Started my colour beginnings

The weather has been against me since my return from Ronda, but today I am making progress. It’s an exciting day! This morning I have started my colour beginning for the painting I have titled Purple Calves.

For all the newbies to my work, just a couple of quick explications which will assist your understanding and appreciation of my working method and dare I say it – my thought process!

Before commencing a painting I usually have a title or thought worked out, sometimes I have a strong composition drawing where everything is worked out prior to my colour beginnings. The colour beginnings are experimental, enabling me to explore colour combinations and the visual balance of the final work. Depending upon the complexity of the final painting, there might be more than one colour beginning. When I am happy with the colour combination I transfer the colours onto canvas. That’s when the fun really starts!

Purple Calves refers to a comment made by Seth Godin, that you only notice something which is different. You would probably drive past cows that were brown, black or white; but if you noticed a purple cow in a field you may stop to take a look at this surprising sight.

So, although the excitement and anticipation of the day was the commencement of the colour beginning the actual day’s work has been frustrating. Which is how the creative process works, some days are good some not so. However, overall it’s a starting point where I can move forward.

The day started not as I planned, which sometimes happens. While walking to easel position number one I slipped on the muddy sheep track and went head over tail; the board went flying and landed face down in the red mud. Picking myself up, I scraped the mud off the paper. The joys of plein air painting! Worse was to come, today the cold snap lingered in the valley with vengeance. It was also windy, and with the chill factor it was freezing. The bellowing wind also rattled the board forward and back on the easel. The movement of the board was quicker than I could place a brush stroke which made it impossible to place colours where I wanted to delicately place them.

To sum the day up, it was not ideal painting weather. Like a true trooper I forced myself to paint. I can’t speak for all professional painters’; but for myself, I have to do something that is creative every day, if I don’t I develop withdrawal symptoms!