View of Hook head lighthouse, watercolour study.

Hook head lighthouse is a major attraction for visitors to the South East of Ireland, myself included on occasion. It is one of the oldest lighthouses in the world and is situated on Hook peninsula in Wexford. My little study is of the lighthouse and the landscape around it, approx 7x10 ins. I added a touch of gouache to the building to get the highlight..... The lighthouse is  a bit rigid, but it serves as a study, and I was happy enough with the sky and setting, so I left it at that.

A helping hand.

 A watercolour study of two old ladies helping each other home. It's based on a scene near where I live. I wanted to see if the composition was good enough to try as an oil painting? It's like many others, that I did, an idea at the time, but never used as a basis for an oil painting. Still, such studies are invaluable on their own as a learning excercise and as a reference, if I ever do get around to doing an oil painting of of the scene.

Watercolour on paper 6.5x5 ins.

Mountain Road

I often paint figures into a landscape, to give perspective and life to the painting. There are so many wonderful views here where I live, that I am spoilt for choice at times. Anyway, this road along one of the lower slopes of the Blackstairs mountains was the inspiration for the painting, but I needed to add a figure, to bring the viewer into the work?  So, I added the man on the bicycle, a local character, who was always out on his bike, no matter the weather. I liked the contrast of of his orange /burnt sienna jacket against the blue sky, and the unpredictable clouds. Oil on board 14x11 ins

Moonlight walk, Fethard beach Wexford.

Fethard beach is a rugged beach that the tide covers once it is in, so  one has to be careful when knowing when to leave, or visit. It is near the famous Hook head peninsula and timeless. It is the site of an ancient settlement and nearby Tintern abbey. This painting is a moonlight scene, a woman and her dog out for a walk on the beach  8x12 ins oil on linen panel.

Done deal. SE ireland.

This painting started out in acrylic, as a study of men, striking a deal, over a pony.  I changed over to oil paint, as it progressed, to try and get the effects I wanted. The  scene is an annual event, here in the sunny south east, Borris fair. My composition changed over the course of the painting, ending up as the painting below.  Oil over acrylic 8x12 ins on board.

The view outside my house. SE Ireland. Acrylic on board

I only occasionally paint with acrylics, as I have posted in the past. I find them difficult and unpredictable, so I stick to oil paint and watercolours mostly. Having said that, when I do feel like a challenge, I get the acrylic paints out. The painting today, is the view up the road, outside my front gate. It's the Blackstairs mountains, with Wexford beyond. Acrylic on board 8x12 ins

Sunlit cottage SE Ireland.

I'm posting another oil, on canvas board, completed about the same time as the painting in the last post. Sunlit cottage in an area where I live. The sunlight was late afternoon, and it was just hitting the side of the little country cottage. I know the scene is probably a bit old fashioned, but I just love scenes like this.  Oil on canvas board 10x12 ins.  All posted paintings are available either on this site, just contact me on facebook or email. Alternatively on my dailypaintworks page, see the link on the right of this page. Thank you.

Sunlit rural lane, SE Ireland.

I have been getting out early works recently and posting them on this blog, and on Google+, on my page there. The link is on the right of this page. I painted many of them on canvas boards at the time, for convenience and cost, and also because the boards were handy. The painting today is a rural one near where I live, nothing dramatic, but the dappled sunlight transformed the lane and the shadow areas. 10x12 ins, not my usual format, but as I say, they were handy, lol. One can clearly see, my love of using the palette knife. I used brush work in the background, and then the knife for the foreground.
These days, I tend to use the palette knife mostly, and only brushes to draw or define a shape.

Duncannon beach, Co. Wexford.

Duncannon beach, Dún Canann in Irish. It's a popular resort with a beach about a mile long. When I was a child my father used to take my siblings and myself there, to have a day in the beach, and buy some fish, on the way home, from the fishermen returning in the evening. I visited Duncannon several times,  a few years ago, trying to evoke memories of those days out. The little painting, 7x5 ins. is of a scene of two people enjoying the beach.

Windy day at Trámore strand.

Despite the wind and cloud, people still try and enjoy the beach. On this occasion, it was May, so it was a bit early for the high season, but there was a fair bit of activity. I captured these people,  just contemplating the waves and the sky, and making the most of the day. Oil on linen panel 8x12 ins.

Man on bike

Oil on canvas board 10x14 ins. An early work, when I was getting back into oil painting, after been exclusively watercolour for many years. It's a mixture of brush work and impasto. Canvas boards are handy for studies, but I am not keen on them for a major work. I find them a bit dry and stiff. Nowadays, I make my own linen panels or hardboard panels, which are far superior, and wonderful to paint on. Still, I quite like this one as it reminds me of getting back into oil painting.

Seven Sisters, Kent.

A few years back I experimented with surfaces for oil painting. One of the surfaces I used was wood. So I prepped this panel of wood, that my brother had left over from his house build, I think it was American oak. Anyway I sanded it and coated it with three coats of gesso, and then painted this scene. It's of the coastline in Kent, UK, called the seven sisters, in the days when I trekked all over the place in search of landscapes, lol.  http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sisters,_Sussex

I think it's about 10x7 ins or so. I now paint on hardboard or linen panel, still it was nice to experiment at the time.