Good to be back!

It's great to be back posting after just over a week away. But I have some sad news...my house move never happened! To cut a very long story short, we were all packed up ready to go and the day before the move it all fell through! Oh, the joys of house buying...!! Needless to say, we've spent the rest of the week unpacking!! On the plus side, we've had a really good clear out and it feels like we've moved, we just haven't gone anywhere!
I've posted the above piece again as this is the work I have hanging in the Sam Scorer Gallery, Drury Lane, Lincoln as part of the Lincolnshire Artists' Society exhibition. The show is on now and runs until the 8th July. I've posted a link below that will take you through to the LAS blog and which will give you more information. When you get through to the blog if you click on 'Sam Scorer Gallery July 2012' at the top of the blog, you will be able to view more of the work hanging in the exhibition.

http://lincsartists.wordpress.com

On the move!

charcoal on scored paper

70cm x 50cm

I won't be able to blog for the next week as I am in the throws of moving house! Now that I have completed this piece, my work space will have to be sorted and materials and equipment packed away...can't put it off any longer. :(  However, I have a nice new space to look forward to and will soon be up and running again. My best wishes to you all, thanks for reading my blog and please please keep your fingers crossed that it stops raining on my moving day!

Playing with light

charcoal on scored paper

50cm x 70cm

I re-visited this drawing today to strengthen some areas of the face. I'm really enjoying the way the light plays on the uneven surface of the paper in these drawings creating the different tonal values. It adds another layer to the work.

Drawing with attitude!

charcoal on scored paper

80cm x 60cm

The female subjects in my drawings are often women with 'attitude'. mmm...I don't know what that says about me, but the less said about that the better! Working in this method of scrunching the paper and scoring into it has to be executed with care as it's very easy to overwork the piece at the charcoal stage and it ends up looking 'grubby' which is exactly what happened to my first attempt yesterday and which subsequently ended up in the bin. The creases in the paper worked particularly well with the hair in this drawing. I like to let the creases 'speak' to me which sometimes means that I completely re-invent the character from the one I begin with. This piece is very likely going to be the one I submit to the LAS show which presents me with the task of finding a title! Any ideas would be very welcome!

...which brings me to 'Following the Blog'. If you like my blog then I would love to invite you to become a follower. You will then automatically receive my posts. It's very easy to do - just click on 'Join this site' and then 'Follow this blog'...simple! 

One I did earlier

charcoal on scored paper

50cm x 70cm

I've been out and about for the last couple of days and consequently haven't been able to get into my studio to make any new work.  Rest assured, I will back in there full steam ahead first thing tomorrow! Meanwhile, I thought you might like to see a drawing that I did a little while ago that was shown in the Usher Gallery in Lincoln as part of the Lincolnshire Artists Society exhibition. The next LAS show is coming very soon and will be at the Sam Scorer Gallery in Lincoln. I will post more details nearer the time. 

New arrival!

'Blue Glass with Red Flowers'

oil on board

6" x 6"

This beautiful little vase just had to be painted! It's a new arrival in our house and when I saw it I was wowed by the intensity of the blue. In actual fact I think it is a perfume bottle, but for today it became a vase. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't quite capture the exact blue but I did my best with the pigments I had.

'Spider Tomatoes'

'Spider Tomatoes'

oil on board

7" x 9"

Click here to buy

Staying on the fruit theme...here are some delicious and very ripe vine tomatoes. When I saw them today I couldn't resist painting them. Their colour was so vibrant and I love the shapes the bunches make when they're still on the vine and...vine tomatoes are one of my favourite things to eat! So I've tried to make them look as juicy as I could!

Apples and Oranges finished!

'Apples and Oranges on a Dish'

oil on board

8" x 8"

Click here to buy

I didn't post yesterday as I spent the whole day on the computer catching up with emails and correspondence! But the good thing about that was, because it had been 48 hours since the first layers had been applied, the paint had dried to the stage where I was able to scumble the next layer over without disturbing the under layers, which made it easier to do the work that needed to be done to the apples. Now that the painting is finished, I can now return the fruit to its rightful place in the kitchen to be eaten!

Work in progress

'Fruit on a Dish'

8" x 8"

Here's what I've been up to this afternoon. I'm about three-quarters through. I will go back and strengthen the shadow areas and possibly delineate the apples in the foreground a little more but that's probably all as I don't want to lose the vitality of the paint. It will be Monday before I am able to finish it as I'm running a life drawing workshop all day tomorrow and when I get home I'll probably put my feet up!

Challenging jewellery!

'Bracelet, Ring and Pendant'

oil on board

6" x 6"

Click here to buy

Parts of this painting went like a dream...brilliant! Other parts proved to be far more challenging and took much longer...not so brilliant. After I'd finished it this afternoon, I put the painting out of sight and looked at it again after a couple of hours. I often do this when I've worked on something solidly for a while. The separation from it gives me a chance to see with a fresh eye and I often find that the first impression when I look at it again tells all. However, I was satisfied that I'd done all I could, so here it is!

A difficult day!

'Sasha in my Studio'

oil on canvas

50cm x 60cm

SOLD

The painting that I started today I had to wipe off! Argh!! I won't go into details but it got to the point where I just had to throw in the towel and resolve to start again tomorrow! To all you fellow painters out there...don't you just hate it when that happens!!! So instead I decided to show you this painting from my archives. You might recognise the image...the detail is at the top of the blog. Thought you might like to view the entire painting. 

No 4 in the series

charcoal on scored paper

70cm x 50cm

I decided to leave the eyes looking glass-like as I feel it gives the drawing an enigmatic quality. The faces in these recent drawings are invented, they are not portraits.  I begin from a reference point of either a drawing that I've made earlier or a photographed image, then work with the creases that I've already made in the paper. It's a fascinating process as the new face emerges from the surface.

Another new drawing

70cm x 100cm

This is another drawing in the new series. It's the largest one I've made using the method I described previously in my last posting. This time I crumpled a whole sheet of my very expensive Snowdon paper!!