Praia Moçambique, watercolour

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Praia Moçambique, January 12, 2024, watercolour, A2

Today was cool enough to paint without shade.

I hadn't painted the sea for ages.

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Praia Moçambique, July 23, 2023

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Praia Moçambique, July 23, 2023, watercolour, A2

  

Praia Moçambique, July 23, 2023 - detail

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Praia Moçambique, Atlantic, May 13, 2023

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Praia Moçambique, Atlantic, May 13, 2023, watercolour, A3

Praia Moçambique, Atlantic, May 13, 2023 - detail

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Praia Moçambique, sea, April 24, 2023

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Praia Moçambique, sea, April 24, 2023, watercolour, A3

Praia Moçambique, sea, April 24, 2023 - detail

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Praia Moçambique- watercolour

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Praia Moçambique, April 10, 2023- watercolour, A3

 

 

 

 

Praia Moçambique, April 10, 2023- watercolour - detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Praia Moçambique, April 10, 2023- watercolour - detail 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Thank God- its cooler and I can now sit near a beach albeit, still mostly shaded.

 

 

 

 

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Praia Moçambique, beside the sea

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Praia Moçambique, beside the sea, watercolour on paper, 31.5 x 28 cm

 

 

 

 

 

Praia Moçambique, beside the sea - detail

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Praia Moçambique; Manganese blue and Viridian; advantages of larger scale

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Praia Moçambique, paths, oil on card, 29.7 x 27.5 cm - available

 

Praia Moçambique, paths- detail

Today I started using a tube of Manganese blue, a warm blue, i.e., slightly greenish. I see this colour has been discontinued for heath reasons and is now Manganese Blue hue. I also used Viridian, a dark, bluish green. Both are quite lovely, and slightly outside my comfort zone.

They are easier to mix than I had imagined, not bullying the other colours or staining the palette as, say, Phthalo Blue so notoriously does.

I have about another ten new colours to try, all from Winsor and Newton's artists range and I shall work through these over the next few weeks,

A big advantage of working on a larger scale is that one can experiment more with colour, including by cross-harching or scumbling for a vibrant effect, and one can vary the textures used more too. I shall grow larger in the next six months or so.

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Praia Moçambique, dunes, conifers

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Praia Moçambique, dunes, conifers  SOLD

 oil on card, 26.5 x 29.5 cm

 

 

 

Praia Moçambique,dunes, conifers, oil on card - detail 

 

 

 

 

 

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Praia Moçambique, paths, heathland, sky

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Praia Moçambique, paths, heathland, sky, oil on card, 26.5 x 29.5 cm unavailable

 

 

 

 

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Praia Moçambique, sea, April 1, 2022, oil on card, 26 x 27.5 cm

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 Praia Moçambique, sea, April 1, 2022, oil on card, 26 x 27.5 cm unavailable

 

 

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Praia Moçambique, noon

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Praia Moçambique, noon, oil on card, 29.7 x 27.5 cm unavailable

 

 

 

 

Praia Moçambique, noon - detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Praia Moçambique, sea, January 25, 2022

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Praia Moçambique,sea, January 25, 2022

 oil on card, 29 .7 x 27.5 cm

 

 

 

 

Praia Moçambique,sea, January 25, 2022 - detail

 

 The sky was so dense and the sea a beautiful mint green. 

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Praia Moçambique; hackneyed subjects

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Praia Moçambique, sea, late afternoon, February 23, 

oil on card, 28 x 29.7 cm

 

 

 

 

Praia Moçambique, sea, late afternoon, February 23 - detail

 

 I believe the sunset would be more striking seen from near Santo Antonio, and I shall go there shortly.

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My old art teacher from Hazlehead Academy, Alexander Hamilton, would say, and I generally agree, that some subjects should be avoided because they have already been so often visited by other painters that an original response is impossible and one`s painting will, inevitably, be hackneyed. Usually sunsets would be included among such prohibited subjects.

But while agreeing, I admit that the pleasure of watching and capturing in paint a sunset is immense.

 Ergo, I continue...

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Bare trees, Praia Moçambique; Graham Sutherland

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Bare trees,Praia Moçambique, oil on card, 27.5 x 29.5 cm - available

 

Bare trees, Praia Moçambique- detail

I had attempted to paint here before and it had not gone well.

 Or, perhaps I had judged so, not because the painting was  poor, but because the subject matter, harsh and unkind, brought uncomfortable feelings. 

I decided to persist and I`ll come back here. It`s rich and strange and makes me uneasy.

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This  sort of angular graphic on a bright background is rather Graham Sutherland, isn`t it?

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Praia Moçambique, looking inland- a path

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 Praia Moçambique, looking inland- a path

 oil on card, 26 x 29. 8 cm

 

 

 

 

 

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Praia Moçambique, looking across heathland

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 Praia Moçambique,  looking across heathland

 oil on card, 30 x 27 cm -  -unavailable

 

 

 

 

 

Praia Moçambique, detail, looking across heathland- detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my more van Gosh-ish peices, with a rolling, hummocky landscape.

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Praia Moçambique, looking inland, mid-afternoon

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Praia Moçambique, looking inland, mid-afternoon, oil on card, 27.5 x 30 cm - available

 

Photo

 

The camera- a Lumix DMX  - has certain baises, and dislikes certain colour contrasts especially where pinks meet greens. I messed about for ages in the editor and never hit the nailhead. Well, I think it is more or less right.

Painting 

 

I loved painting here. The sun was not too tyrannous, and I could perch myself on a little knoll above the sands.

I finished before the late afternoon light comes raking in sideways- quite glorious to see- and I shall return today to see if I can capture this. I usually avoid going the the same place on successive days (does that  make me sound rather like a serial killer?) as I benefit from  having a fresh impression but I shall, exceptionately, break this rule.

I have been working on a larger scale and this allows more spacious painting, with looser brushwork-  most enjoyable.

 

Black  

 

I have also re-introduced black to my palette. 

Thanks, in part to the Impressionists many painters plein air painters avoid black as the Impressionists  had argued that black doesn't exist in "nature" and they held fidelity to nature as a high value (as if painting itself exists in "nature"). 

But, I'd avoided putting out blacks for a long time not because of reverence to the Impressionists but becauses they so readily pollute other colours on the palette, and all the mixtures can become greyed out.

 I am trying to use it discreetly. 

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Praia Moçambique, January, 2022

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Praia Moçambique, January 30, oil on card, 2022 26 x 28 cm  unavailable

 

Praia Moçambique, January 30, 2022- detail

That heavy purpleness that you get at the sea near here.

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Overcast, Praia Moçambique

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 Overcast, Praia Moçambique, oil on card, 27.5 x 30 cm unavailable

Much cooler, breezy. Very pleasant to paint by the sea.

 

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By the sea, Praia Moçambique

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By the sea, Praia Moçambique, oil on card, 24 x 28 cm unavailable

 

 

 

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