‘Winter Blue’s’ Killiney Hill

‘Winter Blue’s Killiney Hill is a small gouache painting based on the pencil sketch I have on my blog page here. The painting is somewhat different from other paintings. There are grey and blue colours ONLY in this gouache. It was an overcast and foggy day, ideal for any challenge for an artist. It didn’t need many colours – this would be called: ‘painting harmony‘. Simplification is key, and the more I paint, the more it’s so true.

The area I was working: Killiney Hill. Co. Dublin is very familiar to many Dublin people and foreigners too!. It’s really beautiful, with panoramic and vista views that would leave our Mediterranian friends envious of us! You have to climb right up to the peak of Killiney Hill to really take advantage of this spectacular view, but so worth it.

The colours I used in this painting was only three/four: Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Cobalt Blue and Vermillion. I was able to mix these down to get specific tones to blend more to make: harmonious colours…(we mentioned above).

The perspective and composition was imperative to get correct. I wanted all the buildings and natural landscape to just feel rightly situated to the eye. It’s a perspective and scene done by many Irish artists over the years. I myself have painted this scene many times over the years. However, I always seemed to include lots of ‘overkill’ in the scene: all too defined buildings, trees and overly worked skies. This is NOT essential and feels cluttered to the viewer’s eye.