Back to the landscape

Time to settle back into my creative practise. Just came across a photo with wonderful light over the mountains just outside Allihies, going toward Eyeries. It will take me a while to develop this idea into paintings. But I trust in the process. Watercolour, watersoluble graphite pencils and a few other bits and pieces.

Exploring the landscape - a word for heavy drizzle?

Another feeling from the mountains behind Allihies. Different light. Not quite winter anymore. But not spring yet. And the feeling of heavy drizzle. Cropped and collaged some of the crops, or added some oil pastel (with varying degrees of success - but I do like the vermillion colour, something to remember, as it's not an obvious colour for an Irish landscape). No real strong shapes here, but some nice soft colours.

A few closer shots. Interesting that the crops I chose don't match these shots.

Abandoned

Sometimes, it's best to let watercolour do its thing. I had a lot of water sloshing about on this one. But I wanted to go to bed, so I just abandoned it. And magic happened.

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Colours for Scim

Scim means haze, or mist. I'm thinking of a more fluid watercolour painting. I never know what they're going to look like. But I start with colours, and words. And a place. Although my paintings are not representational, they always start with a real place, at a particular moment.

Lots of blues in these test swatches. I'm running low on Cobalt blue and I wanted to see what else I have that would work for the painting I'm thinking of. I know I could just order some Cobalt blue, but I have so many other colours in my stash. I just want to use them.

Spréach

I'm kind of sorry I never learnt Irish. Maybe it's not too late to start? Though I really need to brush up on my Japanese first. 

Anyways, spréach means sparkle, and, amongst other things, spirit, life force. So I think it works well for this piece I have just finished.

I have taken some extra photos so you can look at it better. I should do this more, as it's really hard to imagine what a painting looks like unless you're standing in front of it.

And in case you're wondering about the last image, I often start a painting by writing some words that come to me. I write in my studio book, but also on the paper itself, with a watercolour pencil. It brings an extra dimension to the piece, and more importantly, it helps me focus on the energy I want to convey.

 

How the land breathes

I was on a roll. Same view, same colours. The feeling of the land breathing. Water, air, land. Waves, wind and rocks. Storms and land formation. A time before time. Interestingly, I like it better as a mirror image. What was that movie with the blond actress who was married to the guy from Coldplay, where time goes backwards. Literally put that in Google. It had to think for a second. Gwyneth Paltrow, Sliding Doors.

Feeling stuck?

Hard to move forward with this idea. Lots of anticipation going on in my head today. I find transitions hard. How can I think of the cool Atlantic waters when the Arabian sea is calling out to me? Plus, it's a cold January day as I'm trying to paint this. But the memory is from a scorching May day. But, at the same time, it's good to have these A2 thumbnails to anchor this moment. When I'm ready to paint this memory, I will have a few options in front of me.

4 crops

Cropping the image I painted on cartridge paper the other day. In a way, it's easier to do it electronically, but on the other hand, too many choices does not lead to a decision. Is any one of them better than the other? Or are they all one and the same?

 

Plunging, Holding

Exploring the water and rocks about 50 meters down the road from the previous paintings. The big slabs of rocks plunge into the water, and it feels like they're holding the water in an embrace. I haven't fully identified what my feelings are with this one, or what the energy is. This version is on cartridge paper, A2. The paper is a lot thinner than I expected. Not ideal with my vigorous way of painting and drawing. I did tear the paper. And I have painted something similar, but in a very different way, a few months ago. So this might take a while before I can figure this one out.

Soft pastels to the rescue - Birth-Day

There is more energy now. I used some soft pastels to repeat the shapes that I see pushing through this landscape. And a little bit of extra splashing. I have Suzanne Vega's song stuck in my head.

Birth-Day

For this one, I felt a square format would work better, to express the tectonic push that I see in the landscape. the making of the landscape by forces beyond my comprehension, and the idea of a creator, or mother, giving birth to the landscape. 

But I think I'm still being too literal in my representation. I really need to push the abstraction much further. This is a big square (about 50cm) on Hahnemuhle Cornwall paper. Also a few thumbnails and notes in my studio book.

Cradling - Une chanson douce

Had to try something different after the previous one didn't express what I had in mind. I reverted to quarter sheet and Fabriano Unica paper, for a gentler flow without jagged edges. I must try a few crops of this to see if there is anything interesting in it.

The Cradle

I zoomed in some more and found some interesting shapes, evoking a mother's warm embrace. But I haven't gone past the first layer. Sometimes, I feel that there is no point in pushing a piece further. That's watercolours for you. Plus I went too heavy with oil pastel. I do like the colour mixes. And the lines on the stones. But I want something more fluid.

We are strong

This one felt more like a wall, rather than a gentle embrace. More about stopping the outside. Less about protecting the inside. 

 

Crops from previous pieces

While I was at it, I decided to crop a couple of pieces that I wasn't sure about. Also included here are crops of pieces I did on location in Allihies - as I didn't want to cut up the original, I printed them and cropped the printout. I'm trying not to be precious, but it's not easy! They're now safely glued in my studio book. They will be there when I need inspiration.

Adding colours?

I love colour. I had a few more tailor shapes in my ArtGraf box. Couldn't help it. Probably not a good move. I will not have any problem cutting these ones up.

Draw to see - reddy brown

Continuing with my intuitive exploration of the Beara landscape near Allihies. It's a few months since I was there, but the pull is still strong. I worked on these with ArtGraf tailor shapes, and lots of water, and a tiny bit of watercolour. I need to do many more of these, so I don't get too attached, then I can crop and collage them. I have ordered lots of cartridge paper so I don't feel precious about wasting paper.

I am inspired by Lewis Noble's process of exploring the landscape through drawing. For both of these, I worked from the same photo, just zooming on different elements. Sometimes it's the full mountain that inspires me, sometimes just the curve of cracks in a rock.

Exploring shapes

Slowly emerging from the torpor of Christmas. Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas. But my body and my mind needs to move on. I just want to come back to the shapes and themes that inspire me. I want to draw and paint. I want the ocean, the waves, the rocks, the light. Loved our walks at Killiney beach and Bray over the holidays. They have stirred that need in me. So, I looked through my studio book and found a sketch I did in Allihies.  The shapes of those rocks and the fields behind. Time to explore again.

 

Stone - close-up

From a close-up photo of a stone with lichen and what I believe are veins of quartz. I think it's those white veins that make the mountains shine in the sun. Done with neoart and watercolour on top.