Mike McCarthy 5/1/19 Mike McCarthy 5/1/19

A different take on a River Scene - 'Golden Stream' 5x10' Tonalist oil painting

Hello, and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with your painter in residence M Francis McCarthy.

Golden Stream by M Francis McCarthy - 5x10 Oil on Wood Panel

This scene and motif is really close to my heart. It features a river not far from where I live. I've painted the scene both large and small but here I wanted to try a panoramic proportion and also tone the entire scene with a rich golden light. Check it out in my store.

Golden Stream by M Francis McCarthy - 5x10 Oil on Wood Panel (Detail)

Golden Stream by M Francis McCarthy - 5x10 Oil on Wood Panel (Detail 2)

Cheers, M Francis McCarthy

Mike McCarthy 4/28/19 Mike McCarthy 4/28/19

Past Master Series: # 27 George Inness Sunset in the Woods 7x10 by M Francis McCarthy

Hello and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with your painter in residence M Francis McCarthy.

Study after: George Inness Sunset in the Woods by M Francis McCarthy -7x10 Oil on Wood Panel

This is a study painted after the work of an amazing 19th century painter George Inness. I was attracted to the glowing tree in his original and wanted to capture that feeling of twilight in a forest in my own study.

Doing studies after the great Masters of Tonalism is a major part of my practice as a painter. I spend just as much time, care and consideration on these studies as I do in the creation of my own original paintings. I am very happy to do this work to help promote Tonalism to a modern audience.

While this painting is small, it benefits from close examination of the brushwork and exudes a luminous quality that is irresistible. Note that there is a enhanced surface texture to this painting and I have provided zoomed in views of this work on my blog and also in my store.

My studies after the past Masters are some of the most popular blog posts on my website and also on my YouTube channel. For this reason I am now making them available for purchase in my store. Shipping is included in the price.

Study after: George Inness Sunset in the Woods by M Francis McCarthy -7x10 (Detail)

Study after: George Inness Sunset in the Woods by M Francis McCarthy -7x10 (Detail 2)

Cheers, M Francis McCarthy

George Inness Sunset in the Woods (Original)

Mike McCarthy 4/25/19 Mike McCarthy 4/25/19

Autumn Afternoon 5x7 Tonalist Landscape Oil Painting

Hello and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with your painter in residence M Francis McCarthy.

Autumn Afternoon by M Francis McCarthy - 5x7 Oil on Wood Panel

A failed painting saved with glazing!

I originally painted this scene back in May 2017. It is based on a reference photo that I took while on a trip, driving through the English countryside. While the original painting had some charm to it, it also had quite a few issues that I was unhappy about.

In October 2018 I decided to get this painting up on the easel again and have another crack at it. I opted to give it a overall golden quality and as the revision process continued I made several other dramatic changes that cumulatively improved this painting quite a lot.

Two see the progression that this scene went through, check out the video below.

Autumn Afternoon by M Francis McCarthy - 5x7 (Detail)

Autumn Afternoon by M Francis McCarthy - 5x7 (Detail 2)

Cheers, M Francis McCarthy

Mike McCarthy 4/23/19 Mike McCarthy 4/23/19

Golden Hour 10x14 Tonalist Landscape Oil Painting

Hello and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with your painter in residence M Francis McCarthy.

Golden Hour by M Francis McCarthy - 10x14 Oil on Wood Panel

Golden Hour by M Francis McCarthy - 10x14 (Detail)

Golden Hour by M Francis McCarthy - 10x14 (Detail 2)

Cheers, M Francis McCarthy

Mike McCarthy 4/20/19 Mike McCarthy 4/20/19

Past Master Series: #20 Camille Corot Lisere de Bois 7x10 by M Francis McCarthy

Hello and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with your painter in residence M Francis McCarthy.

Study after: Camille Corot Lisere de Bois by M Francis McCarthy - 7x10 Oil on Wood Panel

Study after: Camille Corot Lisere de Bois by M Francis McCarthy - 7x10 (Detail)

Study after: Camille Corot Lisere de Bois by M Francis McCarthy - 7x10 (Detail 2)

Cheers, M Francis McCarthy

Mike McCarthy 4/17/19 Mike McCarthy 4/17/19

Afternoon glow 8x8" Amazing revision of an Oil Painting!

Hello and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with your painter in residence M Francis McCarthy.

Afternoon Glow by M Francis McCarthy - 8x8 Oil on Wood Panel

I originally created this painting back in 2015. It has gone through two major revisions since that time, one in 2016 and the final revision last year in 2018. If you would like to see the changes this painting went through, go to the video below this painting is available in my store go check it out.

What I like about the revision process is that it allows me to take the scene I'm painting into greater and greater areas of imagination and this usually entails a more expansive color palette.

Afternoon Glow by M Francis McCarthy - 8x8 (Detail)

Afternoon Glow by M Francis McCarthy - 8x8 (Detail 2)

Cheers, M Francis McCarthy

Mike McCarthy 4/14/19 Mike McCarthy 4/14/19

Past Master Series: 25 George Inness Sunset in the Old Orchard 7x10 by M Francis McCarthy

Hello and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with your painter in residence M Francis McCarthy.

Study after George Inness Sunset in the Old Orchard by M Francis McCarthy - 7x10 Oil on Wood Panel

This is a study painted after the work of an amazing 19th century painter George Inness. I was attracted to the glowing quality of his original and wanted to capture that feeling of passing twilight in the study of my own. Also of interest were the contrasting greens and the small luminous pond in the middle distance.

Study after George Inness Sunset in the Old Orchard by M Francis McCarthy - 7x10 (Detail)

Study after George Inness Sunset in the Old Orchard by M Francis McCarthy - 7x10 (Detail 2)

Cheers, M Francis McCarthy

George Inness Sunset in the Old Orchard (Original)

Mike McCarthy 4/12/19 Mike McCarthy 4/12/19

Morning Passage 5x7 Tonalist Landscape Oil Painting

Hello and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with your painter in residence M Francis McCarthy.

Morning Passage by M Francis McCarthy - 5x7 Oil on Wood Panel

This little painting has an interesting history. It was originally painted as a study for a larger painting back in 2013. I then revised the study in 2016 and the version that you see now was revisted again last year.

Originally based on a photo I took while on vacation in Hawaii, the scene itself was fairly pedestrian until I gave it a more complete treatment in the two repainting sessions. If you go to my blog you will see the video that outlines my "extreme glazing" process which I used to create the overall violet and coral tones.

This painting is currently for sale on my website. Perhaps you have a spot in your home for this gem-like painting that could bring you years of enjoyment while also giving you the awesome feeling of supporting your favorite Tonalist artist.

Morning Passage by M Francis McCarthy - 5x7 (Detail)

Morning Passage by M Francis McCarthy - 5x7 (Detail 2)

Cheers, M Francis McCarthy

Mike McCarthy 4/11/19 Mike McCarthy 4/11/19

Spring Evening 5x7 Tonalist Landscape Oil Painting

Hello and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with your painter in residence M Francis McCarthy.

Spring Evening by M Francis McCarthy - 5x7 Oil on Wood Panel

Close to where I live here in Northland, New Zealand, there are some very unique and organic-looking rock formations. This painting is based on the scene I came across on a walk around one of these unique formations.

I'm very happy with the way that the rocks in this painting turned out. I have been fairly accomplished at painting trees for a long while but this is one of the first occasions where I felt that I did a good job on the rocks.

If you get a chance to watch the video of this painting, you'll see that I did a major revision of the original painting last year. In some cases when I do revisions, it's because I'm not happy with the original as it stands, but in this case I really was very happy with it. What I wanted to do was achieve a an even warmer and more inviting quality to the scene and I feel that I have succeeded.

This painting is currently for sale in my store. It also featured in my blog on the same site, so if you are interested go check it out. Here.

Spring Evening by M Francis McCarthy - 5x7 (Detail)

Cheers, M Francis McCarthy

Mike McCarthy 4/10/19 Mike McCarthy 4/10/19

Tree by Bay 5x5" Tonalist Landscape Oil Painting

Hello, and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with M Francis McCarthy

Tree by Bay by M Francis McCarthy - 5x5 Oil on Wood Panel

This small painting was inspired by a beautiful New Zealand beach. I also wanted to get across the feeling of twilight by doing a graduation in the sky from deep blue at the top to more golden tones further down towards the horizon.

The tree in this painting is called a Pohutukawa. These trees grow in abundance along the coast here on the North Island and you will often see them lining our beaches. It's taken me many years to become proficient at painting this type of tree as they are quite complex in their structure, yet very beautiful.

Another nice aspect of this painting is the texture and interlacing brushstrokes which work together to create an interesting fractured quality. I'm very happy to present this painting to you here. Price includes shipping!

Tree by Bay by M Francis McCarthy - 5x5 (Detail)

Tree by Bay by M Francis McCarthy - 5x5 (Detail 2)

Cheers, M Francis McCarthy

Mike McCarthy 4/6/19 Mike McCarthy 4/6/19

Past Master Series: 22 George Inness Sunset in Georgia 8x10 by M Francis McCarthy

Hello, and welcome to Tonalist landscape painting with M Francis McCarthy

Study after George Inness Sunset in Georgia by M Francis McCarthy - 8x10 Oil on Wood Panel

This is a study after the great 19th century painter George Inness. George Inness painted from 1855 to the end of his life which was around 1892. He has been highly influential to me in my own painting practice and so I have done many, many studies after his work. What I like about George Inness, is the magical or spiritual quality that he achieves with his painting.

This wasn’t something that came about automatically for him when he first started, his work was quite different than the sort of painting we are looking at here. His older work was a lot more detailed and he was considered to be a member of the Hudson River School of Painters.

The reason that George Inness has been so influential to me is that he was basically the very first Tonalist painter. Tonalism is an approach to landscape painting that focuses on a poetic and emotive approach.

When I first came across this type of painting, I was immediately attracted to it and I have spent many, many years learning and practicing how to work in this style. Back in 2015, I started doing studies after the Masters and I have very many videos on YouTube.of my studies.