‘Regatta in Dun Laoire Harbour’

'Regatta in Dun Laoire'

This is a painting i did only last week. It celebrates the beginning of the annual Regatta Yacht weekend on Dunlaoire’s harbour- First weekend in July. I love looking at all the variety of boats and yachts on the bay and harbour. This painting done in watercolour and it blends well in for this scene - watercolour responds more than oils, which have a ‘hard’ appearence. The water/sea was actually this colour: Ultra Marine or dark blue.  It was a sunny day and the sea was very blue reflecting the sky’s blue also. The yachts were white as the ‘driven snow’ in contrast to the sea which was glorious to watch. I was very happy with the over all watercolour and the sky in particular - ‘wet into wet’ is never easy to achieve. The fishermen on the far harbour wall give life and scale to the final painting.

'Scotsman's Bay' Sandycove

This painting was done about ten seven years ago. So gives you an idea of how my work has progressed and ‘loosened’ up. You can tell it’s ridged and stiff in looking at it. Saying that: i was/am happy with the sky, as it’s your typical Irish sky. It’s a beautiful place to go: Scotsman’s bay. I went there as a child swimming on my summer holidays with my friends - many happy memories there. The famous ‘Forty Foot’ is right behind this bay. Oils works well in this winter scene - it captures the ‘cold feel’ and the textures work well for the choppy waters also.