April at St. Michael & all Angels' Church, Abbeyleix

This is a painting of the beautiful St. Michael's Church, Abbeyleix. On the painting side of things, I had nothing more than changeable light conditions typical of April to cope with. However, the large canvas panel and the windy weather made the process of painting far more difficult than normal. I had to hold on to my pochade box & tripod to prevent the whole lot from blowing over. As it was, even with a counterweight hanging from the tripod, my painting box & panel went flying once or twice (thankfully no great damage done). I really must strip back the contents of my pochade box as it tends to make the tripod top heavy. A smaller painting panel would also help.

St. Michael & All Angels' Church, Abbeyleix - oil on Canvas panel (20" x 24")

All set up

The down train - Portlaoise Rail Station 16th March 2018

The idea for this finished painting came from a series of watercolour doodles in my sketchbook of Portlaoise railway station. These quick visual notes were made while idly passing time while my car was being serviced. The painting is a combination of studio & a couple of plein air sessions.

The down train - Portlaoise rail station - Oil on canvas panel (20" x 24")

Plein air adding the finishing touches in mediocre light

Sketchbook study

Another study this time inside the station

A couple of plein air sketches - Youghal, Cork

Here are a couple of sketches painted on a recent mini break to Youghal.

Youghal lighthouse - acrylic on canvas panel (14" x 18")

First light - view towards Youghal from Red barn beach - acrylic on canvas panel (10" x 14")

Portrait sketch of Ann

Ann - oil on panel (35cm x 45cm)