Oh to be beside the seaside...

I love living by the sea –  the sound of the constant ebb and flow of the tide, a refreshing breeze and a fabulous smell of seaweed! It’s a very steep climb down to the harbour from our croft house – one that is now getting easier after many daily painting trips to the shore and back. I’ve not yet mastered painting the little fishing boats – but I shall keep trying (I’ve sold two of my seascapes this week, which delighted me!). Unlike my walking muscles, my cycling ones don’t seem to be getting fitter, so I’ll be taking my bike out a bit more, to find some different views to paint. On one of my cycling trips I was offered some crabs  – “oh lovely” I said, “I’ll take them home in my panniers”. I hadn’t really though that one through and was persuaded not to do that, but the idea caused some amusement!

Art in miniature

100 small paintings is worth 1000 large ones, or so they say. Working small is feeling right just now – I’ve found it a good way to increase productivity and it creates instant gratification for one who needs a boost! In addition to my plein air challenge, I’ve introduced an indoor one – a small painting a day based on a monthly theme. August equals sheep! Apart from being surrounded by, and slightly obsessed with sheep, I’ve been asked to supply a local gift shop with a range of sheepy cards. This week I’ve produced 5 drawings using Indian ink on watercolour paper. My plan is to offer the originals for sale, reproduce the images on cards and create a set of miniature prints. I photographed this pedigree flock about a year ago – they were eager to be fed and beautifully clipped. I’ve enjoyed painting these girls and hope I’ve captured their individuality. I have some lovely photos from the Royal Highland Show which will inspire me next week, and then I’ll have to resort to the relative scragger-muffins on the crofts outside!

Enid

Elsie

Molly

Marge

Morag

My kit for painting outside

I follow a number of blogs of other daily or plein air painters and often come across posts about their kit and equipment. In comparison to most mine is minimal. This was an important criteria for me, lugging bags of gear across a boggy landscape and setting up an easel in cold or windy weather was not going to encourage me to keep up my daily challenge. I also love dinky things, such as the flask, which I had to buy as soon as I saw it. I started off with a dinky pochade box and bought a bag to fit it in. The box holds my paints, brushes, canvas and pallet and everything else fits in the bag. It’s light to carry and also fits in my bicycle panniers. It is quick to set up and so far (after only 20 paintings) it works for me. My pochade box holds just one canvas, so if I want to do a few paintings before returning home I take my folding clay-pigeon stool containing my kit, my lunch and a wet canvas carrier. The other thing is deciding what to wear! I’ll save images of my fashionable painting wardrobe for another post when I brave the winter weather. But when it’s dry I just sit on a plastic bag, wear an old shirt and put a tea towel on my lap. Most of the time I manage to remain fairly clean, that is unless I forget to tie up my hair – I then get paint all over my face from pushing hair out of my eyes (hence the wetwipes!). Next month I'll share my painting process and the materials I use.

The phone is for timing, the temperature and posting an in-situ photo on facebook

This is my dinky thumb box - see my thumb inside

(the first time I opened the lid I jumped out of my skin, forgetting it was my thumb!)