Lately I have been working on a few large paintings that are taking longer that I had expected. I do hope to finish them soon and will have a few pics of them for you to look at on Pigbristles. In the meantime, I have posted this small study of a late evening sunset near where I live. I find myself doing a lot of these smaller studies, usually in the response to something that I have seen but also as a way of exploring ideas in paint. It makes sense to keep them small because they don't always work out! Working like this is I feel, an important way to keep developing as an artist. I don't want to simply paint the same kind of painting over and over again as I feel this leads to stagnation. By constantly challenging myself I continue to grow and while this process is difficult and often depressing (when things don't go my way), I usually come through the other side with a better understanding of the process of art - and of myself.
Working en plein air has also been very beneficial for me as it forces me to make decisions quickly and to work with what is in front of me. Usually it is the opposite in the studio where I can sit around looking at studies and make more careful decisions on where to go with the painting. I used to paint almost all of my landscapes outside and while this was not always practical, I did learn a lot. Now that I spend more time in the studio, I am still looking within and drawing on ideas from my thoughts and experiences. Most of these have made the transition into paint but I still have so much that I want to do - some of them very different to what I have painted before. The more typical Sundown in June is an oil on canvas mounted onto board and the size is 7" X 11".
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