Painting the Southland skies is as challenging as they are amazing. Fantastic formations lure me steer my car roadside simply to enjoy the show. And take photos. I have hundreds, perhaps over a thousand sky photos. It was a natural choice to include my love for our skies in my month-long art challenge. Southwesterly weather systems …
The best thing about painting the Danseys pass is this; the10 paintings have proven daunting, at times, and rewarding. As an artist who has relished the comfort of routine, I’m seeing the benefit of learning a new way of doing things; and loosening up. This is the final painting inspired by our journey through New …
Daily painting routine One of the great discoveries of creating small daily paintings is that I can take more risks. This is because I don’t have to concern myself with a great investment in material or time. my normal approach My usual way of approaching painting is to do a thumbnail sketch. Then I enlarge …
I’m gaining confidence applying impasto paint for these daily paintings inspired by the Kyeburn Diggings in the Danseys Pass. The early dark wet layers affecting later layers is still challenging, but fun. The interplay between the pigments with the brush is satisfying. Mostly. Day 8, the process is closer to my usual approach to painting …
Kyeburn diggings Danseys Pass Digital image technology has revolutionised my arts practice. However, using a digital reference photograph requires adjustment to give paintings more dimensionality. Digital image technology takes an infinite spectrum of light and colour and compresses that information into a smaller finite and more manageable range. Today’s reference photo shows the mountain in …
Adjusting how I paint from a digital reference image Read More »
Kyeburn diggings, danseys pass II What a great weekend relaxing at home and looking at my five completed challenge paintings. I needed to make this challenge fit my life. To paint each work and then edit and post the video took about 4 hours. More time was required for paintings with more colour. Less colour …
Muted colours of the danseys pass I’m going for monochrome in this work from our trip deeper into the Kyeburn Diggings. Yesterday, cutting back the chroma to show the muted colours of the Danseys Pass took a lot more time than I’d planned. It’s Friday and I have weekend plans. High contrast is my principal …
The painting is inspired by the start of the Kyeburn Diggings outside St. Bathans in the Danseys Pass in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand. Cloud, light, and shadow cast a mood that mirrored ours as we hurried through to get home before the March 2020 Level 4 Lockdown in New Zealand. …
The Vulcan Hotel St bathans The Vulcan Hotel St. Bathans is a beloved landmark– a remnant from old mining days. We didn’t stop in for a cuppa(cup of coffee or tea in New Zealand vernacular). Took photos. Moved on. Got to Timaru before dark. A lockdown threat loomed. Back home the next day. Early. Six …
Danseys Pass St Bathans II A great personal result! Yesterday’s challenge—painted, edited, posted!! Being kind to myself, I discovered I needed to adjust my approach to painting. Usually I start by blocking in the darkest and the lightest values and build on that. There won’t be enough time for the thinner darker layers to set …
What I had to change on the 2nd day of my painting challenge Read More »
