Time for Southwold again

I'm at Southwold Art and Craft Fair this weekend, Friday to Monday inclusive, at the Methodist chapel by the brewery. Looking forward to meeting up with old friends after a long winter, and perhaps a jar or two in the Sole Bay Inn.

Beach Bums

Then the following week I'm in Snape for a week long solo show in the Old Workshop gallery on the quay. A busy time ahead.

Bad Hair Day

Poor old Murphy had another traumatic experience today. I've been feeling a lot better recently so we went on a slightly longer walk than I've been able to do of late. We ended up in Thorpeness and headed back the long way through the farms and conservation area. What I hadn't realised was that every field between Thorpeness and where I'd left the car was packed full of pigs, more pigs than I've ever seen before. We have horizon to horizon pigs!

I was quick to put little Leon on his lead, but thought I could trust old Murphy. Wrong!

Spotting a gap in the hedgerow he shot off, belted through the fence at full tilt and proceeded to round up all of the pigs. It was like bloody Rawhide on speed. The pigs were not impressed, the noise was horrendous. A particularly meaty looking sow, the obvious object of his affection decided to see him off. I called him back and, give him his due, he came straight away but navigating the fence at walking pace gave him quite a surprise.... it being an electric fence. He let out an almighty roar, the pigs stampeded, the sow was laughing I swear. Leon was bouncing up and down like a yoyo with excitement. A very large pig farmer started across the field toward us... time to get out of there... Murphy was having no more of that electrickery but found his way to the gate and managed to scramble over it. We made off sharpish. Poor old Murph still looks like a demented Tasmanian Devil but I bet he won't do that again in a hurry.

Driftwood Seal anyone?

Taking a short break from painting/drawing for a week or so, I found a lovely piece of old driftwood recently, on the beach nearby. It's about 12 x 8 x 4 inches. When I picked it up it immediately suggested a seal to me. So with the minimum of carving but much sandpapering and polishing, I now have a nice little sculpture to gather dust on the coffee table.

You can see how the grain has been affected by 'spalting'.

For those who don't know, spalting is a term used to describe the process by which certain fungi grow on dead or fallen trees, colonizing the wood by travelling up the wood cells from the ends of broken off branches, leaving a most attractive pattern. The process takes 2 to 3 years to reach the ideal stage to cut & season the timber. I haven't a clue how long this piece was lying on the shore, or even what type of wood it is but the patterns are very attractive.

 Below you can see I shaped the wood slightly to bring out more of the wood grain as it curves and travels through.

 A close up of some of the patterns and colouration.

I used a sanding sealer (shellac), a lot of elbow grease and several coats of natural wax to bring it up to a lovely glass smooth finish. Very tactile.

Aldeburgh Craft Fair

Aldeburgh Beach

This coming weekend is the beginning of the Spring/Summer exhibiting season for me and I'm kicking of with a small display of paintings and prints at the Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh on Saturday. We're open for business from 10 o'clock Saturday through until 4 o'clock Monday afternoon.

The Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh

There will be tea and coffee and snacks on offer all day, as well as a raffle. All in aid of Save The Children. You may even win one of my framed prints in the raffle!

Aldeburgh is a nice place for a day out, there will be quite a lot of other events going on throughout the bank holiday weekend. So if you are in the area, call in and say hello.

Later in the month I'm at another craft fair just up the coast in Southwold, and the following week I have a solo exhibition in Snape at the workshop gallery on the quay at the Maltings.

Quite a busy start, but I'll not be doing quite so much through the rest of the Summer due to an upcoming operation (when the NHS can fit me in... only been waiting 5 months so far) I do have another solo exhibition booked in October, hopefully I'll be fully fit again by then.

 

 

 

Wisdom



My latest watercolour painting, created with my Daniel Smith paints on Arches Aquarelle paper. The Tibetan character is for Laksmi, goddess of prosperity. It also represents light and wisdom, generosity and courage.

I used a couple of photographs from the Paint my Photo website for this piece, along with a little imagination and of course Google!

 

Rising Damp

Rising Damp ~ watercolour on Arches, about 13.5 x 9.5 inches

Today I did a quick watercolour of Murphy. I've had the reference photograph since last Winter but not gotten around to using it.

It's nice having a willing and handsome model always available. Even though it's unlikely anyone will want to buy a painting of someone elses dog, (and I do have to consider that as I paint for a living) I just fancied painting him for a change.

Rainbows and Pots of Gold ~ complete

Rainbows and Pots of Gold
14 x 11 inches watercolour on Arches Aquarelle paper

A word of advice, probably not the best idea to work all day on a painting when you are not feeling well. I was feeling particularly grim yesterday but persevered with my painting, very nearly completing it. When I went back to it this morning feeling much better today, I realised what a complete pigs ear I had made of it. So I spent the first couple of hours stripping back as best I could, 90% of yesterdays work. Mostly the scarf and little dog.

I've re-panted it now and, although I'm not totally happy with it (are we ever?) I'm going to leave it for a day or two. Hopefully now I've stopped toiling over it, if I come back to it tomorrow I can look at it more objectively.

Thanks again to Jo Sheppard for allowing me to use her photograph for reference.

Rainbows and Pots of Gold

The first days work on a new portrait. The subject is my friend and fellow artist Jo Sheppard. I've had the title buzzing around my head for ages after discovering the Kelly Jones (Stereophonics) song of the same name but couldn't seem to find a suitable reference subject until today. It's coming on quite nicely I think but still a lot to do. I'm still working on the hair and the face needs finishing properly. Then there's a colourful scarf to complete and a little dog to add too.

I've added the lyrics to the song here, I get a lot of inspiration from songs.....

I heard you're doing well
Selling art and everything
I like you're stuff; good for you
I'll buy a piece or maybe two

Do you ever think of me?
Do you remember all our stupid dreams?
Rainbows and pots of gold
So much to prove before we got old

I took you places round the world
I miss you're face sometimes you know
You took my picture a thousand times
I bought them back; I don't mind

I lost my way but found my track
I'm sorry if I never listened back
I've been round; I've been up and down
And you missed the one we dressed like clowns

And how's your car and how's your life?
How's my friend; when's she gonna be your wife?
I'm sitting up writing down
These things I sometimes dream about

I knew your number off by heart
It's the only one I like to talk
It wasn't me using you
I trusted you; one of the few

And we had some laughs; had some rows
But in the end the walls came down
You like the place I'm living now
It's a shame you can't come around

And I've grown a lot since we last spoke
Got myself together; fixed what was broke
I wonder if we'll talk again
Or drink together just like then

I suppose it's different now it's new
Whoever points the finger at who
I really hope you're happy both of you
And maybe sometimes you miss me too

Prince of Darkness

I thought it time I tried my hand at another portrait. I recently came across a great photograph by Keith Saint and, after asking his permission to use it for reference I got started.

After drawing it out lightly I started on the face. I chose a sheet of Arches Hot Pressed paper for this. I thought it might be more suitable for a portrait but, to be honest I prefer paper with a decent texture. This was too smooth for my style of painting really, never mind. Above is where I got to after a couple of broken sessions of painting. A lot of distractions of late so it's difficult to calculate how long I actually spent painting.



Next I put in a bit of loose background before continuing with the hat and later the hair.

Prince Of Darkness

The last part is where I really struggled with the paper, on the hands. They've ended up a bit darker than I'd planned but overall I'm quite pleased with the end result. Looking at it now though, I wish I'd used a larger piece of paper. To the right I may have painted in a raven. Anyhow, this is 14 x 10 inches watercolour on Arches CP paper.

Cigarettes and Whisky and Wild, Wild Women

Cigarettes and Whisky and Wild, Wild Women
16 x 12 inches watercolour on Arches Aquarelle paper

Well here is the completed painting. I've never painted smoke before, I was going to do it with pastel but eventually, with heart in mouth I decided to use white gouache instead. After so much detailed work I was very concerned that I might totally ruin the painting at the last hurdle. In actual fact, once I got started the smoke was quite fun to do. I used a rigger brush with a dilute mix of white gouache and used confident strokes using the side as well as the tip of the brush, plenty of water and then just picked out areas with a slightly stronger mix. I think it helps relate the objects to each other and introduces a bit of movement too.

Latest Work In Progress

Another still life painting I began working on this week, it's watercolour on Arches Aquarelle paper. I had been thinking of painting a portrait for a change, but at a loss to decide the subject. I always have to think about it's marketability so pointless doing a self portrait and I no longer feel comfortable with using celebrity images.

Fortunately, my friend and fellow artist Joanna Laurence offered me the chance to use one of her photographs for reference. She models for her own work and sent me some fabulous photographs to choose from. I didn't want anything too erotic so I came up with the idea you can see coming together here. It will be entitled 'Cigarettes and Whisky and Wild, Wild Women'. Initially I was going to put the photo into a calendar in the background but couldn't work out a decent composition, so I chose to use an ornamental frame instead. This in itself was very challenging. I'm using my Daniel Smith paints, the gold ochre and bronzite have worked well with a touch of permanent brown here and there too, but the moulding was very time consuming.

The whole painting measures 16 a 12 inches, so the actual portrait is only about 5.5 x 3.5 inches, again quite challenging to paint that small. The image of Joanna here isn't quite finished yet, I need to smooth out the face a little but I'm quite happy with it.

There is also to be some bank notes and coins, my whisky-pig (the same one as in my 'Whisky In The Jar' painting) as well as a sunflower, cigarette and ashtray. So quite a way to go yet.
I've actually completed a bit more today but I won't post any further progress shots now until it's completed.

Desperadoes

Desperadoes 26 x 12 inches pencil on Stonehenge
click to enlarge

Desperado. Early 17th century: pseudo-Spanish alteration of the obsolete noun desperate. Both desperate and desperado originally denoted a person in despair or in a desperate situation, hence someone made reckless by despair

I think the above definition sums up the wolves plight fairly well. With their loss of habitat coupled with the over hunting of their natural prey, it's unsurprising that they are finding themselves in desperate situations as they are forced to prey on cattle and domestic animals to survive.  I shudder every time I read of another atrocity carried out by man on these magnificent wild creatures.

This drawing turned into a bit of an epic and, as I've not been at full capacity of late, has taken quite a while to complete but I'm happy with the result. I have a bit of framing to catch up on now, then it's back to watercolour I think.....I have several ideas for new paintings.

Desperadoes WIP stage 4

Quite a bit more work done on the background now, and there is more to do as well as finishing the sky. However at this stage I thought I'd better crack on with the third wolf. He's about two thirds done and I'm hoping that one more complete day will see this one just about finished.

Desperadoes ~ A Little More Progress

Stage 3 'Desperadoes' 26 x 12 inches pencils on Stonehenge
Click to enlarge

Here is an update on the progress of my 'Desperadoes' drawing. All things considered I think it's moving along quite well.

Those in regular contact with me will know I'm suffering a few health problems at the moment, which is hindering me quite a bit. I'm not able to get out and about much and have constant discomfort and pains. I had hoped that at the very least I'd be able to sit in my studio and churn out plenty of work. Unfortunately I'm having to take some drugs as and when needed which leave me feeling quite strange. For instance yesterday I had to stop work when the room started spinning (not the best aid to a complicated drawing session). I'm still waiting to hear about a date for my surgery, meanwhile I'm off to the GP tomorrow to see if he can chase it up a bit.....He'll probably prescribe more drugs.....watch out for some psychedelic abstracts.....

Desperadoes WIP

Stage 1. Click to enlarge

Stage 2. Click to enlarge

Back to my drawing board this week. Wolves are one of my favourite subjects to draw or paint and I must have created dozens over the years. However, looking at my spreadsheets of what has sold and what is left, I see I only have one wolf painting remaining which is a pastel piece entitled 'Nova'. Obviously my customers like this subject too so I'm working on this fairly large panoramic piece which is about 26 x 12 inches in size, using graphite pencils on Stonehenge paper.

I started with a reference photograph from the Wet Canvas reference library of one wolf which was a rather sad depiction of him laying in a dusty compound at a zoo. Using ideas from many more photographs from Paint My Photo, I have sketched in another two wolves to my composition and set about creating a panoramic scene for them to feature in. I am making the background and foreground up as I go along, so at this point I can't say how it's going to finish up.

The above represents 3 sessions of work totalling about 15 hours and I estimate I'm about half way through. What with a busy weekend of sport ahead (rugby and the Australian Grand Prix) to distract me, I can't see a lot more progress being made until early next week.

Age Before Beauty

Another pencil drawing this week, really because I sold a drawing which was framed and the customer wanted it unframed therefore I had a nice empty frame to fill. This one is A3 size on Bristol board. I used a reference photo from the Paint My Photo website by Li Newton.

My idea was to have a sort of Tiananmen Square theme to this piece, what with the forthcoming deer cull here in the UK, plus the constant threat to the rhino because of those Chinese nutters. But couldn't think of an appropriate title. Never mind.

Whisky In The Jar

My painting for this week. 11 x 15.5 inches. Again I have used my Daniel Smith watercolours on a piece of Arches. The whisky jar was one I had on my shelf and I've added a few other things to make up a composition. I've always had a lot of trouble painting anything with writing on it, it always turns out looking like a 5 year old wrote it. So I spent a long time on the writing this time, attempting to get it right. It's far from perfect but it'll do I think.

Paint My Photo Quarterly Magazine

I'd almost forgotten I'd written an article for the Paint My Photo website's quarterly news letter quite some time ago. It's just been published and I'm on pages 35 - 42 http://issuu.com/paintmyphoto/docs/newsletter_spring_2013 There are some other interesting articles too, take a look.

Paint My Photo has been such a fantastic resource for me over the past few years. For people such as myself who lack the photographic skills, equipment and opportunities to get very much of our own reference material there is a wealth of fantastic photographs to use without any fears about copyright issues. There is also a thriving community to tap into whether it be for advice, critique or just for friendship.

Time Is Running Out

A small practice piece, only 7 x 5 inches, pastel pencils on Pastel Mat. I haven't done any pastel work for quite a while..... I think perhaps this idea might have been better suited to coloured pencil in retrospect but it's done now. Obviously the message is clear with this one.

A Walk On The Wild Side

Having just completed a couple of small pet portrait commissions in pencil, I've been back at the painting easel again this week. This was a bit of a different subject for me, but I came across the reference photo on the Paint My Photo website and thought it might make a nice addition to my series of still life paintings I've been engrossed in of late. I used a piece of Arches paper from the 'job lot' I picked up a while back. It was very smooth paper, apparently recommended for botanical paintings. It took a while for me to get used to the lack of texture but made the reflections a bit easier to achieve.

Apart from the impact made by the design of these shoes, I quite like the hint at a story with the rose and the discarded rings in the composition. People viewing this picture have been saying that they hadn't noticed the rings at first. I think that's a good thing, encouraging the viewer to look closer and perhaps think about the suggested story a bit more. I added the little baby wren to complete the scene (and confuse things a little)

I've framed it now as above and it's available for sale on my website here.

After quite a busy New Year in terms of sales, I'm relieved to say I've built up my stock of new work a little now, so can relax a bit before the exhibitions and shows begin in the Spring. I had planned to start a new wood carving today for a change of activity. I find the change of medium helps prevent me from getting stale and running out of steam, giving me time to think up fresh ideas. Many artists seem to suffer from a block occasionally, or feel they are on some sort of production line. Interspersing my painting or drawing sessions with something different, just as a hobby but equally creative, is my way of making sure that's rarely a problem for me.

Unfortunately I'm not feeling up to it today. My health is all over the place at the moment. I'm going in to hospital on Monday for an angiogram and hopefully soon after they will book me in to carry out the much needed repairs to my heart. Not something I'm looking forward to but it will be good to get it over with so I can start to get myself  fit again. The downside is that I'll be on blood thinning drugs afterwards. What with my habit of managing to stab myself regularly while wood carving, my workshop is going to look even more like an abattoir than usual, perhaps I'd better lay off that at least in the short term.

Wild Thing

It was sad to hear of the death of dear old Reg Presley recently, The Troggs were one of those bands I grew up with. I remember, aged about 14, going out and buying an ocarina so that I could learn the solo from 'Wild Thing'. It was the only tune I ever learned to play on it..... I recently discovered my ocarina displayed as an ornament on my brother's sideboard.

Ever since I read of his demise I have had the song 'Wild Thing' buzzing around my head. So here is my latest watercolour in my still-life series featuring an ocarina as well as my old harmonica and a guitar as a back drop. It wouldn't really be me if I didn't include a creature of some sort so I've re-painted my rat from a few paintings ago (which sold rather quickly) and I've called it 'Wild Thing'

Does it make your heart sing? .....Groovy.

 

Tit-Tack Completed

At last here it is finished. Tit-Tack ~ 14 x 10 inches Daniel Smith watercolours on Fabriano Artistico paper. Reference photographs from Paint My Photo, title from Paula Oakley.

Got a bit of framing to catch up on now, but I have so many painting ideas buzzing around my head I may just plough on with them for now and worry about the framing later.

Tit-Tack...WIP Further Progress

I had hoped to complete this today but got bogged down a bit, then developed a migraine.....happy days! Still I got quite a bit done and should be able to finish it in my next session, hopefully tomorrow.

I was a bit stumped for a title for this piece but thanks to my talented friend Paula Oakley for coming up with 'Tit-Tack'

A New Still Life WIP

I've been working on this watercolour today and yesterday. It's a poor quality photograph I'm afraid, taken at night under artificial lighting. I'll scan the completed painting properly when it's finished.

A few weeks (months?) ago I got a job lot of watercolour paper from a lady who it appears had more money than talent (or patience) and had given up painting in frustration. So I have a lot of paper I've never tried out before, although most is of good quality. I chose a sheet of Fabriano Artistico cotton rag paper for this painting....I don't think it was a very good choice as it's quite difficult for fine detailing, what with a sort of fine canvas weave pattern in the texture. The resulting effect is actually really nice but hard to achieve.

I'm using 2 photographs from Paint My Photo for reference, one for the Great Tit, the other for the rest. I'm still undecided whether to put in any background or not.... The ropes curvr right across the paper and below them is a wooden support which the saddle has been slung over. But I think I may have something above the ropes to help bring out the spurs a bit better. I also need a title. I'm sure something will come to me.

Still much to do....the ropes are going to be tedious but I'll get there in the end.