Painting exercise

'Pineapple on Plate'

10" x 12"

oil on canvas panel

I finished off a painting exercise today that I began last week. In the first session, I made a rapid underpainting which I needed to dry completely before continuing. I used cadmium yellow in the underpainting along with titanium white. These pigments have a slower drying time, but luckily the pineapple survived the drying time :) and I carried on with it this afternoon. I gave myself no longer than 2 hours working time from start to finish. The first session last week took around 45 mins and the second session an hour. The result is fresh and energetic, and unlaboured, which was the kind of result I was looking for :)

My finished frames

Today I've been finishing the frames for two of the pieces going into the show 'Borrowed Blue' at Sam scorer Gallery, Lincoln on Monday. I ordered the frame pieces and accessories from Ashcraft Framing and put them together myself. It was simple and straightforward...brilliant! 

'Girl in Blue Jumper'

40cm x 30cm

oil on stretched canvas

I've been working on this piece this afternoon, getting it ready to put in 'Borrowed Blue' at Sam Scorer Gallery in Lincoln. It's an interesting show to take part in because the requirements for the show are as follows: four pieces in total from each artist - one has to be an older piece, one a new work, one borrowed from someone else and one containing a blue element. I couldn't resist when I was invited to participate! The painting above is my 'blue' piece and the drawing in the painting that you can see on the wall on the right of the girl will be my 'borrowed' piece. It's a charcoal drawing by a friend and artist Rosie Burke. I love the drawing and was delighted when Rosie agreed to hang it in the exhibition!

'Borrowed Blue' 

Sam Scorer Gallery

Drury Lane 

Lincoln

2nd September - 15th September  

All those who can get along to the 'invitation do' on Sunday 8th September 2.00pm - 4.00pm are very welcome. Please come if you can. There will be yummy tubs of ice cream (dairy and non-dairy) and lots of soft drinks too. Should be a fun afternoon! :) 

'Market - Saturday Morning' finished

20" x 30"

oil on canvas panel

Click to buy

I think I've pretty much finished this painting now. I'll check again tomorrow incase there's something I've missed.  I've spent three sessions working on it. You could probably carry on forever with a studio painting like this but you have to call a halt at some point and sooner rather than later before it becomes overworked and laboured. Some of the fruit and veg are invented because the boxes that were visible were mostly filled with vegetables in plastic bags and I wanted more colour. That's the magic of being an artist...if you don't much like the reality around you, then you can change it!! 

'The Rage of Juno'

60cm x 60cm

Oil and charcoal on board

This piece is part of my on going line of enquiry into Roman culture and myth. I've been working on this painting for the last two days. This morning I wiped it off completely and began again! Drastic I know but, when I'd wiped it off I found I was left with a ghost of the original image with its interesting marks and which made a brilliant surface to work on. I'm experimenting with combining charcoal and paint and the difficulty is controlling the amount of paint to apply, so easy to overdo it which was the reason I wiped it off this morning. This version I'm happier with and feel I'm getting closer to where I want to be.

'Girl in Blue Jumper'

'Girl in Blue Jumper'

40cm x 30cm

oil on stretched canvas

I gave this painting a burnt orange ground which has given the work a lovely rich glow. I completed the painting in a relatively short time this afternoon and I find that a coloured ground works well when you need to work quickly. If some of the ground colour is left showing through the top layers of paint, it pulls the painting together nicely. 

'Man Studying Painting'

'Man Studying Painting'

12" x 10"

oil on board

This painting took me most of the day to complete, only because I seemed to be on a go-slow today! I took my time, enjoyed the paint, stopped for a cup of tea or two, hardly looked at the clock because I knew I had all day...brilliant!  I'm enjoying these gallery paintings, I have one more planned. The subject in this painting is one of my class members and this was just after we had hung the work. 

'Man Studying Drawing'

'Man Studying Drawing'

10" x 12"

oil on board

 Click to bid

 One of the first visitors at the exhibition when we opened on Monday, was the man in my painting. He took alot of time going round and studied each piece with great interest and intent. I loved the way he was standing with his foot turned inwards and head tipped to the side at the same angle as the image in the drawing. I decided then and there that he would become my next subject! 

'Two Pots and a Mirror'

'Two Pots and a Mirror'

6" x 6"

oil on board

My grandaughter bought me this little pot out of her own pocket money :)

Then she asked me if I would paint it! So here it is, just for her, two pots for the price of one! I like using mirrors for the abstract shapes they can create, but not round ones I've decided...they're very tricky! It's been an interesting exercise exploring once again all the different tones and colours of grey you have to use to achieve white. Half closing the eyes is an invaluable way of identifying values, I can't recommend it enough.

'Tomatoes and Pan'

10" x 12"

oil on board

Click to bid

I painted 'Tomatoes and Pan' this afternoon. It took approximately two and a half hours to complete. I imposed a time limit again and didn't go over it and I'm happy with the result. It's certainly not overworked and that's the way it's going to stay, and to make sure, the things have been put away and the tomatoes will be eaten within an hour! 

'Pots with Pear in Dish'

10" x 12"

oil on board

Click to bid

I set a strict time limit for this painting. I didn't want to spend too much time on any one part and end up putting in too much information and subsequently tightening up. My time limit was two hours which was easy to set as two hours was the only amount of time I had to work so I couldn't go beyond it even if I wanted to...this seemed a good plan. All went well and I was just giving myself a pat on the back for achieving what I'd set out to do when I realised I'd left out the reflection of the blue and white pot! Duh...! That was yesterday afternoon. Today I painted in the weird and distorted abstract reflection and strengthened some of the values. 

I don't think it's important what objects you paint, the importance lies in the way in which the light falls on them. Sometimes you can suddenly notice something that you've passed many times previously which had stayed invisible until that moment just because the light is falling on it in a different way. Changing light alters our perception of what is around us and provides an opportunity to translate that visual excitement into paint. Sometimes I feel very privileged and lucky being an artist.

'Alexander' revisited

8" x 8"

oil on board

SOLD

The last few days I've been busy on a commission in between working on a painting for a future exhibition. This morning I've been varnishing paintings and I've reworked the right eye and eyebrow (on the right as you look at the painting) in 'Alexander'. It's something that's been bugging me for a while so today I decided to put it right and be done with it!   

'Pot, Apple and Very Old Spoon'

10" x 12"

oil on board

This is my afternoon's work after teaching this morning. The light coming through the window in my studio was just right for a still-life set up on the floor. I'm pleased I've painted this lovely patterned pot at last...it's been waiting its turn in my studio! 

'Mushroom Study'

6" x 6" 

oil on board

Click to bid

I enjoyed painting this little mushroom study this afternoon. I knew I only had a limited amount of time so I chose a simple subject for a quick study. It does look very 'mushroomy' so I'm happy with it :) I used a warm orange for the ground colour and then worked over with a palette of burnt sienna, yellow ochre, ultramarine and titanium white which were enough colours to mix a range of warm and cool greys - warm greys for the mushrooms and cool greys for the cloth.

Ice Cream on a Winter's Afternoon' finished

8' x 8"

oil on board

Click to buy

I've finally finished the Ice Cream painting. I resolved all the bits that I mentioned in my previous post plus a couple more. The alterations have improved the painting and made it easier to read so I'm  happy with it now. :) By the way...you can see one of my portraits all beautifully framed up if you click here  The link will send you through to Ashcraft Framing who can always be relied on to do a brilliant job! Have a great bank holiday weekend!

'In the Rain' finished

8" x 8"

oil on board

SOLD

All I needed to do to 'In the Rain' today was to finish the windows in the far building, redraw part of the umbrella and add a detail to the bag on the right and that was that! 
And now in answer to a request from Vic, a fellow blogger, here is an image of my studio in the roof complete with cat of course who, as I have mentioned in previous posts, is my ever faithful companion!

'Jo' finally finished!

12" x 16"

oil on stretched canvas

SOLD

I realised this afternoon when I looked again at portrait of 'Jo' that the angle of the mouth wasn't right and needed to be altered...and so she wasn't finished after all!! Repainting the mouth then led on to reworking the chin which led on to adjusting the side of the face and so on and so on and before I knew it the whole afternoon had gone!!! So here we are at the finishing post again, but I'm very happy with her now and she really is done this time I promise! And on that note I'd like to wish you all a very happy weekend! 

'Peter' finished

'Peter'

8" x 8"

oil on board

SOLD

I'm glad to tell you that all went more or less to plan and I finished 'Peter' this afternoon :) I'm happy that I've managed to retain the lively brushwork and haven't tightened up too much when rendering some of the finer detail. I'm also satisfied that I've captured some of Peter's inner qualities that are reflected in his face which is the thing I strive to achieve when painting a portrait. 'Peter' is No 10 in my 'Collection of Faces' series.

'Wedding Boots' finished

'Wedding Boots'

8" x 8" 

oil on board

SOLD

I managed to finish 'Wedding Boots' just in time to take a photo in the daylight...I know, I know...I'm always racing against the fading light to take a photo, but I so much prefer taking photos of my paintings in daylight rather than artificial light. You'll just have to learn to finish earlier I can hear you saying, but it doesn't seem to work like that...while there's light I work, and most of the time right up to the last minute!

Portrait of 'Giles' finished!

10" x 12"

oil on board

SOLD

I managed to complete 'Giles' this afternoon, though things didn't go quite to plan as I ran out of light AGAIN before he was ready to photograph. So this is another photo taken in artificial light. If you compare this finished version to stage 2 in yesterday's post, you'll see that I've altered the shape of the face slightly. I decided it was too chunky with the chin too square. I also strengthened some of the dark values and added a little coolness to the shadow areas. With 'Giles' finished I'm ready to start the next one tomorrow!