Butterflies I, Wildlife Painting

Butterflies I, oil on board

I wanted to see if I could paint butterflies in oil, and here's the result. I enjoyed doing it so much, I painted a second one. I'll pop it in my next post.

Out to Sea, Landscape Oil Paintings

Out to Sea, oil on canvas, 102 x 76 cm (40 x 30")

I painted this on a very large canvas, and had such fun doing it. I put on my favourite album - Kate Bush's The Kick Inside, and danced about with far too many paint brushes gripped in one hand while painting with the other. I had also just discovered the joys of Prussian Blue - there is a lot of it used.

The painting, a favourite of mine, hangs on the wall in my studio, and you can now but cards and prints through my shop. Visit here to find out more.

Wester Ross Lochan, Watercolour Landscape Painting

Wester Ross Lochan, watercolour and felt pen on watercolour paper

This is one of my favourite watercolours. I love the way the browns (my least favourite colour) worked and the way the felt pen spread when I wet it.

Oh, and if you're wondering how to pronounce lochan, it's that Scottish ch sound from the back of the throat, like loch - a lochan is a tiny wee loch, by the way.

Ancient Woods, Landscape Painting

Ancient Woods, chalk pastel on board

These redwoods are just north of San Francisco. I was there, at the Muir Woods National Monument,  a while back and took tonnes of photos. It really did feel as if you were back in time.

A wonderful ancient, peaceful place.

Storm, Landscape Oil Painting

Storm, oil on canvas

This is one of my largest paintings at 120cm (47") wide. I love painting that size, and bigger, but not many people have the room for something so large.

Snowshoe Hare, Wildlife Painting

Snowshoe Hare, chalk pastel on board

I painted this wee hare because, well, he was too cute not to. What more can I say?

I have prints and cards of him now as the original has sold. You can find them here.

Smokey Jura, Landscape Oil Painting

Smokey Jura, oil on canvas

This was a tiny wee painting. I started out painting murals, so working on something so small was a real challenge for me. It went well, I think, and the painting has sold.

Greetings cards of it are available through my website.

Disney Mural

I was commissioned to paint a wee boy's bedroom - he was daft about Disney. The entire room was covered with Disney characters, the traditional ones.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Winnie the Pooh were included too. Mickey's sparkles glowed at night.

Inaccessible Temple Landscape Painting

Inaccessible Temple, chalk pastel on board.

I love using chalk pastels, especially iridescent ones. I've used them all over this painting, but annoyingly, you can't see them in photos - I've tried with several. They added a shimmer to the water in silvers, and depth in bronzes to the rocks.

Sorry for letting you know what you can't see.

I still wonder how anyone gets to the temple - I saw no boats.

Kintra Beach, Islay Sunset Painting

Kintra Beach, Islay, oil on canvas

This painting, although quite small, took me a long time to do. It sat in an unfinished state for ages, drying, while I worked out what I was going to do with it.

After weeks, it came to me, and in a couple of minutes I completed it. The clouds had been too dark and where jumping out from the canvas - a few brushstrokes to calm them down, and it just worked, straight away.

I love it when a painting comes together like that.

Sketch of Trees

I found myself with a little bit of free time, waiting for someone in the car; and what else could I do but get out my sketchbook?

I love this brush pen which allows me to play with different thicknesses of stroke as I work.

Beinn Damph, Scottish Landscape Painting

Beinn Damph, mixed media on board.

I wanted to experiment with this, and combined two of my favourite materials, gouache and chalk pastel.

Goodbye Comfort Zone, Suilven Landscape Painting

Walk into Suilven, oil on canvas

I don't like brown. I really hate it. I never wear it. It's an old school uniform thing.

But while painting, I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone. So I got the brown paint out.

• Burnt Umber
• Raw Umber
• Raw Sienna
• Burnt Sienna (I quite like that one, actually)
• Yellow Ochre (it was in my school tie, so it's still hard to stomache)

I mixed in blues and pinks while I was working, just to alleviate things and even scraped away paint with the hard end of my brush. This is what I came up with.

I'm not finding brown quite as offensive as I once did.

Wild Azaleas, Landscape Painting

Wild Azaleas, chalk pastel on board

The first signs of spring after a bitter Korean winter - pink azalea flower. No leaves, just the flowers.

Winter Korean Temple Sketch, Landscape Painting

Winter Korean Temple Sketch, chalk pastel on board

When I look at paintings I have finished, they take me back to the moment I worked on them. It could be a piece of music I was listening to at the time, the struggle I had to create what I wanted, or in this case, the experiences I had in the place I was working.

The bitter, bitter Korean winter was nearly over, and at last, I was able to sit outside to draw without freezing. I headed up into the hills not far from Busan, to the tranquil setting of one of South Korea's many, many Buddhist temples. Enjoying the peace, I settled myself down, with all my materials around me and nearly keeled over with fright when morning prayers began. Far from being calming, they were being broadcast deafeningly over a crackly tanoy, its speakers attached to trees all round me. The sound was bouncing off all the hills and echoing for miles. It was loud.

I worked through it, giving up on listening to my iPod. After 45 minutes, silence descended and I began to work. The monks left me to it, except when wordlessly plying me with coffee and, bizarrely, gobstoppers. 

I loved Korea's temples, and would visit and draw them many times over, at many different times of the year.

Silverback, Gorilla, Wildlife Painting

Silverback, chalk pastel on board.

I love silverbacks. I love gorillas; so I drew one.

Bluebell Sunrise, Landscape Painting

Bluebell Sunrise, oil on canvas

One of my favourite subjects - bluebells. This painting has sold, but you can find prints and cards at http://www.tracyharrisonbutler.gallery/land_tracy_butler_bluebell_sunrise.htm.

Cherry Blossoms and Hazel Wood, Springtime in Korea, Landscape Painting

Blossoms and Hazel, chalk pastel on board

I painted this in South Korea after experiencing my first extremely cold Korean winter - everything I looked at was brown.

Just as thought I was never going to see colour again, spring arrived; there was still no greenery, but flowers erupted out of nowhere. Deep pink wild azaleas, cream magnolias yellow hazel wood and clouds of cherry blossoms lining roads and filling parks. Spring was on its way.

This painting has sold but you can buy prints and cards through Tracy Butler Art.

Butterflies II, Wildlife Painting

Butterflies II, oil on board

This is the second butterfly painting I did. You never know, I may do more.

Winter Wolf 3, Wildlife Painting

Work in progress 5

Winter Wolf, chalk pastel on board, 38 x 39.5cm

Finished, and I've included my first ever video of my work too! Winter wolf is for sale on both Etsy and Folksy.