LEE ABBEY BEACH

A painting of the wonderful beach bellow Lee Abbey in North Devon, 24 x 18″ canvas. We spent the day here in this quiet cove in the warm spring sunshine. It have a beautiful waterfall cascading as you enter the beach and the views out along the North Devon Coast are stunning. After we had a cream tea at the Abbey Tearooms!

I’m also so pleased to have this painting chosen as a temporary header for the West Country Artists page shown below!

ALMOST SPRING AT CROW POINT

First paint on canvas since October 2023, so I’m not really expecting too much at the moment but am enjoying sitting infront of the easel again. It may well take a little while to get back up to speed so we’ll see where this one goes! Acrylic on 24 x 18″ canvas.
This was a picture taken on a chilly cycle ride around the Burrows and Crow Point. In the distance is a large storm front coming in and I decided to make a dash for home. I should have stopped for a coffee at The Quay Cafe in Braunton but decided to continue onward on the Tarka Trail back to Barnstaple. As I reached Chivenor Marine Base I was caught in a massive storm with side blown hail stones, I didn’t warm up the entire day after this! Al

CROW POINT

This twenty one year old painting was hung in my old kitchen so after the kitchen was renovated this painting and its frame were cleaned and a few corrective touches made; better than before!

Through the gap in the dunes you used to be able to see this wreck of the old Sea Mack now sadly almost gone!

HARTLAND

A large scale painting inspired by a recent walk at Hartland Quay in North Devon. Canvas 48 x 36”. I’ve first laid down the dark tones with Paynes Grey & Bideford Black to gain some sort of structure with which to overlay with colour. This is the fun part as I prefer to work quite quickly, this only took about an hour. The rest of the work was created with both washes, dry brush and blocked colour to try and prevent overworking the composition. Al

SANDY COVE IDEAS

Recently I’ve been spending time at Sandy Cove Beach near Lee Bay in North Devon and have decided to start a painting inspired by sketches and iPhone images obtained there. My wife and I go to this beach and hunt sea glass for the jewellery she creates then onward to spend time at The Grampus Inn. I use photoshop to create compositions, similar to traditional preparatory sketches, to inspire and familiarise myself with the subject before I start painting. The image above has obviously been photoshopped and will not be painted.

FISHERMAN’S COTTAGE

A composition of the famous fisherman’s hut in Mullion Harbour, Cornwall. Whilst walking on the cliffs here I often see Choughs flying amongst the grass so I’ve decided to add some to the stormy sky. Through out I’ve struggled with the surface of this panel as I’d applied a smooth coat of gesso which surface seems to produce a more graphic look to my brushstrokes. In comparison, I find fine canvas to be a more subtle surface for colour blending and shading, with that said I find the final picture is somewhat appealing to my eye! Acrylic on gesso panel 380 x 380mm.