A Thank You

Big thanks to FishHawk for including my in the sites-to-see over at asthecrackerheadcrumbles.

If you have found this blog through FishHawk's recommendation, then welcome and I hope you enjoy my artwork.

Witchling

My latest digital work. Based on an avatar that I create for an Anime based forum site. This started off as just a mindless doodle earlier this week. Usually my doodles in photoshop don't amount to more than frustration, but in this instance my progress seemed promising so I started putting a little more effort into it.

Dryad

Digital piece using photoshop and tablet. I've had this idea rattling around my head for a few years and I thought I'd have a go at realising it. I think I achieved a good effect of making the dryad appear to be coming out of the tree and I am really pleased with how the "hair" turned out. The background could have been better defined and I didn't achieve the look of dense forest I was hoping for.

On The Edge Looking Out

Digital painting using Photoshop and my tablet. I am quite pleased with how the clouds turned out in this painting, but I am somewhat unsure with the lady. The cloak turned out better than I was expecting. I am also pleased with how the hands turned out as I have some difficulty doing hands most of the time.

New Etsy listings

Along The Coast and Reflections In The Water are now available to buy at my etsy shop here. I still have many other paintings for sale there if you are interested in buying some of my artwork, including some of my older paintings which I have priced quite cheap. I hope you take the time to look at what is available at my etsy shop.

I hope to have some new digital paintings to showcase here, just as soon as I do them. I would really like to get back to painting on canvas, but that is on indefinite hiatus whilst I am unemployed and have no money.

Also, if you are a member of deviantart then you can find my page here.

Thanks to everyone who has been supporting this blog and commenting. Your support has been very uplifting in these hard times and I am very much appreciative of the kindness you have shown me.

Guarding The Wall

Another digital painting done in Photoshop. I am especially pleased with the cliff faces in this picture. It took a lot longer to complete than I wanted to spend on it. This was partly because I had a little trouble getting a half decent look for the figure, but mainly because I was working at a resolution that was twice the size than was necessary.

Standing In The Breeze

Digital Painting using Photoshop.

This is the first of my digital paintings. Not a great deal of planning went into this, but I am reasonably satisfied with the results.

Thinking about the future

First I'd like to thank those who gave suggestions for my missing image problem. It seemed to resolve itself, but it may occur again so I shall look into all that was suggested.

As I haven't been able to buy new canvases to do more paintings of late I've started to think about other things I can do in the meantime. Before I started my recent development in painting with acrylics I was trying my hand at digital art using photoshop. I produced some illustrations I was very pleased with but was dissatisfied with how long they took to complete - from 2 weeks to a couple of months. Now I have been learning quick and effective painting techniques with acrylic I might be able to combine that with what I already know about doing digital art. I did a little tester to see if it could work and discovered that with some custom made brushes in photoshop, I should be able to apply what I have learnt with acrylics to a digital medium.

Below is the little tester I did. It's a ten minute doodle of some clouds, because I really like doing clouds.

Missing Images

It seems that I have reached the limit of my allotted bandwidth at photobucket, so all my images are no longer showing. This is very unfortunate because displaying my paintings is the entire point of this blog. I shall endeavour to find a solution to this problem as quickly as possible.

If you are new to my blog or returning to view paintings they can be found on my deviantart site, alongside my many photographs. They are also available to view and, if you so desire, purchase on my etsy site.

Along The Coast

Acrylic on Canvas. 31" x 16".

This was another experiment using several photographs from a family members recent holiday to Wales. It is probably my most successful experiment to date.

Over the course of painting these last six I have showcased here, I feel that I have grown significantly as an artist. I have learnt some very helpful techniques and approaches that allow me produce better paintings. I have also learnt how to create effects and images that I haven't tried before, even if there is a certain amount of trial and error. With my previous approaches to paintings I would either have significantly less detail in my work or spend months on one painting. Now I feel more confident as an artist and hope that this is reflected in these recent paintings.

Reflections In The Water

Acrylic on Canvas. 16" x 16".

My initial plan was to do a lot more foreground in this painting, but when I got to this point and looked at the reflection effect I achieved I was loathed to paint over it and just tidied up some background details.

The Path To The Spring

Update:

I have added these new paintings for sale on my etsy page and I have put all the previous paintings I have done on sale.

I have written an article for Mythic Folk detailing the steps I took to paint the image bellow. I hope you take the time to check it out and the rest of that excellent site.

If you have navigated here from Mythic Folk, welcome to my blog. I hope you take the time you look around.

Acrylic on Canvas. 23.5" x 15.5".

I am extremely satisfied with how this painting turned out. This is an adaptation of several photographs I took whilst on the walk I documented the previous month with selected photographs.

The River Bank

Acrylic on Canvas. 24" X 18".

This was a real experiment with the new techniques I had been learning and I learnt of lot of lessons painting this. I am very pleased with the end result.

Blossom In The Clearing

Acrylic on canvas. 23.5" x 15.5".

This painting is loosely based on a scene I took a photograph of a few years back.

Over The Hill

Acrylic on Canvas. 14" X 18"

As promised, this is the first of the latest set of paintings I have done. I hope that you would agree with me in that this painting does show a marked improvement over the previous paintings I have posted.

What's going on?!?

I have been feeling a bit poorly of late but I do have some new paintings to showcase, I just haven't photographed them yet. I am very excited about these new paintings, it shows a great improvement all around and I feel I can achieve a lot more. Nevertheless, fate tends to intervene in situations that seem to be good and I can't achieve any more because I can't afford to buy canvases for new paintings.

Being stricken unemployed by the financial crisis and unable to find work for the past 18 months has in some ways been a great motivator for me to try and improve my artwork, find my direction and sell some paintings so I can get off of benefits. In a more practical sense it has been a hindrance for my art, as I am restricted in materials I can purchase and time I can spend painting as I look for actual paid work. It is a heady and strange mix of hope and despair. Nevertheless, as much as I would love to keep up the pace of my painting, I will probably be producing a lot less paintings now.

My day out photos - Part 5 (Final)

Here are the final five photos I picked out from my little trip out.

A second bridge opposite the one shown in the previous post.

This pigeon was gracious enough to wait patiently whilst I got a good shot of it perched on this dead tree. It's one of those things you see and instantly think "that would make a great photo".

Found a little watering hole with quite a few large dragon flies around it. I don't see dragon flies too often and it was really difficult to get a decent picture of them. This is the best I could do.

At this point I felt I exhausted the potential of the nature reserve for that day and decided to head back home. This photo is actually the path I took and despite the appearance, there is a track there (clearly been unused for a considerable amount of time).

On the way back home I caught site of this house sitting atop a small hill and thought that it just begged to photographed.

Well, that's it for the photos. I hope you enjoyed them.

My day out photos - Part 4

I thought the look of this dead tree was great with the sunlight catching it as it loomed over the tree tops. Getting a good shot of it through the canopy was difficult, but I think this makes for an interesting photo nonetheless.

I was just about to the leave the shade by the river and enter the nature reserve at this point. I feel the contrast of the shade under the canopy and the bright sunlight out in the open feels is effectively demonstrated in this photo.

Butterflies are difficult to photograph if the won't stay still.

I know this image is blurry and I would have deleted it, if it were not for the crisp sharpness of the few blades of grass at the foreground (which the camera decided to focus on instead of what I intended). I don't know why, but I like it.

I thought that this was very visually interesting. I may use this photo in the future for a painting.

My day out photos - Part 3

The continuation of my photos, this time taken from the southern side of the river, featuring an interesting tree stump bathed in light, the bank on which there was a second track, an obstruction on the higher track when it briefly ventured out into the sunshine, a picture of the canopy and another picture of the riverside. I hope you enjoy these.

My day out photos - Part 2

On this trip to the river I decided to walk on the north bank for the first time. I knew that I could only follow it so far and it'd be a harder walk but I thought I'd get some interesting photos so it would be worth it. It was, I got some great reference pictures including the photos below. It was a very sunny and hot day and where the river starts at the spring right up to the entrance to the nature reserve, the river and the path beside are completely shaded by the trees (which I was thankful in the hot weather). I also managed to get some excellent photos utilising where the light managed to get through the foliage, getting some pictures with wonderful contrast. I hope you enjoy these.

My day out photos - Part 1

Out of the 250 photos I ended up with at after deleting several duplicates and blurred photos, I selected 23 that I thought were good pieces of photography. Here are the first three that were at the start of my walk.

Less than five minutes out of my house I spotted three birds happily perching on this hedge row. I had to be quick in getting the camera out to take a photo and they did actually all fly away before I could take a snap shot. Luckily two of them landed together on the hedge again and I just managed to get a decent shot before they flew away again.

I had not been to the nature preserve taking a direct route from my house before and this path was all new to me. I have a thing for images of passage ways like this, I don't know why.

A nice example of some of the country side that surrounds my home town.

My day out

Well, not so much a day out as a morning. Decided, now I have access to a camera again, to go to the nearest nature reserve to where I live and take photos. Over the last few weeks I have been exploring new techniques in painting and learning how to add more detail. I have been following along with some guides written by Jerry Yarnell. These have been quite useful, but I wouldn't recommend these guides to a complete beginner at painting, I did spend quite a lot of time figuring out gaps left in explanations of the various stages (having to give up on at least three canvases). I think I've spent enough time following the instructions layed out in the books and it is now time to get back to doing my own original pieces using what I have learned. That said, I need inspiration, so this morning I trotted off out to take some pictures. I will post the best of the bunch over the course of the next week or so, to allow me time to paint some more pictures to post.

The Heavens and The Earth

Acrylic on canvas. 15.5" x 11.5".

This was really an attempt to replicate what I achieved in my painting The Calm. I ended up with something quite different.

Rising

Acrylic on canvas. 14x18 inches apx.

I really wish I could think up better names for my paintings. I am quite pleased with this painting, despite hoping to do a far more detailed piece of work I am nonetheless happy with how with the effect I achieved, more by accident than anything else.

Pond

Acrylic on canvas. 14x18 inches apx.

This was an experiment in doing reflections and water. Although I don't think I succeeded in what I was attempting with this painting, I do think that it is still an interesting piece. It is certainly a theme I would like to return to, especially as I have since discovered a technique to achieve the effect I was after.

Dark Night

Acrylic on canvas. 15.5" x 11.5".

An attempt to do a night scene, the main feature I wanted to experiment with being the predominant night-time clouds. The landscape at the bottom was added to merely shape the composition better. A very dark and moody piece that came out well, all things considered.

Tree Line

Acrylic on canvas. 15.5" x 11.5".

As promised, a new post. This painting was just an exercise in painting foliage, which I had just learned at the time of painting.

Hiatus

I apologise for my lack of posts recently, I have been rather preoccupied of late. Hopefully I should be able to get back on track these next couple of weeks, posting images of paintings I have had sitting on my computer for about a month now. I also have promised to write an article for Mythic Folk, which I shall be getting on with in due course.

I have new inspiration for new paintings and am looking forward to starting work on them (as I haven't been painting of late, either). I have new techniques to try and new ideas for different landscapes, which I am excited about as I felt recently that my artwork was not moving forward.

Please stay tuned for upcoming updates.

The Calm

Acrylic on canvas. 15.5" x 11.5".

In this painting I wanted to try a slightly different method of doing clouds to allow for more variation in my work. I am really pleased with how they turned out, but as I bumbled my way through it I have found it hard to replicate the technique since. I also like the lonely little tree sitting by itself in a field.

Weeping in the River

Acrylic on canvas. 16" x 16".

I wanted to have a go at painting a different type of tree and I love the look of Weeping Willows. I had some idea of the technique I would need to use to get the right effect and I am very pleased with how it came out (not all my experimentation's are so successful). I am especially pleased with how the reflection in the river turned out. Initially I was worried that I had made the river too dark, but as the layers of green built up I started to see how it worked. This was an absolute delight to paint.

Moonlit Waters

Acrylic on canvas. 15.5" x 11.5".

I intended this piece to be a sunset scene with striking purples, but as the sky progressed it was looking more like a moonlit night scene. Rather than attempting to lighten the sky, I decided to take this new direction to create a night scene over some water because I liked how the sky had come out. The tree was added as an after-thought when I realised there was something missing to the composition.

Christmas ideas

Pictsy Art has been graciously included in the list for Christmas ideas in July by FishHawk over at AsTheCrackerheadCrumbles. I would like to thank FishHawk for including me in this list. If you are thinking about Christmas presents already, or are looking for a present for a loved one (or even yourself), I recommend you follow the link above and check out all the other beautiful arts and crafts in the list.

If you have followed the link from FishHawk's recommendation to my site, please be advised that I hope to have more paintings available in my etsy shop and more posts up on my blog in the coming week. Also, thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy what I have to offer here.

I must say that I am very pleased in FishHawk's choice of painting to showcase in the list. Bare is one of my favourite paintings that happily came from experimentation. The subtlety of colour and composition is certainly a step away from the mostly colourful paintings I have been producing.

Summerday

Acrylic on canvas. 15.5" x 11.5".

Available to buy.

Stormy Day

Acrylic on canvas. 15.5" x 11.5".

Available to buy.

Sunset

Acrylic on canvas. 15.5" x 11.5".

Available to buy.

Bare

Acrylic on canvas. 15.5" x 11.5".

Available to buy.

Paintings for sale

I have been forgetting to post, alongside my paintings, information regarding the sale of most of these paintings on in my etsy shop. You can click on the previous link or on each image to take you to my shop if you are interested in purchasing any of my paintings.

Posted images of paintings that are not for sale will take you to my deviantArt site.

Autumn Tree 1

Acrylic on canvas.

More paintings will be coming soon once I have images of them on my computer to upload.

Autumn Tree 2

Acrylic on canvas. A birthday present for my Mum.

Flock

Acrylic on canvas. 15.5" x 11.5".