After the Re-Think

Well, I got a bit of painter's block for a week or two there; so troubled was I by my most recent painting at the time that I felt I needed to think about what I was doing. However: having to do a birthday card for one person, and a small painting for another, seems to have cleared through my mental confusion, and thus - we're off once more!

I therefore display a couple of my latest; in the case of the oil (on the right), it was an oil sketch that I fully intended to work up into something more detailed and "finished", but in the event I realized I'd said all I really wanted or needed to say about the subject, and I'm quite pleased I left it at that stage: it's a good deal fresher than it would have been as a result, I think. A limited palette of Indian Red, Raw Sienna, Indian Yellow, Permanent Sap Green, Cerulean Blue, and Prussian Blue, (plus white), on a ground of Burnt Sienna and Flake White. I used a medium this time - which, for those who might not know, does not mean I engaged the services of Madame Arcati; rather, it's a mixture of oil plus something else that helps the paint to flow. In this case, the ingredients were Linseed Oil; Low Odour Thinners (mineral spirits); and Dammar Varnish. An unusual approach for me - normally I don't use medium at all, or just a touch of Liquin - but I think I'll be doing so again. The painting on the left is an acrylic - a path along the River Medina, nr Newport, Isle of Wight; the oil is of a country path leading through those trees to the Blackgang Road, at Niton, Isle of Wight.

I've stopped worrying about what will or won't sell - you just can't tell anyway. So - although all the research suggests that oil-painted landscapes outsell anything else, I'm just painting what I want. And if the occasional oil-painted landscape crops up, it's because I wanted to paint it; but - nearly everything here is for sale, so contact me if interested. These two are not yet on my website, at www.isleofwightlandscapes.net.