The Painter's Place (re-worked)

Acrylic on hardboard approx 8" x 7.5"

Taking a motif from my familiar surroundings (a table in the room I work in) and developing that motif around my inner responses seems to work better than starting with a clean slate and just delving into my inner responses per se. Something personal to start me off I suppose. At least this is the most satisfying to me of the 3 paintings I have done lately (2 not posted). This is actually a development of a simple little painting I did some months ago. I knew it needed something to the right hand side. Today I knew it needed a figure. It strikes me often how slow the learning is in this painting game and yet at the same time I know it needs to be slow.
Since first posting, I have defined the figure a bit more. It's like a younger version of myself (wishful thinking probably)

Me in my Tammy

Oil pastel on Murano paper approx 7" x 7"

A Tammy is the abbreviated name for a Scottish head gear called the "Tam o'Shanter" (made famous by Robbie Burns). I think New Look sold it to me as an angora beret but it's big on me like a Tam o'Shanter. So I suppose this is another painting in the 'Sheila's hats' series. It's been right cold here recently anyway so I've been glad of my Tammy. As to the oil pastels I don't think I want to bother with them much more for the time being. It is tedious creating the light layers before you get to the juicy top layer. My friend Theresa Evans uses them often to great effect on top of acrylic underpainting, so I think that is possibly the best way to go. I'll be letting them sit in the cupboard for a while.

Two Belgians

Oil pastel and pencil on paper approx 14" x 12"

Well it might be two French guys or Belgian and a Pole - who knows. I did this from one of my own photos taken last year in Ghent. This painting tried my patience. It turned out more realistic than I wanted and to get the build up of the pastel took many, many layers. I'm not sure I want to keep doing that as somehow it was more tiring than doing acrylic layers. Also, unlike acrylics you are building up a body of "paint" on the surface with pastel and it will only take so much before it rebels. As to the subject, sorry he is a bit of a cliche - good looking, young, shades etc.etc. but I told myself the first photo I came across which had strong shadows on the face I would use. And this was it.

Woodend Mill, the Steel Door

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8"

This is another re-work of an older painting using a lot of dry brushwork, layer on layer. I love working this way, seeing the image "emerge". This corridor in Woodend mill is not typical of the mill's corridors which are largely steel lined and have steel covered doors. (Security taken to crazy heights?). Anyway, this one with painted walls is an exception. There is a kind of Rococo design style painting on the right hand wall which gives the work to me an odd Italian feel. The steel door at the end is the brightest spot catching the light from a lamp above it. In the painting proper the door comes across as having a light lavender tinge but I couldn't capture that in the photo posted here.

Damien

Oil pastel on hardboard 8" x 8"

I was clearing out/tidying up the attic (where I paint) and came across this newspaper clipping commenting on Damien Hirst's 2005 exhibition at the Gagosian, New York. Although the show was financially a sell out, the critics tore it to pieces calling it the "reinvention of photorealism" amongst other things. Of all the Young Brit Artists Damien remains my favourite. He's got style and he's funny and there's no pretence about him. I am amused that in this rip-off painting I did here (from the black and white photo in the newspaper article) he looks more like a Saatchi businessman than an artist. My effort doesn't look much like him but to me it "feels like" Damien. Plus it gave me an excuse to use my new gold Senellier oil pastel and maybe that was my main motivation.

Yellow boy

Pencil and Oil pastel on paper approx 8" x 7"

I went to my portrait session last night. Did two soft pastel works, came home, thought that is a load of rubbish (I don't have any problem with tearing things up I don't rate - life is too short). So I got out my Sennelier oil pastels, picked up a magazine lying at the side of my bed, and copied from an advert for men's clothing this young man's head. Sennelier pastels are so juicy, how could I not enjoy myself?

Woodend Mill, the printer's table

This painting has been sold


Acrylic on hardboard 12" x 12"

I've been working on this for several days, just re-working, re-working. I may work on it some more yet - don't know.

Davinia

This was done in charcoal pencil. Davinia is a frequent model for us. She can hold a pose for ages. I did have a second pastel drawing of her but I have taken it off as I am disappointed with it and don't want to keep looking at it every time I scroll through,LOL.

The yellow wall Vernon Mill

Acrylic on hardboard 12" x 12"

That's actually a picture framing shop in the background with the glazed doors. It's off a huge paved area which at one time would have buzzed with the noise and activity of cotton mill machinery. It's a very interesting space and I'd like to explore it more.

Corridor Woodend Mill

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8"

This is actually a rework of one of the older Woodend Mill series which didn't quite work. Originally I had a glass topped table in the forefront of the painting with visiting cards on it. I have painted that out in this version but you can still see the ghost of it if you look carefully.

Montparnasse staircase 3

Acrylic on hardboard 24" x 20"

This is the last of the Montparnasse staircase for the time being. It took quite a long time to do and I feel I could do even more work on it (the acrylic frees me up mentally because it dries so quickly and you can get on to the next stage without any waiting). Sometimes I think we painters could just stick with one piece and keep re-working and re-working, all the time learning about this strange process of putting pigment onto a surface to represent something. Look at Kanevsky's process paintings, each one a seemingly "finished" article in itself but the painting just goes on and on subtly metamorphosing into something slightly different at each stage. Most process paintings are "linear" but his are definitely not.

Anna

Conte crayon and white pastel on Murano paper approx 16" x 10"

Anna was a joy to draw in her blue and white kimono. Drawing and painting from life is such a different experience.