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!
A picture inspired by the North Devon coast and Lee Bay. Acrylic on canvas 24 x 18″. It is such a wonderful beach to explore when the tide is out, many caves and little inlets around with wonderful views out along the tall cliffs of North Devon.
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.
I’ve just discovered this painting from a while ago! It is of a rock pool at Blackpool Mill Beach in North Devon. This beach is at the end of an enjoyable woodland walk from the famous Hartland Abbey. Just before the beach is a wonderful old building set in grassy grounds called Blackpool Mill Cottage which featured in the BBC production of Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’, as the cottage in Rosamund Pilcher’s ‘The Shell Seekers’, and in 2016, the location for The Lanyon in BBC’s ‘The Night Manager’ starring Tom Hiddleston.
I particularly like the pebble beach here, it’s rock pools and picking up spectacular pieces of driftwood left behind by the Atlantic storms.
Just a little look back at some of my recent paintings of Cornwall. Above is Mullion Cove a favourite place of my wife and I. Below are paintings of Kynance Cove, Lands End, Morwenstow, Bedruthen Steps and my recent painting of the Logan Rock. There is just something about the light here and many more visits are planned.
Quick half an hour to commit to another painting, acrylic wash on canvas panel 515 x 330mm. The next day I completed it after about an hour of finalising the composition. I visited Treen in Cornwall quite recently to paint and sketch the wonderful rock formations but sadly there was a heavy mist! I will revisit it when the weather is right and will not only sketch the Logan Rock but also Pedn Vounder and Porthcurno Beaches.
A favourite topic of mine, beach side huts and houses. I’ve started formally with some loose perspective guidelines and added some acrylic spray can paint to remove some of the initial white of the gesso! Acrylic on hand made canvas panel, 13 x 24″ in old money!
The second in a year and hopefully the end to my lull. This painting is of The Tarka Trail, in North Devon, as it passes through Instow. It was a humid sunny day when I sketched this and was taken by the blue beach house and the red poppies. When ever I see red poppies it always reminds me of childhood memories at Instow. As usual I will sit on this painting for a while then make the final corrective adjustments! Al
We’ll at least a canvas is up now for the first session in SIX months! I haven’t even picked up a brush since January so this one should be an interesting return!
Latest update this morning I decided enough is enough and decided to paint no matter what happens. I’ve chosen a familiar subject of the now removed board walk at crow point and will be adding the final flight of a Hercules C-130 which have now been taken out of commission. This painting is now complete and hopefully I will be back to more original paintwork soon! Al
The start of 2023. The completed acrylic painting 820 x 400mm above is of Kynance Cove from a sketch made in November 2022. My wife and I were staying in Mullion Cove for my Birthday weekend and made our way here. There were no tourists as the weather was very changeable but once we go down to the beach we were surprised to see that the tearooms were open. We sat on the benches and this is the view we enjoyed for an hour or so with it’s incredible light illuminating the sea.
I’ve tried to keep this painting looser than normal as it was just an exercise in removing the white of the canvas gesso and promoting some sense of light to dark contrasts. From the beginning I reference the original sketch and start to make sense of the correct sky tones and highlights on the sea. I must say there is a certain honesty to my original sketches perhaps my plain air sketch books should be shown.
Now finished I leave it on an easel for a week or so and make final adjustments. As usual the Titanium White appears bolder that it actually is when photographed. Al
A selection of some of the paintings I’ve completed in 2022, the year started out with a Bideford Black and ended with a large composition called Secluded Stream. I’ve had the great pleasure of twice visiting the Lizard in Cornwall this year and searched for sea glass with my wife along the North Devon Coast. During the year I was invited by a friend of mine, Adrian Beasley, to join again with the Black Arts for a residential course and worked with clients using the Bideford Black pigment at the Northam Visitors Centre. Having not exhibited for quite a while I ended year at the Burton Gallery, I’m now taking a slight break to plan my 2023 campaign. Al
Al Brown Artist. 