1st November, Wharfe

I do like a painting with some narrative to it, especially when you don’t have to think too hard. This lovely little one-up-one-down cottage is captured the morning after Halloween in this pretty little hamlet of Wharfe. Only a little painting (10in x 8in) it sold as it was drying after posting on a very social media platform.

I used the (now normal) procedure of vaguely sketching out the composition with charcoal, then blocking in the basic colours and tones with acrylics – remembering to mute them as they can often dry way too gaudy (for my liking), and then having fun with some fast-drying oils, finessing and fiddling with it on a third sitting. I have to admit I am preferring these 10” x 8” boards to paint on as a very cost effective solution to canvas boards, with a triple coating of gesso and sanded back to a smooth finish, although the tooth of the medium can still be seen as I have used a brush to apply the gesso and not a roller, which in my eye gives the painting more immediacy.

1st November, Wharfe, Oil on board, 10" x 8"

The Blue Barn, Crummackdale

On the track out of Wharfe up Whitestone Lane towards Crummackdale sits this photogenic little barn. I adore the vernacular hereabouts as one building style differs from the other depending upon the area, the geology and the wealth of the farmer. Some have wonderful corbels, some have expensive carved lintels, some are crudely built but each one has its own personality and story. A walk on a late autumn day with a low sun, just catching on the tops was the immediate trigger for this little painting.

Its a difficult feeling to convey, but just ambling round the dales without a specific purpose of finding a subject often results in some absolute wonders. The painting was painted on a triple-primed mdf panel and sanded back, following the usual acrylic blocking in - the alkyd oils were used to pull out the detail and drag the painting together. I dont always work this way, sometimes I will use promarkers to build the tones but more recently the acrylic underpainting has taken precedent.

If you have never been to Crummackdale and Wharfe - I highly recommend it, its one of those beautifully secluded valleys whose secrets pop out at you through exploration.

Blue Barn, Crummackdale. 10" x 8" oil on panel.

The Ruined Church - Bishop Thornton

St John's church, Bishop Thornton. 

Something a bit on the Gothic side for a change. Inspired by Casper David Frederick's The Abbey in the Oakwood, this ruined church has enchanted me for 35 or so years, ever since I came across a photo in Richard Muir's excellent Shell Guide to the English Landscape. This solitary tower isolated in an island of tombs never fails to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I hope to have represented my feelings about this captivating place with this painting, the arms of the bare trees clawing out to the tower like bony hands, the gravestones are probably more dishevelled here than in reality and the path certainly does not exist, but hey, its a painting not a photo.

I have painted and sketched it en Plein air with little success, but here in this 8" x 10" I have finally scratched that itch. There's some narrative as the dried flowers on one of the graves attest to provide something a little bit extra.

The Ruined Church - Bishop Thornton 10" x 8" Oil on Board

The Grass is Always Greener?

I had this old board kicking around, primed, painted and coloured with a grey emulsion mixed with gesso subsequently sanded down and left. The gallery was looking a little bare and without a massive push to paint anything in particular the fallback of sheep and walls was the decided option. The view is loosely North Ribblesdale upon the track known as Goat Scar Lane leading down to Stainforth. I have painted and photographed this track numerous times in the past so I wasn’t deficient of reference material, although I was probably (rather worryingly) overawed by the amount of sheep photographs in my collection.

There is a case for narrative in this painting, I have walked  up this track and come across some escapees from the adjacent fields, these three depict the sheep from my recollections of that walk and their need for better pastures on the other side of the wall, but really are they any better off? I don’t know and I suspect neither do the sheep. As so often happens the title develops with the painting. I’m just wondering if art critics of the future depict the painting as allegorical, I suppose it is, but it wasn’t painted as such, I’m not that clever. This was painted as the standard view of the dales - sheep and walls…

The Grass is Always Greener? 12in x 12in - Oil on Panel

Watlowes

Painted in the spring of 2019 following a stroll from Malham back home to Stainforth. The dry valley of Watlowes above Malham Cove has provided me with inspiration before, although I have found it a tricky subject to paint. That previous time, I was painting it en-plein air, the flat overcast light of winter with drab colours and very little contrast of shadows, just deadened the view, and muddied the painting and blurred the lines of distance. I returned to Watlowes in the spring with some strong, low shadows which helped enhance the composition and also provided a bit of aerial recession. I shall be painting this dry valley again as I think it has a lot more to offer, perhaps a winter view, but for now I am happy with the addition of this tricky one to my repertoire.

Geologically the dry valley was carved out at the end of the last ice age when a glacial moraine was burst through with meltwater creating a torrent that carved this valley and the dry waterfall of Malham Cove below. The stream now follows a similar path but some way underground through a series of caves within the Limestone; only once in a blue moon does water flow through this valley and over the cove at Malham, the last time was recorded in February 2014.

Watlowes, Spring 2019, Oil on Panel, 12" x 8" ish

Ronnie & Reggie - Inglebro

Sometimes inspiration nudges you in strange ways. I have had this photo of Ingleborough for some time, not knowing what to do or how to proceed with it, the composition is lacking, the tones don't work - but for a basis of a painting I think it has something, but it needs a little more. So I used the photo for a watercolour sketch to play around with different 'moods', the watercolour sketch, although quite muddy made up my mind about how to proceed.

'Inspirational' photo

Rather messy compositional w/c with notes and sheep

Following sketching out the main components (incorrectly I may add), the entire painting was blocked in using my most favourite acrylics to define the tones and final colours... at this point (unlike most times) I paused, and left the painting on the easel for a couple of days while figuring out what to do next as the acrylic dried darker, gaudier, and more primitive than I envisaged (or planned).

The fun was to start with the oils, they allowed me to change the composition - rectifying where I had fouled up with the original pre-acrylic sketch  -you might see this in the sky above the left hand side of the hill - the original skyline was much higher which in retrospect didn't look right so was altered during the oiling in stage (actually half-way through!)

The sheep, I have christened Ronnie and Reggie have a passing similarity to their more infamous alter-egos in my warped subconscious - hence the title.

Ronnie and Reggie - Inglebro Oil on Board 12" x 10"

Smearsett Sheep

Oops, missed this one out. Fortunately for me this one sold, and I felt it necessary to include this into the blog, although it was painted int he spring of 2017. An inversion, an appetite for a painting, some sheep and Smearsett Scar were the ingredients for this one. The low lying mist in North Ribblesdale was the main inspiration for this although its not perfectly captured here, I hope the atmosphere of the cloudy sky and the appearance of the mist toward the left of the painting give some impression to the meteorological phenomenon that was most impressive when I painted this. The trio of Dalesbreds are more of an afterthought bringing a little bit of interest (if that floats your boat!) to the composition.

Smearsett Sheep, Oil on Board 10" x 8"

En Plein-air

Having become a member (one of 2000-or so) of Facebook's UK en-plein air society, it has given me further encouragement and inspiration to get out there and paint rather than being stuck in the studio (with constant interruptions and vying for space with my framer - and wife - who's working practice involves watching Desperate Housewives on her iPad). So an agreement has been made whereby I get out and do more in the open air. Although this year has been fantastic for the weather, dry hot, sunny blue skies almost daily, a constantly blue sky can be a bit boring after a while, and one yearns for a change - well I certainly received the change yesterday when I went out to paint at Malham Tarn; the light changed every 15 seconds sometimes for the worse but often for the better where I found myself going over what I had already painted, darkening the sky and highlighting the hills, pretty much constantly through the 2 hours I allotted myself for this painting.

Malham Tarn 10" x 12" Linen Canvas - Unfinished!

The constantly changing weather is reflected in the clothing of the two protagonists, one wearing shorts and a vest top, the other wearing full rain gear. I thought I was being clever - more than likely I'll just upset someone. The painting is certainly not finished and as it was painted on my own (wife-made) linen stretched-canvas will require a certain amount of further work to make it one which I am happy with. However for a first pass I am happy with it, but I am rather looking forward to fettling with it.

Pen-y-Gent 8" x 6" MDF panel

This one of Pen-y-Ghent and Upper Ribblesdale was painted during one of them 'Scorchio' days on my little pochade box (8" x 6"). I love this little box, although I have tried mounting it to a tripod twice with both times ending in disaster... still I can work with it on my lap and knacker my back for the effort - being constantly hunched over.

Field Laithe - Stainforth 8" x 6" MDF

Halton Gill 8" x 6" MDF

It is educational and it is a completely different discipline, most of which is preparation! I must be the most unprepared plein-air painter I know, normally packing everything I don't need and forgetting fairly critical things like brushes, white spirit, certain paints etc. etc. The other main difference for me is being completely absorbed by the subject, in the studio I find I do a lot of procrastinating during a painting, dithering between drinking coffee and washing brushes, cleaning my pallet, googling stuff, staring at old paintings and so on ad-infinitum; however outside it's just observation and painting, with the occasional chat to inquisitive passers' by and of course the obligatory coffee while stepping back to judge the scene, although I do find I step further back than is necessary to make the painting look half decent!

Three Peaks Panorama

Oil on Panel: 6" x 24" On the tops above Langcliffe and Stainforth are the twin farms of Upper and Lower Winskill, and from that vantage is this view of Yorkshire's famous three peaks. Some choose to run the 26-odd miles in something under 4 hours, but in order to qualify for the 'club' it has to be completed in under 11 hours, personally I have taken 17 years at a much more leisurely pace. From left to right there are Ingleborough (2376ft), Whernside (2416ft) and Pen-y-ghent (2278ft) - important figures indeed, often questioned at pub quizzes through the district.

Three Peaks Panorama - 6" x 24"

Into Langcliffe

Back to Autumn!! One of them long Autumn days with low shadows and painting into the light, is something I am not used to, although with this Naples Yellow sky, the contrast and the colour tones work and I am rather pleased with the composition. This is the entry into the pretty village of Langcliffe from the green lane that connects this village with the farms at Winskill. I erroneously painted a board in quite a disturbing crimzon which I decided (as a trial) to use as the ground for this piece. I have to admit I am rather pleased with the overall effect with the crimson seeping through in places to bring a touch of unexpected warmth to the painting.

Into Langcliffe; Oil on Board 8" x 10"

Just reading a book by David Curtis who points out when the colour and tones are stripped away from the painting, all that's left is the composition; which acts basically as a skeleton for the painting. If the skeleton doesn't work, it doesn't matter how good the tones and colours are - the painting still will not work.  I think I got the bones in the right place in this one!

Malham Cove, Spring 18

No one can miss the natural spectacle of this huge amphitheatre of limestone that sits about a half a mile north of the pretty little village of Malham. This massive curve of rock was carved out at the end of the last ice age when the melting glacial waters exploited natural weaknesses in the limestone bedrock (in this case the middle Craven Fault) forming what was once a cataract that rivalled Niagara. Once in a blue moon, following periods of intense rainfall does water flow over this cliff down an unbroken drop of around 80m; this last happened in December 2015 for the first time in around 200 years.

Malham Cove, Spring 18; Oil on Board 10" x 8"

I painted this over  a couple of days from sketches and photos while 'minding the shop', and strangely enough its only the second image of this fantastic feature. Word to the wise, if you're staying locally this is best visited in the evening when the hubbub of the day visitors have departed.

Beggars' Stile, Crummackdale

To the west of us lies the beautiful, secluded valley of Crummackdale whose river is fed from the southern flanks of Ingleborough and it is another one of the Western Dales' hidden gems. This was painted from sketches and photos, although I had to imagine what the place looked like with an evening sky.

Beggars Stile, Crummackdale. Oil on Panel 6" x 11"

The stile at the centre of attention is known as the Beggars Stile, and allows access to the karst of the Moughton uplands from Crummackdale. Beyond Beggars Stile is a natural amphitheatre called Thieves Moss, which does leave one's imagination soaring as the old Lancaster to Newcastle turnpike ran alongside these two features.

Gooseker Spring

The gallery was starting to look a bit, well, wintery, so I thought it needed a bit of a freshen up with some fresh green paint and what better than some spring landscapes of the scenery in this part of the Dales. Gooseker or Goat Scar or indeed Gorse Scar (but known locally as Gooseker!) is that ancient trackway that appears in quite a lot of my paintings (and indeed some paintings of artists much better and more famous than I) fortunately it is on my doorstep so the inspiration is literally outside. The initial climb out of Stainforth literally takes your breath away, but the view back towards the village and Ribblesdale beyond is well worth it, along the path towards Catrigg (another of my favourite haunts) you may (or may not) notice there are 3 or 4 tunnels under the roadway, each one with a vaulted roof, these were built to last and allow livestock to pass safely beneath the track between pastures.

Gooseker Spring. Oil on Panel 12" x 12"

The view is what I like to call 'the ubiquitous one' down the lane towards the Hogget house with the mass of Smearsett to the left in the distance. Now this one was painted from photos alone - I did this while 'minding the shop' waiting for foot traffic to pop into the gallery and all the while practising my sales patter (not working though!)...

Winter - Catrigg Force

It must be spring soon...? Even though the crocuses are out, and the daffodils are giving it their best to burst we are still gripped in the firm clasp of winter up here. I have been meaning to paint this view again for such a long time, in fact a number of passers-by pop their heads in to the gallery with this view in mind, and having given (!) the last painting of Catrigg away I thought it high time I renewed this. This was painted after a stroll to my favourite place during what was known as the 'Beast from the East', not so great for the motorist, but excellent for the Landscape painter looking for a new twist on an old scene.

Winter - Catrigg Force - Oil on Board 10" x 8"

I painted this on a black ground, something I have never done before, but something I will repeat, as the results in my opinion, are great. Prior to putting paint to board (doesn't sound the same as 'canvas'), I did a few tonal sketches for this one, and used very little photographic reference.

Pencil sketch

Sepia Sketch - on board

The Beast at Gooseker

Although the recent spate of bad weather entitled 'The Beast from the East' brought traffic disruptions countrywide  and if the media is to be believed 'massive chaos', it brought a welcome change for the landscape artist. I enjoy these winter lanes and snowdrifts, primarily because of the general absence of green that tends to dominate. I am moving away from the security blanket of mixed greens and opting to utilise various yellows as a substitute, but some yellows mixed with a variety of blues / greys / blacks can also prove as thuggish as a spattering of pthalo green (yellow shade). When I look at the Dales, in normal (cloudy) weather, all I see is varying shades of grey with a greenish tinge, why therefore do I resort to hurling vast quantities of sap green and viridian in to emulate what I think I see. Maybe this is the part of the brain that says 'paint what IS there' rather than 'paint how you ACTUALLY See it', maybe if I had ever had an art class these questions could be answered and rectified... regardless, as I have always thought, the snow comes like a clean sheet...

Although when the snow goes, there's just a muddy mess!

Snowdrifts-Gooseker: Oil on Board, 10" x 8"

Stroll through Fountains

Oil on Board 12" x 6": Painted from sketches and photos in the studio from an afternoon stroll at Fountains Abbey. Probably one of the best preserved ruined (oxymoron?) monasteries in Northern England. Some beautiful light finally emerged from behind the clouds illuminating the western side of the church tower enthused me to scribble down a quick sketch, and snapshot on a phone camera - so pretty useless as a photo but great as an aide memoir. The two people which add a little life to the scene and aid the composition were chucked in from some other sketches from elsewhere in the abbey.

Oil on Board 12" x 6"

Where the Flock's at...?

Painted following a walk during the previous batch of snowfall at the beginning of February this year, this little flock decided I had some food and followed me for some time until they became bored and disillusioned. As it was way too cold to even consider painting, this was painted from photos and subsequent sketches. The Farm in the distance is Westside house, off the Stainforth to Malham road. Apologies for the title, I thought it was quite funny at the time... not sure if I should incorporate this one on to the painting itself.

Where the Flock's at...? Oil on Panel 25" x 12"

In Littondale

A nice quick piece, developed from a watercolour sketch painted on location of one of the many ruined barns in Littondale. The sunlight backlit the barn tremendously and at the time ticked the composition boxes, although in retrospect I am thinking that yet again there is too much colour saturation and regardless I am happy with it. The little figure was thrown in to provide a focal point, a touch of life and develop a little story around the piece.

In Littondale: Oil on Board 7" x 7" Framed

New Barns, Arnside

Finished version of one of the paintings from and earlier post, painted en plein-air at the beginning of February, and touched-up back in the studio. The houses at New Barns Bay near Arnside ticked the boxes compositionally although my first attempt at capturing these houses on canvas were interrupted by the rising tide during the super-blue moon early last month. This tide being higher than usual so much so that the pochade box and tripod was moved several times before giving up altogether.

New Barns Bay, Arnisde. Oil on Board 8" x 6"

This second view was painted at the highest part of the tide fortunately well above the high water mark, looking towards the houses and café at New Barns (the café was artistically omitted!).

Feb Light, Langcliffe Scar

After dropping my youngest at school the other morning, before the Beast from the East hit these shores, this view of Langcliffe Scar stood out as the morning rays were just hitting the cliff face. It is amazing how inspiration can hit you full on, even just a passing glimpse enthused me to rush back home, grab a sketchbook and pencils and return to the scene. Although the light had changed a little I sketched the scene rapidly adding notes as I had done pre-digital camera era with a view to painting this as I has seen it and not how the camera sees it. In this I failed miserably as the temptation of taking a couple of snaps on the phone camera was too great. This painting was the result, although not slavishly copying a photo, the distortion of the photo and the saturation of the green does show up, especially in the bottom quarter of the painting.

Feb Light, Langcliffe Scar. Oil on Canvas Board 10" x 14"

I read recently that using a photo on a backlit monitor is counterproductive as false light shows up, and I am wanting to get away from this, I guess this is my first big step in moving away from basing paintings on photos and going back to using sketches as my primary reference for completed paintings. Although I am happy with the sky and the tones, I am not too pleased with the over-saturated greens of the foreground and middle-distance, and just exemplifies what a thug green can be, even my sparing use of Oxide of Chromium permeates the lower quarter of the painting, even though only the tiniest drop was applied on the palette. For this over saturation, I blame the camera, and not my mixing!