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oil on canvas, 90 x 120cms

Next...this painting I did yesterday, which is seen drying on the studio floor. It’s based on a view of trees set against the evening sky with the motorway lights shining through. I had a good time painting it, using just two colours to create a whole range of tones by working in my favoured oils ‘wet into wet’. I laid down a ground of the deep orange all over the canvas and then worked the black (a mixture of burnt umber and ultramarine blue, never black paint) into this. The way it mixed with the wet orange paint, combined with applying the brushes at different pressures, opened up the whole tonal range from very economic means. I then worked further black tones onto this to create depth and movement. Although it looks loose and open, it was a difficult painting to work on and find a ‘way in’ with the techniques I wanted to use, but once I did find the ‘way ‘in’, it was incredibly involving and exciting to work on.

Listen, I’m a painter. This is how I get my kicks...