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'Survey Boat' West Pier Marina, Dun Laoighaire

This is a sketch i did a little while ago on the West Pier, Dun Laoghaire. It was a busy time around the boat as work men were fighting the clock to seemingly finish it for quick launch again. I’m happy with the out come even though it’s ‘only’ a sketch. This is my passport for a finished painting all the same. I feel when I’m ‘on site’ there’s a more connection with your subject.

'The Red Roof' Bullock Harbour, Sandycove.

I must admit, i was happy with this painting. It took approximately a half hour to complete. This is my rough time frame when working out doors as the elements of the weather are always the real threat. It also gives you a real ‘kick’ to work with conviction and more of a heightened awareness. The clock is always a good motivator - you don’t fidget, and have no time to drool on little things and just get on with it. I’m happy with the colour and clarity of the whole composition.

Motor Yacht Club Dunlaoire

A lucid quick watercolour done last September from my car. It was starting to rain and the water was calm and still. I loved the reflections from the white of the hulls on the boats. The back round buildings were bright white against the heavy dark clouds coming in. I seem to be able to execute watercolour sketches better outdoors, probably as time is a factor and you feel limited with weather conditions..(i was in the comfort of the car i must confess, but , normally i’m not) plus more alert working in more challenging conditions, etc.

Vehicle Studies (5B pencil)

Here you have a contrasting sketch to the above one. We all park regularly in car parks and shopping centers. I was sitting in my van one day and decided to sketch this study - I’d say it took approx twenty minutes or so. Drawing cars and vans is not so easy as it appears - the shape and proportion of vehicles takes careful consideration and time to evaluate before you put pen..(pencil in this case) to paper. I’ve only now begun to understand to sketch vehicles relatively ‘realistic’ to the viewer. Why I’m sketching them is simple - you will use vehicles in many paintings, as modern life is surrounded by them as much as trees in an open landscape.

Dusk over Dun Laoghaire from West Pier

This is a painting that was done early this spring when the sunlight was relatively low and strong with very bright rays of  light that beamed right over the silhouetted buildings and landscape behind the water. I took a photo first for reference this is purely ‘guidelines’ to map me through the painting. The reflection of sunlight on the water is surprisingly as strong as it is in the sky! This is where the photo was a helpful relief. Steeples of churches always add a poignant symbol of  faith and tremendous beauty in my opinion.

Yachts in Full Sun. Dun Laoighaire Pier

Sun always fascinated me. Here is no exception. Unlike the top painting, here you have boats and yachts in full sunlight showing the beauty of colour against their hulls and cabins. I particularly love the white yachts at the rear, what you see is pure whites against the deep azure like colour of the water. This contrast in colour is a stark reminder of the beauty of our ever changing sky in Ireland. When i finished a brief sketch of this the sky was completely changed again! I loved painting the solo pleasure boat in the fore ground in particular as it’s so simply painted without too much fuss.

'Cracking the Whip'

This is a painting that was done in a ‘loose’ abstract  feel incorporating a representational plan also. The painting has colour seeping all over the canvas along with a sense of ’speed’ and action - this was my aim from the start. I have said all along: i love horses, and this was no exception. I wanted to get away from the ‘norm’ and paint in a loose spontaneous way. I really had to try to plan this hard, to get a real sense of excitement and vigor in the riders and horses. I think..hopefully I’ve gone a bit to get this. It deserved to be painted loosely and with dashing strokes of my paint brush

This is a fine U.S equestrian artist: Karen Brenner. I like her loose style. She paints horses with a passion you will see in her work. I hope you enjoy this short clip. I was looking for a utube clip of an Irish equestrian artist: Peter Curling which i couldn’t find - which i found most unusual as he is well know here and the U.K.

Redshanks at stream

This is a sketch i did from our local park: Cabinteely Park, Co. Dublin. I saw these two lovely waders - redshanks, named aptly after their red legs and feet. They were sitting on the rocks looking one way and not moving - statuesque would be the word. Beautiful birds. I had to sketch them. When i came home i decided to paint them with watercolours. I left in a few notes, just like a diary so i had references to go back to. it’s essential to have written information when your doing any types of sketches. This gives you a ‘written reference’ as well as your sketch

Below is another sketch i did there and then. It’s of a very unusual building on ‘Packenham Rd’. Monkstown. A quaint suburb of Monkstown, Co. Dublin. If your familiar with the area - you will recognise this building straight away. The grounds are immaculate and well maintained. The surrounds..or garden, is full of the most beautiful shrubbery and roses. I didn’t know it is a ‘Quakers’ Center. I thought it was a Protestant or Anglican Church. I had to do the watercolour there and then as i had sometime on my hands. I always wanted to sketch this and glad now i have.

Quaker Center. Packenham Rd, Monkstown. Co.Dublin

'Sea the Stars' & Mick Kinnane at York 2009

Sea The Stars would complete a perfect 3 year old campaign, winning 6 Group 1 races in 6 months, including 2 English Classic races and 1 French Classic race. His 3 year old record is described by many as the best of modern thoroughbred racing. This is a thoroughbred colt: Sea the Stars has a fine record clocking up prestigious meetings like; Juddmonte International Stakes,York..(above Picture), 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Derby, Eclipse Stakes, International Stakes, Irish Championship Stakes, Prix de lArc de Triomphe. I am happy with the painting. I am NOT an equestrian painter by any means, but i am reasonably happy with the jockey, as i don’t do any portraits..(if you want to call it that..) - it was very difficult to capture the jockey’s expression Mick Kinnane.

Other jockeys & horses in action

This is an: ‘Online’ horse racing picture. I love the colours of the jockeys attire. There’s NO names here: the jockeys and horses alike are all only numbers! I asked a friend of mine: ‘who’s the jockeys and horses’? “They don’t have names, there all from the net”, he replied. Totally different to: ‘Sea the Stars’ above, a real horse and jockey…with character and personality. I suppose you learn something different every day! I do love horses with their stunning coats. The ever changing weather in England/Ireland and the unpredictable sunlight with it’s effect on their well groomed coats. The jockeys gritted down against the horses necks kicking with all their legs have to give and mud kicking up on both jockey and horse

Georgian Houses on Longford Terrace, Dun Laoire.

This sketch was done ‘on the spot’. (Done there and then)  I love doing these spontaneous sketches as they are sometimes better! This one in particular i liked as it has lovely colours that flow into each other. That’s why doing it like this can be fun and you never know with watercolour: it can turn out just what watercolour is made for, speed and transparancy at it’s best.

Blackrock Village, Blackrock, Co Dublin.

Another watercolour i was happy with. It’s NOT a finished ‘master piece’. It is however the bones of a finished painting. If you look closely you will see that notes have been made. The time, date, and place are written; also are notes of the weather conditions and notes of sun direction, colours of buildings, etc. (All these notes may not be visible) When i start a painting these notes beside the sketches are absolutely essential for me. Like a student doing homework, these serve as reminders when i get back home into the studio for my foundation to the start of a painting if i forget, i can make immediate reference to my notes. I doesn’t matter where they are - it’s all part of what sketches are: references

Francis Bacon (28 October 1909 - 28 April 1992) was an Irish-born British figurative painter. His artwork is known for its bold, austere, homoerotic and often violent or nightmarish imagery, which typically shows room-bound masculine figures isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds. Bacon had begun painting by his early 20s, yet he worked only sporadically and without commitment during the late 1920s and early 1930s, when he worked as an interior decorator and designer of furniture and rugs. He later admitted that his career was delayed because he had spent so long looking for a subject that would sustain his interest. His breakthrough came with the 1944 triptych Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, and it was this work and his heads and figures of the late 1940s through to the early 1960s that sealed his reputation as a notably bleak, world famous, chronicler of the human condition.

Francis Bacon’s work is most interesting. (I used to under rate him!!) I have studied  Jenny Saville -an English figurative painter which I’ve done a post  about her work. I compare the works/styles of both artists in similar context. Jenny was in fact very influenced by Bacon’s work, especially his latter ‘faces’ works. Which shows alot of head studies and portraitures.. (alot of  himself) . Whats unique about Bacon’s work is the haunting images of his emotive work. You must look deep into his canvas to explore what he ‘has to say’. The works are semi-abstract, at the same token you are taken into an abyss of colour and expressions of the face..(in the portraiture’s) like NO other figurative painter. I for sure believe that. I’m very proud to know Francis Bacon was/is an Irish man. His work is know worldwide. As a painter his work sells for phenomenal prices in major auctions,such as Sotheby’s, Christie’s etc. Enjoy this short video of an extremely talented painter.

Calm afternoon Blackrock looking to Dunlaoire

This painting was done not  long ago. It’s a calm setting with calm water in a light ochre sky/sea. The background trees are all mostly dark and silhouetted against the clear sky with the odd ‘fluffy’ cloud. The gulls are hovering over the water looking for anything on the surface before the last  light has gone. This was captured with a quick sketch first. A photo helped me catch the essence of the scene. The final (oil) painting was completed in the studio. These colours…(ochre’s,burnt umber’s, sienna’s) are rare for me to use in a whole painting without using bright blues, yellows, and cadmium orange’s. I usually use ‘brighter’ colours throughout. If you look at my previous work you will see what i mean in comparison.

Apparently the Christmas Art Fair at the Nora Dunne Gallery: from 10th to 13th December ‘09 was a success to no end. With over sixty artists displaying their work. This is the first anniversary of the gallery. It’s sold over 2,450 pieces todate!
I was so sorry i’d missed the exhibition. However, i did get a glimpse at the utube video (it’s in between text) made by a unique artist: Ed Parkinson - well made with lovely music in the back round. Karen Harper -the Curator of this really sweet gallery has a real passion for the arts, and by all accounts it shows through, from planning to the artists needs, she shows no panic. i’m so glad now i got a look and ‘feel’ for what i missed. Music on the opening night was by: Aine N Dhubhghaill a Harpist. Her music sounds so beautiful. There was a ‘Cafe 2 Go’ with Belgian Chocolates and cakes available also.

Artists displaying their work at the Christmas show (10th/13th Dec ‘09) included; Neil Condron, Fidelma Flanagan, Catherine Bokin Cooke, Mark O Keefe, Anne Louise McDermott, Derek Lyons, Kevin Sharkey, Anthony Doyle, Morgan Gibbs, John Morris, and many, many more. These and many more are highly talanted and commited artists to their respective work they have chosen.It’s well worth checking out their work to see their individual styles.