Clubbing

Riverboat (work in progress)

Today was my first real afternoon of painting in the new Club premises, and it worked pretty well. I thought it might be too crowded and maybe a little stuffy, but there was only a handful of people there and the extractor fan was working efficiently.

I settled in quite quickly and the very small new painting I'd sketched out on an old piece of board cut from another painting went remarkably smoothly. In fact, had I not needed to go shopping, I could easily have finished the picture in one go. As it is, there's really only the river left to work on.

Black Ship leaving Harbour

Black Ship leaving Harbour (oil on canvas, 9 x 12 ins)

This Black Ship has proven to be very useful. However, I think I may have exhausted its possibilities for now and will have to start looking elsewhere. I think I hear bagpipes ....

Black Ship and Mosque, Chania

Black Ship and Mosque, Chania (oil on canvas, 12 x 12 ins)

One of the " one or two other things" I was "getting on with" got finished today. The two Black Ship paintings look good together and it's not immediately obvious that one is 30 x 30 cms and the other is 12 x 12 ins. It is immediately obvious, however, when I try to put them both into 30 x 30 cm frames. Bummer.


Black Ship at Chania (oil on canvas, 30 x 30 cms)

Another Black Ship

Black Ship and Mosque (work in progress)

I thought I'd get the day off to a good start today by laying out this new small picture of the black ship in Chania harbour, the disused mosque in the background.

Sometimes I'm really surprised when the first layers of colour turn out to be as vivid as these, because it's not something I generally do deliberately. Colour is something I think about when the composition is established, but maybe my constant colour thoughts are coming to the fore more than they once did.

Boat in New Harbour, Chania

Boat in New Harbour, Chania (oil on canvas, 30 x 30 cms)

I've been busy socialising since I got back from Glasgow and fretting that my pictures were being neglected., but today I was able to finish this boat painting. I'm pleased to be able to add it to what seemed a limited supply of small paintings.

As well as working on the boat picture, I made further progress on one of the Shops & Stalls series. A satisfactory day.


Picture Shop (work in progress)

Black Ship at Chania

Black Ship at Chania (Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 cms)

As the election process rumbled on towards its inevitable conclusion (although distinctly more promising than I thought possible), I got on with this small painting. By the end of the day the country had a new government and I had a new painting. No prizes for guessing which I liked more.