Unfortunately, I have to take a three week break from painting from tomorrow (May 8 ), so I have been desperate to reach the trunk of the second dominant tree prior to that break. It will then serve as a useful dividing line between pre- and post break, so if there is any subtle changes of colour, they will not notice so much. I have increasingly used a pen and ink, and thousands of dots, to achieve the kind of detail I want - but I am beginning to feel that this has become a little excessive, so am now trying to return to a more normal way of painting - still highly detailed, still with some dots - just not quite so many! Thus far my progress has been very slow, but when the second dominant tree is painted in a few weeks time, everything that I am painting now (i.e. distant trees, houses, farms etc) will receed into the background. So apart from a few minor areas to paint this evening, this is my last blog post until I am back in action again in about three weeks' time.

My wife looked at the sky and said: "But it's almost turquoise. It doesn't look real!", which was a bit of a blow because I thought I had it about right. In any event, I mulled over this and more or less agreed, so I decided that I would try to repaint the sky by giving it a greyer wash and adding a few faint clouds. This worked reasonably well but I then had to fill in the change of colour behind all the twigs that I had painted, which took an age (and many of the twigs had to be re-painted, too!). Eventually, though, I succeeded and I think the thundery sky is now more convincing. The tree is now almost complete, too - and I decided to add the suggestion of fresh green buds to the pinkish unopened buds. A huge amount of work still to be done, though!

There have been several worrying moments on this journey - firstly, was the sky too dark; answer 'No!'. Second, was the colour fo the trunk too dark:Answer: yes. So I spent a considerable time brightening it up. The third dilemma was whether I had painted in too many branches at the top of the tree - and I came to the conclusion that I had. This is a dying tree - others in the area have been stripped by disease almost entirely of their bark. This is why the topmost branches are white - which gives the painting its dramatic effect. against the dark sky. I have now painted the truk and main branches to my satisfaction, and am now embarked on painting in the fine twigs, twiglets and buds (which are a pinkish colour just before they begin to sprout green leaves. (The painting depicts a scene on a sunny day in  late winter, very early Spring). When that is done, I will still have a tree of similar size to paint - so it is a daunting task but feel it will be well worth the effort. Unfortunately, though, I have to take a three week break from painting for personal reasons - before I can finish it. So it will be a protracted journey to completion. In the meantime, I have changed the name of the painting to "Bushbury Farm, Brockham" which is the correct name rather than the owners' family name.

Made good progress today, first brightening up the trees and church, then painting the hedgerow and field to the left of the first of two dominant trees. I first pencilled in the trunk, then gave it an undercoat of white, then overpainted that with a mix of raw sienna, burnt sienna, white and burnt umber, gradually working my way up the trunk - feeling it and 'growing' it. And as soon as I had blocked in the undercoats, I was relieved to realize that the sky will, in fact, work - and probably very well because the top branches of this dying tree are almost pure white - so it should make for a quite dramatic result. More tomorrow, hopefully...

Began another landscape but am unsure about the sky - it is difficult to get the colours exactly right on the photograph, but it is very dark and the colours of the trees are also a little on the dark side, so they will certainly need to be lightened up. This is intended to be a fairly dramatic painting, which is why I need a dark sky (in order to enhance the areas that will be in sunlight in the foreground). As yet, though, it is difficult to say whether the sky, as painted so far, will work. I estimate this picture will take around three weeks to paint and it is doubtful whether I will finish it before the end of two weeks because I have to take a three week break at that point. So we shall see..... (detail below)

The finished painting. The colours are slightly darker in this picture than in reality, not that it really matters - it's close enough. Painted the final hedgerow with a burnt umber base, and covered that with raw sienna, raw umber, and both mixed with Titanium White , then tiny dots with burnt sienna and a dark green. Painted the highlights with Titanium White and then washed them with a very weak solution of Burnt Sienna. I'm happy, although it's a pity people can't enlarge the picture because it looks so much better when you can see the detail. Hence the picture below: 

Because of the way I paint, my progress has been very slow - too many tiny dots and strokes for leaves and grass blades. However, it is these that give the painting its sharpness and definition, so I have no complaints. I am now continuing 'eastwards' along the canvas, having finished all the main trees and the roadway. Another two to three days should see the painting finished - hopefully! I'm very happy with the result so far, though. 

Finally finished the tree and now making my way 'eastwards' across the canvas. This demands a great deal of concentration and care because of the tiny detail (see the 40mph road sign for example)! - but it is good fun to paint!.The final stage will be to paint the roadway and verges. So another four or five days should see the painting finished. 

Plodding on. The tree seems to be taking an age, but that is because it is complicated and it is difficult to know exactly where the branches go. Working well, though - and now just need to darken some of the underparts of the upper branches. Another challenge is not to make any mistakes, which cannot really be covered up because it would be almost impossible to match the colour of the sky again (and the original paint mix has long since dried up, being fast drying acrylics). I'm happy, though!

Covered the base white of the bark with a weak solution of Raw Sienna and in the darker areas of a Burnt Umber mix, and finally drew in the vertical ridges of the bark (see detail below). The result is that the external light strikes through the weak coats of  Raw Sienna and Burnt Umber, then bounces back off the white undercoat and ‘out’ againt o give extra luminosity. Next, I drew in the lower branches as on this occasion I am ‘growing’ the tree from bottom to top– rather than painting in my usual way from top left to bottom right of the painting.

I did begin to feel, though, that I had bitten off more than I can chew with this tree. It is incredibly difficult to paint, although the work I have done on it thus far is satisfactory. I’m just about getting away with it!I am using several photographs of it as references and from those it is clear that this old oak (I think it is an oak) grows in an extraordinarily tangled way, so it is difficult to know where all the  ‘sub’-branches go!Oh well! Press on!

After another hour and three-quarters, I had managed to get to grips with it, although it remains extremely difficult. I’m now using the photographs only as a basic reference for the main branches and making the rest of the tree up as I go along.Blocked in some new branches on the lower right of the trunk and also the pencilled in sections.Filled in tiny detail in (what will be ) the centre left of the tree—but then noticed that something almost undetectable was wrong; I had not ‘covered ‘ the main branches—only the smaller ones and the spaces between them. Easter is now upon us and that means lunches out, which sadly means no painting for a couple of days.

The colours on this blog, incidentally, seem to vary considerably - because I am taking the photographs in different conditions (cloudy, sunny etc). The most representative of the true colours is the detail (four photos down and the first one in this series).

After travelling to Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Japan and South Korea for six weeks, it is fantastic to be painting again in my studio. This is a landscape of a country road in Surrey, UK - which will be dominated by a large, mainly leafless, tree on a sunny winter morning. I have deliberately made the sky fairly dark because i want to highlight the sunlight reflecting of the bark of the tree (when I get around to it). Below: see detail.

The finished painting - a journey not without its challenges. First there was the major disaster. I had difficulties with the grassy knoll and not least the sky. Having achieved a lovely blend, I then spilt paint drops on it - and was unable to match the blues (always notoriously difficult). So I had to get round it by painting in a cloud and the hind of cloud behind and just above the 'No Parkig' sign. Overall though I'm happy. It is a simple painting and all the more effective for that - but  I think it is the light that really makes it work, and I was delighted when I achieved the right effect. I did this by painting heavy white markings on the tree trunks and then overpainting them with a very thin wash of golden ocre. This gave me the luminosity I was seeking.

So - six weeks off now, while I attend to other things.

Have survived the disastrous start, I have made good progress in the last couple of days, finishing the left hand stand of trees and gates. I'm delighted to have achieved the luminosity to which I aspired.My only concern is that the apex of the pathway is almost dead centre of the board (it is actually slightly left of centre) and there is not a great deal I can do about it now. Makiny it wider at the apex would not help, so i have made it narrower at the apex and broader on the right hand side at the bottom - which doesn't alter the actual position, but does 'suggest' that the path is slightly off centre. It may not matter, anyway, because the weight of the left hand trees will 'pull' the path to the left. The right hand side of the picture will be a hedgrow rising to the same height as the right hand gate, with a smaller, more distant stand of trees above it, against the right hand edge of the painting. SO it should be okay. And that's what painting is all about - solving problems!

Began work on this painting on February 3rd and was making good progress when disaster struck. I had laid down some Friskfilm to protect the sky from accidental blobs of paint or ink spots -- and when I tried to remove it, it turned out to be far more adhesive than usual -- and ripped off various parts of the sky, which had taken me a day and a half to paint (see below). It meant that the entire sky would have to be repainted. The problem was that the white patches were actually holes in the paint surface - and it is almost impossible to 'fill' them so that they are level with the original paint surface. 

I decided the only thing I could do was to sandpaper the board down to the third coat of gesso and repaint the sky - and with luck, I would be able to match the various shades of blue to the left of the picture. It didn't quite work out as I expected. What a calamity! (see below) Ouch!

What now? Could the painting now be saved - that was the question. I determined I would sand the board right down except for the trees that I had already painted. Then I re-gessoed the board with three coats. This left a vertical ridge where the gesso met the original part of the painting, but I figured that if I could paint a tree trunk along it, the ridge would all but disappear. That was the hope, anyway.

Repainting the sky was a nightmare - I just could not get the same blues (it is always incredibly difficult to match blues) but eventually I managed to get close enough. I then resumed painting and since then have made good progress, gradually pushing the trees 'eastwards' whilst at the same time covering the ridge. Now, you can't see it even if you look for it and know where to look. So perseverence paid off. The painting is saved! (see below)

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• "Bushbury Farm, Brockham" - Moving eastwards along the panel
• Bushbury Farm, Brockham - The sky repainted.
• The Tree Groweth - Latest post on Muggeridge's Farm - now renamed!
• Muggeridge's Farm, Brockham - Brightening it up!
• A New Painting Underway - "Muggeridge's Farm, Brockham"
• "Punchbowl Lane, Dorking" - the finished painting
• Main trees completed - "Punchbowl Lane, Dorking"
• "Punchbowl Lane, Dorking" - The tree finished and more slow progress!
• "Punchbowl Lane, Dorking" -=- The Tree Groweth!
• Slow but Sure Progress on "Punchbowl Lane, Dorking"

• WORK IN PROGRESS [46]
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• ARTICLES, THOUGHTS ON ARTS ETC. [12]
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