Drawing of an Iris

I have to admit that one of my favourite artistic past times is drawing!  I simply love the simplicity of a nice heavy weight good quality cartridge paper, a set of good graphite pencils, which have all the grades from soft to hard. A putty eraser, a decent pencil sharpener and a fine relaxing location to work in.  The day I started on my drawing was a fine sunny day, I was fortunate enough to be able to have a studio overlooking the sea. It was luxury to be at peace and to very happily spend my afternoon drawing. While every now and then I could gaze up and look out at the view which gave me a fine view of the sea that stretched out for miles.  So while I was not drawing the sea that day I was still able to enjoy and be near to the sea!

Hoping that you will find a peaceful afternoon to create some artwork!  Best wishes Caroline

A painting to ponder on

Hello once again painting friends!  I have been revisiting this quiet oil painting once again. I have brought it out into the light of the studio and can see that it needs more light and more contrasts. So I have much to keep me busy.

I was going to post the large seascape I have been working on, but decided to wait a little bit longer and see if I can put in a little bit more detail into the sea. More on that later!

Not so much time for painting! My cold is much better and we have been down to the sea to breathe in the sea air and to feel more energized!  

It is a nice quiet time of the year, to sit in a cosy warm room and read a book or catch up on some correspondence.  I do know that the time will fly by! So we are making the most of it!

Wishing you and your family a peaceful and happy Festive Season. Best wishes Caroline

'Stormy sky'

Oil painting depicting a summer storm.  Painted on canvas 12 x 16 inches.

As the days move at a fast rate towards Christmas I have managed to find a little time in my studio to paint.  I am painting a large seascape painting, however I am being challenged by my use of colour! The sky is coming along just fine, yet I found myself putting too much purple into the sea! I thought it would be fine, yet the following day it just looked very wrong.  I then used Hansa Yellow to try and tone it all down, but that has been far too strong a colour.  So for now I have to let that dry and then try and work some more on the painting hopefully on Monday. 

The oil painting posted here is of a storm coming in, I wasn't going to use the yellow for the land area yet finally I found it was what was needed so I went and used it.  The painting reminds me of summer storms they have such strength and strong contrasts in the lighting too.  

We have had so many days here of late that are very damp and cold.  No freezing weather at the moment for which I am pleased about.  However I do think that cold and dry weather is much better for my health!  I hope the beginnings of my cold doesn't get much worse!

Best wishes to you all and hope we will all have some nice sunny weather real soon!

Happy Painting, Caroline

Two traditional paintings

Two of my traditional oil paintings of my area. The first painting with the autumn colours is local and is 18 x 24 inches oil on canvas.  The second painting is small only 10 x 8 inches oil on board, that sky took me ages!! But I love painting the different kind of skies we have here and at different times of the year!

Wishing you a peaceful and happy early December! keep warm!  Best wishes Caroline