Derbyshire Moorland Paintings

Last week in Hebden Bridge was a busy time. Four large canvasses produced and delivered to The Derwent Gallery in Derbyshire. A few days rest before back in Italy and then up to Western Liguria and the French Riviera.

Plein Air Paintings Nos. 5 and 6 South Pennines, England

Whilst I was back in the UK, I ordered a small pochade painting box from an online art retailer. Arrived in 3 working days and great value for money. If I had purchased back in Italy would have been twice as much and may have been lost in the post or delivered to a local bar! Now the weather is good, I will be out with my pochade painting box, many of these paintings will be used for a few forthcoming exhibitions in Italy and the UK. This box takes 20cm x 16cm boards. These two paintings were done just above Hebden Bridge and as you can see the weather was amazing. I focused more on the landscape as the sky was not very interesting. Blue skies are great for sunbathing but a bit boring for the painter.

Sketches from Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, England

The past few weeks have been spent back in the UK. The first week in London for my solo fundraising charity exhibition and the second week in the Yorkshire pennine town of Hebden Bridge. A beautiful, friendly and creative place with the canal running right through the centre. The weather was warm and sunny. This time last year they had floods! Here are three sketches of the canal.

Plein Air Painting No.4 Late Afternoon Sun near Barga

Another beautiful day with warm afternoon sun bathing the landscape I liked the barn just catching the light and the shape of the distant mountain echoing the verticals of the barn.

Plein Air Painting No.3 Another Pink House near Barga

Early Evening, just before the sun started to set behind the mountains I set up my easel and quickly managed to record this view which I have driven past been hundreds of times. The greens this time of year are very bright, by the end of summer they will be scorched by the sun!

Plein Air Painting No.2 Sunlight, Shadows and Roofs of Tiglio Village

This is my second painting of today. Wandering down the narrow road into Tiglio I noticed the shaft of light on the front of one of the houses and all the rest of the buildings in shadow. By cropping this view tight into the houses, the painting becomes slightly abstracted, just shapes but it that one stroke of light that makes this picture.

Plein Air Painting No.1 The Pink House, Tiglio Village

Finally decent weather has arrived in Tuscany! Over the next 6 months I will be out in the open air painting with my French easel, getting sunburnt and attacked by a whole range of insects and occasionally watched by nosy people! These plein air paintings will produced using quick drying oil paints (Alkyds) with a minimum amount of paints and brushes to weight down, the easel already being over 6kg. The colours I use are Titanium White, Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Burnt Sienna and Olive Green. Brushes, a couple of hog hair flats and a small rigger. Some works will be sketchy, some more finished but I do not want to spend more than 1 hour on each painting. I hope these blog posts will inspire people to work directly from nature, worth the effort leaving the convenience of a studio and dealing with changing light and challenging weather conditions and its fun!

This first painting is just before you head into Tiglio village. I liked the pink house, the trees and the shadow on the road.