On the way up Lansdown Lane, Bath, February afternoon

Last month, on a sunny afternoon I took my bike and cycled on the way up to Lansdown searching for an inspiring place to paint. I stopped before reaching the top as I saw a beautiful view accross the city (nothing to do with the fact that I was out of breath of course). So I set up on the side of the road and got started.

On the way up Lansdown Lane, February afternoon  14"x10"    oil on board

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I took a few snapshots to show the progress of the painting. Below is the quick drawing I did with a small brush and paint diluted with turpentine so it would dry in 2 minutes. My board had already been given a first wash of colour at home (I usually give a background coat on my boards in the studio from left over paint on my palette.)

Below is the painting after 10 minutes. I always start blocking the colours on the canvas to define the main shapes of the painting: 

20 minutes later:

Towards the end:

Here is my set up below. I was quite close to the road and I found the cars a bit disturbing and noisy. Unfortunately I forgot my earplugs at home, so in a moment of despair I decided to create my very own earplugs with some tissue that I put in my ears. You can laugh but it worked! It was very cold and windy too so I wrapped my head and neck with a spare jumper I had and put a spare scarf on my lap. I really felt like the most stylish painter in town!

Just behind me was a beautiful house, and as I was painting, the owner came to have a look at my painting. I was already imagining her falling madly in love with the painting and begging me to give it away for thousands of pounds, but as she looked at it, all she said was a flat "ah". She then asked me if I was a student in Art or was just doing it as a hobby. Of course I could have been a bit offended she didn't even consider the fact I can actually earn money from it, but decided to be flattered she thought I looked young enough to be a student! (but it was probably due to my sense of fashion on the day). But then again, I had tissue in my ears so maybe I completely heard it wrong! :-)

As I was packing up, I saw behind me a beautiful sunset and couldn't resist making a 15 minutes small study of it before it disappeared. Here it is:

On the way up Lansdown Lane - Sunset, February evening   6"x9"  oil on board

I enjoyed using big brushstrokes and plenty of paint:

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Widcombe before the rain, January

Here is a small one I painted in January. In fact it was actually my first painting of the year. I was a bit worried I forgot how to paint as I hadn't done any painting during the Xmas break (eating chocolate and watching TV somehow got in the way) so I decided to take it easy and cowardly went for the smallest canvas size I could find - 5"x7" (any smaller and I would qualify for a postage stamp design competition). Here is the result:

Widcombe before the rain, January    5'x7"   oil on board 

It was a grey cold and wet day in January and I went painting with fellow painter Bo Hilton but naturally I arrived late - he was already at an advanced stage in his painting so I made my mission to get up to speed and finish mine before him :-)

Bo painting dangerously close to the water...

Here is the painting half way though. The board was actually too small to stand on the hook so I had to put some brushes at the back to make it more stable:

My painting towards the end:

You're probably thinking you've seen this painting before. Well, I have done the exact same view in similar weather a few months ago. Click here to see my previous post.

On the way up to the Cliff Top, Cheddar

As I'm wrapped up in blankets with the heating on maximum, here is a reminder of the hot and sunny summer days that seem so far away. This is a painting of a path to the cliff top in Cheddar. I went painting there last summer with the Plein Air Society (click here to view my previous post) and took a few photographs of the views I didn't have the time to paint on the day - I just finished this one in the studio. 

On the way up to the Cliff Top, Cheddar    oil on board   10"x8"

This is slightly different to my usual style, probably because this sunny day view offered very strong contrasts which I don't always I have the chance to experiment with on the usual misty - grey english weather...

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Here is below the reference photograph. I love compositions that invite to viewer to wander in the painting so I hope I managed to achieve this. I love the variety of greens in here and I remember the heat and the scorching sunshine just by looking at this.

Landscape in Herefordshire, October morning

Here is a studio piece I just finished based on some pictures during my trip with my mother in Herefordshire last autumn. I managed to do a quick study not far from there during my stay (see previous post here) but also took a lot of pictures to work with in the studio.

Landscape in Herefordshire, October morning   12"x10"   oil on board

When people are asked what is their mental "happy place", some might answer an amazing sunset on the beach, the snow on the mountains, or a luxury spa retreat. Well mine just involves some trees, a view and peaceful sheep wondering around. I'm pretty low maintenance I think :-)

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Here is one of the reference photograph:

There are a few other paintings I'd like to work on from my Herefordshire photographs so watch this space...

The Avon on a January afternoon

Here is a small study I did a couple of weeks ago alongside the canal in Bath, just 5 minutes walk from my flat. I was looking for inspiration when I saw a scene with an interesting composition - I like the way you can see patches of colours and light showing inbetween the trees and branches, almost like a mosaic.

The Avon on a January afternoon   10"x8"   oil on board

Just like for any painting I do, there is always a moment when I struggle and wonder if it's any good. Well this time, just when I was feeling like giving up, a girl doing some exercice ran pass me and shouted "Looks great!!". That certainly gave me a second wind and thanks to that I managed to get some kind of result. 

Here is my set-up on the day:

On an other note, I'd like to share what I think it's the best Art book of the year which I just got my hands on today. It's Peter Brown's latest painting catalogue which you can get here:

http://www.messums.com/calendar.php?event_id=319

Looking at those amazingly beautiful paintings, I can't decide whether I'm terribly inspired by it, or if I just want to give up painting altogether as I can't imagine ever being as good as that. Only time will tell!

Peacock2

Here is an other peacock painting following my first attempt a few months ago (click here to see the post). I really love painting them. It is officially the most beautiful creature on earth! (well, maybe just after James Dean). I already feel like doing more of those... watch this space!

Peacock2   10"x8"  oil on board

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View from the train window

I think that the most beautiful landscapes are sometimes the sceneries visible from the train's window. I don't take the train very often but I always try to get a window seat and keep my camera at hand should an inspiring landscape appear. This is one of those.

View from the train window    10"x8"   oil on board

I treated this painting as a little study keeping in mind a few goals: simplify, use big brushes and plenty of paint. I wanted to give the feeling of what we would see from the train window and make it simple and almost abstract as you would only see this for a second or so.

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To unify the whole painting and enhance the bold brushstrokes, I applied a glaze of raw sienna with liquin original once the painting was dry.


Here is below the original photograph:

I applied a photoshop filter to it to simplify the scene and get the essence of it and only used this as a reference when painting:

I like to see this painting in a frame as I think it frames it just like the train window would.

Lansdown view - January late afternoon

Last week-end I went to the top of Lansdown in Bath looking for an inspiring place to paint. After 20 minutes of driving around I finally spotted a beautiful view at the end of a lane showing Bath litten by the late afternoon winter sunshine.

Lansdown view - January late afternoon      10"x8"  oil on board

Here below is the view at the beginning of the session. I had all my gear to paint outside but it was so cold that I decided to stay in the car and paint from the passenger seat with my pochade box on my lap. Now, this will be a good test to see if my partner ever reads my blog as I'm not supposed to paint in his car so let's see if he says anything in the next few days...Oups... ;)

Here is below the view from the car just before I headed home. It went dark very quickly so I had to stop.

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Impressionism and Fauvism in Belgium around 1900

This time, instead of showing you one of my painting I'd like to share some of my influences instead. As you might know, I'm from Belgium and I can say that belgian painters have certainly inspired me since I've started painting and have probably been the spark that started this passion of mine. I particularly love the work of the impressionists and fauvists who mastered light, tones and colours with, in my humble view, sometimes even more power and beauty than some of the more famous impressionists in France at the same time. Here is below a selection of some of my favourite paintings from belgian painters, mostly produced around 1880-1930:

Albert Lemaitre - L'église Saint-Georges, Venise

Charles Hermans - Villa Mattei, campagne romaine

Ferdinand Schirren - Nu

Guillaume Vogels - Cabines sur la plage

Guillaume Vogels - Vue de plage

Guillaume Vogels - Péniche sur un canal

Guillaume Vogels - L'aurore,  Mer du Nord

James Ensor - Le nuage blanc

James Ensor - Mer grise

Jean Brusselmans - Femme à sa toilette

Maurice Sijs - Canards sur la Lys

Richard Baseleer - L'arc-en-ciel sur l'Escaut

Richard Baseleer - Aan de Schelde

Richard Heintz - Palais des Doges

Richard Heintz

Rik Wouters - Portrait du sculpteur

Rik Wouters - Autoportrait

Willem Paerels - Marine

Willem Paerels

Willem Paerels

Most of the images above are taken from two great books:
- L'Impressionisme et le Fauvisme en Belgique (Serge Goyens de Heusch)
- Le Fauvisme Brabançon - La collection François Van Haelen

For the little story, my uncle's ancestor (François Van Haelen) was the owner of a Brasserie in Brussels around 1915 where a group of belgian painters would regularly meet, eat and drink. As they were still unknown, they would sometimes exchange a painting for food and drink and make special commissions for François Van Haelen and his family. Although struggling at the time, most of those painters ended up being big names in the history of belgian painting, some of which I've displayed the paintings above, and François Van Haelen ended up with a marvellous collection of paintings.

Here are below some of the painters mentioned above during a life model session:

Painting class at l'Académie des Beaux Arts, Brussels
with Tytgat, Wéry, Paerels and Brusselmans in 1906

Looking at all this I can say I'm proud to be belgian and I hope that my tiny little contribution in the world of painting will do justice to those who have paved the way for me. 

ps: Also, I'm open to deals with inspired brasserie and restaurant owners willing to sponsor my work in exchange of lifelong unlimited fine dining and promising fame;) Just saying...

Natural Arch, Mackinac Island

As this is my first post of the year, let me all wish you a very Happy New Year and thank you for visiting my blog and leaving lovely comments last year. I'm posting here a small painting I did in December from a photograph I saw in a friend's album on Facebook (with approval of course). I usually like painting landscapes from life but I also like to do little studies from photographs to work a specific concept and colour palette:

Natural Arch, Mackinac Island  5"x7"  oil on board

Here is the original photograph taken on Mackinac Island  - I love the way the view is framed by the rocks. The sea has beautiful colours you don't see often on english shores.

photograph © Keonne Rodriguez

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