ICELANDIC GOAT

 

We found a small herd of Icelandic goats while touring around the island one day so stopped for a while. They were all quite friendly and allowed us a close approach = probably they were used to visitors and hoping for some food. The older males were the most impressive with their horns and very long coats while the smaller females (which had white coats) were shorter-haired. Well, that was a few years ago and although I did some studies while in Iceland, it has taken me until now to get around to doing more detailed studies of these impressive animals. This oil is another 10 x 8 inch painting done on gessoed board.

SNAGGLETOOTH

 

I forgot just how long ago I started this painting of a snaggle-toothed monster, but it has been with me during each move as I always intended to finish it somewhere along the way. I think the main reason it took so long as I couldn't decide what I wanted the croc to be resting on. In the end, I just added a slightly textured base and finally I could call it done! Looking at the finished painting, I'm really glad I put in the effort to complete it. Size is about 7.5 x 11 inches, watercolor on Arches paper

BREAKING SEA

 

Along the coast of Hong Kong again. I managed to find a place with quite rough seas after a storm had passed so painted this scene trying to contrast the waves and lighter foam against the dark of the rocks. I kept the foreground open as a way of drawing your eye into the painting over the waves and the motion of the sea on to the rocks in the background. I love doing smaller paintings like this as I feel that I can capture the intimacy of a scene more easily. Size is 8 x 10 inches, oil on board.

LATCH

 

 

While visiting a farm some time ago, I began working on a painting of the south side of a small barn. Attached to the barn was a tool shed and I noticed how the weak afternoon sun created an unusual shadow of the latch on the edge of the half-opened door. Deciding to try and capture this, I did a few small sketches first then painted this one using acrylic which I felt would be suited to the subject. Size is 10 x 8 inches.

OSPREY PORTRAIT

 

I recently completed this Osprey study - something that I have been working on for some time. I haven't had really close-up views of ospreys in the wild, most of my views have been through a telescope which at least allowed me to do a few studies. This is the main reason the painting took so long, anyway, it's done now and I can finally move on to the next painting.

This pencil study is one of a few I did in preparation for the actual painting and I worked quite hard to get it looking the way I wanted. Once completed, I transferred this image to watercolor paper then used this and other reference for the final work. The watercolour is sized at 12 x 9 inches, the drawing at 7 x 5 inches.

CLEARING SKIES

 

During one of our trips to the Netherlands some time ago, we visited Amsterdamse Bos which is a large park-like area outside Amsterdam. There was a multitude of things to paint but I settled on this scene of tall trees in early spring, trying to capture the different shades of green under a clearing sky after some morning showers. A glimpse of distant water appears on the right and the nearby fields were full of geese and birdsong - truly wonderful! Size of this painting is 9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas.