Steve the Green Man Paintings

24/07/2026

20/07/2026

'Claire'. My 2nd attempt at doing a portrait.
Oil on canvas. No. 116
40cmX50cms.

07/07/2026

This smallish one, is the last of my Brimham Rocks paintings (for the moment at least). I started this about 3 weeks ago a a practice piece for my wildcard stint there, but didn't finish it, and it has languished since these last few days.
Shading, detailing, and highlighting of the rocks was far easier once the base coats are dry(ish), as there is no mud-mixing.
This formation was out on the moor to the north of where 90% of people go.
Oil on canvas.

02/07/2026

Despite saying it was finished, I had to scratch an itch and make some tiny tweaks; mostly trying to tone down the blue-green of the grass and brighten it at the same time, with some yellow blades, and tone it down again with some light beige blades for the dry flower heads.
I'm much happier now.
Brimham Rocks 'Landscape Artist of the Year, wildcard. Oil on canvas.

01/07/2026

Finished it, but need to photograph it in better light.

26/06/2026

Yesterday was my day as a wildcard painter for the TV programme 'Landscape Artist of the Year' at Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire.
There must of been about 50 or so of us 'wildcards'.
I had some good chats with fellow wildcards and their friends, and I got lots of attention from passing visitors, etc..
Once I got started a lot of fellow wildcards and visitors much admired my painting work, even when it was far from finished. In fact, I never finished it. I had hoped that the oil paint would dry a bit before I could get on with adding high/low lights, leaves, etc., but it didn't, despite the c.30C temperatures and mostly gentle breeze (got gusty later). So in the end I just did the best I could and I will finish it later.
I was also interviewed by actor/presenter Stephen Mangan.
And I should say that the production crew were all very welcoming, helpful and interested in our work.

14/06/2026

2 more but smaller practice pieces on the same theme as before at Brimham Rocks. You can see that each time you do the 'same' painting, they are never 'the same'. For good or bad. LOL!

05/06/2026

So! As many things are ending and changing in my life, and I prepare for a major new chapter, I have turned my mind towards my appearance (or not?) as a 'Landscape Artist of the Year' wildcard (painting in the background?) later this month. So last week I did a recci trip to Brimham Rocks and have been working on and off on my first painting of part of them over the last few days as a practice run (and I learnt a lot that I will probably forget! LOL!).
Working in oils, and outdoors (hopefully with reasonable weather), will mean I will have to apply careful timing to get the balance between getting the painting done and allowing parts to dry a bit before doing more work on it.
I intend to do some more studies on this subject over the next few days.

22/04/2026

I failed to get accepted for 'Landscape Artist of the Year' (No big surprise there then), but I still have a chance of appearing on their 'WILDCARDS' day, which I will apply for.