BEN MCLEOD - RECENT WORK

View from Arnside Knott
Oil on Canvas (400 x 400mm)
Framed


View from a Silverdale Cove (Towards far Arnside)
Oil on Canvas (400 x 400mm)
Framed


From Helvellyn on a Windy Day (Thirlmere, Great How and Skiddaw fells)
Oil on Canvas (400 x 400mm)
Framed WORK IN PROGRESS


Climbing Helvellyn (Browncove Crags Path)
Oil on Canvas (255 x 355mm)
Framed


Silverdale Coast
Oil on Canvas (230 x 305mm)
Framed


Silverdale Coast (Waters Edge)
Oil on Canvas (280 x 330mm)
Framed



Above are some recent paintings - the paint is applied liberally creating a response to the formal qualities of the image. My desire is to express a sense of place, an expression in paint that is as important a subject matter as the the landscape represented.

MIXED MEDIA ON PAPER

Bright Sky over Milnthorpe Sands
Mixed Media on Paper (420 x 290mm)

detail from 'Bright Sky over Milnthorpe Sands'

Rain and Sun over Milnthorpe Sands

Mixed Media on Paper (420 x 290mm)

Estuary Sea and Sky over Fields

Mixed Media on Paper (760 x 500mm)



Experiments on paper with various layers of different media have resulted with some examples shown here. The tendancy for abstraction is much more obvious, and this opens up some interesting avenues for further study and practice.

ACRYLIC/ WATERCOLOUR ON PAPER

Arnside Pier
Acrylic/ Watercolour on Paper
250 x 180mm



Morning Mist from Farlton Knott
Acrylic/ Watercolour on Paper
250 x 180mm

Most of these paintings where done in situ. Working in acrylic/ watercolour is a new development, but they lend themselves to painting 'en plain air', as they can be applied in thin washes and dry quickly, which is easily transported. They are studies that lead to further paintings in oil. Painting like this, making sketches and studies are a way of familiarising with the place and subject.

The above painting was done at the top of Farlton Knott (between kendal and Kirkby Lonsdale) after getting up at 5.30am and climbing up with my son. It was completely overcast and I had a dissapointed 11 year old until we got higher up and broke through the clouds into a glorious day! The whole of Lakeland was covered in cloud with the odd tip of a mountain pearing through. By 7.30am it had all cleared.

Across to Silverdale from Grange I
Acrylic/ Watercolour on Paper

250 x 180mm

Across to Silverdale from Grange II
Acrylic/ Watercolour on Paper

250 x 180mm

Across to Arnside from Grange
Acrylic/ Watercolour on Paper

250 x 180mm


These 3 paintings above are further experiments. These paintings were done on the spot while selling work on the Prom at Grange.

COWS

Blue Cow I
Oil on Canvas (510 x 760mm)



Blue Cow II
Oil on Canvas (510 x 760mm)

Detail from Blue Cow I and II. The paint is built in layers - with the first layers being thin washes of colour. Some of the final brushes and strokes are broad movements with wet on wet thick oil paint.

A prominant feature of the Cumbrian landscape - recent walks and studies have resulted in some new paintings - a direction that could lead into a whole new series.

SMALL 'WEATHER' PAINTINGS

Near Arnside Tower
Oil on Canvas (180 x 125mm)
Framed


Wind and Fields in Milnthorpe
Oil on Canvas (180 x 125mm)
Framed


Summer Day Across the Estuary
Oil on Canvas (180 x 125mm)
Framed


Summer Day Across the Sands
Oil on Canvas (180 x 125mm)
Framed

SOLD

MILNTHORPE SANDS AND SANDSIDE PAINTINGS

Changing Weather across the Estuary
Oil on Canvas (approx 350 x 250mm)
Framed

Detail from 'Changing Weather across the Estuary' with the paint making up the sky built up in various layers.

Detail from 'Changing Weather across the Estuary' showing the sweeping brushstrokes that make up the sand of the estuary when the sea has gone out. Such a vast expanse of sand can reveal many different shades and layers of colour as the light is reflected.

Sandside
Oil on Canvas (approx 350 x 250mm)
Framed

Detail from 'Sandside'.

Detail from 'Sandside' showing the fleshlike colour of the sand.

MEDIUM/ LARGE KENT ESTUARY PAINTINGS

The Shore at Silverdale I
Oil on Canvas (400 x 400mm)
Framed



Detail of 'The Shore at Silverdale I' showing area where sea meets sky with distant view of land coming through achieved by layering wet on dry.



Detail of 'The Shore at Silverdale I' on the grassland area of the foreground. Texture is built into the work by painting wet on wet and 'scratching' into the paint with the back end of the brush. Such a process is instinctive and may be built up with various layers.



The Shore at Silverdale II
Oil on Canvas (400 x 400mm)
Framed

Detail from 'The Shore at Silverdale II' showing the texture of the impasto paint.



Towards the Viaduct (Arnside)
Oil on Canvas (400 x 400mm)
Framed