Winter Exhibition...nearly ready...

Everything up on the walls now…just need to clean up…Opens tomorrow at 10 :)

Winter Exhibition 2011

Open Every Saturday From 26th November to 17th December.
Hope you can come along :)

Sketch of Lucy

I wanted to have a small pencil portrait to show alongside the portrait of Chloe & Ruby during my winter exhibition, so I’ve done this little sketch of Lucy. Next I need to get some prints done of the main paintings I’ve done this year & then order lots of framing things so I can get them all framed up nicely…I’m going to work on the portrait of Matthew & Meagan during the exhibition, as that will hopefully get people asking ‘oh, do you do portraits then?’… there’s the experiment for the book project to get back to…and some sort of Christmas print to think up and produce…lots to do :)

Framing Chloe & Ruby

I’ve been working on the framing side of things so far this week. Lots of moulding samples arrived so I’m building some boards to display them on. I’ve framed the portrait of Chloe & Ruby, the main frame is oak which I’ve sealed and waxed, this is over a dark wood floater frame, a sort of contemporary take on a traditional framing material. I’m really pleased with the way it’s come out, the oak is gorgeous and really suits the painting, and the furniture in the room where the painting will eventually hang :) I had a little of the floater moulding left over, so I’ve used that to frame the picture of Bex, I’ve left a much larger gap around that which sets the painting off very nicely, I’ll do some more like this :)

The Painted Book...

Started work on a new piece today. This is a test for the next series I want to do… Basically I’m planning on making a series of paintings based on familiar stories (eg Red Riding Hood) and linking all these separate story paintings together with an on-going narrative (the story of an artist meeting the characters in the paintings, by painting them…)This will then be presented as an exhibition and as a book… Am also experimenting today with some video of the painting as it develops…hopefully it’ll work… :)

Mr & Mrs Rice

I’ve been working on the portrait of Matthew & Meagan today. Again working from dark to light. Also varnished the portrait of Chloe & Ruby and Gesso’ed the canvas I made yesterday…time for a beer now I think :)

Custom Canvas

Opened up a delivery of art goodies this morning and found the 5 litre pot of Gesso had broken…very messy!!! Once that was all cleaned up I started assembling a new canvas for the start of a new series of paintings (more on what that series will be soon…) As well as developing the framing side of things, I want to be able to offer other artists a custom canvas service. As an artist if I knew of somewhere I could get a canvas made exactly the size I wanted and get a frame for it at the same time, I’d be a very happy bunny…I don’t know of anywhere like that, so I’m going to do it all myself :)

Chloe & Ruby portrait finished

Chloe & Ruby all finished & a photo of the wood all cut for the frame :)

Golden Hair...

Golden hair done, just need to do the flower in Chloe's hair & work over Ruby's top :)

Stripes

More work on the clothes today, Chloe’s top is pretty much done. Ruby’s stripy top is much more complex so that’ll take a couple of passes to get right. I’m working from light to dark on it initially, mainly to work out where all the stripes go, once that’s done I’ll go back over it from dark to light to get the folds correct.

Graham's Dog Kennels...

The main pass on the faces is now done & I’ve started on the clothing, this is going to be painted more fully than the recent paintings and will (fingers crossed) be the style of the next set of paintings…and as you can see from the other photo, if the painting doesn’t work out, I can always open a kennel ;)

today...

Todays progress...

some mid tones...

Building up the mid tones today…

Dark to Light

I’ve been working on the painting of Chloe & Ruby today, I’m working from dark to light, nearly finished the shadowed areas, more tomorrow…

studio stuff

Last week was all about the framing side of things. Went out and bought the remaining kit I need and then build a great big framing bench…all done now, so I will be back to some actual painting this week I promise ;)

Chloe & Ruby (Matthew & Meagan)

Drawn out Chloe & Ruby & now working on thickening the lines and filling in the darker areas on this one and the one of Matthew & Meagan, more work to do on both…

A new toy...

No painting today as I’ve been reorganising the area at the back of the studio to make space for this new beast…a framing guillotine, super clean joints and super heavy to move about… all done now though, so proper work tomorrow :)

My furry assistant…

I've finished the ‘surprise’ commission this week, so everything will be blogable next week.

Chloe and Ruby were in modelling for their portraits yesterday and as you can see from the photo, Bryn was a great help… Also did a little work on Matthew & Meagans painting, finished drawing the hands and started building up some of the main outlines…more on that next week…:)

Matthew & Meagan - Part 1

Well August was a quiet month on the blog wasn’t it. Holidays & decorating took up most of the month, but I’ve also been pausing a bit while I wait for some feedback from Meller about the paintings. I think they’ll be moving from Witney to Oxford for a little bit during September, so if you haven’t had a chance to take a look at them yet, that’ll be the place to go, again, give Ewan a call first to check their whereabouts :)

I’ve got a few portraits to work on this month, I should be able to post progress on a couple of them as I go. The other has been commissioned as a surprise for a birthday, so that’ll have to remain hidden for a while :)

This is the first, a double portrait of Mr & Mrs Rice (or my little brother and his gorgeous wife Meagan, if you prefer). I’m going to do this in a slightly different style to the recent paintings, I want to paint the clothes more fully, rather than in the ‘printed’ style I’ve been using, still monochromatic, but more realistically done. Also, I ‘think’ I’m going to leave the Gold off this one & I’m going to varnish it with a regular gloss varnish, rather than the spray matt varnish that I used on the other paintings. Anyway, this is most of the drawing stage done on the figures, just the ‘ring’ hands to go in :)

Meller Merceux August 2011

The paintings are now with Meller Merceux. They’ll be on show in both the Oxford and Witney Galleries over the next couple of weeks, so if you’re planning a visit call Ewan Macfarlane on 01993 708606 for details of location and timings. Hope you enjoy them :)

Finished...

Finished ‘Whispering to the Wind II’ & ‘Chapter 1’ today. Many thanks to Rachel and Kerry for modelling :)

I’ll be delivering all six paintings to Meller Merceux on Thursday, will post details on which Gallery they’ll be in & when, as soon as I have it :)

Whispering to the Wind II - part 3

Todays progress…Gold and tidying up tomorrow, varnishing on Tuesday and I should be good for delivering to the Gallery on Thursday….then I’m going to sleep for a month ;)

Whispering to the Wind - part 2

I’ve been working on ‘Whispering to the Wind II’ today, lots more to do so it’s going to be a busy weekend, but I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel :)

Chapter 1 - part 7

Nearly finished, just a couple of highlights and some Gold to add…:)

Chapter 1 - part 6

Working on the flesh tones today...

Chapter 1 - part 5

Second colour finished today and I’ve started on the flesh tone…lots to do….:)

Chapter 1 - part 4

More work on the secondary colour today, quite a complex pattern on this one so it’s taking a while, but it’s coming together nicely, well worth the effort… I love this feeling when the picture forms in front of me and I’m almost detached from its creation, I kind of steer it along, but it has a life of its own, this group of paintings are increasingly working that way…I know the direction, theme and emotion I want them to have, but there’s something extra they seem to feed back to me…
All in all a good day….and I got 33 points on Pop Master, which I haven’t done in AGES…lol

Chapter 1 - part 3

Birthdays, sickly pets & broken cars got in the way of painting last week, so 12 hours in the studio today were most welcome. LOTS left to do to get the final two paintings done for August, it’s going to be a busy couple of weeks…First colour finished on ‘Chapter 1’ today and just starting on the second colour…Dr’s and Vet’s tomorrow, so a less than perfect start to the day, but the rest of the weekend is clear, so fingers crossed…

Lucian Freud died today aged 88…I’m not a fan of ‘modern’ Brit art…Hirst and Emin do very little for me…but Freud was a true master, a wonderful, honest painter, an inspiration, a thinker, a joy…

Chapter 1 - part 2

A little bit more work done on this...

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Chapter 1 - part 1

Just painting in some of the outlines today. Not much done yet, but I thought I'd post it anyway. It's called 'Chapter 1' and the model is Kerry.

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Whispering to the Wind II - Part 1

This is…or will be, ‘Whispering to the Wind II’. The model is Rachel. Basic drawing and the first two colours on the clothes & hair done. Flesh tone and dandelion seeds to follow.
I’ve also started drawing out the sixth canvas today so I’ll work on the two of these for the rest of the month and that’ll be the first set of these done for the August exhibition. Lots of work to do, but I’m getting there…:)

I Saw the Crescent - Finished

‘I Saw the Crescent’ all finished. The model is Emma.

I Saw the Crescent - part 8

Nearly done now, I finished the moon & figure then put a final coat of background colour on today. So just the gold to add tomorrow and it’ll be finished :)