Painted outside in the open air in fine weather. This field is next to Ballynamona Beach. I liked using Sap Green in the places where green is. For years I’ve been mixing yellow and blue to get green. I didn’t put on sun cream on the third day and my right arm got an unmerciful burning!
Painted over a few nights from life using a headlight mounted on my forehead. It was an amazing experience to paint out in the night air, so still and memorable. I’m moving away from using photographs as references.
Painted from life. I parked my car in the garden car park and painted the view out the front passenger window. There was continuous fine weather in the first week of June that allowed me to do this.
Painted on 3rd and 4th June, 2013
Size: 11.3 inches x 8.7 inches
Oils on Acrylic Painting Paper
In late May and early June, the buttercups come out in their full yellow glory. I was looking for a field which wasn’t mown for silage and had plenty of these wild flowers. I found one not too far from home. We’re having great fine weather and I’m trying to get the most out of it by painting outdoors every day.
Painted on 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th June, 2013
Size: 12 x 9 inches
Oils on Oil Painting Paper
We’re having a rare week of continuous fine weather. So I’ve been doing a lot of painting outdoors, which is how I began my art 14 years ago. Also I’m using oils which I haven’t been using since September, 2012. I went to a nearby car park by a beach, Ballinwilling strand. I decided to do four little pictures of the same view at different times of the day and the sea at different tide levels. They are on the one page so you get the idea of how the sea constantly changes. I’m satisfied with this work.
My biggest painting to date (1 metre x 80cm). The whole idea for it belongs to my older sister Claire. Shortly after last Christmas, she came to me with the idea for doing a picture of the sea when the froth is foamy and thick. I liked the idea because I haven’t seen many paintings of such a view. The picture is based on a photo taken on New Year’s Eve. I took loads of shots and spent time observing the ebb and flow of the tide. 99% of the painting was done with my thin Dalon rigger brush. I was determined to finish it without doing anything else, so for four months I kept at it. I used a palette knife to deposit much Titanium White as an undercoat for the foamy froth in the foreground.
This bird was wading around in the pond in Fota Gardens.
Rain is coming in the distance over the hills. In Ireland when dark, rainy clouds approach over seas, the seas can turn a deep green.
This painting is based on a black and white photograph taken on 22nd January 1943. My paternal grandfather Daniel T McCarthy is sitting on his newly bought Fordson tractor. The orange model was made from 1939 – 42. Behind the tractor is a plough. Much of the ploughs in Ireland were still horse drawn at that time. My grandfather was a forward thinking man in terms of farm machinery and this tractor was the very latest in tractor technology at that time. I didn’t know him, he died in 1973. The original photograph had a glare that obscured much of the engine detail. Also the very front of the tractor was cut off in the photo, so I had to consult the original negative plate to get it right. So I spent WAY too much time on this. I faded the colour in the sky to make it look colder and blurred the detail in the ground and background so the tractor stands out more.
This is the island as seen from my house looking south. I have to thank my sister who alerted me to the unusual light on the buildings that evening. Sold.
eastcorkpainter 