Dreams 01 - Under Painting Stage 01

I’ve been doing some work on this first painting from the “Jack and his friends” modelling session today. The aim is to fuse the recent gold experiments with a more ‘finished’ piece of painting. If it all works out I’ll be using the techniques I’m exploring here along with the first gold experiments (the man with a dog one in particular) to produce a series of paintings.
As you can see I’ve applied the gold and am currently working on the under painting. I’ve painted the mid tones and next I need to balance these as I start pushing the highlights and shadows to increase the contrast. As I do this I’ll begin to sharpen the details and then it’ll need to dry before the colour is glazed over the top…then I can start on the gold over painting :)
The painting is (currently) called “Dreams 01” and the model is Mary.

Postcards 2010

I’ve been away on holiday, hence the quiet in here lately. I took lots of photos while away, and only did a few postcards this year, sorry if you didn’t get one, but after walking all over Snowdon all I wanted was a G&T ;)

Cycles finished

Here are the finished pieces from this weeks studio session. I’ve experimented with the colours of each of these to see how far I can push things and learnt something useful from each, so a productive weeks work :)

Stage 2...

Here’s todays progress. I’ve cut into all the copper, added the gold and then cut into that. Tomorrow I’ll start on the painting. I’ve got some nice lines appearing from the leaf, so, so far, so good :) too many SO’s in there, but I’ve had a beer…LOVELY seeing some of you readers tonight :)

Cycles stage 1…

Well a very cultural day today, went to see some Shakespeare this evening and have been working on these small pictures all day. I’ve done all the drawing and added the first layer of leaf, in this instance copper. I’ve started cutting into the one on the left, just a little left to do on that in the morning. Once all three have been cut I’ll add the next layer of leaf, which will be gold, that’ll then need cutting and then the painting can begin… :)

The Tree That We Walk Past

This is the second gold and oil painting “The tree that we walk past”…or one man and his dog if you prefer ;). A windy day and a road well travelled. I’m really pleased with the way these are turning out and the response of people that have seen them has been really positive, so hopefully I’m going in a good direction. :) Need to made some more supports tomorrow.
On another note, It looks like I’ll be teaching some “Introduction to lino cutting” classes in September, October, November…more details to follow :)

Modelling day

One of the best things about getting the studio is I now have space to get some models in and set up some lighting and props etc. So yesterday my son Jack and some of his friends came over for a few hours and we experimented with a few ideas from my sketch book. They were all fantastic, so many thanks to Jack I, Jack II, Mary and Caroline. Over the next couple of weeks you should start to see the first paintings from this session appear, all I need to do now is paint them as well as they modelled for them :)

Cornish Crows

This is experiment number two, or “Cornish Crows” as it’s now called. Oil paint and gold leaf on board, using a combination of painting, smearing, scraping and carving! I’m currently working on another one like this but introducing some simple figures into the scene. I’ve been trying to merge what I do with the watercolours and lino with my more traditional oil painting style…I think I may have finally found the way to do that…:)

Room two...

Gallery room is pretty much done now, walls painted, hole in floor fixed, paintings on the walls. Have also got lights up in the Studio room, lovely and bright, might need to get new sunglasses. Have Jack and his school chums coming over this Thursday to do some modelling for me. Second experiment went very well so have started on third which builds upon it. Both are oil over gold leaf. I’ll post some photos of those later in the week and perhaps a few sketches from the modelling session…busy :)

Doves over Eynsham 01

This is the first experiment from the studio, its acrylic and pencil on gesso board, I’ve sanded it back at various stages to build texture, added more gesso, drawn again and sanded again…generally I’ve had a good play :) I’ve built two more of these boards to experiment with…

Studio room finished...pretty much...

Finally back online after my PC died a horrible death…a shiny new laptop in front of me now…to hell with the expense ;)
Here’s a quick snap of the main studio room in the workshop, all the decorating and bench building is finished and I’ve managed to move all my stuff in…I never realised just how much I’d been able to squirrel away in the cottage, as I started moving things out I just kept finding more and more…I shouldn’t run out of supplies for a while anyway :)
I should get the gallery room painted over the next week or so, I’m not planning on doing anything fancy in there initially, just painting the walls, putting up some curtains and hanging some paintings, so it should all be pretty straightforward.
I’ve started a little experimental painting this week, an extension on what I was doing with the watercolours, but using mixed media…something new for me…I’ll post some of that over the weekend :)

Graham's Studio...

I have a new studio! It’s still not entirely empty yet, with the previous occupant storing some things there for a little while longer… However, I have been able to get into the main room and am currently redecorating, building benches etc. I’m going to have one room as the main studio and one as a gallery, so all in all, very exciting :) I’ll post a few more photos as things progress and hopefully get all the DIY done pretty quickly so I can get on with some new…bigger paintings :)

Self Portrait 01

I’ve started work on a new self portrait, I’m trying to get a looser feeling to the brushstrokes with this one. There’s lots more to do on it, but you can get a rough idea of where it’s going. :)

Artweeks 2010 (2)

Here’s the latest swirling painting “Bartholomew School”. It’ll be on show in the Bartholomew Rooms from Sat 22nd May to Mon 31st May 2010 as part of the Eynsham Art Group Spring exhibition.

Several other pieces (including the Primary School painting) are on show at the same time at Arts Inc as part of the Artsweeks exhibition :)

Artweeks 2010

I’ll be exhibiting some paintings at Arts Inc as part of their Artweeks 2010 exhibition. 22nd – 31st May 2010. They’ll be a dozen fabulous artists exhibiting a variety of works, so pop in and take a look if you get the chance. :)