It's brushes down and the latest commission painting is finished! Some of the greens have been subdued and the trees and fields in the background lightened. I feel that I have captured the essence of the vineyard without too much fiddly detail.

Vintner's Secret
Oil on stretched linen
61cm x 91cm

Landscapes paintings contain a lot of green - and they are a real challenge! Getting close now. Need to lighten the back area a little and make it the whole painting "less green". Have to be careful with the detail in the last stage of the painting, I don't want to end up with too much detail and lose the feel of the place I am striving for. 

Here is the next stage of my commission painting. I have strengthened the colours and defined the detail a little. As this is a memory of a particular place for someone, I am a little more literal than I may normally be in my landscape paintings. Trying to strike a balance between an impression and the actual place - this is the tricky bit for me! More to come ....  

Well, this is my first post (welcome to the 21st century Peter Smith!) I thought I would begin with a commission painting just started to try and get the "wordy" juices flowing. The client wanted a memory of the place rather than a precise rendering of the scene, which suites my style, as my landscapes tend to be impressionistic. Light and colour are the things I look for.
I usually start my paintings with a very, very basic drawing of the scene with a brush and then "ghost in" a washy drawing approximating the colours (see below). 
Will post more as the painting develops. I do hope there is someone out there, as this is a bit like talking aloud to yourself - and I need a little lie-down!