20x20cm oil on board.
Ships in a Storm by Ivan Aivazovsky
100x100cm oil on canvas.
Quick large study to get my Bob Ross juices flowing for some more marine paintings.
Modern Man in Search of a Soul (Call of the Wild)
35x45cm oil on canvas.
Worked on this for quite some time not getting a handle on it to be honest so decided to stop painting at this stage.. That text on the book was punishing to paint.
This piece is based on the theme of ‘Go Wild’. I saw a painting by Conor Walton in which St. Patrick arrived to civilise the wild Irish Savage. Today, Modern Man in Search of a Soul(Jung) seeks out the old religions and their practices in his quest for a spirituality he has not found in the, now tyrranical, new religions. There is some evidence that suggests the origins of Christianity lay in mushroom cults of the Middle East. The Amanita Muscaria reminds us of the ‘Soma’ of the Vedic texts. Mature Muscaria fruit curls its cap upwards resembling a Holy Grail. Dried muscaria tastes like cardboard much like a church wafer. Muscaria were dried on fir and pine trees (some of the host trees for the mycellium) which could be where our Christmas bauble tradition comes from.
Could be a bit of a reach…..or completely true!
Rolling
Coupla lads training Jiu Jitsu down in Eastcoast Bray.. Didnt mean to paint the heads so out of proportionbut I was trying a different technique to start by loosely sketching with a turpsy raw umber and brush. Worked on it for quite some time bit by bit never really getting anywhere.
45x40cm oil on board.
Bray Dawn Bokkeh
Quick study.
25x20cm.
Autumn Leaf 2
Oil on board.
25x35cm.
Autumn Leaf
Oil on board 25x35cm approx
Dalkey Quarry Summer
100x50cm.
25+ hrs in the studio.
Embiggened from a plein air study I painted during the Summer.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Lobster
For all you lobster lovers out there.
50x40cm oil on canvas.
Bray Head Path – Plein Air
A pathway on Bray Head beside the steps. Lots of palette knife and thickness.
30x35cm.
Plein air oil on board.
Dargle River Gorge – Plein Air
Plein air oil on board.
25x35cm.
Fun in the sun down a secluded part of the Dargle River in Enniskerry.
Dalkey Quarry – Plein Air
Plein Air oil on canvas. 40x20cm.
2 sessions, hidden in a bush on a cliff-edge.
Might try and scale this one up in the studio on a larger canvas.
The Nihilist
The tough stare of a Nihilist pushing on towards some sort of noble stoicism.
Tough going. Disappointed in the result. May return to it at some stage.
Bit of a steal there from Boldini with that leaf.
Family of Toothbrushes
20x30cm
Oil on canvas
Tried to loose the cup within the background to focus on the toothbrushes.
Les oeufs de cailles
20x20cm oil on canvas
Quails eggs.
The Last Croissant
‘The Last Croissant’. After Conor Walton.25x20cm oil on board.
Cherries Grapes Raspberries
Cherries Grapes Raspberries.30x20cm.
Oil on canvas.
Knocksink Woods Enniskerry – Plein air
Day 2 – Finished
Day 1
Block in of shadows
Oil on canvas.
40x20cm.
2 sessions. I blocked in using turpsy washes to establish basic values starting with the shadows(above).
Then went straight in with paint but not impasto, but getting thicker towards the end of day one. Day 2 was a bit thicker again starting with strengthening the shadows first. It didnt feel right to get as thick and layered as Andrew Gifford seems to. He seems to start impasto from the start I think.
Statue in the Woods at Kilruddery – Plein Air
Quick sketch while the kids played hide and seek.
Oil on board.
25x30cm.
The Leadmines
Plein Air oil on canvas.
40x60cm.
3 or 4 sessions up at the leadmines, Co. Dublin.