Truth in light
Having spent 15 years trying to be more proficient I surprised myself at some of the work produced during those years. I was a bit ‘stop go’ during the period 2019 to 2023. During Covid I produced very little, the Apple Blossom & Apple picture being the exception. I hope the viewers will judge for themselves given the range of examples in the gallery below. These include works in all the mediums I have used since 2010.
I have decided that oil is my favourite medium as it gives one the time and flexibility to manage the development of any picture without the need to hurry unduly. Most of my work in portraiture and still life is completed using the Florentine Sight Size method. Materials used are exclusively charcoal and oil.
As can be seen from the gallery, my subject matter is led by still life and then portraiture. Landscape seems to have taken a back seat, but it featured quite strongly in the learning process with works trying to capture the quality of different lights evidenced in pictures of local scenery namely The Darren, Table Mountain and Llangattock Mountain.
Table Mountain midsummer
The Darren in the Evening
Light of course is fundamental to the end result whatever one is painting, but getting it to work to best effect can be challenging. From finding the right light path for composition, enhancing form in a still life or finding the elusive characteristic in a portrait can be quite daunting.
Finding the essential qualities of the subject is key, if one is to express objective form, together with those characteristics that express its innate beauty.
There is an enormous wealth of opportunity whether it be the differing light in landscape or how everyday living materials – foliage, berries, fruit flowers and even man-made objects – can impact the effect of a composition. Putting them all together in a way that hopefully inspires or even challenges the viewer is the aim. In my opinion if an artwork requires an essay to explain it, then the art in question is not doing its job.
Every day I wake up and see the sunrise, or sunset in the evening, or simply the same view in different lights at different times of day. I think I should be landscape painting day and night! When I look out at the Darren and Table Mountain near our home I am tempted to follow Cezanne’s habit of painting Mont Sainte Victoire in Provence several times. (But maybe not as much, he painted it 80 times capturing it in different lights, seasons and weather conditions...)
Overall, I am fond of the impressionists and of JMW Turner. It seems they have captured the deeper essence of life representing colour and light in highly skilled ways. Each seems to say “look into the depths in of my painting and see more!” I have become curious about the deeper contextual and spiritual messages artists have sought to convey in their paintings and how they achieved the effects therein.
I have taken a greater interest in the contents of Art Galleries in recent years. After such experiences in Vienna and Valletta viewing Rubens’ The Annunciation to Mary in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and Caravaggio’s The Beheading of John The Baptist in St John’s Cathedral in Valletta, my love of these two great masters was born.
For now I am seeking to create more intriguing compositions. Copies of new works will be added for sale periodically. If you would like to buy a painting or contact me about any of the works for sale do not hesitate to email me at the address shown below.
Peter Paul Rubens - The Annunciation
Caravaggio - The Beheading of John the Baptist
Credits: Annunciation to Mary by Peter Paul Rubens (Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum). Caravaggio’s The Beheading of John The Baptist (St John’s Cathedral, Valletta)