View Across Dublin Bay, ©John O’Grady 2014
Oil on deep edged beech Panel, 15 cm x 30 cm x 3.7 cm deep
(approx. 6″ x 12″, no need to frame and ready to hang)
SOLD
Looking across the bay of Dublin, the hill of Howth stands like an immovable sentinel watching the ferries move in and out of the port while the tides ebb and flow echoed by the clouds drifting by in an endless procession.
This painting came into being because of its long horizontal format, an unusual size for me as I tend to work on a square.
It’s panoramic and lends itself to capturing a wide vista and clouds’ movement.
When I started working, I lay in an oil wash of bands of colour that I let bleed into each other by moving the paint around and working intuitively with it. I then left it for the night to dry.
When I returned to my studio the following day, the colour arrangement reminded me of standing on the beach at Sandymount looking across the bay to Howth Head and seeing a white ferry leaving the port.
The end result is a piece with muted colours that suggest a solitary atmosphere. The horizontal bands at the bottom have a static quality that balance with the charged clouds that add drama.
I would love to hear what your feelings are about this format and the resulting painting.
This looks … expansive. It made me take a deep breath. I think the aspect ratio works beautifully for a piece like this, in which the bright horizon is the subject (in a sense), with the clouds floating above and the light creating warm and cool planes of color in the foreground. It leads my eye to sweep back and forth across that line of white in the distance and the bands of color describing the beach and the bay. The image is anchored beautifully by the hill of Howth and the other bright spot of land to the right of it. Those elements are crucial in pulling me right into the painting and giving it depth and dimension and a slightly mysterious quality.
I love hearing about how your intuitive work with color washes and underpainting evokes such vivid memories and inspires these beautiful pieces.
Hello Josephine, yes I think the ratio works with the horizon type subject. It was enjoyable to work on. Using an oil washes makes the painting soft and muted and not clearly defined which I think works well with memory pieces and maybe that mysterious quality. It also really help to keep the work process open and fluid. Yes I wanted Howth to be the “anchor” and fade a little in parts As always thank you for your thoughtful insights and getting what I do.
Hi John, the light is great on the sand in this painting and I think that the format works well for landscapes – maybe especially for seascapes – although I was up near the Sally Gap at the weekend and I think that it would work equally well for bog landscapes too.
Thanks Eoin,
I am stilling working around this new format but I was thinking the same thing about a bog panoramic painting. I hope your own work is going well.