Grey 8. s

Still in grey but have tried not to paint this week in order to reflect on last year, which hopefully leads to a little more planning next year. As an artist I am quick to pick up the paints / go in the studio/ start another new project.....and very slow to do all the other stuff of being an artist ! .....finishing off projects ( like the My North project ) marketing, planning , tidying up etc !

So, I am not supposed to be painting landscapes....I promised myself to try and finish the.  ' my North,' project he ho though...just had to do the Friday night practice and am still in grey. The Friday night practice is just painting without pressure, knowing that I might well paint over all of it tomorrow !

So, still in greys, whether it's finished or not , I have loved this piece...I have been using varnish mixed with the acrylics to help get the glazes...that's worked and produced quite a lot of texture too. I have used charcoal powder dropped onto wet paint...that's worked too....and a favourite tool is a printmaking tool, I think it's for etching, I just scrape into the surface. I am painting on Mdf, canvas is never much use for me...my painting process is too vigorous .

I like an ambiguity in apiece but that's harder in a bigger piece, you generally need more detail ( that said, think of Joh Virtues big skyline prints- research them again...Through the piece it became more important to try and achieve some edginess....my pieces , although I love the , often tend to bland , that , I think , is because I blend a lot.

I returned to this one today and loved it once more. It's absolutely wet through ow though and I can do no more until it's dried out by tomorrow....it would be beneficial to work on more than one at a time but I can't seem to multitask in paint !

' A grey skyline,' 33 inch sq. Acrylic on board...maybe unfinished...