Postcards from the edge...Part 2

previous post continued...:)

...However, having created these little pictures I wasn't wildly keen on I started thinking about what might work on such a small scale. Inspired by the weather I started doing these bolder pictures of views through the rain covered windows. For these I used normal brushes and masking fluid, as with the larger paintings, but they were still very quick to do...lots of splashing water around and making a mess everywhere...I know Sue will be very pleased to hear that ;) The first ones were actual views through the window, but I ended up just sloshing the paint on to do the later ones, I enjoyed the effect I was getting, so I just kept going :)

Postcards from the edge...Part 1

Well, it's been a long time since the last post as I've been away on my holidays...lovely weather...;) Anyway, while I was away I had a play with some watercolour postcards. Quick sketches done with a little brush that you fill with water, so all very easy to pop in your pocket and capture something quickly (thanks to Lorna for the idea :)).

I'd have to say I didn't really enjoy doing these first ones, I hadn't done any watercolours for a couple of months and the combination of brush and scale really didn't get things flowing. But they were a good way of getting things started, I did a couple of full size paintings (which i'll post soon) and they turned out ok.

...Blogger doesn't seem to want to let me post millions of pics at once, so I'll split this post up...:)

Started on the box this evening...

The title says it all today :)

More work in progress

Birthday parties, allotment digging and visits to Art In Action all out of the way today, so I did some painting :) Tiger and 'man in box' shapes in. Need to do a bit on the box and the background and then I can start building up the paint.

and then there was a rhino...

Got some paint onto the rhino figure this afternoon. Re-drew him quite a bit while I was at it...the hybrid human/animal look is working well I think and I'm starting to see some of those interesting lines I get so excited about, so all in all a positive session :)

Finally got some paint on...

Have been working on this over the last week, just drawing the design out, changing a few bits here and there as it develops... Pencil on black canvas doesn’t really show up very well in a photo, so I haven’t bothered posting anything until now…today I’ve started adding some paint as you can see :). This is the ‘Ape’ character sat atop the box… the big cat has now become a tiger…I like the idea of using the stripes to echo some of the spiky shapes in the foreground. I’ve marked out the main line of the tigers spine in the background, but I’ll leave drawing him fully until there’s a bit more paint on and the shapes become clearer…The way the figure in the box is drawn is now totally different and I’m really pleased with the way he’s developing (though you can’t see him very clearly yet…:))

Black and Red Ideas

Thought I’d post a few scribbles I’ve done while thinking about the next picture I’m going to do…currently called ‘Black and Red’. I’ll leave you to see if you can interpret anything from these…they are quite messy, but that’s the way I do things…I don’t think I’m going to explain what it’s all about, a painting should be able to stand on its own two feet, rather than need a written dissertation…

I had the idea about a year ago and I’ve been looking at ‘Study after Velazquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X’ by Francis Bacon and ‘Guernica’ by Pablo Picasso for…emotional inspiration…So it’s going to be pretty dark :)

"The Parents" back at home

Here I am with my painting in the Royal Academy!...albeit out back in the storage area :) (thanks to Ian, for the inspiration for taking this pic ;))

According to the handlers who fetched it out of storage, this was their favourite picture in there…So someone likes me :)…perhaps next year, a few of them will be on the selection committee ;) Then again, they might have said that to everyone…or it might have been the last one in there, but either way, it was nice to hear :)

Went for a lovely wander around the embankment after picking up the pictures, ate too much, drank too much …saw this sand sculpture and lots of buskers, jugglers etc, sat in the sun talking about arty things we might all do in the future… all in all had a lot of fun…swore next year I’d take a smaller painting though…but I doubt I will :)

Golden Key - Finished

Came down with a bout of man flu this weekend, so didn’t get much painting done, however I’ve finished this one off today. I’ll put it in the Eynsham Art Group Summer Exhibition 5^th – 13^th July, should you want to go see it…or better still, go and buy it ;)

I’m really pleased with the way it’s turned out. As with the watercolours, I think the techniques I’ve used here are giving me an interesting, unique vein to explore further…will get another canvas gesso’d up this week ready to go…:)

(Have attached a couple of close-ups for anyone that wants to view the mysterious lines in more detail ;))

Nearly there...

Day 4. and I’ve done a lot on this today, nearly finished in fact…:)

More shapes...

Day three and I’ve added some more detail to the background.

I spent a LONG time just looking at this today…there are some elements that I like (overall composition, sky, pose of the figure, sections of the outlines), but the general application of the paint is not yet working…it’s too like a lino cut and not enough like a painting…this is partly due to the nature of acrylic paint and my love/hate relationship with its properties(or lack of skill in using it), but mainly due to the fact that this is an experiment and I don’t know exactly where I’m going…

I need to find a way to blend the acrylics, that gives me a ‘painterly’ look, without having that ‘messy’ look that you can get from acrylics when sections are drying before you’ve had a chance to work them…the current blocks of colour are too lino cut ish….too like a cartoon…

Phase 2

Day two of experimentation and some of the lines are starting to come together nicely. I’m painting the background spaces rather than drawing the actual lines, which is giving me some interesting details along the lines which I really like…the effect is a little bit like a lino cut…anyway, there’s a bit more blocking in of colour to go yet, then I’m going to work the lines themselves, pulling out a few details here and there while tiding up balancing the weight of the lines…Once that’s done I’ll start working on the internal painting…all in all, I’m please with the way this is going, I’m certainly picking up some useful tips :)

Experimentation part 1

I’m doing a bit of experimentation this week. It’s an acrylic, playing with lines, figures and storytelling, based on a very short story called The Golden Key by the Brothers Grimm.

For quite a while now I’ve wanted to take the strong lines used in the watercolours and get them onto canvas in some form. I’ve considered several different methods, some very similar to the watercolours themselves, but part of my desire to use canvas/oil/acrylic is to gain more control over the lines in order to depict figures... The looseness of the watercolour method just doesn’t allow me to achieve that. However, I want to retain the spontaneity that I’ve been getting in the watercolours, which is something that is sometimes missing from some of my ‘traditional’ oils…

So this is it, phase one, blocking in the composition. I’m not entirely sure how it’s going to develop…we’ll see as the week progresses…:)

The Hills are Alive...

Woodstock Church seen from over the lake in the grounds of Blenheim Palace.

Blenheim 07

Column of Victory, seen over the water, Blenheim number 07. I’ve two more Blenheim sketches in my little book, so perhaps I’ll get those done over the weekend. Then there are a couple of Burford sketches, with lots of curvy flowing buildings and giant lollypop trees, then a Cornish sea view waiting to be done…I should stop typing and get a move on :)