Sunset in the Gearagh as the water begins to freeze

oil on canvas 46 x 36 cm

This is a painting of an area called the Gearagh in Co.Cork

 a flooded plain on the road to Inchigeelagh. When I was there
I could see the water beginning to freeze as the last light played across
the lake. Great inspiration for a painting but so very cold.

Thanks for looking :)

Exhibiting at the Lewis Glucksman

I recently entered an art competition with Voluntary Arts Ireland called put your best pencil forward and was lucky enough to have two of my drawings selected for exhibition at the Lewis Glucksman Gallery. The exhibition opened yesterday and will run for a week until the 18th of December after which  it moves on to Derry. Here's a picture of me with my daughter Rachel standing with Fiona Kearny, Director of the Glucksman and Robin Simpson, CEO of Voluntary Arts.. and yes that's me in the hat. Long time readers of the blog will already have seen the drawings entered, both were done at meetings of the Cork sketch Group at the Franciscan well.

If you are in the vicinity of the gallery do feel free to drop in and have a look at the amazing entries of all works displayed by all the artists at this exhibition.

Thanks for looking :)

Crocodile..

disposable pen on recycled paper 30 x 20 cm

This is a very quick sketch of a hatching crocodile done with a disposable writing pen.

I have been doing a lot of drawing with these pens lately, sometimes it's just fun to use

everyday material to turn out a finished drawing.

Thanks for looking :)

Mid Winter Fires

Oil pastel on tinted canson 20 x 15 cm

This was done using  Sennelier oil pastels. 

They are a real treat to work with, being the softest

oil pastel I have ever come across.

Thanks for looking :)

A painting from Donegal

Oil on canvas board 30cm x 20cm

An oil painting of marble hill beach 

county Donegal, as the light fades into the west.

This one is a bit fanciful I know but sometimes it's good

just to have some fun.

Thanks for looking :)

Pencil study of a Rembrandt portrait..

22cm x 30cm on 150g/m cartridge

This is a pencil study of Rembrandt's "Self portrait with a walking stick", 

for this I used Derwent pencils, minen leads and an oil pitt pencil.

I find doing pencil studies of the old masters is really usefull. Its always 

great to see masterworks but often it may be only for minutes, very 

rarely does anyone get the chance to stare for hours at the one work.

To do a pencil study its necessary to spend hours looking 

at the one painting in order to interpret it to the best of our

ability... a good way to learn.

Thanks for Looking :) 

Small cliff on the west coast

Oil pitt and gouache on dyed Fabrianno 30 x 26cm

 A small beachside cliff on the west coast of Ireland.

Thanks for looking :)

Oil painting of a coastal view

oil on masonite 24cm x 27cm.

This is a view of Fennell's bay from the beach at Myrtleville. This

is my second time working with masonite, this time after prepping it 

I used the smooth side. To prepare the masonite I first coated it with two generous coats of 

gesso, when they were dry I gave it an acrylic undercoat and when that dried I coated it with a 

cold pressed linseed oil. The smooth surface was really nice to work with, but if you are trying 

this, personally, I would recommend soft brushes as the pig bristles leave too many scratch 

marks for comfort.

Icarus ...... drawing at Dr.Sketchy's ..

Last Saturday I visited Dr Sketchy's in Dublin with the Cork Sketchgroup

where life drawing models pose in a cabaret setting. Its a fun show and a great 

opportunity to draw from life. This is the last twenty minute sketch given by 

one of the models. Derwent pencils and an oil Pitt on cartridge pad.

Thanks for looking :)

Pencil drawing of, "The Hunter of the Steppe"

Derwent pencils 6H and 9H, minen leads 2H and 6B and an Oil Pitt.

Thanks for looking :)

Drawing of a Pig..

Derwent pencils and a medium oil Pitt on Fabriano

Anyone reading this blog must surely think I'm running short of headings lately
with introductions such as chicken, cat and pig but it's really just an exercise in
generating inspiration. I draw every day, sometimes all day, if I'm not going to be
busy with a paintbrush, but often beginning work seems to be the hardest thing. Once the
engine is turning of course, theres no stopping it... it's just to get that beginning....
The previous three sketches and one, yet undone, are based on the chinese
characters for prosperity, good luck, joy and peace which is yet to come.
I decided to give each one an animal interpretation and then draw the result.
So the symbol for prosperity was assigned to a chicken, good luck to a
cat and joy to a newly born pig... Not profound I know, but a nice simple trick all
the same to keep yourself working while the muse is busy painting her nails...

Thanks for looking :)

Drawing a Chicken..

Minen leads 2h and 6b only, with oil pitt for tone.

Thanks for looking :)

A pastel painting... "Sky"

Pastel on tinted canson..

Thanks for looking :)

Plein air painting of the tide out at Youghal...

oil on canvas 30 x 20

I had the opportunity to meet up with the South West Plein Air painters on Sunday11th

in the seaside town of Youghal and despite the odd rain shower and strong wind it was a 

fun day out.I managed to get in this one of a small little harbor in the town and a few 

sketches also.

Thanks for looking :)

A drawing of Rembrandt's, "Man in Armour"

This was done last night at the second birthday of the Cork Drink and Draw group 

using minen leads HB and 6B on 150gm cartridge.

 Thanks for looking :)

Painting the River Blackwater Lismore Waterford

Oil on oilboard 30 x 40 cm.

This is the river Blackwater at Lismore Co. Waterford.
It is the scenery from a popular walk that starts in the town and loops
back again as it passes the river.

Thanks for looking :) 

Oil painting of the beach walkers..

Oil on oil board 12 x 16 inches.

This was painted from a scene I saw at
Mulranny beach Co.Mayo.


Thanks for looking :)

Pencil portrait video demonstartion

This is a video demo of a portrait drawing using a variety of pencil types.
oli pitt, pitt graphite, derwent and minen leads. I hope you enjoy it.


Thanks for looking :)

Pencil Sketch of a Rembrandt portrait..

Sketched in pencil from the painting

 "Rembrandt's self portrait as Saint Paul"
Size 12 x 8 inches on acid free cartridge paper.
For this work I used Derwent pencils, minen leads and Pitt graphite
on 150gm acid free cartridge pad.

Thanks for looking :)

A couple of plein air sketches..

I got involved this week with the Plein Eire group's, seven day drawing challenge. 

Complete a plein air drawing each day for one week. 

Of the  drawings I managed to fit in, these I think, are my favorites.

Both were completed using Derwent pencils, and a medium oil pitt

on 160lb acid free cartridge.

Thanks for looking :)

Oil study of detail from a Guido Reni.

oil on oilboard 34 x 18 cm

This is a study of the face of Deineara from a Guido Reni
Oil on oilboard 6 x 4 inches. This started as an exercise that I wasn't
really taking seriously. I had a very small canvas and just figured I'd scribble a bit and
very quickly I became caught up in the work. Its easy of course when you have a picture of the original work by Reni to study from, so I can't actually take any credit for this. However it was alla prima and I was surprised to get some resemblance of the original without going to any great lengths. Mostly I used raw umber, burnt sienna and cadmium yellow. A very slight touch of rose madder to heighten the reds.

Thanks for looking :)

Watching the rain fall on Glantaneatnagh

Oil on Gallery wrap canvas 10 x 12 inches. Another work painted from the Boggeragh Mountains.

Thanks for looking :)

Painting plein air in the Boggeragh Mountains..

This is a plein air I was fortunate to get in this week, in the Boggeragh Mountains.

I have been painting around the same area for three days as the scenery is so marvelous 

and the weather so mild.

Thanks for looking :)

Sennelier oil landscape painting

Another  piece using the sennelier oil pastels,
as I have mentioned earlier the colors available in this medium
are just fantastic, once you have a small range of them you find it
impossible not to use them. They are a little messy though so I recommend
using something to move them around the board. A palette knife or rubber
tipped mover should do the trick.

Thanks for looking :)

Pencil Study of Caravaggio's "Taking of Christ"

Here is a sketch I have done of detail from Caravaggio's "the taking of Christ".

I have found the darks values of the original quite difficult to achieve with pencil.

I think I may have to look for anothe medium to compliment the Derwent pencils

to achieve this.

Pencil study of Caravaggio's "Death of the Virgin"

My latest  Caravaggio study is taken from," The Death of The Virgin".

Right now I'm thinking the art of drawing is mostly about making a series of mistakes that are adjusted to eventually form a complete picture. You lay your marks on the page and leave them for a while until you need to adjust them, then you correct them with new marks and continue again until you need to adjust them again, on and on, mark adjust, mark adjust, until eventually the picture begins to emerge... It seems that no matter how bad it is in the beginning its still possible to drive the work towards where you want it to go by being willing to accept each mistake and rectify it..

This is good I think, because even a pencil mangler like me can hope to improve if all my drawings can be the result of corrected mistakes.

Plein air at Achill sound

..another quick plein air, this time, the entrance to Achill Sound.
The channel here is quite narrow and so the racing tide whips
along with considerable fury. It is quite a dramatic spot

Plein air painting on a sunny day at the beach..

A plein air of a sunny day at Dugort, Achill
What a difference a day makes, the day before when I painted here
it was really showery and a little cold, but today its a nice warm
clear day. :)

Graphite study of Caravaggio's " Raising of Lazarus"

This is the second Caravaggio graphite study

this is detail taken from "The Raising of Lazarus" 

The work was completed using Derwent Pencils

on 150 gm cartridge.

Study of a work by Helene Schjerfbeck

This is a study of a work by Helene Schjerfbeck called Portrait of a man. The medium is Sennelier oil pastel on oil canson paper. Schjerfbeck was a Finnish painter who died in 1946 known mostly for portraits and less for landscape. I really liked this painting when I saw it so I had to reproduce it as an exercise. 

Sketch of the water gardens at Doneraile

... a quick charcoal sketch

of the pond at Doneraile Court 

outside Mallow Co.Cork....

The bridge at Puente Nuevo..

This is a drawing I did of the bridge at Puente Nuevo with a disposable pen.

This incredible bridge is just begging to be drawn.

Its surprising the tone and textures you can create with

cheap plastic disposable pens.