Francis Street

A wet day on Sunday made it a little more challenging to find a good spot for sketching on Francis Street. The whole street has been done up and there are wide footpaths that would make it ideal on a dry day. But I had to take shelter in the Ginger Café and literally drew what was in front of me. A portion of street, with car and shop across the way, seen through the window, cut off by the wall of the café, and then the plants inside that framed my view. My favourite bit is the little Christmas sticker  that was on the window. I only drew one small part of it.

Then I met up with the few brave souls who came out sketching in this weather, drew Karen and a little of what I could see behind her. Yes those beer umbrellas did shelter us from the worst of the rain!

All done on location, from direct observation, always! I'm not going to let a little rain stop me!

Lauragh variation

This is a little bit smaller. Cut a square from a quarter sheet. Inspired by the view before you drive towards Lauragh on the Beara peninsula. Mountains and sky and lots of beautiful land in front of my eyes. 

 

Loving all the wet-into-wet blending and granulation in this painting!

Béal Bán variation

After painting that super bright view in Coliemore harbour, I came home and I wanted to paint dark skies. Go figure! I used my photos from a few years ago in Béal Bán as the foundation, and then I probably used my current emotional state to give it life. Painted on half sheet. Glad I'm sticking to my plan of painting bigger.

At Coliemore Harbour

We've had such a grey and wet and cold summer, you'd think we're on a different planet from the rest of Europe! But I did grab a sunny morning to go and paint at Coliemore Harbour with Aideen.  While she was working her magic at the easel and went home with an almost-finished painting, I captured some impressions that I might use in the studio at some stage. There was a lot of clouds in the sky but the sun was shining onto the island, highlighting quite a bit of the grass and rocks, which I could see quite clearly, even at that distance. I didn't get to paint the harbour and its fauna, swimmers, fishermen, tourists getting onto the small boat to go to the island for a while. 

I'm looking out my window now, and all I see is grey and rain. It's hard to keep that sunny morning in my mind's eye!

 

A bigger view of each of the two pages

I had more time and looked at more detail of the shoreline and the sky

I had started with a drawing, but the light was so amazing that I abandoned it, as I wanted to capture the changing patterns in the clouds and the sea! And of course I painted on the back of that page, so it probably will remain as is. It's such a wide view that a standard quarter sheet doesn't do it justice anyway.

Kerry on a very dark day

Also called Mud. We'll pretend this didn't happen!

Béal Bán Big Sky

I love Béal Bán on the Dingle Peninsula. It's just beyond Ballyferriter, and it's not really on the tourist trail. It's not as spectacular as Clogher or Coumeenoole, but it's a long flat beach and perfect for walks. I imagine it's perfect for swimming as well, as the bay is quite sheltered and there are no big waves there. But I'm not a sea swimmer in Ireland, so I can't say for sure.

I painted this on a half sheet, which I taped into a longer format. Which is very much how I take photos when I'm in the West, the big long panoramas with big skies and mountains in the distance!

And yes, even with the clouds, the water can be a crazy turquoise, as the sand is quite light and the sea shallow!

That is the light we have this July in Ireland

Sometimes, I feel I should paint more bright light into some of my current paintings. But this is exactly what I'm seeing when I look out the window. So how can I paint golden light and leave lots of white paper? It's just not hitting my retina in the last month! Actually, it's just started to rain again.

Summer party at Drimnagh Castle

Fantastic day at Drimnagh Castle where Dublin Sketchers had our summer event. Lots of sketching and cooking and eating! 

In the downstairs kitchen (no longer used). I had some time on my own in this room before Zuzanna started the interviews for the documentary she is working on about Dublin Sketchers. What do I do to calm my nerves before going in front of the camera? I sketch of course!

Then I went into the kitchen where Amanda, Monica and Louise were working on two of the four paellas that were being prepared for the 34 of us who attended! They were supervised by Dora the cat who always sits on the spiral staircase in the corner of the kitchen. I didn't get to sketch Betty and Maria who were cooking outdoors, in the rain, under a tarp set up by Pat, over a wood fire. Next time! 

Without planning

Sometimes, it's good to paint something without much planning, just as a reminder that I do need a plan before I start painting! The difficulty I have with this one is that what interests me is the sky. But then ended up giving a lot more prominence to the trees. And I have this sky hole on the right-hand side that draws too much attention. It was there. The sky in the distance. A warm colour against the dark rain clouds that were gathering. But it draws too much attention to the trees on the right which should be just supporting actors. 

So I'm trying another version. I've cut the paper in a slightly taller format so I have more room for the sky. With a light drawing to keep me focused. I'm pointing the clouds more towards the left of centre. I've reversed the curve of the road so I direct the eye to the left. And added two cars parked on the road. We'll see where it goes!

Black sail, Dun Laoghaire

It wasn't an easy decision to paint those sailing boats. But I had to remind myself that they were the reason I had taken the photo that inspired this painting. It was May 2022. And a cold day, with very grey skies. When painting this, I knew that I had to make my clouds greyer than usual! But I still wanted some warmth. I used three colours: Raw Sienna Light, Alvaro's Caliente Grey and Alvaro's Fresco Grey. Plus some blue that was in my palette to make the see a little bluer than the sky.

And in case you're wondering, these boats had black sails, which is what made them interesting to me.  

Morning clouds over the bay - inspired by Killiney Bay

Another wet-in-wet soft sky that inspired me to paint an Irish landscape. I loved how my wet in wet washes had worked out, Raw Sienna Light, Horizon Blue, Ultramarine Deep and Burnt Umber. But it wasn't enough to make a painting. So I looked through my folder of photos of Irish landscapes and I found a photo I took at Killiney Beach in December 2018. I flipped it horizontally to fit the soft wash I had painted. I strengthened the golden colour with more Raw Sienna Light and Hansa Yellow Deep. I added a thick wash for the rocks and the hills. I lifted a thin line on the horizon. And it was done. I love the warm feeling of the sun behind winter clouds.

Forestry

Sometimes, you don't have very much to start with, then you see something in it. An empty sky and land that reminded me of bogland at first. Then I remembered the forestry area that I painted before. I think I will have another go! 

I used Horizon Blue for the sky, and I think it's the closest to an Irish summer sky as I can get. Ultramarine deep and Burnt Umber for the dark clouds. The Van Gogh Ultramarine Deep gives that lovely purple feeling that I love so much.

Sketching at St Mary's Abbey

I love it when we get invited to sketch somewhere special. The OPW invited us to sketch inside what remains of St Mary's Abbey, just near Evans. It was closed to the public for years, and they are re-opening it on a limited basis. It looks like nothing much from the outside, but when you go in, it's amazing. The beautifully-lit space of the Chapter House and the small chapel beside it is all that remains of this huge cistercian abbey that covered a large area in Dublin, before it was dismantled by Henry VIII, and the stones removed over the centuries for various building projects.

I sketched outside first, then did my best to represent the beautiful ceiling arches, and light wall, including some of the sketchers who got absorbed in capturing this site. I finished with a little bit of wall texture.

Wet sand, sky and sea

I painted 4 paintings back to back. The 4th one, I'm happy with. That shows me I need to set aside a longer painting time to really get into a flow state. And also that the more I paint, the more I build up my stamina.

This one is somewhere on the East coast, wet sand, beautiful reflections in the sea, dramatic clouds. I love to say so much with so little.

Wet in wet experiments

Sometimes, there just isn't enough in a watercolour wash. I'm going to experiment with these and see where it leads me. One of them, I see the peat bog in the Midlands. The other, cloud reflections. Let's see what I can do with them!

Landing - larger

Time to move up a size. It might take me a little while to settle, but I want to paint in half sheet size now. All part of the experiment. Some will work out. Some won't. But I love exploring my boundaries. I'm always happier with the version done in one wash, moving fast before the paint dries.

For me, it's the feeling I have in my heart when the plane is getting lower over the Irish sea, and the clouds, horizon and land are all merging into one.

Do you know which I painted first? Do you know which I prefer?

War Memorial Garden

Last Sunday was more about chatting than sketching for me. We were at the War Memorial Garden at Islandbridge. The weather miraculously stayed dry. Normally, I would sit by the river and try and capture its flow. But I played it safe and just painted a few trees and a bench. The light kept changing. That's Ireland for you.

I really enjoyed chatting with everyone afterwards. It was really lively. Lots of old and new people. Even a visitor from Las Vegas! It was hard for me to keep up with all the conversations I wanted to be part of. But so much fun!

Landing

Loved the light when my plane landed in Dublin after a week in Belgium. It inspired me to paint a scene from above. I do love sea and sky! And purple clouds and mountains

More sketches from my travels

I'll call this the B-roll. Although there are sketches here that I'm very happy with, and that are associated with great memories. Some capture the in-between moments. Others show the ebb and flow of my sketching energy!

I nearly filled a sketchbook over the 3 days!