A Winding Way

A larger treatment of the Small Autumn Impressions themes and techniques, which actually sort of changed from start to finish.

8x12" 20x30cm acrylic on hardboard

Fall into Winter 1

This is the first of a new series depicting late season autumn drifting into winter. In short, November. I'm looking to use a more subdued pallet and at least imply leafless trees and will eventually add some snow to the mix, though I'm in no hurry about that.

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 16

And back again. A reworking of the idea behind my first (unofficial) piece in this series "A Bend in the Lane" with a generous bit of no. 5 as well. The leaves are off the trees around here now, so perhaps I should move the season along a bit, and maybe shorten the name as well, since I'm getting tired of typing such a long title.

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 15

We seemed to have moved to the countryside in the last couple of days.

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 13 & 14

Above no. 14 below no. 13  both 6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 11 & 12

Yesterday's work. Above no.12, below no. 11  both 6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 10

This was one of those boards that just don't want to cooperate and so I spent a great deal of time painting on this board and settled for this. It is always the board's fault.

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 9

A warmer and greener autumn scene.

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 8

In this piece I attempted to combine the previous three paintings: the brush technique of 5 & 6 with the subject matter of 7.

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 7

Still trying for that sun set time feeling.

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 6

A close cousin of the morning's piece (no.5)

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 5

The morning's work. Very sketchy. I like it.

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 4

Last night's painting: I wanted to do a very sketchy twilight scene this time around. Sketchy enough, but not quite it.

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 3

This morning's exploration. Decided I didn't need a figure in this one.

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Small Autumn Impressions 1 & 2

Above: The morning's improvisation on the theme of autumn and light.
Below: The afternoon piece.

Both: 6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Bend in the Lane

Down to a little smaller painting with a bit more comfortable proportions. As I have written before, the size and shape of paintings should reflect the scope of the painting. In this case, this simple composition doesn't need, or indeed, work in much larger of a size. Also, these small paintings work well with my attention span...

6x8" 15x20cm acrylic on hardboard

Autumn in the Alley 2

In a less literal style.

8x10" 20x25cm acrylic on hardboard

Autumn in the Alley

I feel like painting some smaller paintings. The size of the painting should reflect the scope of the painting, and I'm thinking small these days. Right now I have several 8x10" boards, like this one, but that might be too big for my ideas...

8x10" 20x25cm acrylic on hardboard

Autumn Afternoon in Pangone 3 Revised

I decided that the original version was just to flat and mono-colored so I added a bit more color and depth to the painting.

12x16" 30x40cm acrylic on hardboard

Autumn Afternoon in Pangone 3

Now this is much more like how I want to paint: atmospheric and free. However, that is hard to achieve in full sunlight, (there is a logic behind few details in a fog for example, less so in full light) which may have lead me astray in the previous two pieces of this series.

12x16" 30x40cm acrylic on hardboard

Autumn Afternoon in Pangone 2

Went back to using a bigger brush for this piece - for the most part. Ended up with a quirky combination of no details (like in the trees) and some details (like in the windows of the buildings). A rather retro-looking effort  much like something I'd have done years ago. Not so good, but oh well, at least I'm painting.

12x16" 30x40cm acrylic on hardboard

Autumn Afternoon in Pangone

Using a smaller brush produces a slightly more litteral scene, this time in the back alleys of Pangone Village.

12x16" 30x40cm acrylic on hardboard

My Impatiens 2012

Once again it's time to bring my pet impatient plant in from outside and paint it. It's four or five years old now and gets a bit leggy, but that makes it interesting to paint. I find painting from life hard, it's much easier just to wing it, so I rarely do it. Just for comparison, below is a photo of the plant.

painting 12x16" 30x40cm acrylic on hardboard

Autumn Morning Mist with Cattle

I pretty much accomplished what I was aiming for with this piece. The only question is what I was aiming for worth the while? I did try repainting this using a small brush and small strokes, but I rather quickly decided that wasn't going to work for me, and in the process realized that I wasn't going to stray far from this style: I like it, and really, I can't do anything else...

18x24" 45x60cm acrylic on hardboard