Back in the studio....

It has been quite a while since I have been in the studio; my full time job as a teacher takes an awful lot of time and energy.  Creativity is a difficult and fragile thing; so after quite a few months that have been difficult to say the least...painting has been one of the last things that has been on my mind - even though I had found myself missing my studio space and the peace and quiet of painting.

And so today I went back into the studio, music on and that was it - it felt fantastic to be back painting again, and I am very focused on completing the two pieces I am working on at the moment.  Although both are as yet untitled they are a continuation of my "Essex" series.  One is of Balkerne Gate (see my previous posts), the Roman gateway in the wall around Colchester, and the ruins of St Botolphs Priory; again within the city walls of Colchester.

Both are fascinating landmarks with very human stories, which is why I am painting them.

So today I worked on the underpainting of the sky for the St Boltolphs piece...

I began by adding and then blending red, cadmium red, and cad yellow with then some brilliant yellow to lift and add light.  Into this I then worked grey and contiued to mix differing shades before finally adding a blue to give richness and add drama.

Once all colour had been added I then used a fan brush to blend the colours and take bake the brushmarks.  As this is the under-painting I didn't want the brushstrokes to be too visible as I will go on to paint transluscent layers of colour over the top at a later stage when it's dry.

So below are closer details of the surface of the canvas; I now need to leave it several days to dry before working into it any further.  

Keep coming back to see the progress.