Sketchbook study and painting on the farm

Walking the dogs every day I see so many scenes I'd love to paint.  This shady gap through a hedge offered a good view of a wheatfield after harvest.  Farm life moves on rapidly. Straw bales are being shifted into barns already. I needed to to be quick before they all disappeared.  A sketchbook drawing using graphite stick and watercolour did the job.

Back in the studio I tried to develop the feeling of the scene in oils on a small gessoed panel, with composition tweaked more to my liking. Having worked the sketch from life and direct observation, some how the brain retains additional visual information.  You feel back in the moment.  It's a good alternative when time or full plein air painting kit isn't available. 

 You can reach me by email beeskelton@gmail.com or see more work in my Etsy Shop or website www.beeskelton.com

Family Art Expedition

My youngest grandson and I walked over the fields to the canal with sketchbooks and drawing gear earlier this week.  We've been having proper hot summer weather in England recently, so while drawing we planted ourselves under the fat shade of a beech tree.  Then Max posed for his photo in the sun.  

He and his brother enjoy getting involved with our homely country activities when they come to stay.  I'm so fortunate we're able to share making art together especially.


 
 








That day I had time for just one sketch before we hiked further along the canal in search of lunch.  I thoroughly fell in love with the location.  Inevitably my eye found innumerable pleinair painting spots for future visits.  

A couple of days ago I returned with outdoor painting gear and made a little painting from roughly the same spot.  It's oil on 5x7in canvas.

 You can reach me by email beeskelton@gmail.com or see more work in my Etsy Shop or website www.beeskelton.com

Plein air painting - travelling light

 I do love painting outdoors.  It's an art making experience like no other; a real challenge that's different every time, one I'm finding challenging and exhilarating. 

I got my plein air easel years ago when on my fine art degree course, but I'm still learning the best ways how to get around with it outdoors.  So far this combined backpack and stool, which I found in a charity shop, is the best solution when I want to travel light.

Here's how my plein air kit looks on location, before set up.  You can just see the scene I'd chosen in the background;  a gap in the trees to a little wheat field, just before harvesting started last weekend.

On this occasion the pack was stuffed with brush roll, small box of oil tubes, Daler Rowney air tight turps container, kitchen towel, tear off palette, small boards, easel tray, and viewfinder, with a few personal necessities like a water bottle and hat thrown in.  The collapsible easel was strapped on with bungee. 

Apart from a chat with the farmers wife and daughter, the company of sheep and assorted wild life, including a low-flying heron, I spent a solitary couple of hours concentrating on that gap in the field. 

 You can reach me by email beeskelton@gmail.com or see more work in my Etsy Shop or website www.beeskelton.com

English countryside plein air landscape oil painting

Storm Clouds Over Wheat Field 5x7in plein air oil painting on board, unframed.

One look at those clouds put some urgency into the brushwork on this plein air landscape painting.  With every possibility of a drenching I didn't go far.  Taking only a few tubes of oil paint (ultramarine, burnt sienna, lemon yellow, crimson, phthalo green, and titanium white) with minimum other art gear, I was prepared to pack up quickly if rain arrived.

In every direction I looked; along the lane or across the fields to the woods and hills, there was a scene ready-made for painting.  The English countryside of Warwickshire, really is picture perfect!  I plumped for this view looking across the sheep meadow, because I liked the contrasting bands of green and gold (not clear to see in the photo). Despite the threatening sky, sunshine did strike through occasionally lighting up the wheat field, with the barn roof making a handy focal point.  
 
In the end rain didn't stop play, the sky cleared, the painting was completed and is now available to buy.  Contact me at beeskelton@gmail.com for information and price.  

 You can reach me by email beeskelton@gmail.com or see more work in my Etsy Shop or website www.beeskelton.com

Painting plein air in a sunny garden

Summer Flower Garden - 5x7in plein air painting, acrylic on board.

The weather was very kind to me when I set up my easel to paint this sunny flower border in the garden.  The sunshine was quite powerful, and I was glad to find a little shade for myself. 

Generally I prefer to use oil paint, but on this occasion I set up a strong plastic lidded chocolate box to use as a practical palette, which can be taped closed when on the move.  (Ferrero Rocher boxes make great acrylic paint palettes, with a wad of dampened kitchen towel, and sheet of tracing paper, or baking parchment).

The composition originally included one of our cats curled up in a flower pot.  Inevitably Flossie decided under the pine tree was a far superior spot, so off she trotted.  As it turned out, I think the painting is better with this less complicated view.

The painting is available for sale without a frame, but I thought it would be fun to see how it could look with a frame added.  If you're interested in more information and a price please contact me.

 You can reach me by email beeskelton@gmail.com or see more work in my Etsy Shop or website www.beeskelton.com

Sea boats and the setting sun - seascape painting

Seascape sunset with boats at rest

I'd no idea where this painting was going when I started.  I began with a mix of phthalo blue, cadmium yellow and white underpainting then added some elements of painted papers from my stash.  Some how I started day dreaming about Cornwall again and off I went to the sea side just as the sun was setting.  I love that place.

For more information about this seacape painting or to buy please click here.

Autumn landscape painting on canvas

Autumn - looking over fields to lane.

Looking across the fields the tree branches looked quite wintery now most of the foliage has blown off in the recent winds.  In spite of that I found lots of beautiful autumn colour to paint today and so much drama in the big sky. 

To buy this painting or see more information please click here.

Big sky art

Big Sky 1

It's difficult not to be impressed by the big skies and countryside outside my window here in middle England.  Constantly changing, of course, with the time of day and atmospheric movements.  Earlier this week I wondered if I could possibly capture even a little of the magnificence of that morning's sunrise.   

I used acrylic paint on a small canvas.  The colours are vivid, but don't come close to matching the reality.

To purchase the painting or for more information please click here.

Winter Tree paintings

Winter Trees by Bee Skelton

 My new garden is full of painterly inspiration!  The bare branches are quite sculptural and make wonderfully dramatic shapes.  There's lots of colour too and it was a joy to observe and make this painting.  It's on a 20x20cm (8x8in) stretched canvas, painted in acrylics.  I've left the sides white and added a hanger to the reverse so it can be displayed straightaway without framing.  Email me for more information about any of my work.

Winter Trees side view.

Here in the UK they say we've had the wettest January since records began and I do feel for the many folk who are struggling in the floods.  This is our first winter in England for many years and the difference in climate between here and Cyprus is of course huge.  Weird I know, but some how I find myself absolutely loving the novelty and drama of the peculiar weather! 

Old Tree original painting 6x6 acrylic on MDF

Each week I get together with another group of artists in a nearby village.  This magnificent old tree made a perfect subject viewed through the window as we all concentrated on making a winter painting.




You can email me for information about anything you see.  A small collection of work can also sometimes be seen in my Etsy shop. 

Landscape painting work in progress

Work in progress 1

  Working outdoors near where I made recent drawings.

I'm looking down from near the top of a mountain onto tomato fields and then across and upwards as the hills recede to the mountain opposite.

I began with under-painting in thin paint to set the harmony and mood;  mix of ochre/violet/white and loosely placed the main features with thin raw umber.  I've shown more work in progress images below.  The completed painting is at the top of the post.

 Work in progress 2 

In this session, I managed half an hour before it began to rain and had to run for cover.

Work in progress 3

Perfect weather conditions today.  Still a long way to go with this painting, but more progress.

Work in progress 4.

Landscape drawings in my sketchbook

I've been working outdoors drawing the Cyprus landscape http://indigoblah.blogspot.com

Painting outdoors in the garden

Fruit Trees

Oil on canvas

I've been dodging rain for a few days and finally completed this painting outdoors in the bottom garden.  It features citrus trees, grapevine and bougainvillea, which have interesting contrasts of foliage.

By the way, I've recently started posting work-in-progress images on Twitter.  If you're interested to see go to http://twitter.com/bsart .... or look at my Tweets list in the right-hand margin.

I've been trying out my new light-weight plein air easel set-up.  So far so good.  Off to the mountains for my next project.

Plein air drawing #187

Today I waited until there was a big fat shadow under the palm tree before making this drawing in the bottom garden.  The grapevine growing up the wall, grapefruit trees and bougainvillea made an interesting grouping.  For the first time for months it was fairly comfortable to work outdoors.  Even so I wore my straw stetson;  it's very disreputable and full of gaping holes ... but hey, it works!

Plein air drawing #186

Today I'm drawing looking down onto part of the bottom garden from the terrace.  The viewpoint shows up some nice patterns as the darkly peppled paths work with the trees.

Plein air drawing ~185

This is the first of a series of garden drawings that I'll make in my sketchbook in preparation for a painting.  I have no idea of the view I'll ultimately choose.  It's such a pleasure to just draw and see what happens.  It's still quite hot here;  38C degrees today.  So I waited until around 4.30pm by which time the sun had moved and there was some welcome shade under the big pine tree.

Plein air drawing #184

Down the Valley to the Sea

Fortunately the temperature here in Cyprus has come down a little this week, so that I can work more easily outdoors (en plein air).  This view, looking down the valley onto the sea, was made in my A4 sketchbook.  I first tinted the paper with a wash of black acrylic paint to provide a nice mid-tone, on which to work charcoal and white conte crayon.

Cyprus landscape painting

I decided to make a painting based on this sketch, which is part of the view I see each morning from the bedroom window.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun kept diving behind cloud, casting fleeting shadows on the hills, whilst the grasses and track were still in full sun.  There's just a glimpse of Limassol and the sea between the hills.

Sketch, tonal study, colour study, painting.

 
I've just finished the above painting, which began in my sketchbook as a small pen and ink drawing.  From there I made a tonal drawing and a colour study before beginning the final painting

OLIVE TREE painting

 SOLD

We had a beautiful spring day here yesterday; the grasses and wild plants on the mountain are still lush from the winter rains, and the sun isn't hot enough to have frazzled them yet.

The breeze was too strong for a full scale outdoor painting session, but I managed to capture this little impression of an old olive tree.  It's oil on canvas, ACEO size 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

Algonquin Park Canada original painting

Algonquin Park must be one of the most beautiful places on earth. When a client recently commissioned me to paint this landscape, I jumped at the chance. It seemed a tall order at first, as I have never been to Canada, but then I haven't met all of the people whose portrait I paint either, so I decided to accept the challenge.

On this occasion the client did not have a particular photograph for me to work from, but she did know very precisely what she wanted featured; a canoe, the Algonquin sign and trees.

I then had a fabulous time becoming familiar with how the forest and lakes look, helped enormously by Ray Mears Northern Wilderness BBC TV program. For those of you interested in the painting process, here are a few 'work in progress' images.