Its scorching hot, in the middle of the day in Greece, but have found a shady spot underneath a fig tree in a secluded corner of Galaxidi. The easel is up and the painting sketched out in charcoal directly onto the 80 x 60 cm canvas, underpainted in cerulean blue oils. Semi-squishy fallen figs get stuck on my sandals, but at least I found a subject quickly and have made a start. Its my last full day in Greece so need to work fast!
Charcoal sketch for an oil painting. Light and shade creates fascinating patterns on the ground beneath an olive and a mandarin orange tree.Photo of the scene taken at the start.Easel set up in a shady spotPaints laid out neatlyThe first few brushstokes indicating the most exciting areas of light and colour. This is contrary to how I usually work, building up from one section to the next, but am too excited to see it begin to take shape.Its coming on slowly…
I love Greece, and all her people, but most of all love the old ways of life, and the old traditions. As I used to live in the north of Greece, in Thessaloniki, I read and write and speak fluent Greek, so its easy to feel Greek too!
This painting though was initially captured as a photo on my phone, as it was my last day in Samos, and was actually on my way to the airport, but had diverted on the spur of the moment, to take one last look at Manolates and to try to track down the lady I had heard wove traditional rag rugs on a handloom. I was standing outside her little shop while she package up my parcel, when I spotted this delightful old man walking up the hill, using a walking stick, so quickly positioned myself to get the ideal shot on my phone, as he approached the blue doors but without covering the view of another man casually sitting in front of that same door. Success!
It was several months later though when I finally got round to turning that initial idea into an oil painting.
Oil on canvas 41x61cm. Finished Oil painting by Ask in Μανωλάτες Samos, Greece.
It starts though by underpainting the canvas in diluted blue oil paint, then sketching out the image in charcoal.
First Ask sketches the subject in charcoal on a blue underpainted canvasOil painting in the making by Elaine Ask, in Manolates – Μανωλάτες – Samos, Greece. 2020
Then gradually adding the main features of the people in the painting
Oil on Canvas by Ask, as the oil painting nears completion
Its for sale at £850, though I now prefer to keep all my work!
Its mid October on the Greek island of Samos. From the terrace above my little Airbnb house in Palaio Karlovasi, the views are perfect in every direction for painting.
The mountains opposite have a dreamy layer of mist floating below the peaks. Below that olive trees grow in red earth, and to the right a whole forest flourishes. Its the next level below that, that really catches my eye. A glowing white, red roofed house has three black short-sleeved shirts paraded like flags below the balcony. A large church building, Aghios Isidoros, hides the rest of the foreground from view. I make the church of lesser importance, and bring the house with the washing line much closer, as that is really my main subject.
Today the sky is flecked with clouds looking like horizontal brushstrokes, so that is where I start after sketching out the main outlines.
The Greek “γιαγια’ is getting out her crocheting so I can continue the painting I started the day before.The painting is progressing.Finally its finished! Oi on canvass 700x500mm Manolates, Samos Κ. Μαρια, 87 Χρωνον
“Garden in Nottingham” Oil on Canvass 410 x 410 mm May 2011
This garden is in Washdyke Lane, Hucknall, Nottingham. The owner, who sadly has since passed away, was holding an artists’ get together . We were encouraged to be productive so I brought along my oil paints, and this smallish square canvass and set up my easel in his garden. Fortunately it didn’t rain and it was warm enough to be comfortable standing outside all afternoon. I was forced to think carefully about what to leave out in order to make this painting work , using only his garden as the subject. The bench, the garage and a few flowers were enough to create what you see here.
Little Greek Fishing Boat in Samos – by Elaine Ask 2019 300 x 400 mm Oil on Canvass Little Greek Fishing Boat in Samos – by Elaine Ask 2019 300 x 400 mm Oil on Canvass Ψαροκάϊκο στη Σάμο
Sometimes the canvass you have to work with, doesn’t quite match the proportions of what you wish to include in it. See a photo below of the actual scene.
Photo of the same scene taken before starting on the painting above. Here you see that the boat is more elongated than eventually depicted in the oil painting, and of course my favourite ultramarine blue predominates moving away from an accurate colour rendition of the sea.
Saskia aged 3 eating her supper at Hare Park Lane where we lived in the 1980s
This style of drawing is one of my favourite where the lively pencil sketch from life is the main element of the composition , then overlaid with a light watercolour wash to allow the structure to still be viewed while also adding a dimension of colour.
This is a homely domestic scene. The teenager has an almost vacant, look, as she sits watching TV, and certainly doesn’t appear to be that happy. You can’t see what she is thinking, as she is wrapped up in her own little world. Its evening time, and in the top left hand corner of the painting, adjacent to a small plant, the little lamp on top of the wooden desk casts reflected colours onto the desk itself and the wall to the right, on which a painting of a child playing the violin hangs. The armchair on which she sits has a yellow cellular blanket draped over it, while the second armchair next to her is adorned with colourful cushions. On the far left is a patterned carpet/rug.
So many colours and patterns, yet somehow they all hang together!
Greek Villagers Sorting Out Their Crop of Beans Oil on Canvass 1984 610 x 457 mm
Another painting from life , created ten years earlier than the one shown above, depicts Greek villagers going about their business in the summer of 1984
Saskia at the Italian Water pump. 600 x 800 mm (830 x 1030 mm framed)
This is an older oil painting and it continues to be one of my favourites. It depicts my then 5 year old daughter eating black grapes that a kind Italian gentleman has just helped her wash under the tap at this Italian water pump in the street. Its the end of our long summer holiday in the North of Greece , so we are hitch-hiking home via Italy.
Saskia always loved to imitate her brother, wearing his outgrown underpants , aged 5 : of course she doesn’t do that anymore nowadays!
A photo is a moment in time, the shutter clicked to capture a subject that excites visually or emotionally, or it can simply be a notebook to record facts and ideas. Just as in photography, the choice of a subject for a painting can be made in a flash, or it can require slowly made decisions to choose that moment when the lighting is right and it all comes together. Before starting this painting, I walked all round the area, taking photos of potential subjects, then painted it on the spot, spread over two evenings, not finishing till almost nightfall. Below are some of the photos I took before choosing the painting that would emerge. The first three photos show what I did not choose to paint – but did consider – as they didn’t suit the size and proportions of my canvass, and it the case of the first photo, would work much better in graphic media, rather than oils.
The painting that ensued. As you can see I had to compress the elements on the horizontal axis in order to include the sections that interested me compositionally. “The Wall ” 700x 500 mm 2019 -Aegina.