Wednesday 18 May 2011

Cerulean Blues Brothers

As regular readers know various commitments have made it difficult to get out with the oil paints so when I got a day free that coincided with a day off for my old friend, Jed. He and I get together whenever possible and put in a bit of painting time. We are governed by the weather and so it's not always been possible to get out and paint, hence the numbers of still life pieces that appear on the site. Our various adventures in the pursuit of producing pictures has us dubbed as the Cerulean Blues Brothers, Jed is also an accomplished musician.

Yesterday it was somewhat overcast but we headed up the coast to a spot near Seaton Sluice that looks back towards the St. Mary's light house.

Set up - Photograph

The view was as you see in the photograph.

As with most muscles or reflexes, they atrophy when not being used and I didn't find the session easy. There were only odd glimpses of sun so the light was generally flat and it is difficult to create sufficient depth by use of contrasting values. There is a certain lack of recession in the piece that I might rectify by greying down the island and lighthouse a little more. Nevertheless great to be out in the fresh, painting and discussing the merits of Payne's Grey as an essential on the palette.

St. Mary's from Seaton - Oil on canvas board 12" x 10"