Submission to the Gemini Art prize

Just entered Halzepheron (above) into the Gemini Art prize , find out if it gets through the first sift on 29th of September . 

Didn't make it through the first sift, saw the winning painting on line the other day , yawn, yawn a big blue square with some white bits !! I don't think it would have taken very long, still each to there own !!!

I am looking forward to get started on some new paintings probably some local landscapes, winter ones . But probably won't get any spare time this year.

Submission to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

I have never entered the RA summer exhibition before, largely because of the vast numbers of entries (12,000+ ) however this year I have decided to enter Halzephron I and see what happens?
It is certainly topical subject matter at the moment with the country being battered by storms and  floods.

24/03/13
Well someone famous and praiseworthy once said, don't judge a man by his success but by his failures !!
 This appears to be one of mine so far, didn't even make the first sift in the RA summer exhibition.You wonder what the judges criteria is , but I guess it's just the way it goes sometimes.
Was  not looking forward to lugging it up to town just to get turned down at the next hurdle  anyway!
Tricky things these open competitions.

 This Painting was entered for the Royal Society of Marine  artists last year , made the first sift but I couldn't drop it off on the delivery day,

Thinking about my next set of paintings at the moment, onward and upward !

Anglo-Norman Warfare project

I have been doing some research of the past few years for series of paintings to illustrate various aspects 11th and 12th Century Anglo-Norman Warfare. I aim to blog interesting research articles, working drawings and finished articles.
 This will shortly take the form of another blog that will help keep all the info together and easy to find.

Anglo Saxon and Viking Longships in watercolour

 About 14 years ago now I completed  a series of watercolours, they were of various Viking/ Anglo Saxon longships, whilst they were  just working studies of the ships for other projects I still have a pair of them, thought I would include them here as part of a back catalogue.

The First below shows  an imagined Anglo Saxon longship drifting ghost like upon then still waters of an river like The Deben or Blackwater of East Anglia.

The figure head on the prow is of a horse type animal and although there is now archaeological precedence for this type of prow, I based the design on the animal heads at the base of the internal arches in the Anglo-Saxon church of Deerhurst in Gloucester.This colour sketch was produced with water colour and colour pencil.



This water colour below shows a smaller version on an Osberg type ship on a trading journey.

Halzephron,Mounts Bay,Cornwall

    Halzephron, Mounts Bay,Cornwall is a large oil painting on canvass  40" x 30".  Recently finished  it is  currently available for sale with a buy it now price of  £2,950 on ebay.co.uk.
It is also available for purchase on the Saatchi online site at $7,000 where 12 x 16 prints are also be available for about $120.00.

 This painting shows the view from the foot of the cliffs below the Halzephron Inn across Mounts Bay towards Cudden point, Prussia Cove and Penzance beyond..

With this painting  I guess I rebelled against the standard seascape with bright saturated colours, sparkling water and breaking waves on a diagonal dappled with sunlight.
Instead I used a limited palette to evoke an  eerie half light or twilight as the sun breaks through  gaps in the  heavy cloud cover. The whole scene is bathed in a diffused warm light adding to the otherworldly feel.
Some of the my favourite pieces of music use minor keys,subtle arrangements and have really beautiful harmonies, I have attempted to replicate this recipe in my painting composition, sometimes less is more.

. Close up detail of the painting is shown below.

Watercolours Exhibited at Royal Society of Marine Artists

This watercolour seascape was the third in a series of three. It was exhibited at the Royal Society of Marine Artists Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London in 2004

and sold for £865 

Old Winchelsea III

Old Winchelsea II

This is the second watercolour seascape in this series of three, it exhibited as a finalist of the "Not the Turner Prize" at the Mall Galleries 2004,and later at the Royal Society of Marine Artists 2004 , it was sold to a private collector.

Seascape in oils,Halzephron,Gunwalloe,Cornwall

The  photo above shows Halzephron I, a work in progress, it is a large oil painting 40"x30".
 It shows the view across Mounts Bay from Gunwalloe looking towards Prussia Cove, Cudden Point and Penzance beyond. Originally I was going to place HMS Warspite in the distance, having run aground on the way to the breakers in 1947,  but in the end I decided to leave the old girl out and settled upon this a timeless atmospheric image.

 If all goes well I hope to have it finished by the spring and enter it for the Royal Society of Marine Artists Exhibition this Autumn at the Mall Galleries, London.

This composition is based on various photos and sketches made on a trip last year to the area, the colours in the photos are not as I remember them on the day, so using a limited palette of Permanent Alazarin Crimson, Zinc and Titanium  White, Naples Yellow, French Ultramarine Blue, Indian Yellow and Viridian I have tried to recreate the moment.

I spend a lot of time looking at the sky these days and since I have been painting this picture, I have begun to really appreciate just how rich and varied the colours we get in the sky are.

The greys are not just greys but a wonderful mixture of so much more than black and white, wondrous stuff light,water,atmosphere !

The photo above shows the painting on the 14th of March 2012

 Progress has been made on the sea to the horizon line and I have started working on the breaking wave and the foreground.

The above photo shows the sky has been further refined, as has the land, and detailing on the breaking wave has continued.

Detailing continues on the foreground below in this picture.

Detailing continues in the foreground and upon the wave.

A glaze has been brushed over the sky below and detailing of the wave and foreground continues

Several glazes have been applied to the sky and detailing continues in the foreground below