There is something intensely regal about this in my own mind.
But I’m not making any references to Kings and Queens on this occasion.
Good job really as it was conceived during a winter pheasant shoot in the Scottish Highlands!
I can’t recall having painted in these burgundy, silver and grey before but now that I have I’m definitely going to do it again.
That’s one of the great things about trying new ideas; for all the things that don’t go so well you get one that does. In this case it is the colour combinations I am particularly pleased with.
Having assembled these on a test piece first I was able to formulate a better idea of what direction to take the painting in. And in this instance I wanted to blend two gradient palettes together.
I think much of that initial decision was down to the shape and dimensions that the finished painting would be. I like these long shapes as it forces me to think slightly differently about how to spread my applications from one end to the other without it becoming tedious, repetitive or monotone.
Avoiding this means thinking about what shapes and tonal blends will work with each other then how to translate that into structure and order. The result is a very striking, confident painting that oozes a quiet opulence.
The reasons for this lie in the burgundy blends and the addition of metallic gold. Never too much to overwhelm but just enough to put across the response I was looking for.
In fact much of the inspiration for this work came from a pheasant shoot the day after Boxing Day. I spent Christmas with friends in Scotland and was invited to be a ‘beater’ on the day.
All very interesting, great exercise and the scenery was breathtaking, but the real highlight was having lunch back at Lord McCreith’s castle. A fabulous building full of crests, regality and centuries of history.
Surrounded by rich textures, royal colours and the smells of logs, broth and salmon. That and the combination of a cold frosty day and you can begin to see how I chose the colours and the name for this painting.
I like to wrap up experiences into my work. I believe it adds worth to the paintings that help translate their reasons for existence into tangible reactions. I like to tell the stories behind my art, I think it helps you to get a better understanding of them.
Anyway, this is my Christmas-pheasant-shoot-castle-experience painting. I doubt that will ever happen again.
