A woman who looks a bit like.... me

Acrylic on wood panel 8" x 8"

..hang on a minute..it is me.

Paul

Acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

This was done largely from life in the studio session last night. Paul was our model - with a face full of character. Great to paint. I altered the background when I got home. It was originally dark red and just wasn't right. It detracted from the colours in the face.

A woman who looks a bit like Judi Dench

Acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

When you're stuck, just keep painting, keep painting, keep painting. It don't matter what, why and who. I saw this photograph of one of my favourite British acresses, Judi Dench, and I had to try an interpretation of it. Sadly I have elongated her face ever so slightly and when I realised it, I was past the point where I wanted to start correcting it. It isn't a commission after all, LOL. She's a great actress, a wonderful woman and she ain't done nothing to her beautiful face thank goodness.

Life studies - Marissa

Left: Marissa with easel II hard pastel on paper approx 18" x 12"


Below: Marissa with easel charcoal and charcoal pencil on paper approx 18" x 12"

I have been attending the studio sessions regularly but just not been posting the work. So here are the 2 pieces I did last night. They took about 45 minutes each.

Sacrifice

Acrylic on hardboard 14" x 14"

Themes in art are often about the 'human condition': how we understand ourselves, our feeble attempts to relate to each other and to our environment. Many artists however also use "carriers". I can't explain this better than to say for me that means a 'local activity' such as war, family, journeys. (Artists and critics often call these 'themes' but I see them a bit differently). These carriers are useful because a piece of art is a concrete thing, a 'focussed' thing. And because we are driven in our lives to 'do' things - go on journeys, make war, make peace, have families and so on.
I find the underlying themes easier to deal with than the carriers, which always give me trouble. I like how some artists relate to something another artist has done (Hughie o'Donoghue with Van Gogh or Picasso with Velasquez) or relate to something that happened in the news - o'Donoghue's 'Diver' series or in their own family - his father's war memoirs. These kind of things pull you back into the real world but then allow you to reflect on the human condition. Does this make sense or am I rambling?
ps. I need to put a halo on the dog - now what is that saying??

Untitled as yet

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8"

I was messing about the oil pastels again on top of an old piece and suddenly decided I wanted to blend - really blend, like a Richter blend. So I wiped off the oil pastels with some spirit, got out the acrylics and this came out. It is not the new painting I refer to in the last post, but actually something totally different. Now this feels like painting, so maybe I'll try another.

Woman in grey

Oil pastel on hardboard 8" x 8"

This is a re-work of an older piece which actually started life as a self portrait. If I could shed x amount of years it might look a smidgin bit like me so anyway, it stopped being me and became someone else. I'm ok about that. I have started work on a series (I hope) of figurative acrylics emerging out of memory and imagination. I have tried something like this before but never been totally happy with it. This time I'm planning a bit of a new slant. Hope to post something soon.

Copies of Picasso

Picasso "Girl with fan" 1905



(below) Picasso "Self portrait" (detail) 1906

It was Picasso who requested Sennelier to create oil pastels and Sennelier complied. The Sennelier pastels are rich, creamy and so saturated in colour they are almost voluptuous. (No they are not paying me- unfortunately). Picasso must have used them extensively but finding evidence of that is not easy. He certainly did not seem to use them exclusively even though they had been created first and foremost for his use. I think he used whatever was at hand to be honest and as for me, I find his work captivating. It's a pleasure to make some poor imitations of it.
These copies (in Sennelier oil pastel) measure approx 8" x 5"

Nude on red

Oil pastel on card approx 15" x12"

This was done in the studio session last night. It was a 45 minute pose which was not really long enough for what I wanted to do so I worked on it a little more from memory today at home.

Practice pieces

Oil pastel on card approx 6" x 6"



Oil pastel on card approx 6" x 4"

I know some people work in this size regularly but these are tiny for me. What was I practicing? Well two things: firstly how oil pastel works on a surface and secondly how to create people from my imagination.

For the love of wisdom: Gypsy

Acrylic on canvas board 14" x 10"