Japanese Secret Garden palette knife painting

Japanese Secret Garden palette knife painting

Oil on 3mm thich MDF canvas panel

18x24cm

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Followers of this blog will know that I went to Japan last year to see the cherry blossom. This is painted from one of the photos. It takes me a while, but I get there in the end. The bamboo gates caught my eye, and azaleas were everywhere adding the colour. I shall never know what was behind the gates as the gates were actually closed. Using my 'artistic licence to invite you in.

About this painting

It was an overcast day (early spring in Japan). I wanted to capture the feel of the day and include how, when the sun came out the sunlight lit up the scene.

Some close-ups

and how it might look framed

Japanese Stream - Water and Rocks Day 9, 30 paintings in 30 days

Japanese Stream palette knife painting

Oil on canvas board 24x30cm (approx 10x12)

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This is the finished painting from day 6. I struggled with bringing all of this together and changed my mind several times. I started reading "Impressionist Painting Landscapes" by George Gallo part of the way through this and changed my colours slightly to use the complementary triad of purple, green and orange. One of George's mantras is that you should have a clear idea of the finished painting before your start. Well I broke that rule! I do find that many of my paintings are worked out as I go along. One of my goals this year is to become more disciplined and do my composition designs, tonal sketches and colour choices before I start.

How do you start your paintings? Are you  organised before you start, or do you create as you go along?

Some close-ups

Work in Progress Japanese Garden - Water and Rocks Day 7, 30 paintings in 30 days

Work in Progress, Japanese garden

24x30cm (approx 10x12inch)

Acrylic on canvas board.

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After yesterday I wanted something to do that didn't involve going into the studio and using oils. I opened my studio window to air it, and moved upstairs with my acrylics.

It has been so long since I last used acrylics that I had to re-acquaint myself with them. I also found many of my acrylics had dried up after being neglected for so long, leaving me with only a few usable acrylics. I had no alazarin crimson and only a very bright ultramarine, a yellow and sap green and white. My normal acrylics are Winsor and Newton which are quite thick, but apart from the green, the rest were from a mixture of brands much more liquid. My initial idea was to use my palette knifes, but the paint was far too fluid. It was also very transparent. I gradually built up the layers and I can see the painting starting to emerge. I remember the maxim "The good thing about acrylics is that they dry fast. The bad thing is that they dry fast!". I ran out of light so could not finish.

A close-up