The Spanish Never Came!

[Michaelmcg]

A rather cold, cloudy spring morning, but the brave/foolhardy among us decided to go to the seaside village of Duncannon for a paint-out! It's a rather picturesque place, once you look beyond the hideous apartment block right on the beach, and also has a very interesting fortress dating right back to the 16th century (constructed by the Birtish in anticipation of a Spanish invasion). The light was mostly flat and fairly boring in the morning, but the sun made some effort to come through occasionally, so I gave it a little help by warming up my first painting a little, while not implying direct sunlight.


Spring Morning, Duncannon
(11" x 14" Oil on Board)

The sun came out for about half an hour in the afternoon, so I got drawn instantly to this "contre jour"view of the other side of the fort. Since it got cloudy again fairly quickly, I had to rely quite a lot on memory and guesswork to complete the painting!


Afternoon Light, Duncannon
(12" x 12" Oil on Board)

I've got a couple of photos of both scenes on my blog, for anyone who wants a look.

Michael

[JamieWG]

Michael, that first one works especially well for me. I think warming up the sky was a great idea. Isn't that why we were given an "artistic license"? The figures on the beach are the perfect touch to add scale to the painting. I want to live there up on the bluff!

Jamie

[adventureartist]

Love your use of colors in both of these, really inspiring!

[Journeyman]

The Barbarians very rarely come Michael, they are usually here amongst and within us already A very successful day out I love how you harmonise the colour.

Dave

[Michaelmcg]

Originally Posted by JamieWG

Michael, that first one works especially well for me. I think warming up the sky was a great idea. Isn't that why we were given an "artistic license"? The figures on the beach are the perfect touch to add scale to the painting. I want to live there up on the bluff!

Jamie

Thanks Jamie. I'd say you might feel a bit windswept up there!

Michael

[Michaelmcg]

Originally Posted by adventureartist

Love your use of colors in both of these, really inspiring!

Thanks Drusilla. I have always been attracted to those paintings which use colour as well as tone to model form, so I suppose it has "rubbed off on me" over the years!

Michael

[Michaelmcg]

Originally Posted by Journeyman

The Barbarians very rarely come Michael, they are usually here amongst and within us already A very successful day out I love how you harmonise the colour.

Dave

Thanks Dave. As far as I can recall, the weather did for both the Spanish and the French on both attempts to "free" Ireland from the British. A large portion of the Spanish Armada came a cropper along the West Coast of Ireland, and the remainder decided to "get the hell outta here" and sailed home. I think a couple of French ships did make landfall in the North West at some stage, but they were totally outnumbered by the British forces. I often wonder what we would be like today if we had been colonised by all three countries - probably even madder than we are!

Michael