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Archive for the ‘Artwork of the Week’ Category

‘Towards Blackmount, winter’

Posted by admin on November 30th, 2012
202-towards-blackmount-winter-arylic-pastel-2011-76-x-23-cm

‘Towards Blackmount, winter’

‘Towards Blackmount, winter’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 76 x 23 cm
Catalogue number: 202
Price: £575 (this painting is supplied mounted but unframed)

About this painting
I did this painting last year after a walk along the low undulating ridge leading to Ghlas Beinn on the edge of Rannoch Moor.  It was our first visit to this wild spot and there was just a light dusting of snow on the moors.  The temperature though had been cold for a number of days and the lochs on the moor were all frozen and this was made even more pronounced by the light snow cover.  It is a magnificent view point and I’m already planning another visit shortly.

For more information about this painting or to arrange to view it at my studio, contact me:
Tel: 07742 437425
Email: keith@keithsalmon.org or salmon21@freeuk.com

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‘Below the snow-line, Ben Lui, April’

Posted by admin on November 24th, 2012
259 'Below the snow-line, Ben Lui, April', Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 80 x 80 cm

‘Below the snow-line, Ben Lui, April’

‘Below the snow-line, Ben Lui, April’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 80 x 80 cm

My apologies to those of you who visit my Face Book page, (Keith Salmon – Scottish Landscape Artist) as you will already have seen images of this recent painting.  For anyone else though, this is the very latest of my paintings ….completed earlier this week.  Over the last month or so I’ve completed four paintings all based on a walk / scramble we did on Ben Lui several years ago.  This piece  tries to capture something of  the descent from the higher snow covered east ridge back down into the more friendly grass covered glen below.  This painting is currently hanging in my studio along with around 20 other pieces.  If you’d like to see this and the other works, do visit my studio.

You can contact me:

Tel: 07742 437425

Email: keith@keithsalmon.org or salmon21@freeuk.com

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‘Above Largs, late afternoon, January’

Posted by admin on November 17th, 2012

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‘Above Largs, late afternoon, January’

‘Above Largs, late afternoon, January’, Oil, 2012, 80 x 80 cm (Work in progress)

I’ve marked this painting as ‘work in progress’, but in all honesty I think it is probably finished and I’ll sign it fairly soon.  The painting has been in progress for several months but has been sat lent against a wall for about five weeks while I’ve worked on other pieces.  I wasn’t ignoring it though and whenever I was sat in my rocking chair having a cuppa, I’d be looking at it and thinking.  Eventually, a few days ago, I started working back into it ….and this is the final result.

A couple of years ago in early January a friend and I were walking the low hills above Largs.  It was during a very cold spell and the hills were covered in snow and ice, making walking particularly difficult.  As we made our way down in the late afternoon, the low sun cast a strange and beautiful pink light over everything and for a brief period the snow almost glowed.   It didn’t last long and as the sun dipped below the horizon the temperatures once again plummeted.  This painting tries to capture something of this strange winter landscape.

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‘Snow shower, below the east ridge of Ben Lui’

Posted by admin on November 11th, 2012
'Snow shower, below the east ridge of Ben Lui'

‘Snow shower, below the east ridge of Ben Lui’

 

‘Snow shower, below the east ridge of Ben Lui’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 80 x 80 cm

Well then, here it is again ….finished at long last!  As you can see, I’ve developed the painting a little from the earlier two versions and have use just a little bit of artistic licence in making the conditions slightly worse than it actually was at the time!  We did in all reality climb these slopes in very good conditions and although there were plenty of dark heavy clouds around none of these produced snow until later in the day as we were heading back.  Anyway, I think this added work has given the picture much needed atmosphere …something that was I felt lacking in the earlier versions.

One of the regular visitors to my Face Book page commented when seeing the last version, that he could start to appreciate how much under painting there was in some of these works.  These paintings are built up slowly using many layers of paint and pastel and it is this way of working that helps me to create the atmosphere and depth in some of these pieces.

This painting can now be seen at The Framework Gallery in Troon and is priced at £1095.  If you have a chance and live in Ayrshire why not pop along to the gallery to see it for real.  They also have several of my other paintings and three of my recent small graphite drawings of Ailsa Craig. ….along of course with work by many other    artists.  You can get further details about the Framework Gallery by clicking on the link at the side of this page.

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‘Below the east ridge of Ben Lui’

Posted by admin on October 25th, 2012

'Below the east ridge of Ben Lui'

‘Below the east ridge of Ben Lui’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 80 x 80 cm

I don’t normally show the same painting here two weeks running, but I thought it’d be interesting to show how this painting has developed since last week.  There are no great changes, but I’ve worked into it with pastels and have tried to give the surface slightly more depth.  The painting probably still needs some more work doing to it but I may wait a while.  Sometimes the sitting and looking and thinking is just as important as the actual painting part of the process….that’s why I have a rocking chair in my studio!  That’s my excuse anyway!

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Work in progress, ‘Below the east ridge of Ben Lui’

Posted by admin on October 20th, 2012
'Below the east ridge of Ben Lui, Winter' (Work in progress)

‘Below the east ridge of Ben Lui, Winter’ (Work in progress)

Work in progress, ‘Below the east ridge of Ben Lui’, Acrylic & Pastel, 80 x 80 cm

This is the latest stage of a new 80 x 80 cm acrylic & pastel piece I’m working on.  It isn’t a great photo either …just one that I snapped to record the progress of the painting.  Anyway, hopefully it’ll give you an idea, not just of the painting, but of how these pieces are done.

I guess I must have spent about four days working on this piece so far.  I tend to paint the basic composition in quite boldly after first lightly drawing in the composition with a water soluble pastel.  At this point it’s just the basics….structure and some colour.  What it doesn’t have at this point is any sense of atmosphere, the cold and the peace and quiet.  This will hopefully come later, created with subtle use of pastel and translucent glazes.  That is of course, if all goes to plan.  It might end up a mess ….time will tell.

The painting is a view looking up to the end of the east ridge of Ben Lui.  On the day we were here a few years ago, our aim was to climb this by way of the obvious snow filled gully.  Once we got a little higher up though we realised that the snow was in poor condition and instead we moved slightly to the right and scrabbled up a mixture of frozen turf and rock, before finally emerging at the top of this prow.  Beyond the ridge levels briefly before continuing up very steeply to the summit.  It was a great day and one I’ll never forget.  If I manage to complete this piece satisfactorily, I’ll post a decent image of it so that you can see how it moved on.

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‘Approaching Sgorr Dhearg, above Ballachulish’

Posted by admin on October 11th, 2012
253 'Approaching Sgorr Dhearg, above Ballachulish', Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 30 x 30 cm

‘Approaching Sgorr Dhearg, above Ballachulish’

‘Approaching Sgorr Dhearg, above Ballachulish’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 30 x 30 cm

This small painting has been on the go for the last two years.  The original version never really worked and I left it for about a year before working back into it.  At this point I thought I’d finished it and actually put it into a frame ….but still I wasn’t happy with it and it stayed out of sight for another year.  Last week as I was getting the studio ready for the Open Weekend at the Courtyard Studios I decided to take it out of the frame and use the frame for another painting.  It was only at this point that I suddenly thought I could work into it again ….and this time I did finish it ….finally!  I am at long last, pleased with it and it is now hanging for sale in my studio at £395.  Sometimes it takes a long time to get a painting right ….but I got there in the end ….just need to find a buyer now!

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‘Breaking cloud, Beinn Odhar’

Posted by admin on October 5th, 2012
252-breaking-cloud-beinn-odhar-acrylic-pastel-2012-30-x-30-cm

‘Breaking cloud, Beinn Odhar’

‘Breaking cloud, Beinn Odhar’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 30 x 30 cm

This is a recent small acrylic and pastel painting based on a day a few years ago when we walked Beinn Odhar ….a 900 m hill just to the north of Tyndrum in the Southern Highlands.  It is only a short walk to the top ….even I can get there and back in just over four hours, but this is not the point.  It is particularly steep and so is a good short work out ….and is one that offers great views.  Well, it does if the cloud is not down.

On the day that this painting is based on, we started off in damp grey weather and with the cloud well down on the hill. Indeed, all the way up the steep slopes to the summit we saw nothing.  However as we reached the summit we noticed that it had become lighter and although we sat there eating our lunch in mist, we did have the feeling that not too far above our heads the sun was shining.  Sadly it didn’t clear while we were at the top …a real shame as the views are extensive, but as we started to descend the first few hundred feet of steep rock strewn ground, we saw a big break appearing in the cloud.  As we watched the break led to blue sky and we had a glimpse of the hill on the other side of the glen …just sticking out of the cloud.  After a short while the cloud lifted completely and we were suddenly in bright sun with the higher mountains around clearing too.  By the time we were down to the car the sky was completely blue …what a transformation.

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‘December afternoon, Glen Etive’

Posted by admin on September 27th, 2012
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‘December afternoon, Glen Etive’

115 ‘December afternoon, Glen Etive’, Graphite pencil and white pastel, 50 x 70 cm

Well, you will have seen this drawing plenty of times, but I’m showing it again as it will be hanging in my studio for the last time at the Courtyard Studios Open Weekend on Sat 6th / Sunday 7th October 2012.

I’ve always thought that this was one of my better drawings and included it in my application for the Jolomo Award back in 2009.  It has never sold though despite being exhibited a number of times and so I’ve decided that if it’s still hanging on the wall at the end of the day on Sunday 7th October …then it’s going to become part of my private collection!  So then, last chance to see or buy this piece.  Price framed £500 …a bargain if I say it myself!  Hope some of you can get along to see not just this piece, but a selection of around 30 more recent works.

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‘The Auch Gleann and Beinn Mhanach, November’

Posted by admin on September 22nd, 2012
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‘The Auch Gleann and Beinn Mhanach, November’

‘The Auch Gleann and Beinn Mhanach, November’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2009, 80 x 110cm

Having just been to the official launch of the Jolomo Award 2013 for Scottish Landscape Painting (in Edinburgh last Thursday morning) I thought I’d use one of the paintings I included in my 2009 application for this award.

Interestingly this painting, (out of the 10 works included in the application) was the most recently completed piece.  Indeed I was still working on it while I was planning my application.  It was then, quite a big decision to include it.  As you know, I’m often quite uncertain about a works merit when I first ‘finish’ it …and it normally takes several weeks if not months for me to decide whether I like it or not!  As such, I was less confident when talking about this piece to the judges ….but I shouldn’t have worried..they seemed to like it.

If anyone reads this and is passionate about painting the Scottish landscape, then I’d urge you to apply for the next Jolomo Award …2013.   Applications have to be in by 14th January 2013 so you have plenty of time to plan.  See this week’s blog for details of how to obtain an application form.

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    Contact Details

  • Tel: 07568 380552 or 01294 216427
    E-mail: keith@keithsalmon.org