Splendour in Death - Day 3 of the 30 day challenge

Splendour in Death

Oil palette knife painting

18x24cm (approx 7"x10") on MDF canvas panel

Available on Daily Paintworks

See yesterday's painting HERE

 

Whenever I go out and about I am always taking pictures of trees. My husband thinks I'm mad as often the trees are not 'picturesque' in themselves but there is something in them that catches the eye. With this one it was the way the dead branches played against the light of the sky and how, even in death, it supported life.

About this painting
The original painting had a secondary tree next to it

I thought I had almost finished so I put it on my stand for a dose of 'looking at' to see what final touches were needed. It suddenly struck me that it just didn't work. I asked myself "What is this painting about?" It was about the branches against the sky which was clouding over. I took my palette knife and completely wiped out the second tree and replaced it with more sky. It was a good reminder to not simply copy the photograph and to use your artistic license. What do you think? I think it works much better.

Some close up of the knife work

And how it would look in a frame

Pumpkin and Avocados still life, oil palette knife painting

Pumpkin and Avocados still life

Oil on canvas panel, 24x18cm (approx 7x10inch)

Palette knife painting

80€ International shipping included

A friend of mine saw me looking at the pumpkins and squash at the local market. The next day she made me a present of a couple of pumpkins.
Unfortunately, we had already eaten one of them before I got around to painting doing the painting, so I used some avocados I had in my fruit bowl as a stand-in. But, as usually happens, when I paint fruit and veg still lifes, part of it disappeared before I finished the paintings. I had to do the final touches from memory.

Some close up crops of the knife work

Coastal Pines, Day 12, 30 days hath September challenge

Coastal Pines treescape landscape painting

18x24cm (approx7"x10")

oil on canvas panel
85€ International shipping included

 
Day 12, 30 days hath September challenge

Tree series ?
I seem to have started a series of tree paintings and I do enjoy painting them, especially when there is light and shadow playing on the trunks and underneath. Sweet Chestnut Walk and Cork Sentinels were from a recent trip into the Var. Sherwood Forest walk and today's painting are from older photographs taken earlier in the year.

The coastal road
These coastal pines were found along the coast road to St Raphael. 
It is a beautiful stretch of coast road that winds from Cannes to St Raphael and we take a trip down it at least once a year. I always take loads of photos so have plenty of references on my 'to do' list. 
Shadows and Light
These gnarled pines attracted my attention because of their shape and the shadows playing underneath them. It's amazing that they grow at all, they were coming out from underneath the tarmac of the road! Just to the left is the sea and I ignored the road for the painting using my artistic license.

Camargue Sunrise palette knife painting in oil

Camargue Sunrise with flamingoes

18x24cm oil on MDF canvas panel

Painted with a palette knife

 SEE HERE TOPURCHASE

Last year we took a trip around the Arles area and on the way home stopped off at the Carmague a wetland area to the west of Marseilles.
We saw lots of flamingoes, egrets, black bulls and the obligatory white horses.
This is the first of my Camargue paintings and I plan to do several more. It's quite an interesting mix of the flat pools of marshy waters with the choppy waters of the Med as a backdrop.

Lavender and Olives, Provence Palette Knife Landscape Painting

Lavender and Olives, Provence Landscape Painting

18x24cm (approx 7"x10")

Oil on canvas panel, painted with a palette knife.

SOLD

The lavender blooms and is harvested at the start of July. To extend the season many lavender farms also grow olives. The contrast between the purples of the lavender and the turquoisey blues of the olive trees make a nice colour combination. Painted with a palette knife on a pink ground which is allowed to peep through in place to add liveliness to the painting.

Another view of the lavender fields can be seen HERE

High plain meadow, oil painting

High Plain Meadow, Provence landscape

15x15 cm (6"x6") Oil on canvas panel
SOLD

This is the third study in the series, painted on a pink ground and using a large brush. I left the brush strokes showing and tried to use the mantr "a brush stroke laid is a brush stroke layed", that is NO FIDDLING. This is harder to do than you think. Even now I still have to resist the temptation to add more. As a study I'm trying to leave it alone. Although I quite like the effect, I am not sure I could do this on a larger piece, but it is the first step along the way.

The other two paintings can be found HERE and HERE

Summer Magic, Lavender Fields Provence knife painting

Summer Magic, Lavender Fields Provence

18x24 cm (approx 7"x10") palette knife painting

Oil on canvas panel

This painting is now SOLD

We have had so much rain here over the last two months and painting these little scenes keeps me happy LOL.

You may be interested in seeing "Pretty in Purple" lavender landscape HERE

Poppy Jungle palette knife painting

Poppy Jungle palette knife painting

18 x 24 cm oil on canvas panel

Available for purchase 

Every year the poppies self-seed all over my garden, particularly in the lawn. My husband, bless him, mows around these patches giving me a lovely display with high impact colour! These are growing around an old hibiscus syringa which is just starting to emerge after its winter rest.

Pretty in Purple, Provence landscape palette knife painting

Pretty in Purple, Provence Landscape

18 x 24 cm oil on canvas panel

Here is the final version of the painting I posted a couple of days ago HERE. It didn't need much to finish it off. I like the way the foreground turned out, nice and suggestive.
Here is a close-up of the foreground where you can see some of the drips left in-situ. It's definitely something I will try again.

Lavender Landscape Provence palette knife painting

Lavender Landscape Provence 

Oil on canvas panel

18 x 24 cm (7"x10"approx, painted with a palette knife.

I used a slightly different technique for this mini landscape. I washed some very thin oil over the panel to use as my ground. I let the wash run and mingle to see what effect I would get. This was the result:

I quite liked the drips on the dried under wash and wanted to see how I could use them in a finished painting. Using a palette knife I started to lay in the paint for the top two thirds of the painting. Apart from adding touches of the colours I used in the rest of the painting, I left the background of the bottom third untouched to take advantage of those drips. I quite like the effect on the finished piece and it doesn't feel quite as 'heavy' as some of my paintings. Let me know what you think?
I can see the painting needs some touch ups, so I will post a new photo of the final piece in a few days.

Contact me about this or any other painting HERE

Can I join in? pears and apple still life painting

Can I join in? Pears and apple still life

Palette knife painting

18x24cm (approx 7"x10") oil on canvas panel

One of the pears from yesterday's still life was eaten for breakfast, so I made up the trio of fruits with an apple. It had similar colouring to the pears and was a good substitute. It can't understand why it is different though, and can't join in with the pears LOL.

Take a look at my 'Three of a Kind', pear still life painting

Three of a kind, pear still life painting

Three of a kind oil painting

Three pears still life palette knife painting

18x24cm (approx7"x10") oil on canvas panel

As a change from the landscapes and florals I have been painting lately, I wanted to paint some still lifes and practise my palette knife skills at the same time. These red pears sitting in the fruit bowl, just cried out to be painted. I used thick paint and had to resist the temptation to smooth everything down. I'll be interested in hearing your comments about this style.

Autumn Explosion, palette knife painting

Autumn Explosion by Marion Hedger

Oil on canvas panel

Heavily textured palette knife painting

18x24 cm (approx 7"x10")

When painting forest scenes, I usually like to show some sort of path to encourage the viewer to 'walk' through the painting, as can be seen HERE in this larger painting. With this painting, I wanted to show the 'denseness' of the foliage and the way that the colour can confuse the senses.

Here is a close up of the impasto knife work

This is a sister painting to Autumn Birches which was painted with the same palette and also shows a path.

 

 Find my small paintings in my ETSY STORE

Golden Marsh Palette Knife Painting in oils

 

 Golden Marsh by Marion Hedger

Oils using palette knives

18x24cm (approx 7"x10") on Canvas panel

A study following Lois Griffel's method of painting. I have previously used Susan Sarback's process with pastels and this is the first palette knife oil painting using Lois's method which is a very similar process and way of thinking. I took her example photo and flipped it and changed some of the marsh detail. I like the sense of distance achieved and the light shining through. I shall try a few more of these but larger I think as working small is quite difficult.

THIS PAINTING IS FOR SALE IN MY ETSY SHOP