Tag: artist

Samos – Oil Painting by Ask: Misty mountains, sunlit house, and three short-sleeved black shirts.

Posted on by Ask in Oil paintings by Elaine Ask

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.

View as the camera sees it, later in the day.

The painting in situe on my easel

Now you see the view through my eyes!

Oil painting by Elaine Ask in Nottingham

Posted on by Ask in Oil paintings by Elaine Ask
"Garden in Nottingham" Oil on Canvass 410 x 410 mm May 2011 by Elaine Ask
“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 Fishing Boat in Samos

Posted on by Ask in Oil paintings by Elaine Ask
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
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.

Pencil and Watercolour Drawing of Saskia Aged 3

Posted on by Ask in Drawings by Elaine Ask
Pencil and Watercolour Drawing of Saskia aged 3, by Elaine Ask 1982 owned by Saskia Kouyioumtzi 300 x 200 mm
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.

Oil Painting Every-Day Life Scenes

Posted on by Ask in Oil paintings by Elaine Ask
In this oil painting by Elaine Ask, Saskia sits in an armchair, staring at the TV, though you don't see the TV.
“Saskia Aged 15”
Framed Oil on Canvass
1994

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 in Sarti, Halkidiki. An oil painting by Elaine Ask oil on Canvass 1984
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

Oil Painting of child eating grapes

Posted on by Ask in Oil paintings by Elaine Ask
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!