Developing paintings in the garden 2

This is the second sitting with this garden subject which is a corner of the kitchen flower bed. Ive moved a couple of pots around and created some extra interest with some old setts. Today Im working with oil on board on a pochade that measures 30cmx30cm. The first sitting concerned making a water colour sketch in my garden sketch book  today the weather is fairly similar and the time of day is about the same. This means that I'm going to get I hope a good chance of completion. painting similar shadows and highlights. I'm never sure whether or not they should be called studies, I suppose I a painting them as a forerunner to some larger more abstract works at a later date when the studio is ready at the front of the house. But study seems to demean the creative process involved. I am not unfortunately for me a conveyor belt painter, by that I mean I don't paint the same old colour range, same subject, draw the outline the same way, paint dark tones then mid then light. I'm the worst of the indecisives, a change of light  can set me off in a completely different direction sometimes. My answer to that is to have a number of works on the go at once which saves a lot of navel gazing and muttering on my part as well as a lot of repainting and scraping off.  

I've started on a prepared board board that I painted with three layers of emulsion and a final glaze of thin acrylic scarlet red. I like the way the rough brush marks and patterns of tone can assist my eye to go more creative. I've made a start at an underdrawing using prussian blue and burnt umber. Outdoors I tend to use liquin or neoglit to speed up the drying time..so I give the drawing about half an hour to dry a little.

My second foray is to block in some areas the background and the lighter grey foreground. I love Whistlers garden paintings and Sorellas and the way they paint the backdrops to flowers or ornamental features. It is so loose, my problem here is that I want to see how that works but Im working on a much much smaller canvas. I don't want to get to small with my brush size. If I did I will only start fiddling with detail. One brush stroke of mine covers a lot of the board. I'm trying to remember that. I love the way Cezanne worked in small marks and sinuous line but again Cezanne took an inordinate amount of time they say sometimes over many weeks on one canvas returning to it when the light was favourable and the paint drier. In the UK and the north Uk the weather is cooler and the seasons change quickly.

I've worked across some mid tones here especially on the plant pots and the greys on the ground. Ive dug out of my paint box a whole shed load of greens and Im having some fun mixing up different hes with different blues and greens. Because of the flat square brush that I'm using the painting is starting to get a little regular in the mark making but it will come good. I still don't really know, the lights changed a lot, where Im going to end up. I wanted contrast in shadows and light but as I work Im starting to reflect what I see.

Here a shot of the palette and tins of medium. I used to do a lot of colour chasing but Im over that now. Frustratingly I ca be a little lazy at times and say to myself that colour will do or I don't clean the brushes as much as I should. I think its because Im sat down squeezed between two flower beds and the bees and wasps have arrived in force. I do prefer standing up I find Im more organised that way.

Here's a shot of the easel and my box of art materials along with my uncomfortable small stool. You ca see that the day is becoming overcast and I'm having to guess a little as the lack of light is starting to flatten out shapes and fudge colour.

The palette and my red clogs, they cheer me up but my partner hates them but nobody ever wears them but me. 

Here's a shot down the board looking at how I've laid the paint on I have a love hate relationship with lumps I can make many marks and then find myself later scrapping off with the palette knife.

I think that this is about it for this sitting the digitalis looks fine to me Hopefully I will be back and complete tomorrow the forecast isn't good.