Artist Books with video links.

 John Geekie Art Publications, 

Two books

Available from my online store

Sketchbook VIDEO can be seen here

**********************

Plein Air Painter

Available from my ONLINE STORE.

Video showing more details here

Beverley Minster, a sketching experiment.

 

Above are a couple of experiments.

I have used a permanent marker to draw directly onto canvas boards, apply an acrylic transparent ground and then colour using Windsor and Newton professional acrylic paints. I focussed on floral arrangements within Beverley Minster and enjoyed the tranquility and shelter of being inside a building with so much history. As a teacher at Beverley Grammar School I spent many hours inside this church, our school church to which we are linked. Services such as Speech Day, Carol Services and, sadly funeral services. The Minster and BGS share foundation dates of 704AD. I have been privileged to be a small part of this shared history.

For my art friends I would encourage you to try this method. Canvas boards are an affordable medium and using a permanent marker will concentrate your mind. Also, remember, that if you are worried about making mistakes that these can be rectified using the acrylic paints. I found that using the W+N Professional series of acrylics, available online from Bromley Art Supplies are opaque enough to cover the permanent marker lines. So there is nothing to worry about regarding wasting a canvas. Good luck, if you need any help, message me.

2025 art calendar, limited print number.

This will see you through the year.2025.

It contains pictures of paintings from this year, 2024.

The online shop contains a drop down menu showing details of post and packaging worldwide.

The gigantic, magnificent Minningdale Stack

Back page with George.

Sample page (A3)

Short video here

Discounted price until end of November

Available here,

 

Sprinting to capture summer straw stacks

Now then, here are some things for you to try, you could choose a topic and get out there to realise it.

I wanted to share this with you as an idea. I saw some bargain priced canvas boards and decided to buy some. Also a permanent fine marker ( Sharpie ). The intention being to go up and sketch direct onto the canvas boards using the marker. It tends to concentrate the mind somewhat. Returning home I applied some Michael Harding semi transparent ground which allowed the drawn lines to show through. Then I used some Professional Winsor and Newton acrylic paints to add colour. This method allowed me to work quickly and perhaps, with less detail. The final work has a value. though  I will still work plein air when possible. The notion of painting stacks before they disappeared is an idea sparked off by L and L respectively from Canada and Japan, both of whom I gave one to one tuition in plein air painting.

Interesting to chat with farmers about stacking and the different sizes of bale. Mostly they are 2.4m ( 8’) long though their section varies. The Etton stacks are a mixture of 4x3 and 4x4 which made the seem illogical when sketching until I realised. in a previous post I painted the huge stack at Minningdale which was comprised 4x4 bales and built using a bale chaser. One farmer I talked to said his farm could’nt warrant the expenditure of a bale chaser though the farmers each side of him each had one. He also explained that he could manage seven bales high with a tele-handler but that his barn could only house six high. 

The Huggate bales are circular, approx. At least 4 feet diameter, possibly 5 feet, will check and amend.

So the next time you see a stack of bales, stop, and really look at them. They are built when the weather is dry, so if it rains the straw cannot be baled. Consider how high, long and wide. Find out what is a Heston bale.

Wetwang to Sledmere stack

Etton stacks from the south

Etton stacks from the west.

Etton stacks from the north west.

York Road, HUGGATE. Church spire extreme left.

 

Plein Air Painter, tips and advice.

I have recently had two international students visit me whom I took out for one to one painting supervision. Their aim being to produce a painting of a landscape. They both succeeded and when they left I gave them each a copy of my book, PLEIN AIR PAINTER. This was written with the prime intention of giving instructions about making your own paint box easel known as a pochade box. I have devised a fail proof, tested method of construction and detailed assembly note in the book. However, I have had feedback about how helpful the tips and advice are as well. So, if you have your own pochade box and need to know about canvas preparation, mixing paint, checking layout etc you will find this book helpful.

Available from my online store.

 

Country walk sketches near Warter.

Here are four quick sketches from a short walk near Warter. They are all 12x 10 inch, acrylic on canvas board. My process was simply to do short, ten minute maximum sketch’s using an indelible alcohol based marker directly on to the canvases. Then, while still fresh in my mind I coated them with a transparent Michael Harding ground working them up using acrylic paint.

These are really studies regarding using a marker pen and working very quickly.

I may refer to them when making larger work at some time.

I was with FSD and George, the weather amazingly too warm for this mid-September day.  We walked along the path above Deep Dale setting off from COBDALE Cottage. On our return we saw that Deep Dale was now occupied by a shoot. In the nearby hillsides and on the tops, red flags were being waved in order to move birds, to facilitate the shoot. When I sketched out the cottage I noticed three large ex-forces, people carrying wagons had parked on the grass verge. They were to ferry the beaters back to Warter, or perhaps another shoot location.

But I digress the intention for me was to develop this method of working, to reacquaint myself with acrylics and to capture the moment with more than one canvas….which sorta worked.

Looking north from COBDALE Cottage towards High Barn and Huggate.

COBDALE Cottage with people carriers beyond.

A break in the sweetcorn crop, just off the path.

Looking down into Well Dale, with the shoot out of sight.

 

Shadow lines at Thixen Dale.

Acrylic on deep edge canvas 12x16 inch

Available from my online store

Detail

Detail

It was arranged to take FSD and an art student (from Tokyo) to the site of the gigantic haystack at Minningdale. The intention was to facilitate a plein air painting by the student ( L), it would be her first plein air painting. She also had never used water based oils or a pochade box. All these materials were provided and we anticipated setting up at the site. Approaching the venue I began to wonder if the haystack would still be there as I could not see it from the dip in the road. I pulled up and sure enough there was no sign of the gigantic stack. Disappointed I turned round and drove back towards Huggate at which point I saw a yellow tractor emerging onto the road from a field on my right. I recognised it, and the driver and we both stopped. He climbed down from his cab and we greeted each other with a handshake, then he told me that he had shifted the stack about a week previously in order to beat the forecast rain. A walk on the COBDALE path a short time later found us looking up to see him, in another field, driving a bale chaser. It was fascinating to see how the bales were picked up, rotated, turned and stacked on the trailer. I made a mental note to revisit soon and hopefully find another haystack. After a short walk I drove to Thixendale and found a sheltered spot at the dew pond near the Robert Fuller Gallery. The field on our left was full of topped potatoes ridges which created ribbons of shadows in the bright sun. This was a good alternative subject. The linearity of the shadows created foreground interest, they indicated both the type of crop and the late season. We decided to have a drink and sandwiches then I set up the pochade box for my student going through some initial issues. This was a steep learning curve as it involved how to plan the painting, mix the paints and consider the effects of a moving sun. I left the student to develop her painting and started my own a few feet away using a French easel. I kept checking her progress and would  suggest ideas regarding different aspects and avenues to go down. FSD worked on a watercolour and also supervised George as we all worked. A hunter, fine boned and alert came over causing us to stop and feed it some fresh grass. Walkers constantly emerged from the THIXEN Dale valley and as they passed we happily chatted. A man in a new, orange Morgan three wheeled sports car stopped and we had a very interesting conversation about the car. I mentioned my own open top car discovering we had a lot in common.

My student was almost finished, her painting was an excellent effort. I packed up and we all set off for home having had a wonderful afternoon.

L working up her painting

Her finished work, excellent effort.

Beverley Minster secret garden.

 September 12th 2024.

A view of an old pear tree.

This less obvious view shows a pear tree near a store for chairs. I have added a young visitor who was exploring the garden with his mum, who in turn, was with her mum. So we had a dynasty here enjoying the peace and serenity of a September garden. The pear tree was full of old pears, some very ripe proving attractive to two red admirals. I think they will be getting ready to hibernate over winter and perhaps use the delightful brick potting shed.

To be part of a series of paintings featuring the garden.

14x10 inch, oil on canvas board.

Available from my online store.

2025 Calendar, JOHN GEEKIE ART.

 

Typical layout

Hi everyone, 

Here is a glimpse of my 2025 calendar which has just arrived. It features some of my paintings from 2024 and is A3 sized. It is designed to hang from a hook with the calendar area being a useful size to add notes, birthdays and much more. I am glad to say that there has been NO increase in cost

AVAILABLE FROM MY ONLINE STORE.

SHORT VIDEO HERE

Heritage Day at a Kitchen Lane allotment, Beverley.

Today, the 8th September 2024 was Heritage Open day at the allotment. 

It rained in the morning and after taking George for his walk, and after FSD had bid adieu to an honoured visitor, we both walked down to the allotment, F with L, her canine guest. The weather had improved in the meantime meaning I could hang washing before setting off.  I carried my pochard box in a rucksack but after a busy morning I was not sur if I wanted to paint anything. However, at the allotment,  I visited my plot and decided on this view. My energy levels improved as I painted as it always does, so I carried on until this stage was reached. I stopped painting for a short break and visited F with L (dog). I was given a very welcome mug of coffee and a biscuit and we chatted about her visitor, who was now en-route for London. One of the jobs at my allotment was to recently tidy it up which resulted in the creation of a grass pile which also comprised old bits of wood, branches of raspberry canes and old bamboo. We can have fires again at the end of September so the pile will hopefully dry enough by then. Spoke to a couple who moved to Beverley from Cambridge, hope to meet again sometime.

Hollyhocks continue to flower standing tall and proud. The magnificent mallow have long passed and at the moment borage is still providing drifts of pale blue. In the vegetable main section I have sweetcorn, Turks turban squash, butternut squash, runner beans and lots of horse-radish, as well as some leeks.

The shed will survive another winter hopefully though my mind is turning towards a replacement.

Available HERE

The painting inside the pochade box.

 

Delightful dog Automata for you to make at home.

 Available here 

All three Beverley Churches, print.

Print available here
 

St. Mary’s Church print.

 Available here

Beverley Minster print

 Available here

South Dalton print

 Available from my online store HERE.

Print of Beverley Minster

 Available HERE

The Giant stack of bales at Minningdale.

 Available from my online store

Minningdale tunnel.

 

Minningdale Tunnel, oil on canvas board, 14x10 inch

Minningdale Tunnel

I was here with a Canadian visitor recently and am here again with F and L.

The enormous stack of bales fifty metres long and 10 metres tall is still standing, a seasonal monument reflecting both farming industry and expertise. Indeed it has been referred to as ‘industrial’ in scale. 

Here is a view looking back from the stack, along the road which leads to Warter, passing Minningdale Farm. The belt of trees on the right envelopes the farm complex with a protective shield. Soon it will change as autumn gives way to winter. The leaves will turn gold and rust changing the scene completely, reminding me to visit again to paint again. As I painted this view, George at my feet, I was standing on a roadside verge. Indeed my fellow artist and her dog were doing the same at the other side of the road, their subject being umbels and the huge stack. I concentrated on the painting, the road disappearing into a small bright light as it emerged from the tree tunnel. Passing close to me, at regular intervals were huge Stewart trailers ferrying harvested grain back and forth. Their tyres were enormous and I noted they had three axles which automatically made me think twenty one tons. As well as these, which were racing to take advantage of the good weather, I saw a familiar sight. Another skeletal trailer designed as a bale chaser zoomed by and I waved to the driver. We had chatted recently when I had painted the ‘stack’. Indeed he had built it and confirmed it was the longest in the area, and that the height was the maximum that could be built with the trailer.

I enjoy the brief interactions with the farmers, a nod, a smile which says so much about mutual respect. I certainly appreciate the hard job they all have at this time of harvest. We all decide to stop painting and head off home where we both work late into the failing light, on an allotment, our version of seasonal endeavour though on a somewhat smaller scale.

Available from my online store.

Video here showing two bale chasers building a stack 6 bales high by approx. 56 bales long

https://youtu.be/dMWJvxgHtmw?si=pPSlhlnqyZwwlwNM

The huge stack detail from larger painting

Bauhaus in the Yorkshire Wolds, a gigantic stack of bales.

 The Bale stack

A young student from Canada whom I had known as a child, was visiting and I remember, some time ago, we had talked about having a day out painting when he next visited. So today was a long overdue meeting. I took him for a drive into the secret Yorkshire Wolds exploring the dry valleys, looking at land art, visiting the famous Robert Fuller gallery as I explained aspects of the area such as the dew ponds project. We explored a field containing long wavy lines made from small ridges, emphasised by shadows. Top growth (haulms) had been removed leaving pallid stalks emerging from the tops of mini-ridges, these were potatoes waiting to be lifted. 

When asked what he wanted to paint he liked the notion of tall stacks of bales. This was a good choice, we could see as we drove, pale handkerchief fields confettied with bales, some round, others cuboid. We drove looking for stacks. Here and there we saw farmers hurriedly loading bales onto wagons, to be taken to yards nearby. We stopped at a field with small stacks and decided they were not quite tall enough at just 4 bales high, though as they clung to the rolling hillside they emphasised perspective and linearity. Driving towards home I knew of a stack that I had painted recently, which may still be there when suddenly we saw, in the distance, approaching Warter at Minningdale, a colossal stack. I had never seen anything like it. It was huge. It comprised large cuboid ( Heston ?) bales, each one being approximately 2.5m long and 1.2m square in section. The stack was eight bales high by at least 30 bales long, a bale wide. We quickly stopped and I set up an easel for him. He set about painting. I loved the way he mixed the paint. He was really observing. Here is his finished 14x10 inch canvas board painting. An amazingly refined work. I am impressed the range of subtle colours, the almost abstract impression. It is a lovely reminder of a day out painting, feeling the wind and hearing the sounds of nature, the smell of straw bales. This was produced using one of my portable pochade painting boxes. I have produced a book for artists which shows in detail, with paintings and prose, how to make your own. These are available from my online store.

Here is his finished 14x10 inch oil on canvas board painting. Please click image to see his wonderful use of colour

I decided to revisit and paint a larger canvas. However the wind was too strong to set up the French easel, so I worked by laying the canvas flat. People drove past behind me, on the busy road linking Warter and Huggate. The day was brighter than before which helped with defining shadows. I decided on a slightly different angle to include some dead umbels and nettles, as well as a nearby tree line. 

This painting was produced en plein air at the site. I limited my use of colour to the three primaries, specifically French Ultramarine, Lemon Yellow and Cadmium Red medium. I also used Titanium white. 

80x60cm oil on deep edge canvas stretched canvas

Available from my online store 

August harvest and fields of bales.

 Having been out recently I am always pleased to see bales sitting in fields. I can imagine two bales in conversation as the spiked tractors hunt them down. Here is a little cartoon.

August bales await a Colley near South Dalton.

 I love this typical August scene. The harvest has been collected in many areas as farmers rush to beat the weather. I saw this as I passed and decided to walk George in the field. This view with the spire of St. Mary’s at South Dalton looked interesting in a quiet way. I find that recording the farming year seems to anchor me to the seasons. I am much more aware of the challenges  farmers face with the variable weather, how it can effect sowing and germination, indeed the application of fertiliser, pesticides etcetera. In this field stubble still stands stiffly, about 20cm tall, cropped by a combine. It is brittle and George does not like to walk through it. In the foreground, pale green areas with white flower heads is camomile, stunted a little I think, probably by the application of some pesticide to the main crop. In an adjoining field I was pleased to see a handful of lapwing, a reminder of seeing flocks of hundreds when I was a child. Overhead, a pair of buzzards flew over a nearby wood. In the road behind me a huge Colley wagon passes with an empty flatbed, later returning loaded with bales from another field.

14x10 inch oil on canvas,

Available from my online store.

Bempton gannets, a large original oil painting.

Went to Bempton Cliffs recently to see the gannets.We were hoping to see a dolphin or seal but perhaps another time. I did this large canvas last September but it seamed appropriate to post it again. It is a 1.5m x 1m canvas ( approx 5’x3’).

Available here