ALONG THE CAPE, PART 1

When living in South Africa, I traveled around the country quite a lot and found it to be diverse and quite beautiful. I moved to Cape Town for a few months in the 80's working on renovating a wing of the Groote Schuur Hospital (where Christiaan Barnard successfully completed the first open-heart transplant). I was deeply impressed not only by the stunning beauty of the Cape but also by the many buildings, homes and gardens - many built in the Dutch style with gabled ends and thatched roofs. In my spare time (which I have to say was not that much!), I explored the region driving from Cape Town to Hout Bay to Simon's Town around to False Bay and points in between, drawing and painting the places I found most interesting. I particularly have fond memories of walking the slopes of Table Mountain, watching birds, sketching and feeding the tame deer to be found there. I'm very much looking forward to another visit - hopefully next year.
The view in this painting is along the coast looking down over a headland and across the many miles of wild Atlantic sea. Since most of the details will be in the foreground rocks, I kept the sea and sky simple. I had planned to do a loose interpretation of the scene but as you will see later, this was not to be!

APPROACHING NOON

Finally here is the finished painting! The completion of this work took longer than I had thought it would and there are still a few areas that I'll probably work on over the next few days. I'll also try and post a slightly better photo as this one came out a little blotchy showing more texture than there is in the actual painting. Finally I am feeling a sense of completion as I slowly work through some of the many unfinished paintings here in the studio. Another one was finished off just yesterday and will post pics of that one soon. There are also a few new paintings on the go as well so expect to see them coming up here in the not too distant future. 'Approaching Noon', watercolor on Fabriano paper, 30" X 22".

APPROACHING NOON - PART 2

Continuing to work on different areas of the painting, I first darkened the shadows inside then added a wash of burnt umber to the large pot. Further deep Windsor red washes were added to the frame and the post helping to define that area somewhat. I also darkened the walls in shadow then took a deep breath before working on the lettering. I worked really slowly on each Chinese character making sure that they exactly matched my references as not only would each character have to read correctly but I also wanted to capture the artist's style. After a few hours, the base coat was done then I went over all the lettering once again deepening the tone slightly. Happy with the work so far, my plan was to finish the roof next then I would be better able to decide how much darker the shadows had to go. Apart from the architecture and individual character of the place, what made the scene so interesting to me from the start was the areas of sunlight and shadow, especially surrounding the pot used to burn offerings to the Gods. The rest of the painting would have to be slightly understated to allow one to focus there so there would be plenty of deepening watercolor washes to come.

APPROACHING NOON - PART 1

When I first moved to Hong Kong in the mid 1980's I could scarcely believe that I was actually there! It had been a dream of mine for so long. Each new day was an adventure as I explored the districts around where I was staying in Kowloon. I then had the great fortune to meet someone who suggested visiting the out-lying islands so the next day saw me on a ferry to Lamma Island. The closer I got to the island, the more certain I was that I would live there and within a week I was! Life back then seemed to be idyllic - I would rise early and explore the island watching birds and butterflies, drawing nature in my sketchbooks and swimming in the sea.
I first came upon this shrine almost by accident as it was off the main walkway through the island but in an older area that had caught my eye some time before. I did some sketches on site then moved on to other things. Much later, here in my studio I came across those earlier works and decided to do a larger watercolor of the scene. Well that was a few years ago and the painting has sat at home here for some time before I recently decided to finish it off. Up to this point, the painting had been developed as seen above except for the horizontal decorative strip just under the eaves which was worked on last week. I can't find an earlier photo of this work in progress so this series of posts will have to start with the painting developed up to this point.  Basically I had built up the work using successive washes of color as usual keeping in mind my initial ideas and focal point. It seemed to be going okay so far but I realized that  lot of work was still to come.....

NEAR BLACKWATER

A plein air painting done overlooking the marsh near Blackwater NWR on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Often these smaller studies don't come to anything, but are extremely useful non-the-less. I always learn something from doing them and I can often use them as the basis for larger paintings. Or even combine certain aspects from a few different studies to work them into a painting. For me, its all about discovery and experimentation. I do a lot of looking and thinking before actually painting anything and I hope my work has improved because of it.  Near Blackwater - Oil on Canvas, 9" X 12".

ORNATE HAWK EAGLE

A study of a female Ornate Hawk-eagle from before. In the past I made many studies and drawing of this amazingly beautiful bird. Large and powerful, it really had an imposing presence. Incredible markings too - almost art-deco like and with a wonderful crest that could be laid flat as in the above painting. A bird of the forest, in flight it had short rounded wings and a long tail - built for maneuverability. I did this study in watercolor - size is 11" X 7.5".

SUMMER LANDSCAPE

This painting needed only a few touch-ups to it before I called it finished. A difficult painting to photograph properly - in reality the work is a little darker (especially the foreground) and the grasses are more subtle in their tones. This painting - along with a few others, are being exhibited at Berkley Gallery in Warrenton, Virginia - I'll be having an exhibition there later in the year and will keep you posted.
The farm painting that I mentioned in my last post has become bogged down so will be awhile in coming. In the meantime I am happily working my way through some of the other unfinished painting in the studio. Hopefully more pics soon. Summer Landscape is an oil on canvas, size 16" X 24".