in the trees and hedges later on in the spring which seem to just warm the browns and greys of the twigs before really turning green. 

Glenmacnass, Wicklow.

I have just finished (well almost) my last commission for Christmas. It is a view of Glenmacnass in Co. Wicklow, 1 meter square.

I have one or two little touches I wish to do, but in the main it is finished now.

I have photographed it along the way so you can see the work in progression, from the original sketch/design to the finished piece.

This is the Graphite sketch I worked from, giving me my composition and design.

The next stage was drawing and blocking in on the canvas with thin washes of oil paint.

followed swiftly by blocking in my base colours before rechecking my composition against reference photographs. Sadly it is too wintry to try to work on site at this time of year.

This was followed by further blocking in and a little re-drawing, mainly in the area of the waterfall and the larch trees to the top left.

This is a continuation of the blocking in process in the foreground, and I have been adding texture around the midground areas.

This is followed by further detail being added throughout the painting and adding more definition to the blocks of colour.

From here I have begun to finish off areas of the painting, mainly around the mid ground and the road and hedgerow leading to the cottage. I have also added life to the cottage roof.

From this stage on I have increased the detail around the Larch trees, the right hand hill and the cliff-face again. I have painted in the Birch tree over on the right hand side of the painting.

This is what unifies the whole of the right hand side of the work. The fine, strong branches, and the blockier twig areas binding the foreground to the background and a the same time taking the hard edge of the scree slope on the right and breaking it up, this is also helped by the green gorse bush growing out of it. I have started to bring the reds in by painting the fence in, with a rusty brown.

This final stage is where it has all come together. The repainting of the tree in the foreground. This has now been darkened and warmed up, and details such as the small branches added to break up the straight line again. The wire fence has been painted again, to reduce the red slightly as more purples, pinks and reds have been added to the tree itself making it a warmer grey than in the previous image, which has also brought the tree forward from the background cliff-face and the mid ground landscape.

Now the painting is finished as such the whole atmosphere has changed, and it reminds me of the weather we had the day I went up and took my reference photographs for the work.

I have managed to get light in the painting even though there was no sunlight to create highlights and shadows, and yet the work has the feel of a damp overcast November day.

A re-worked plein air study.

I have finished re-working this Plein air study from St. Marguerites Island in the Bay of Cannes, Cote D'Azur.

The couple of areas in this photo with a shine have already been started on. (I decided to photograph the work in progress after starting)

Starting from the base oil sketch, the composition is very busy, and the small branch to the left of the right hand tree is mimicking the center trunk giving a regimented and fragmented look to the work.

I have adjusted the curve on the right hand tree already, the dark blue of the original sketch is visible to the left of the reworked trunk. I have put a base coat on the small branch, which I am about to paint out next. I have also painted areas of the 3 tree trunks
and darkened the dark area behind the lefthand tree.

In photo two, I have done further work on the tree branches. There are areas of light added to some of them. I have also emphasised the curve and twist of the middle tree trunk.

I have painted some foliage in the foreground, top left, this adds depth to the painting.

I have greened up the main area of foliage to the back.

Second coats have been given to the two areas of ground under the trees. The little piece of wall has been painted out also, it does nothing for the composition and is not needed. The dark line of the old wall foundation on the other hand adds interest and does the secondary job of creating contrast to the strong line of the tree's roots on the surface of the ground. These roots make the trees more interesting.

The section of the Island in the background has been repainted. This has been cooled down and adjusted in tone to complement the newly painted sea and sky areas.

In the third photo I have reduced the area of foliage to the right hand side of the painting. This area was to square and also quartered the painting. I had a little fun with this part though...creating a little map of Ireland out of it....

I have left the basic square, but I have broken it up to make it less solid.

It has also allowed more of the horizon to be visible.

Although not noticable in the photograph there is a small variety in the colouring of the sea. This gives a pleasant vibration to flat blues of the background, and not just in the closeness of the colours in the sky to the sea itself. This has the effect of giving heat and life in what could have been a very flat and un-interesting area.

I have also created another curve and twist in the righthand tree trunk to give a better shape to the fork. Finally the foliage on ground and behind the trees has been re-worked and detail added.

I feel the painting is finished now. Though there is always a possibility I may see some change to make in a month or two.

This last photo is of the view, though not the same angle, which was a little to the left I think. But it explains some of the changes made, and the original sketch.

Two recent Irish landscape paintings.

Here are two recent works, the first is a view of Connemara. Acrylic on canvas, 18 by 14 inches.

The dry dead foliage gives the landscape a warm feel with any sunshine. The light picks up the reds and ochres of the dormant foliage, while the pools of water amongst the bog sparkle with light. The reflections in the puddles and pools give a contrasing coolness to the warmth of the landscape.



More details of the paintings can be found on my website .
The second painting is an oil on canvas, of the same dimensions and is a painting of Lough Carra in County Mayo. I like the oil painting particularly, as it gives the feeling of calm that this particular lough gives. Lough Carra is the smallest of the western lakes at 4000 acres. It is an intricate Lough with many bays and points. A clear lake it is the safest of the western lakes, and rarely gets the rough waves the others can experience. The light limestone marl gives the shorelines the characteristic 'white' shallows, dropping off into deep dark water. It is along these edges the best of the trout fishing is found. This second painting is also on my website and is available to buy direct.