Forty Shades Of Greystones

Side o’ the net!

hen it came to painting Greystones landmarks, it would have been easy for James Kenny to opt for the Beach Bear, Mooney’s or Joe Sweeney giving you one of those looks.

Instead, he concentrated largely on the small details, the curious corners, the strangely familiar rooftops.

Spending his working day making the visual effects in movies such as the Irish-shot Brooklyn, Disney’s Oscar-winning live action remake of The Jungle Book and the Terminator franchise look good – not to mention the Tomb Raider games – Kenny has always considered himself a painter.

As anyone who caught his early concept art for the Saoirse Ronan hit Brooklyn will already know.

Early Brooklyn concept art

And so it was that, at the start of 2023, James set himself the challenge of producing one painting per week, each one inspired by the world right outside his door…

“By keeping the paintings 40cm by 30cm, the one-week turnaround is achievable,” he explains, “once I try my best not to overthink what I am doing nor to worry too much about the results.

Victoria Road

“Or, indeed, if anyone likes them or does not.

“I am just painting one and then putting it aside and starting a new one. I think they are going in an interesting direction and I am certainly learning a lot, which I love. They are painted with acrylic paint, which is not a medium I have used a lot previously, but it is great for working quickly and gives the colour a really fresh, poppy look. I have started putting them on social media to see how they responded to, as all art needs to be seen, after all.

“I’m not sure where the project will eventually go but it’s certainly fun pursuing it. Really the emphasis is on color and composition more than anything, as I think people unconsciously respond positively to good composition, regardless of the subject matter.”

Bow Lane

Davis Motors

You can check out your responses to James Kenny’s work here, follow the man over on Instagram here, and explore his inspirations here.