Roy Connelly

In September I will be teaching a plein air oil painting workshop at Assington Mill in Suffolk.  Based at a 17th century watermill in 70 acres of private nature reserve, it would be hard to find a more perfect location to hone your outdoor oil painting skills.

We will cover the follow topics.

• Equipment
• Materials
• Setting up outside
• Working methods and techniques
• Short cuts
• Finishing paintings on location
• Getting your wet oil paintings home again

All with the added bonus of home-made lunch, biscuits and cakes throughout the day.

For those already familiar with outdoor painting this is a great opportunity to paint at this fabulous location. We will have the freedom of this 70-acre private nature reserve with stunning views.

View the pdf brochure for Craft of The Landscape Painter.

For online bookings and information  please visit AssingtonMill.com.

For information and telephone bookings contact Anne Holden on:
Tel: 01787 229955
Mobile: 07770 550570
Email: info@assingtonmill.com

I painted this last winter.  I have posted it today because it features in an article I wrote on plein air painting in winter that has just been published in The Artist magazine.

Its quite big for a plein air painting, 20 x 36 inches on stretched linen, and it was painted in a single rather cold session.

Above: A very early stage in the painting.  I have very roughly blocked in the main areas of the composition.

Below: My Plein-air painter’s guide to winter article in The Artist magazine.

The painting above is for sale at £2,000. Contact me for more details.

Saturday Morning in Hammersmith.
8×10 inches, oil on board.

The warm summer mornings seem to draw everyone down to the river. This view towards Hammersmith Bridge and The Rutland Arms was painted from Furnival Gardens. One of the challenges of painting on location is capturing moving figures. Fortunately, fine days on the embankments of the River Thames provide the artist with a countless stream of figures to paint.

Rye Harbour, oil on board, 8×10 inches.

Rye Harbour – Summer Afternoon, oil on board, 6 x 10 inches

painters at work

A five minute sketch in oil on board. 6×8 inches

At the weekend Karl Terry invited a group of friends to join him for a day’s painting. He arranged access to a private stretch of the river at Rye in East Sussex then, in the evening, showed off his skills at the barbeque.

The 5 minute sketch above was the result of a challenge.  We all went over the time limit – this one took me about 10 minutes.

Thanks Karl

Above: Ken Howard, Peter Brown, Roy Connelly – click to view

This is a recent interview with Ken Howard RA in which he talks about the difficulties encountered when painting on the streets of London.  The problem is not one of perspective,  capturing the light or changing weather but of being moved on under the spurious excuse of ‘health and safety’.

I was pleased to get a mention in the article, along with Pete the Street – Peter Brown NEAC.

The Health and Safety Executive saw fit to respond with a letter defending common sense:

“Real health and safety is about dealing with risks that are likely to cause serious harm or even death to those in workplaces. I would urge you to challenge those jobsworths who persist in devaluing the real and important stuff by using “elf ‘n’ safety” as an easy excuse for spoiling everyone else’s enjoyment.”

You can read their letter in full here on the HSE website.

Finally, in a humourous response to the original story in the Telegraph, The Guardian newspaper found 10 ‘serious menaces’ in Trafalgar Square that were apparently missed by the wardens.

Painting in The Mall a day before the Royal Wedding, London is looking great with so many flags flying and the sun shining. Some people were camping out to get a view on the big day.

A message of congratulations on the window at W H Patterson in Mayfair.
(far left is my 20x16in Regent Street painting, on the right is a very nice view of the palace by Peter van Breda)

Regent Street flags, 10x12in.  The smaller of two views I painted while standing on a traffic island in the middle of the road.

I had been painting the Union Flags and noticed this red white and blue pattern had appeared in my dipper – almost a French tricolour.

Spring in Oxford, oil on linen, 20 x 24 inches (50 x 60cm)

Above: the painting nearing completion.  As usual, this picture was painted entirely on location.  There was a gap of two weeks between beginning the painting and going back to finish it. You will notice that when I started (photo below) the trees were bright pink with blossom. When I returned for the second session they had turned green, fortunately I had got far enough with the trees to have got away with it!

Ken Howard has been in the news this week.  He has been moved on twice recently while painting the streets of London. Details in The Telegraph.

Ken Howard painting in Richmond

I also paint in the streets of London. In my experience most people are very happy to see artists at work.  It seems to be private security, under the direction of CCTV controllers, that try to move you.

I usually try to stand my ground.  After a polite chat they will often relent and I can carry on with my work.

The South Bank however is a wonderful place to paint. I have found the management and security guards of The Southbank Centre have a friendly attitude to artists.  The buskers, artists, skate boarders and the Golden Carousel all add to the wonderful atmosphere and nothing beats a walk along the river on a sunny afternoon or evening.

Above: The Golden Carousel on the South Bank by Roy Connelly.
Oil on board, 10×20 inches. Private Collection.

One advantage of working outside throughout the year is being aware of the changing seasons.  It definitely feels as if spring is here at last.

I thought I would share a few of the photos I have taken while out painting over the last few days.

Clockwise from top left: The Chess Valley, Richmond Bridge, A friendly heron at Richmond, a tiny bee that settle on my painting kit.