A painting a week. Week 7

“Red pirate boat”

 Lyme Regis is a coastal town of Dorset, situated midway between Exeter and Dorchester, in Lyme Bay. It is nicknamed “Pearl of Dorset” and is known for the fossils found in rocks and cliffs, which are part of the “Jurassic Coast”. The town offers beautiful views to the surrounding areas and the Lyme Bay.

The most iconic landmark is the wall of the harbour, known as “The Cobb”.

Although is a beautiful place and we always say that we will spend a few weekends (at least) to visit Lyme Regis and the surroundings, we only managed to visit it a few times in total and only for few hours each time.

First time we stopped there on our way back from Exeter, following a road sign. It was summer and a lovely sunny day, so we enjoyed a little walk around. We even had time to take some nice photos.

Last week I was looking at some old pictures from my camera and find a few from Lyme Regis and decided to paint some.

So, this week I did a little painting inspired by a photo taken by me at Lyme Regis harbour, featuring a red boat with a pirate flag.

“Red pirate boat”

 Oil on linen.

30 X 40 cm ( 12” X 16”)

A painting a week. Week 6

“Still life with flowers and a vase”

 Flowers, with their varieties of shapes, colours and scents are some of the most beautiful things. Many artists painted flowers for centuries, some of them even became obsessed with painting this subject. A few examples of painters of flowers would include Monet, Van Gogh, or Romanian painter Luchian and many, many others.

Although I was always fascinated by flowers I only painted a handful of still lifes with them.

This is why I have decided to paint more flowers.

My painting for this week was inspired by a bunch of freesia like little flowers in a small clay vase we have bought recently.

I was only trying to capture the feeling of the flowers and the vase, rather than a realistic image.

So, here it is instalmentno 6 of my weekly target.

“Still life with flowers and a vase”

Oil on linen.

30 X 40cm (12” X 16”)

A painting a week. Week 5

 

“Stourhead garden”

Stourhead house and garden is an estate, situated near the source of river Stour, in Wiltshire.

The garden is one of the most famous gardens in UK and is partly owned by National Trust.

The centre of the garden is occupied by the artificial lake with a path going around it. The landscape of the garden is man made, and amongst the features there is a Palladian bridge, a grotto and some temples.

It is one of our favourite places to visit, but the weather is always rainy, or cold, or both when we go there. In spite of this, though, we enjoy a walk around the lake every time we can.

The photo I used as reference was taken by me last year, early autumn and features the Bridge and the Pantheon.

I wish that sometime in the future I will be able to paint Stourhead en plein air, so far the weather didn’t permit it.

So this is my first painting of Stourhead.

Oil on linen.

30 X 40cm (12” X 16”)

A painting a week. Week 4

“Beach huts at Mudeford Sandbank”

Mudeford Sandbank is a sandy beach near Hengistbury Head, with beautiful views towards Christchurch bay.

It is famous for the 346 beach huts, the most expensive beach huts in the UK, with prices starting at 100 k. This is because their residential status, with owners or tenants allowed to stay overnight from February to November.

The area is very popular for people who enjoy long walks and for dog walkers. The access is possible on foot, by land train from Hengistbury head car park or by ferry, from Christchurch or from Mudeford Quay.

It is one of our favourite places for a walk, so we often go there.

Last week, we were visiting Mudeford with some dear friends, and because it was lunchtime and the restaurant was shut (it is only open daily from February to November and rest of the year weekends only, depending on weather) we decided to take the ferry to Mudeford Quay.

The other option would have been driving around the bay and Christchurch.

We had a lovely lunch in a lovely place called “The noisy lobster”.

I took a few pictures from the ferry, with some beach huts and lovely reflections in the calm water of the bay.

 So this is my studio painting of Mudeford beach, from my “ A painting a week” project.

“Beach huts at Mudeford Sandbank”

Oil on linen.

30 X 40cm (12” X 16”)

A painting a week. Week 3

“Full moon at Holt lane”

I usually commute long distances to work, every day. Recently I commuted a lot to Weymouth, which trip takes me on Holt lane towards Wimborne Minster.

Beautiful views during long summer days, dark and lonely during winter. If you get lucky and have clear sky the views can look glorious.

Towards the end of last week, I was returning home after a long day at work. As I left Weymouth, the sky looked great, featuring a large, wonderful, almost surrealistic, orange full moon. I was excited , but it was impossible to stop for a photo, because of traffic and lack of lay-bys onthe side of the road; no hard shoulder either.

Anyway, I was driving home, hoping that the moon and sky will still look nice by the time I get there. After Wimborne, I was on the lonely lanes around Holt village and I spotted a beautiful view of the full moon between some trees and few house shapes .

I stopped the car and took a few photos.

So here it is my very first painting depicting a night landscape.

 

“Full moon at Holt lane”

Oil on linen.

30 X 40cm (12” X 16”).

A painting a week. Week 2

Rodwell trail is a foot path in Weymouth running from Wyke Regis to the town centre.

It starts on Abbotsbury road and follows a disused railway, all the way to Ferry bridge to Island of Portland.

Although it is used by many people to avoid traffic and by dog walkers, I have only discovered it by accident. One day, arriving very early to work I decided to have a little walk around Buxton area, where I was. So, walking down the road I crossed the bridge and seen the foot path. I took few pictures and decided that they would make a nice little painting.

The trail is beautiful, it feels like in the middle of the nature rather than a town’s centre.

 And here it is, my first little painting of Rodwell trail.

The bridge seen is the bridge on Buxton road.

“Walking down Rodwell trail”

Oil on linen.

30 X 40cm (12” X 16”).

A painting a week-week 1

 

 

One of my new year’s resolution is to do a small painting in oils each week, on top of any other projects.

 So this is the beginning of my own “A painting a week” series.

 Week 1.

 “Twin doors, somewhere in Verwood”

I like walking around and I have some routes I follow when I have a walk. One day I decided to walk one of the routes going the other way around, from finish to start. This made me notice this house, once probably symmetrical, but now having a very balanced asymmetry.

 The moment I saw it I knew I have to paint, but it was only two weeks later I managed to take a decent photo of the place.

 I did the painting in the studio, started on Sunday 1st of January 2017 and completed on Saturday 7th of January.

 After a few sketches, I did an under drawing in pencil, then on Monday I put in the first layer of colours.

During the week, I did the wall, windows and the doors. I wasn’t happy with the brick wall, so I refined it on Saturday, before I put in all the details and the foreground.

20170103_095107.jpg

 

So, here it is, the 1st painting of the series.

“Twin doors, somewhere in Verwood”

Oil on linen.

30 X 40cm (12” X 16”)

Austrian rainbow

 

It was the spring of 2014 and we were driving across Europe, on our way to Romania.

We stopped for a day at this beautiful location in Austria; the place is called Hochhubergut and it is a typical upper Austrian farm, situated about 3 miles from the centre of Aschach an der Steyr, in Steyr land district of Upper Austria.

We had a little walk around the place, but stormy skies brought us back in. Then a passing rain which only lasted half an hour.

After the rain stopped, a stunning view revealed not one, but two rainbows stretching across the sky, from left to right, like two perfect semicircles.

 

We took a few pictures, both me and Paula; for use as a reference for future paintings.

It was the spring of 2014, couple of months after I started painting under tuition of Anna Sims in Christchurch.

It took me a long time, the pictures were somewhere safe in a folder, now I found them and this is my very  first attempt to paint a rainbow.

 

 

“Skull of a skeleton with burning cigarette” After Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh. In my personal opinion the greatest of the old masters. Extraordinary ability to create composition and find beauty in everyday circumstances. Brilliant and bold use of colour and vibrant brushstrokes. 

A few years ago, while visiting van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, I have discovered a small painting done by the great master when he was attending the art school (about which he was saying that it was boring). It was a small painting titled “Skull of a skeleton with burning cigarette”.

I fell in love with it immediately, even though I was a smoker myself that time.

Now after few years of painting and some life drawing classes, I have decided I can try paint my own version of that painting.

I’ve chosen a bigger canvas than the original: 35 X 45 cm (14” X 18”).

I have decided to choose different colour scheme, so I went for red and umber (which I eventually mixed with titanium white and a touch of red).

I first did the drawing on paper, twice, because first version was rather small for the canvas and transferred the second one to the canvas.

I drew looking at a skull in an anatomy book, but changed the featuresa bit to get an unique looking chap.

I then laid in the background and the first layer of the figure.

After the background started drying (a week later) I finished the face, added the burning cigarette (dry brush with titanium white and a dash of yellow for the burning bit), the smoke and here it is: My own version of Skull of a skeleton with burning cigarette by Vincent van Gogh.

Final version of the painting