Out hiking over the hills in southern France. Looking out for some new paintings. The lines and curves of the open land, mountains and forest patches are irresistible.
As are the deep verticals and aqua colours of this gorge. I'm busy collecting lots of sketches, scribbles, photographs and ideas for when the temperatures drop and its cosier to be in the studio rather than out.
Things are still happening on the easel. I'm working on a forest canvas. The charcoal sketch was painted over with brighter acrylics. In theory patches of these will poke through the final oil paint adding a bit of grit to the finished piece.
Now I'm beginning the first oil layers defining the areas of light and the lines of movement in the composition.