"You wouldn't believe me if I told you....!" - A day in the life of an artist.

"Summer Morning , Lee Bay" watercolour 12 x 9 inches. available here.

As an artist that likes to paint outdoors, sometimes you get the occasional curious passerby. It's all part of the experience. It's fun to share a few moments with someone who is interested in what you are doing.
I have to tell you that on this blissfully, peaceful Summer morning in a remote bay on the North Devon coastline, Paul Kenton and I were deep into our paintings when the silence was shattered by a four wheel drive SUV that screamed by, stopped, then reversed at speed to stop feet away from us. Out leapt a middle-aged woman, kitted out in high heel stilettos, leopard skin leggings, a sequinned top and a fur jacket, full make-up and hair pomped up high. Who then spoke at one hundred miles in an hour in an accent that was hard to make out, but definitely not English, for at least fifteen minutes, all the while snapping away furiously with her iPhone as we painted.  Then she jumped back into her monster truck , blew us a few kisses and wheel spun off.

All in a sleepy morning's work in North Devon.


"Painting the Outdoors with Passion"

Boats bobbing in the warm Mediterranean Sun.

With no cars or even automated transport allowed on the island of Hydra, your options are either donkeys or boats. Water taxis take you around the island and fishing boats bring in their salty wares, whilst the gin palaces bring in their wealthy matelots to inhabit the harbour side tavernas, kafeneions, shops and galleries.

The boats caught my eye. They range from traditional wooden fishing boats, larger caiques upto modern fibreglass cruising yachts and the larger luxury boats.

Every inch of harbour is packed with boats oozing character and screaming out to be painted.

These were just a few that I painted.

Hydra boats -watercolour by Steve PP.

Hydra boats -watercolour by Steve PP.

For Pete's Sake!"

This is today's available painting on my fine art website.

Woolacombe Bay in all of it's summer finery. 12 x 9 inches framed and available here.

Have a great day!

"Painting the Outdoors with Passion!"

Two FREE oil paintings today! - Watercolour plein air painting on a Greek Island.

I've got a treat for someone today! For the first two people to support my "Painting Hydra" Greek Island watercolour project over on Kickstarter at the £120 reward level, right here . I will donate one of these framed original 9 x 6 inches oil paintings as well as the 12 x 9 inch framed watercolour reward. That's two paintings each for two lucky people! One oil and one watercolour! So pop over to Kickstarter now and pledge your support! "Painting Hydra" by Steve PP on Kickstarter.com

You'll get a great opportunity to share in the creative experience of a genuine plein air painting trip, with daily updates in an exclusive travel blog emailed direct to your inbox, and the chance to choose the subject of your painting from all of the sketches and studies that I make on location on the island of Hydra.

So what are you waiting for? Enjoy a Mediterranean painting trip with me now! Just click on this link to get you to my funding page and grab yourself some sun drenched art! Thank you and have a great day!

Steve PP.

"Summer"

"May in the Bay"

Splashy Sunday Slider- watercolour surfer

 

Our old friend the wind returned to groom us with it's presence today, whilst the huge surf looked spectacular with it's exaggerated rooster trails of spray, it was a day for studio painting. I thought I'd try a Splashy Slider on the Hahnemule panoramic watercolour paper. What do you think, does the extended width benefit the composition?

"Splashy Sunday Slider #4 50 x 20 cms.

£145 Sold!

Posted with Blogsy

"Early morning sun" - watercolour painting on the beach

Today was one of those days when everything slots into place, a breeze so light that you can hardly feel it, warm sun and a sleepy beach , just starting to wake up. This fella was soaking up some early rays sheltered behind the lifeguard hut. Spring is definitely doing it's thing!
Enjoy your day!

"Early morning sun" watercolour  12 x 9 inches.

www.stevepp.co.uk

"Backpeddlin' " - watercolour surf art.

Watercolour

"After pushing out a nose ride for as long as possible a graceful back step sets you up for the next one."

I've been playing with the idea of doing some surfing themed watercolours for awhile now,as my usual medium for them is either oil or acrylics. as soon as I started with this one, the whole process seemed to gel together, water , colour pigment and surfing seemed such perfect bedfellows. The bleed and fluidity that comes makes you feel  the water surface and wave action more instinctively. I will be doing more of these for sure!

Have a creative weekend!

" Midweek Sparkle " - painting plein air in the sun.

" Midweek Sparkle" 14 x 10 inches , oil on canvas board, £120 unframed

 - "so lovely to see the sun sparkling on the sea, makes me feel contented and happy. The view from Barricane to Baggy Point and points further South. It's feeling warmer and who knows we may even see some surf soon?"

Hemingway's Retreat- plein air with Paul Kenton

Yesterday , with a break in the weather, I seized the chance to go painting with Paul Kenton, we both shoehorned in a couple of hours into our daily schedule, and hooked up at a beautiful spot overlooking Woolacombe Bay. I painted this study in oils on a 12" x 5" wood panel , whilst Paul went big on a pre-stretched sheet of watercolour paper. It was a great exercise in working at speed, just capturing the essence of what was infront of us , without putting in too much detail.

"Hemingway's Retreat" - 12 x 5 inches , £300  , unframed , oil on panel

" Lazy Afternoon " - almost painting out in the sunshine

9 x 6 inches oil on canvas panel. £400

"I was so enthusiastic about getting to the beach today to paint in this beautiful warm sunshine, that only after I had scouted out my spot , set everything up, squeezed out my paint, ordered a tea , worked out where to start, did I realise that I left my white paint at the studio! - Doh!! So, this little study was done from memory back in the studio. Funnily enough, before heading out, I was reading Kevin MacPherson's excellent book " Inside and Out " and he mentioned trying out an exercise where you studied a scene outdoors without a sketchbook or camera, then went back to your studio and painted it from memory. I thought that was an excellent idea, and one that I would do one day, i didn't quite expect to be practicing it half an hour later. Kevin was right though, it's amazing how much you remember, try it out sometime?"

" May day" - watercolour painting in warm sunshine

" May day" - watercolour , ink & gouache . "Happy first of the month everybody! Well the clouds parted and warm sun beamed down for awhile, so I took myself off to a secluded little spot and painted a watercolour. I was amazed how many hikers walked by in an hour, it felt like I was the official illustrator for The Pilgrim's Way! Great to have the warmth."


Mounted Prints 8 x 5 inches available.£20 

" Gone Troppo!" - where would you like to be on a grey day?

" Somewhere right about here would be nice!" Come back sun and warmth all is forgiven!
12 x 5 inches acrylic on wood £65

Warm up sketch on the iPad- literally!

A quick little sketch/ study using Artrage on the iPad this morning sat in the car, after walking the dog, the sunlight was beautiful slipping over Potter's hill down onto the sand through the dunes, the wind was bitter cold, and I was enjoying the warmth of the sun heating up the car. The ipad is so useful for quick little studies like this when you are on limited time, and feel the creative urge.

" Rush Hour " - the busiest time of the day!

" Somedays it's just all too much! These two have the right idea! - Watercolour - Sold- £20 mounted Prints available.

" Catching Up " - a busy day at the beach

I'm really enjoying painting these little watercolours. It's trying to keep disciplined in what to leave out rather than what to put in. This fella was engrossed in the day's news, whilst slowly baking in the sun.


Watercolour- Sold-
£20 mounted Prints available.

Have a great day!

" The Morning Off " - First day of Spring

Watercolour. Sold.


Happy Spring! Today is officially the first day of the new season, let's hope it brings many days like this, just sitting on the beach enjoying a morning off.

" Sittin' in the Sun "

Spring is knocking on the door down here in sunny Devon, and the warmth is starting to make me want to paint beach scenes, so here is the first of a series that will be ongoing over the next month.
SOLD.
£20 Mounted prints available.

"Misty Morn" A Cornish Shrimper

20 x 20 inches Oil on canvas Sold.

" Misty Morn" is a beautiful little Cornish shrimper plying it's lines along the South Devon coastline.

I really enjoyed tackling a different subject matter, sometimes it makes you take stock of what you think you know, and it really helps tighten up your observation skills.

" Cross that Bridge " Painting instinctively.

9 x 6 inches Oil on Board £100

" Sometimes ,it's really enjoyable to paint with half closed eyes, just to get a spontaneous feel for colour and shapes. I love how it knocks all the detail out of a scene, which in turn frees you up to paint simpler shapes and concentrate on the colour and tonal value more. This scene was painted at the Lyn valley in North Devon, a beautiful spot!"

The Hidden Valley - painting plein air out in the wooded valleys of Devon.

9 x 6 inches oil on panel. Click to bid.

" This location was a revelation to me, for years I have surfed and walked along this stretch of coast, and had always meant to go inland a few miles to see the wooded valleys where the rivers start and run there way down to the sea. After a good breakfast, the coast proved to windy and wet to paint at, so I ventured down to this valley with some artist chums, and lo and behold, the light was clear and the river was running strong after a few days of heavy rains.

Such a different discipline for me to paint lots of trees and running water after my coastal themes, but a good challenge and one that I will return to gain and again. For this painting , I pre-mixed pretty much all of the colours first, so that I could spend more intense study and painting time , without stopping and breaking concentration to mix colour.

Just as I was nearing the end of this painting a couple of hikers came and sat right in the perfect spot for their lunch, providing me with a lovely spot of red, to counter balance all of the green."

"Blow the cobwebs away" - plein air coastal painting

14 x 10 inches Oil on Canvas board £200

"This past week there has been an abundance of fantastic skies and clear light, this cloud formation above Morte Point really took my eye, the ocean was particularly glassy that day, and to top it all off, a sailing boat slid gracefully around the point. just wonderful! "