Les Bassacs landscape...

Les Bassacs landscape (oil on board 23cm x 23cm)

Another super quick end of session sketch.  I had been looking in the other direction all afternoon, the light was going, so I had a quick 360 degree scope around and found I had 10 other paintings to choose from.  This was 15 minutes or so, and there were several things I was interested in. Firstly, the lowering sun was illuminating the interior of the woods, and secondly there became visible (because of the rapidly changing light) a beautiful horizontal bar of golden vines.

Oppede le Vieux, unfinished painting...

oppede le vieux unfinished (oil on board 23cm x 23cm)

If I have a small amount of time at the end of a session I quite often try to do something quickly.  There's paint on the palette, the brushes are dirty, so why not.  They might get finished or they might not!

buildings in Goult...

Buildings in Goult (oil on board 23cm x 23cm)

This is a very quick painting, not much more than a sketch really.  It was made at the end of the morning when the sun was high, giving the shadows a particular quality.  They were the starting point for this painting, but the roof furniture making an interesting sky shape was also something that I was very interested in

A House in Goult

A House in Goult (oil on board 30cm x 30cm)

I have painted this building several times in the past.  This one was started in situ, and developed a bit in the studio.  There are some nice jumps in space (from the main motif to the distant hills), and I always like including the wires and cables.  They animate the volume of air, and are nice graphic elements.  If anyone is interested, I now have an instagram account under the name davidatkinsonart.

Goult

Wall in Goult (oil on canvas 80cm x 40cm)

This another composit painting. It's based on a couple of smaller paintings and drawings made earlier.  It's an interesting problem having strong horizontal forms. I have invented or moved the vertical elements to make it work as an image.  It feels a bit like musical notation to me, developing a rhythm across the surface.

Landscape painting from St Saturnin les Apt

landscape from st saturnin les apt (oil on linen 50cm x 50cm)

Like the previous post, I made this painting in the studio as a composite of several small paintings I made from the same place. It's built up of several layers, some thin paint, some thick, making decisions about what to keep as I go through. 

 Happy Christmas / Happy Holidays!

Oppedette Hillside

Oppedette Hillside (oil on canvas 50cm x 50cm)

There's a big gap since my last post, but I have been very busy painting!  I have been working in the studio recently reviewing the work that I did outside during the summer, and using that material to make some larger paintings.  The challenge is keeping the image alive and not just a reworking.  The paintings made outside are finished in one quick sitting - these studio paintings are more layered and textured, built up over a number of sessions