A Few New Sketches

Up north this week, trying to get a few new sketches, hoping for some fresh inspiration from Autumn colours. However, the weather hasn't been that great.
Tried to do a little sketching over in Applecross. When we arrived (after driving over the Bealach) I was very taken with the look of Rona (the island!). I tried to capture the ephemerality of the light in this sketch - difficult - it was changing all the time....

One of my favourite views is the view of Skye from Sand. I tried to capture the atmosphere...

I was also taken with the view looking east from the Applecross Inn. The sunlight caught the colour in the hill!

But it was really a bit of a black and white day, with very atmospheric views of the Hebrides. I stopped the car and dashed off a very rapid charcoal sketch. (It was very, very windy).

We continued on to the villages. I love this stunted Crab Apple Tree in Fearnbeg, so I had another go at sketching it.

 Back in Lochcarron, I've been sketching too. Just caught this corner before the light disappeared.

And here's another sketch done from a similar spot - but with a broader outlook.

And here's a view from Ardaneaskan - this is another favourite place (just along the road from Lochcarron) - did this sketch in charcoal.I love the shape of the hill on the RHS. It's my 'Dark hill above Strome'!

So I'm pleased I've managed to do a few sketches. Can I use these to develop paintings from them? I'm not sure. Only time will tell....

Mustn't Forget about Composition!

Back in the studio after a lovely time at Edinburgh Printmakers. Keeping the painting going. It's a little difficult thinking about Wester Ross back in Musselburgh, but the sketchbook helps.  I decided to focus on the sketch I had made of the old fishing station at Ardaneaskan (just to the west of North Strome).
I had done a sketch in ink while sitting on the beach, and I re-drew this in charcoal and graphite.

 Then I decided to do some colour studies.  The day of sketching had been one of those overcast days - a bit threatening, with blinks of sun from time to time. I had been looking west, into the sun, and wanted to try and recapture that look - the colourless look of the shed and the dark tree shape.  I was also very keen on the fishing poles (where the nets used to dry). I've seen these poles in a few places (they're a bit sad, I think, reminiscient of ways of working that have disappeared - and they look a bit like dead trees), and at Ardaneaskan, these poles are intact (amazingly).  Anyway, my first effort, using acrylic and pencil marks, was a similar composition to the sketch, but I've cropped it a bit.

 The composition with the poles is a bit difficult. Also, I thought the palette was a bit red, so I tried again with a slightly different palette - introducing ultramarine.  Quite a different look - more far away, less brooding?

 In my earnestness to capture the beach, I may have overworked this version.  However, it has a nice 'coldness' about it (which was not really the look I was trying to achieve).  Anyway, undeterred, I've tried the motif again, in larger format, and (so far) without the poles.  Have gone back to the red brooding palette.

I decided to introduce an orange (corrugated iron) roof which seems to work quite well.  And I quite like the colour relationships relating to this.  I think the colour is close to what I'm seeking. However, I don't think this is finished yet.  Maybe the composition is not interesting enough without the poles. But I like the angle of the hut better. It's on different paper too, which affects the quality of the mark-making. (Actually, I don't like this paper - it's too rough and raggy.)

But the big decision is the poles - in or out? I'm still not sure.

New Paint Colours

Back in the studio today after lots of distractions in the last few weeks.  Spent a bit of time with Rona organising our forthcoming joint exhibition, but then got down to work.  I was a bit concerned as I hadn't been in the studio for so long, and have lost a little momentum.  But I had bought two new paint colours and wanted to try them out.  Prussian Blue Pthalo and Olive Green - both acrylic.

I started out splashing around the blue in different dilutions - is is a lovely colour - and I added some Ultramarine.  It led me towards doing a seascape - was looking at the sketch I did near Ardaneaskan.

I carried on, adding in more colour - umber and burnt orange - but I soaked the paper a bit too much.  It ended up looking like this.

This pic is a out of focus and it's a bit of a mess.  The light was a bit dim and I didn't want to switch on electric lights.  So I stopped at this point.  For review (or discarding) the next time.

I didn't want to waste the day, and doing this painting had made me think of the Applecross hills, so I looked out another sketch from a while ago and made a start to another study.

This was a promising start.  I was back to my usual palette of Ultramarine and Carmine with some Burnt Orange added.  So I carried on adding colour but trying not to lose the relaxed watery-ness and looseness of the marks.

The may have some potential, but the light had failed totally now, so I packed up.

Next time I'm in the studio - Friday - I am determined to have another go at the pictures I started in Lochcarron - the oils.  It would be good to finish these if I can.

Dreaming of Ardaneaskan

Lochcarron Days

I've been reading Van Gogh's Letters From Provence and two things strike me.  First that Van Gogh just went out and painted scenes in his locale that he felt moved to paint: he didn't appear to agonise over composition, medium or treatment - he just got on with it.  Second, that as he looked at the landscape, he saw it in terms of paint colours - ultramarine here and lemon yellow there.  There were lots of other interesting aspects to the book, but these are the key points for me at the moment.

I've also been reading a book entitled "Collage, Colour and Texture in Painting".  While this verges on advocating a formulaic approach, it is full of lots of ideas about mixing media, using various tools and it is also a good reminder about the importance of composition and a focal point.  On reflection, I'm thinking my pictures tend to lack a good focal point. (On further reflection, perhaps many of Van Gogh's pictures lack a focal point too).

The weather's been somewhat uninviting while we've been up here, and so sketching opportunities have been limited. Today was no exception so I thought I'd try a little painting.  Not in the studio, so had to use the materials I had brought - acrylics, watercolours, gouache and charcoal. Also subject to distractions...out for a little walk and off to the bottle bank (haha) etc.

Noticing that Prussian Blue is an important colour for landscape here at this time of year.  I had thought this before in the studio, but some of the dramatic scenes today (between sleet showers) highlighted the intense prussian blue of the hills in the middle distance contrasting with the burnt orange of Slumbay in the foreground.  Perhaps if I really want to get to grips with colour I should do this more often i.e. think about the colours I would use to paint what I see about me.  Perhaps I should be doing it all the time....

Anyway - I had a go at a couple of paintings today, based on photos of local scenes (easier when I'm in Lochcarron).  The first was a view over the bay near Slumbay that I had sketched in the snow the last time we were here.  I quite liked the composition, with the curvy bays leading to the houses down at the shore edge next to Slumbay.  So I figured that those houses and trees were my focal point.

Emerging picture of 3 Bays copyright Aileen Grant

The colour is not quite right as this pic was taken in electric light.  But it gives a good idea.  The other one I did was based on a view at Ardaneaskan - did a charcoal first then a pic.

Ardaneaskan View (Charcoal) copyright Aileen Grant

Emerging Picture Ardaneaskan View copyright Aileen Grant

I did a little more to the colour picture before I finished.  Hopefully I have managed to retain the feeling of abstraction.  Interesting to do the two compositions.  I like them both for different reasons (charcoal drawing more dramatic: colour pic more true to life with the open sea).  Anyway, a slightly different approach for me, using colour but trying to stay loosened up.