First painting since the baby's arrival!

Yeah! I'm back at the easel! It is now two months since my little boy was born and I have missed painting ever since I had to stop in late pregnancy. I have been blessed with a baby that sleeps well so during his naps, and when the eldest is at preschool, I can sometimes manage to sneak in the studio in my home for a quick oil sketch. That means that I have to rush in the studio as soon as he's asleep and put the brushes down when he wakes up, so I end up working on the painting over a few naps sessions. Obviously we are not talking about plein air painting or large work, but small studies from photographs instead. Still, it feels good to paint!

The painting below was done from a photograph of Lake District (UK). I had fun painting those distant hills contrasting with the darker foreground. 

Lake District view  10"x8" oil on board

If you spot a few shaky lines here and there, that could be because I was so eager to finish the painting after my boy woke up that I completed it while rocking the bouncer with my foot as he watched me paint with interest (I know they can't see that far at that age but let's pretend he's interested shall we).

Here are a couple of detail close up below.

The painting is available for sale on my website here. 

Detail

Detail

I hope to be able to post more naps paintings soon!