Colours of Summer
These summer colours are bogland shades, quite different from the agricultural greens of cultivated land. At this time of year I need a break from the aforementioned colour so I exchange lush grass for the heathers of ‘marginal’ land. The reds, oranges and purples make a nice change.
I read recently the EU are considering a ban on Cadmium paints because of the dangers to the environment. Apparently when we wash our brushes, the Cadmium gets into the waste water and then into the sewerage processing plants. The waste is then spread on agricultural land, ending up in the food chain. Will the ban come to pass? Possibly.
This is not the reason I’m using Winsor Lemon yellow at the moment. I just wanted a yellow with less red than Cadmium, more of a pure yellow. The Winsor colours were developed by Winsor and Newton as pure colour like the rainbow colours. Its a nice clean yellow but gets a bit ‘muddy’ in mixes. So good colour, bad mixer is how I would rate it.
The painting has only 4 colours, Winsor Lemon Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber and Cobalt Blue plus black and white. There is no medium used, only White Spirits.
The sky here is one of those ‘patterned’ varieties I’m seeing a lot lately. The difficulty with these cloud formations is the perspective as the clouds stretch away to the horizon. As you will see in the video I painted a ‘grid’ in blue where the rules of perspective are easy to apply. On this grid the clouds are roughly placed. Its a great help when you are trying to get apparent random shapes on the one hand and follow a strict perspective layout on the other.
Here’s the video. See you soon.
PictureS 
I enjoy watching your process. This is a beautiful painting and I agree it’s nice to break away from the lush greens of Spring and Summer.
Thank you Mary.
Masterful as ever Liam…Nosey. me..are you exhibiting and selling? Making a living from your painting? Teaching other than on-line? Hope you answer ‘Yes’ to all…your work should out there in the world…Interesting information about Cadmium paints, do you think this will spread to North America? What will replace do you think?
Thank you John. Actually John, its ‘no’ to all. Its a long story, how I got to where I am today. When I was in school, art was not a ‘respectable’ profession for a young man, so I went on to study Science in college and worked in industry for 20 years. So I’m self taught. While at school, and later when I was in my ‘respectable’ job I was selling in a gallery and doing quite well. As a part-time artist this was OK – no pressure to sell. 30 years ago I considered the life of a professional artist. It was not a practical way for me to go, both from a commercial point of view but also the way commerce takes over the art in spite of what we think is happening. In 1984 I got interested in what was happening in graphic art when Apple launched the Mackintosh. A few years later I abandoned Science and started a Graphic Art and Printing business. This is still my ‘day job’ and as the business grows it takes up a lot of my time. Seeing what can be done with technology and the lack of ‘integrity’ in current artistic images drives me to try and work with the simplest materials in a method which is completely transparent. A half a dozen tubes of paint, 2 brushes and some white spirits is the way I like it. How I learned to paint so fast is another story. At present I have hundreds of paintings in my shed and am thinking of maybe a huge exhibition at some point in the future, maybe. I hope that gives you a little insight and thanks for being nosey.
Regarding the Cadmium, I don’t know. Banning it for industrial use, because of the volumes, makes sense. But for artists – it’s like the usual over-reaction of the EU.
Thank you so much Liam for your generous and fascinating response to my questions. I admire how brilliantly you taught yourself to paint and also how you work in two seemingly different creative worlds with such integrity. I also now understand how the clarity of your teachings is possibly due to your science background, but not necessarily so of course. The image of your shed filled with hundreds of paintings borders on the surreal…hope you have fire insurance! I’d say a future exhibition is a must. Your art is too wonderful to keep locked away at the bottom of the garden. I know you share it with many of your blog and we all appreciate every one. However, viewing on a computer screen cannot compare to viewing paintings in a gallery, in the flesh, so to speak. I only wish I could be there on opening night. You are a superb artist Liam and the world is waiting to see your work. Thank you again. Cheers…John