Piled Gold Clouds

 Piled Gold Clouds

Piled Gold Clouds, oil on copper, 8cm x 10 cm

I used Larkin's phrase "piled gold clouds" as inspiration to paint a small oil on copper composition of the setting sun at Brough Haven. It was a late afternoon in October and as the sun went down over the horizon its  light set the brown mud flats of the Humber aglow with its magnificent golden colours.

The Widening River's Slow Presence, oil on copper, 8cm x 10 cm

At a similar time of year I went later in the day to Welton Top. At dusk, overlooking the Humber I took in the view of the river's "widening slow presence". I later made another small painting on copper. These were experiments in the use of paint on copper. I found that translucent oil paints worked best as they allowed the natural sheen of the copper to shine through.

I also did some watercolour sketches of similar scenes:

Watercolour sketch(shellac)

Sketch, (shellac watercolour and inks)

Following my exploration with copper, I went on to try out oil on aluminium. I found that compared to the glow of the copper, the aluminium produced a "colder" effect (see below)

Autumn on the Ouse, oil on aluminium