REAL ART

Marissa resting

2012-01-28T09:13:00.003Z

Hard pastel and charcoal pencil on paper 24" x 16"

When I look at this with my specs on I realise I must have drawn it without my specs on (I do both) and that I draw "better" without them on. I was pleased with this - the angle was awkward and I had just finished quite a tight rendering of the model so went for it with the hard pastel first. (Click on it once then again in the new window to see detailed marks) Done last Thursday night.

Travelling

2012-01-26T14:09:00.002Z

Collage and acrylic on canvas 20" x 20"

I was tidying up a bit and found this painting which I did last year. I remember I spent ages on it. So many styles - so little time.

John (re-worked)

2012-01-23T15:12:00.004Z

Oil on canvas board 9" x 7"

John Constantine was my grandmother's brother. He died at age 17 of tubercolosis. The one love of John's life was his pigeons. He kept racing pigeons and I wanted to capture that pride he had in them which is so evident in the photograph which must have been taken shortly before he became ill.

Gladys Beaumont (re-worked)

2012-01-22T13:43:00.003Z

Oil on canvas board 9" x 7"

In those days families like ours did not have a camera, so if you wanted any family member photographed you had to save up and have a "studio" shot done. That is why Gladys happens to be wearing a fur stole in this shot. It would be part of the photographer's equipment. She probably has her sister's best dress on underneath.

Way Out (re-worked)

2012-01-17T12:40:00.006Z

Oil and acrylic on canvas board 16" x 16"

I laboured for hours on this painting, kept changing my mind, putting figures in, wiping them out, starting again. There is learning to be had from the process. In this case it was that when I create figures out of my head a little bit of them remain figments of my imagination and it bothers me that they don't quite ring true. In the end I took an old black and white snapshot of myself and put "me" in this different environment. I know it looks a bit like an underpainting but I instinctively knew it didn't need any more work doing on it than this.

Ok - I said all that on 17th Jan, the day the painting was posted. Today, 22nd Jan, my so called "instinct" told me to do some more work on it. I mean, what is this instinct - a joker or something?

Grey interior (2)

2012-01-16T13:42:00.004Z

Oil on fine canvas mounted on board 9" x 7"

I decided to do a second quick study for two reasons. Firstly I wanted to substitute ultramarine for cobalt in creating the greys (I've used a bit of the cobalt mix in the floor area though) and secondly, this surface is finer than the canvas weave of the first study and it's this finer surface that the bigger painting is going to be done on.

Grey interior

2012-01-16T11:58:00.003Z

Oil on canvas panel 8" x 8"

This is a small study for a larger figurative painting I am working on. I'm finding that greys in a painting actually take just as much time, effort and decisions as a wider palette.

On young shoulders

2012-01-13T11:01:00.003Z

Oil on hardboard 24" x 24"

The idea of "time" is at once simple and complex. There is no way we can impart to the young, even if we wanted to, what experience will impart to them. There is a saying "you can't put an old head on young shoulders" - although I believe the young shoulders sometimes have an inkling of what is in store - but thankfully most of the time nature steps in to push the notion away. "If only I could be young again and know what I know now". I used to hear my mum's friends say that and I used to think - what are they going on about?
That explanation is to help you to understand that the "heads" on the young shoulders in the painting are deliberately of older people and not the errors of a poor draughtsman (aka me).

First Communion

2012-01-12T14:52:00.002Z

Oil on canvas board 24" x 24"

It was their little old fashioned faces that got me. This is one of two bigger paintings I have been working on this past week. Will post the second one soon.

Regard

2012-01-07T14:41:00.003Z

Oil on canvas board 9" x 7"

I have not painted in oils for quite a while. The paint seems to go on so well compared to acrylics so I might stick with them for a bit and put up with slower drying. A very limited palette as you can see. I am working on two bigger paintings at the moment along the same theme so posting might be a bit erratic unless I can fit smaller ones in as I go along. Really enjoyed the canvas panel. Its actually fine cotton on board. The maker is Bella Arti. I found them at the back of the cupboard. Must have been there for ages.

The Painter's window sill

2012-01-06T09:47:00.002Z

Charcoal and charcoal pencil on smooth drawing paper 12" x 8"

It's surprising what a difference the texture and underlying shade of the support paper can make in a drawing. This persisted in being more "gentle" than the pastel paper support of the previous one.

Winter bathroom

2012-01-05T09:32:00.002Z

Charcoal and charcoal pencil on tinted pastel paper 12" x 8"

When I'm coming down from my third floor painting space (aka 'the attic')I have to descend a spiral staircase and if I look across the landing this is the view I get of the bathroom. I always love the quality of light that comes through the big pane of frosted glass on that back wall, especially in winter.

Clutter

2012-01-04T10:43:00.006Z

Charcoal on paper 9" x 12"(cropped)

I feel as if I need a break from the following: acrylic paint; digital images; photographs; what is going on inside my head; sitting down to work..

I like the idea of just drawing around the house but looking for the big shapes among the small clutter of daily life. Someone who does that exceptionally well is the British artist, Roy Freer. Take a look at his drawings. I find them quite an inspiration.
Since first posting this I have cropped it. You can see the clutter better now. But you can't see it perfectly, because,.... it's clutter.

I'm Nobody! Who are you?

2012-01-03T09:47:00.003Z

Are you - Nobody - too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Don't tell! they'd advertise - you know!

Photomontage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"
People could not be blamed for thinking Emily D a bit morose but I would say rather she is "introspective". Her work deals with mortality rather than 'death' and I have claimed before she has a sense of humour. I think this poem is so witty and I think I like it more than any of her others.
Here is the second and final verse:

How dreary - to be - Somebody!
How public - like a Frog -
To tell one's name - the livelong June -
To an admiring Bog!

You can't resist teasingly inserting an "l" into that final word can you? This is the fourteenth and the penultimate painting in the series.

There's a certain Slant of light

2012-01-02T10:11:00.003Z

Winter afternoons -
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes -

Photomontage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

Safe in their Alabaster Chambers

2012-01-01T10:11:00.002Z

Untouched by Morning-
And untouched by Noon -

Photomontage & acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

When I'm painting I often rotate the board. Especially when you are working with more abstract elements it helps to see the work holistically. However, there is always in my head "the right way round" and the right way round for this one was not as you see it but as it would be with one turn counter clock wise. When I looked at it this way though (as you see it now) it definitely had more drama. By the way, that is me, taking a break from painting, lying on my bed and consulting one of my hundreds of art books.

This is painting number 12 in the Emily Dickinson series

About my Feet the Sea

2011-12-31T10:33:00.002Z

Photomontage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

The poem goes:

I stepped from Plank to Plank
A slow and cautious way
The Stars about my Head I felt
About my Feet the Sea.

This is the eleventh in the series inspired by Emily Dickinson's poetry.

I dreaded that first Robin so

2011-12-29T11:56:00.003Z

But He is mastered, now,
I'm some accustomed to Him grown,
He hurts a little though -

Photomontage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

All her poems are poignant but I find this one particularly expressive.

The Soul selects her own Society

2011-12-28T13:58:00.001Z

Photomontage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

Number nine in the Emily Dickinson series.

The Past is such a curious Creature

2011-12-27T10:52:00.003Z

To look her in the Face
A Transport may receipt us
Or a Disgrace -

Photomontage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

Another piece inspired by the poems of Emily Dickinson.

Alain de Botton

2011-12-25T08:43:00.002Z

The wisdom of the faiths belongs to all of mankind, even the most rational among us, and, throughout the liturgical year, deserves to be selectively reabsorbed. Religions are intermittently too useful, effective and intelligent to be abandoned to the religious alone.

Alain de Botton, 2011

A Vastness, as a Neighbour, came,

2011-12-24T11:09:00.002Z

A Wisdom, without Face or Name,
A Peace, as Hemispheres at Home
And so the Night became.

Photomontage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

This is the seventh in the Emily Dickinson Series. The first line of this poem is: "The Crickets sang" if you want to Google it.

It is an honourable Thought (re-worked)

2011-12-19T11:44:00.006Z

And makes One lift One's Hat
As One met sudden Gentlefolk
Upon a daily Street

Photomontage and Acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

My dad. He often wore a trilby hat and he used to raise it to any of my mother's friends we met when we were out walking the three of us. This is a continuation of the Emily Dickinson inspired series.

Since first posting this I have re-worked it quite a bit. I don't know why I post things when in my heart of hearts I know they are not finished. It's a bit like "the show must go on" kind of syndrome. Ridiculous. But that's blogging for you. Makes you paranoiac. Anyway, hope you like the improvements.

By the way, this is the end of that poem...

That We've immortal Place
Though Pyramids decay
And Kingdoms, like the Orchard
Flit Russetly away

Self portrait December 2011

2011-12-18T13:26:00.002Z

Acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

This felt good to do. A more constructivist approach using palette knife - particularly in the early stages - and brush. It's a good way to get colour variation and also lets me feel as if I am "building" something. Even after so many layers I can still see the wood grain on the finished piece. I like that.

Presentiment (re-worked)

2011-12-13T10:05:00.003Z

- is that long Shadow - on the Lawn -
Indicative that Suns go down -

Photomontage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

This was done on Sunday evening - after the sun had gone down incidentally. It was meant as a "starter" for this painting. And maybe it still is, but when I got to look at it this morning it seemed to be saying all I wanted it to say.

I went to Heaven (re-worked)

2011-12-11T10:36:00.004Z

Twas a small town, lit by a Ruby, lathed in down..

Photomontage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

This was the hardest so far. ED's idea of heaven was not a cloudy, fluffy, insubstantial place. My grandmother (pictured) would be delighted to discover that heaven was a small town. She was not a country girl nor was she a city girl. She was always a small town girl. I like that metaphor very much.

Since first posting this I have re-worked it, getting rid of the large darker shape in the foreground.

I'll tell you how the sun rose. (re-worked)

2011-12-09T13:45:00.002Z

a ribbon at a time -

Photo montage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

This is the third in the Em and I series which I am concentrating on at the moment.

How happy is the little stone (re-worked)

2011-12-09T10:11:00.003Z

Photo montage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

This is the second in the 'Em and I' series (Emily Dickinson inspired). I had originally painted this with quite a bleak and very abstract background. I worked on it for some time yesterday and this emerged which is decidedly sunnier. As I (think) I was working intuitively, then so be it. The titles of these paintings are the first lines of some of my favourite ED poems.

That Love is all there is

2011-12-05T14:29:00.004Z

Photo montage and acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

I'm intending this to be the first of a series of work inspired by the poems of Emily Dickinson. She is one of my favourite American poets. Her life and her work resonate with me and it felt so right to do this, as though many of the important decisions around a painting were being taken care of quite naturally.

Maggie Smith look-alike

2011-12-04T12:00:00.000Z

Acrylic on wood panel 6" x 8"

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

2011-11-30T10:26:00.001Z

Acrylic on wood panel 8" x 8"

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

Paul

2011-11-29T10:52:00.002Z

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

2011-11-28T11:57:00.002Z

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

2011-11-25T13:04:00.006Z

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

2011-11-21T10:01:00.005Z

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

2011-11-15T15:50:00.004Z

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

2011-11-14T10:22:00.002Z

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

2011-11-12T14:12:00.005Z

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

2011-11-11T09:39:00.002Z

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

2011-11-10T10:09:00.005Z

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

2011-11-01T00:04:00.001Z

Acrylic on canvas board 14" x 10"

For the love of wisdom : The sad queen

2011-10-31T10:51:00.004Z

Acrylic on canvas board 14" x 11"

By the way, I have posted the third and final framed landscape on my Stalybridge paintings blog at the special price of £115. Just email me if you are interested.

Stockport Art Guild 91st annual show

2011-10-29T16:11:00.002+01:00

Today was the opening of the Stockport Art Guild annual show at Stockport Art Gallery and some great work is on display there. I was honoured to have 3 of my paintings accepted for the show and even more honoured to win a prestigious "Jack Lees certificate of Merit" for one of them. So if you are in the area, give it a whirl. It's kind of nice to support the north of England in the Arts as we are ever seen as the poor little sister to big brother London, but watch out London, we are fighters up here!!

For the love of wisdom: the benevolent king (re-work)

2011-10-27T13:56:00.007+01:00

Acrylic on canvas panel 12" x 12"

Our faces are not absolutely symmetrical and yet portrait painters tend to make them so (I don't except myself). Here I wanted to exaggerate the difference a little without losing the emotional response. A lot of the work of other painters that I enjoy uses figures as metaphors (David Brayne? Jeannie Tomanek? )so it is the message which is emotional but I have a tendency to want to portray the figures themselves as having an emotional dimension. On another note entirely I visited a small Yorkshire town yesterday and found in a second hand bookshop an account of an interview with Ron Kitaj. His favourite painting is Cezanne's 'Bathers' which he claims was done absolutely from the painter's imagination in his studio. This painting of the king started from a found image of someone I didn't know but morphed into something else completely. And yet I feel I now know this man. Strange. ps. Since posting this I have reworked it and reposted. First 3 comments refer to the first version.

Portrait of Dan with iPod

2011-10-25T14:42:00.002+01:00

Charcoal on cartridge paper 20" x 15"

Got back from Ethiopia Sunday. Although the work is totally enjoyable and satisfying, I must admit is was wonderful to get back to drawing last night. The model was a serious, music loving young man called Dan. Today I'm back with the paints after about a three week absence and I feel like a complete novice.

One more framed painting for sale....

2011-10-04T14:21:00.002+01:00

on my Stalybridge paintings blog. I leave for Ethiopia tomorrow - back on 23rd October. I should be able to send and receive emails whilst I am there as usual. Thanks for looking!

Stalybridge blog and travelling

2011-10-01T23:07:00.005+01:00

Have just put a new entry and a painting for sale on my Stalybridge paintings blog. I'm travelling soon - off to Ethiopia again for a couple of weeks. Not sure I will have time to post anything here until end of October now. Blogger is banned in Ethiopia but I should be able to check my emails.

Review time

2011-09-25T17:56:00.003+01:00

I had one of those "Look at your last ten pieces and decide your satisfaction level with them" sessions. I propped all the pieces up in a row and made notes (don't laugh). The outcome was that I liked two of them and that most of them were write offs destined for the make-over pile although a couple might be salvaged with a re-work. Therefore a number of pieces will shortly disappear from this blog. I think one mistake I make is to rush the paintings. Because I can't spend every day painting and many days go by when I cannot even paint at all, I think I tend to rush things when I do get chance for an afternoon at the easel. Anyway, made lots of notes for myself. I need to re-read them once a week I think!

Pennine Gallery

2011-09-21T15:06:00.002+01:00

I have been invited to join an exciting new venture Pennine Gallery which aims to represent those artists who are based in this area of the north of England and whose influence is prominent in their work. This is both an online and a "bricks and mortar" gallery where you can see the work face to face so we get the best of both worlds. I am really happy to be part of this with my Stalybridge work. Please click on the link above or in the side bar to see more.

For the love of wisdom (no.1)

2011-09-04T17:13:00.002+01:00

Acrylic on canvas board 12" x 9"

This is the same (limited)palette as the last painting - exactly - but I used knife instead of brush and tried to work as conceptually as I could. It's funny how many different ways of working we have within us as long as we are not afraid of them and not afraid of being seen as eclectic (or worse, lol).

Inside Out (no.1)

2011-08-17T11:40:00.003+01:00

Oil on hardboard 12" x 12"

I've been experimenting. Some of it worked. Most of it didn't. But I have found that if I don't experiment nothing at all moves. I can think and write about it till the cows come home but it's the "doing" that pushes me forward. This is a return to oils on board and a return to brushes rather than palette knife. The planes of any faces are seductive. I'm doing what I hope is a mini series but as we all know anything can happen.

One smart lady

2011-08-04T12:13:00.003+01:00

Oil on canvas board 12" x 9"

Woman in a black jacket

2011-08-02T10:18:00.003+01:00

Oil on canvas board 14" x 11"

The photo didn't quite capture the exact green in the background but I think it's close enough.

Self portrait on green

2011-07-31T14:19:00.005+01:00

Oil on canvas board 14" x 11"

This is a substantial re-work of Self portrait on yellow (now removed from blog). You know a friend of mine has a saying "Risk is the price of opportunity". For me I always feel painting in oils is a risk - I have to try to make "good choices" on the spot and as soon as I can, whilst when I work in acrylics I think it makes me lazy because I know the paint will be dry in a minute and I can overwork so if I misjudge a colour it can easily be corrected. I need to take more risks. I also introduced here some colours I very rarely use - cadmium red, cadmium yellow and lemon yellow. The difference to me is immediate. As to style I confess to being heavily influenced here by a Welsh painter who died in 2006. His name was Kyffin Williams. He painted portraits and landscapes of his native Wales. You can see some of them if you Google (images) "Kyffin Williams portraits". I was in South Wales earlier this year and bought his book called "Portraits". I think it is the nicest painting book I own. Against each portrait is a little story, written by Kyffin, about the person and the process of doing the painting. Great stuff.
Yep, I am working on bigger pieces still but don't want to show anything yet.

Amsterdam princess

2011-06-28T15:30:00.003+01:00

Acrylic on canvas board 14" x 10"

I saw her serving coffee in a pavement cafe in Amsterdam. She looked like she had stepped out of the Arabian nights she was so beautiful. (The painting is more vibrant than it appears here - the camera just could not capture the colours).

Me myself

2011-06-21T13:49:00.002+01:00

Acrylic on wood 8" x 6"

This is yet another re-work of a painting which I had called "Reverie" and which I have now removed from the blog (as it doesn't exist anymore except in my imagination). It was based on a self portrait and this is a development of that. It no longer has the "dreamy" feel to it but I think it works on a number of levels so I'm content.

Acceptance to the Stockport Open show

2011-06-14T21:30:00.002+01:00

I have heard that my two paintings - "Woman in white" and "Girl with Auburn Hair" (see below) have been juried into the Stockport Open Art exhibition to be held this summer at Stockport Art Gallery. A total of 159 entries out of 764 submissions were accepted. So I am pleased! I still say the first person I must please is myself but I was in fact personally satisfied with those two works so it kind of validates that feeling.

Claire June 9th (2)

2011-06-10T10:25:00.004+01:00

Charcoal on paper all approx 22" x 16"

Here are some recent life drawings (see above and below). Still going to the sessions most of the time and enjoying it. It's a good discipline. Sorry about the quality of the photos but you get the general idea. The paper is actually just slightly off white and I haven't time at the moment to mess about trying to get a decent shot.

Claire June 9th (1)

2011-06-10T10:23:00.002+01:00

Marissa May 26th

2011-06-10T10:21:00.001+01:00

Claire April 15th

2011-06-10T10:19:00.000+01:00

Re-working

2011-06-08T09:59:00.003+01:00

It seems to me a bit stupid to keep starting new paintings when the old ones do not satisfy in the way we would like. It's pleasant to get positive comments but I learned long ago that the only person who matters in this game is myself. Am I satisfied with this piece of work? Have I taken it as far as I can? The answer to the last question I suppose is "never". Artists have re-worked and re-worked over the centuries. I read something very wise recently - "when a painting is over-worked it needs re-working". Sometimes I do know when something is "finished" to my satisfaction but it's rare. I'm working on a bigger piece at the moment and it will take me some time so in the meantime please look below and see re-workings of the last half dozen paintings or so. If you are interested. Smile.

Thinking back

2011-06-02T12:35:00.002+01:00

Acrylic on wood panel 8" x 5.5"

I used a mix of palette knife and brush on this one allowing some of the white underpainting to show through and using a small screwdriver to scratch the surface.

The actress (re-work 5)

2011-06-02T10:16:00.006+01:00

Acrylic on canvas board 9.5" x 7"

I have split the background into two shapes and lightened the left hand side of it. I have changed the colour of her dress. After all, this is a "painting", a "creation". It is not a copy of something. It has to work "as a whole". Yes, I started with a photograph but that was left alone quite a few re-works ago. It became redundant.

Mermaid

2011-06-01T11:39:00.008+01:00

Acrylic on wood 7" x 6"

This has had a few re-works and a change of title.

Girl with auburn hair

2011-05-27T11:01:00.006+01:00

This painting has been sold at the Stockport Open Art Exhibition July 2011

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8"

I used both brushes and palette knife in this one. There are quite a few layers. I wanted to have the depth of paint but for the image to still look fragile.

Woman in white

2011-05-26T14:04:00.006+01:00

This painting won the Gateway Gallery second prize at the Stockport Open Art Exhbition, July 2011

Acrylic on wood panel 8"x 6"

I think this is my first ever palette knife painting in acrylic (I used a brush just to define the eyes and lips). I thought it would not work and that I would need to switch to oils. I also thought I would need some kind of bulking medium - a modelling paste of some sort added to the paint. Neither proved to be the case. It is a complete contrast to the "Hill People" painting below which uses thin layers of mostly translucent paint. It's amazing that i only finished this painting twenty minutes ago but already I can brush my fingers over the heavily textured surface. I am pleased!

Self portrait on blue (re-worked)

2011-05-24T09:16:00.003+01:00

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8"

I am beginning to see that painting on a dark, opaque undercolour, makes me paint differently and be much more conscious of edges. Maybe it's the same for everyone? This one was painted on a fairly deep saxe blue underpainted surface. Nice to explore these differences with small works like this.
Since first posting this painting I have done some re-working to it including re-establishing the blue background, removing detail from the shirt and re-describing the face. I like now how the attention is drawn immediately to the face where the only notes of warm colour are.

Self portrait on black

2011-05-23T14:31:00.003+01:00

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8"

I have a new big painting buzzing around in my head so until it sorts itself out I thought I'd fall back on a self portrait again, maybe a few, on different coloured backgrounds. This will help me with the bigger stuff, exploring the medium, supports, etc.

Hill People (revisited)

2011-05-20T15:16:00.003+01:00

Acrylic on hardboard 24" x 24"

After a week's break I have today done some re-working of the 'Hill People' painting. (I took the previous version off). I'm sort of interested in it so for me that is the key factor. I can't say I won't still work on it but for now I think it's in a temporary state of survival. Tribes, clans, communities, we all think they're odd unless we belong to one.

Life Drawings - Ellie

2011-05-06T18:18:00.005+01:00

Below (and above) are some of my recent life drawings of Ellie. They are done in charcoal (yes, I know all the things I said about charcoal, but a gal can change her mind) on A2 smooth cartridge drawing paper. The ones with 3 poses on were 10 minute poses. The rest were one hour poses. (If you click on the image once, then in the new window, click again, you can see the image super big).

2011-05-06T18:10:00.006+01:00

Women by the sea

2011-05-01T15:19:00.002+01:00

Acrylic on canvas board 18" x 22"

Another attempt at using canvas. I just don't have the same relationship with it that I have with hardboard. Maybe it's the same reason I used to take a Tesco carrier bag into the university with me instead of a briefcase. I'm happy with the painting but I'll go back to the smooth boards.

Figures on a beach

2011-04-30T14:28:00.000+01:00

Acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

Don't mess with me

2011-04-24T15:05:00.004+01:00

Acrylic on board 24" x 24"

I intended (with my editor's brain) for this painting to be done in the style of the portrait I did below (Woman on blue) but the paint brush simply did not want to cooperate so I let it go the way it wanted to. The digital pic has lost something of the character of the original which is a shame but isn't that usually the case.

Curved path

2011-04-23T13:22:00.001+01:00

Acrylic on wood panel 12" x 12"

Shadows on the land

2011-04-22T14:09:00.001+01:00

Acrylic on hardboard 12" x 12"

It started as another broken colour field exercise but it turned into a kind of surreal landscape.

Woman on blue

2011-04-21T14:42:00.004+01:00

Acrylic on hardboard 24" x 24"

A few months ago we had a local artist come to the Studio sessions to give a talk and a critique for members of the Guild. He said two things which resonated with me. One was - be yourself, don't try to be someone else, it won't work. The second was, if you are used to working small, work big. Take something you did on a small scale and see how it works on a big one (it might not work, so is that telling you anything?). I liked both these suggestions and I am finding that working on a bigger scale pushes me hard to really not pull the wool over my own eyes. I can see in glaring format when I am being less than "serious" (remember McEnroe at Wimbledon?). As to being myself, I am many people. Like most of us I am multiple personalities. When I am alone, painting, I have the complex task of selection and it often depends on what mood I am in. Trying to work "intuitively" means leaving "planning" on the shelf.
I felt a sense of satisfaction working on this Woman. Maybe a bit more work on her right eye remains.
ps. I have re-posted the pic as I needed to more accurately show the colour in her face and the darkness of her hair. In doing so the photo editor has lost some of that bluey tinge in the background. Sometimes you can't win. Wish you could see the original.

Untitled I

2011-04-20T10:48:00.003+01:00

Acrylic on hardboard 6" x 12"

Just practising with broken colour and glazing. This one reminded me of the earth in orbit and a small piece has broken off containing the germ of life and is winging its way to another planet. You can tell I have been reading Richard Dawkins can't you. By the way this painting can also be viewed vertically but with the earth at the top. It doesn't work for me the other way round.
(ps - or is it a huge jaffa orange being rolled along by invisible elves)

They came with bows in their hair - re-work

2011-04-18T12:11:00.002+01:00

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8"

I started off my painting day this morning by doing a couple of exercises from Emily Ball's book "Drawing and painting people: a fresh approach". It limbered me up to attack yesterday's "bows" painting. The green was irritating me too much anyway. It wasn't long before a third, tall figure emerged. This hardboard panel has been re-worked so many times (it was many other things before the "bows")it is now developing a sculptural quality of its own with little nublicks of paint. It is beginning to resemble a real linen covered board.

They came with bows in their hair

2011-04-17T16:39:00.003+01:00

This painting has now been re-worked. See entry for 18th April above

Mixed media on hardboard 8" x 8"

Not sure what to say. They've both got bows in their hair. What springs from one's imagination is a total mystery to me. I increased the contrast slightly on the pic which makes me think I might go back and work on the image some more.

Claire - back view

2011-04-15T15:08:00.002+01:00

Charcoal pencil, pitt charcoal and conte. Approx 12" x 8" each

Claire was our model again last night. Each view took me around three quarters of an hour. I shifted position a bit between the two drawings but the back view was interesting and I didn't regret having a second shot at it.

Survivor

2011-04-14T12:26:00.004+01:00

Acrylic on hardboard 12" x 12"

This is a rework of an earlier painting "A Northern girl" (March 27th). I wanted to introduce more tension and an almost psychological dimension. I like the way that veil of light over her face is a bit irritating. The title is a temporary one until I think of something better - if I do.

Boy in a bubble

2011-04-11T16:03:00.002+01:00

Acrylic on canvas board 12" x 16"

I started this just before I went to Ethiopia but when I came back to it today I knew it had to be changed. I wanted to emphasise that sense of isolation we often feel for various reasons. When I have to go away for a week or a couple of weeks I do find that when I come back I feel a sense of urgency about taking more risks in my work. It never feels to me like any kind of inconvenience that I am not able to paint while I am away. I think the "artist" side of my brain keeps on working even if the painting side can't (if that makes sense).

Richard

2011-04-01T10:53:00.002+01:00

Pitt charcoal on smooth cartridge paper approx 15" x 9"

Richard was our model on Monday evening's studio session. I tried to keep the drawing loose and free and felt the smooth surface helped. However, when I got home I realised that the paper had a different feel to each side and that I had in fact used the less smooth of the two sides, so next time I'll use the very smooth one.
It won't be for another week as I am off to Ethiopia again tonight but back next weekend.
See you soon.

A Northern Girl

2011-03-27T15:19:00.002+01:00

This painting has been re-worked. See posting for April 14th - 'Survivor'

Acrylic on hardboard 12" x 12"

I don't want to fall into the trap of painting beautiful women but what can you do when your model is sweet sixteen. Aren't they all beautiful?

A certain age

2011-03-21T13:54:00.000Z

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8"

The Family

2011-03-20T10:23:00.002Z

Mixed media on hardboard 8" x 8"

Something weird happened. Like all painters I have my current "favourite" paintings. I realised that all these favourite paintings had shared elements. Most were figurative with a couple of still lifes. But the most important finding was that all these paintings had a lot of "variation" in the colour planes. There was very little "uniformity" in paint application which is not the same as saying they were "textured" but I don't know how to describe it. I decided to take one of these paintings and copy it. But my inner voice kept saying - what are you doing that for - do your own painting and put variation into the colour planes. So I worked from my imagination and this is what came out. It's a recurring theme for me - family and northern town, urban, suburban. I suppose it's history.
It's mixed media because I did most of the under-work in acrylic, kept using the paint quite dryly and using rough and fine grade sandpaper to stop myself getting "precious" about it. I used a small screw driver to scratch onto the surface as well. But then I ended up getting the water mixable oils and working my "top layer". I am not sure it is finished but it was different and satisfying to do.

Bistro girl

2011-03-18T13:48:00.002Z

Acrylic on hardboard 12" x 12"

Even more hard edges this time but at the moment I'm content with it. (But we all know what that means).

Greek offerings

2011-03-17T09:36:00.003Z

Charcoal pencil and graphite pencil approx 14" x 11"

I have done no painting for days. Simple reason, just no time. I even have studio work I have not put up. You can see below two examples of recent life drawings. The two drawings I have posted at the top here I did over the last couple of evenings from my bank of photos but trying to take a bit of artistic licence with them. The girl holding the fruit for instance was not holding anything in the photo. So I had to hold a satsuma myself in my left hand, look in the mirror and take a photo with my right hand. Funny how easy it is to identify which drawings were done from life and which from photos. I enjoy both equally.

Two dimensional

2011-03-17T09:34:00.001Z

Charcoal pencil and graphite pencil approx 13" x 11"

Model in profile

2011-03-17T09:33:00.001Z

Charcoal pencil on cartridge approx 22" x 16"

Model back view

2011-03-17T09:31:00.002Z

Conte on cartridge paper approx 22" x 16"

An April day on Woodhead Road (1)

2011-03-11T19:04:00.005Z

This painting has been sold

Girl with imitation tiger skin rug

2011-03-07T11:12:00.001Z

Acrylic on hardboard 12" x 12"

No lost edges with this one. Not in the mood for lost edges I suppose.

Self portrait with circle

2011-03-06T14:45:00.002Z

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8"

Tried leaving out the umbers. My palette was Venetian red, Ultramarine, yellow ochre, a tiny spot of green oxide and a tiny bit of burnt sienna - plus titanium white. The colours on this digital shot are not quite the same as the originals. Just one of those that's hard to capture.

Promenade

2011-03-02T14:53:00.002Z

Acrylic on hardboard 8" x 8"

This is based on photos I took on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice a few years ago. The lady was just a passer by. I think she might have been an office worker. She didn't feel like a tourist somehow.

Siblings

2011-03-01T12:06:00.004Z

This painting has been sold

Acrylic on hardboard 12" x 12"

This is another of those paintings that refused to photograph as well as I would have liked. There is a certain "whoomph" around the girl's face in the original painting which is getting a bit lost here. The colours were difficult to capture. I enjoyed doing a lot of scumbling with this one.

Couple

2011-02-27T12:49:00.003Z

Oil on hardboard 8" x 8"

It's amazing to me what I am still learning about colour after what seems such a long time of painting. I am learning to be very careful of introducing earth colours into shadowy areas. They can kill a painting if you are not careful. My reliance on the umbers and the ochres has to be tempered in some way. Must experiment with using just the cadmiums and see what happens.
This top painting - Couple - turned out in digital image to be slightly bluer than it is in reality but I like it, so when it is dry I may put a blue wash over part of the painting.

In France (IV)

2011-02-27T12:46:00.003Z

Oil on Canvas board 16" x 12"