Late afternoon sunshine at Rhossili beach with Atlantic waves rolling in. These jagged rocks are to be found on the beautiful and underused beach to the east of the Worms Head. Most people prefer the more familiar long sweep of sand that stretches north for three miles from Rhossili to Llangennith.
12 x 16 inch oil painting on canvas board.
These are a few sketches I made on a recent trip to Nerja in Andalucia in southern Spain. The square where I sat was busy and full of sounds and movement with people coming and going, and a violinist playing Puccini. I used charcoal and a very soft 8B pencil in an A4 sketchbook – all very ‘smudgy’, but an enjoyable way to pass the afternoon in the warm Spanish sunshine.
This is a painting started some time ago and completed today. It is from a sketch I made on a visit to the ancient village of Zennor near St Ives a couple of years ago. I tucked myself away from the tourists at the back of The Tinners’ Arms, the local pub. The tower is that of St Senara the ancient parish church, which is associated with many myths and legends. The village has been a magnet for artists and writers, including DH Lawrence who finished his novel Women in Love here in 1915-17. He wrote this of the village:
“At Zennor one sees infinite Atlantic, all peacock mingled colours and the gorse is sunshine itself. Zennor is a most beautiful place: a tiny granite village nestling under high shaggy moor-hills and a big sweep of lovely sea beyond, such a lovely sea, lovlier even than the Mediterranian…..It is the best place I have been in I think”.
I think that says it all!
The painting is 10 inches square, oil on canvas board.
Looking towards Worm’s Head from the Rhossili cliff tops. The Worm snakes out for about a mile into the Bristol Channel and is only accessible during a window of about four hours at low tide. This is a 10×12 inch oil painting on canvas board.
Finished today… at least I think it’s finished. Someone said a painting is never finished, it’s simply abandoned. Knowing when to stop – or to abandon the painting – is something of a challenge for me. I do tend to overwork.
Anyway, this is an oil painting, 16×12 inches, on Winsor & Newton canvas board. I painted it from a few charcoal sketches made on a very cold day in January, 2019, and from memory. I was lucky that the rain held off long enough. I include the primary sketch below.
I don’t post a painting for several months and then two come along in as many days! I made this small painting today, and it’s still glistening wet. It’s a 10x12inch oil painting on canvas board, and took about three hours to complete.
This is a bit different for me – a nocturne of Three Cliffs Bay, Gower, looking towards the Great Tor. I painted it in one hit today, and it’s still wet. I need to take another photograph when it’s dry.
A 12 x 16inches oil painting on canvas, mounted on board.
