Dapping The Sunflowers

I’ve been carrying on copying this vase of sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh today. It’s not easy. I keep checking back with the original and it’s clear that Vincent used many layers of thick paint applied in streaks and dashes with a brush. The lower sunflowers look like he was dapping the paint on withContinue reading “Dapping The Sunflowers”

Faffing And Faking The Other Starry Night

I’ve stopped faffing and finished the copy of Starry Night On The Rhone by Vincent van Gogh that I began last Friday at Ed Sumner’s Cheese and Wine Painting Club. Vincent’s painting are surprisingly complex. The composition is fairly simple but there are layers and layers of frantic brushstrokes in a many different tones ofContinue reading “Faffing And Faking The Other Starry Night”

The Vigil

Sometimes you see an image that jumps out at you – one that might well become iconic. This is one of those images, from a photo of the arrest of Patsy Stevenson by Hannah McKay: Credit Reuters, taken at yesterdays vigil for the murdered Sarah Everard in Clapham Common, London. Willow charcoal, gouache and watercolourContinue reading “The Vigil”

An Arty Morning

Husb and I had an arty morning today. I carried on working on two of the paintings I’m copying at the moment and Husb did some more on his self-portrait. I’ve been doing copies every week with Ed Sumner’s Cheese and Wine Painting Club on Facebook for almost a year now and Husb began hisContinue reading “An Arty Morning”

The Other Starry Night

It’s Faking Friday again with Ed Sumner’s Cheese and Wine Painting Club over on Facebook. This week’s masterpiece is Starry Night Over The Rhone by Vincent van Gogh. I’ve done most of it, but still a bit more over the weekend, layering up the colours in small textured dots. I’ve been doing these weekly forContinue reading “The Other Starry Night”

Finally Finished Faffing

Storm at Sea by JMW Turner. I think this is the hardest painting I have copied since I joined Ed Sumner’s Cheese and Wine Painting Club almost a year ago now. I’ve done almost 40 and I’ve learnt so much from copying such a range of artists, but Turner has definitely been the most difficultContinue reading “Finally Finished Faffing”

Layers Of Faff

I’m still working on the fake JMW Turner painting, “Storm at Sea”, building layer upon layer, knocking the colour back with thin glazes of watery white and rubbing through to reveal some of the delicate colours beneath, all overlaid with thick gobbets of paint piling texture onto the surface of the canvas. All a bitContinue reading “Layers Of Faff”

Parrots And Plants!

It’s been my lockdown challenge to improve my painting skills which is why I joined Ed Sumner’s Cheese And Wine Painting Club almost a year ago. It’s working, I’m so much more confident with paint now, but strangely I’ve hardly done any printmaking during the same period. I do the weekly open sessions on FridayContinue reading “Parrots And Plants!”

Good Night From Frida And Her Parrots

I’ve just finished a painting lesson on Zoom, with painter Ed Sumner of the Cheese and Wine Painting Club. Our subject was Frida Kahlo in honour of today being International Women’s Day 2021. There’s still a fair bit of work to do on this, but I think it’s getting there. The parrots are going toContinue reading “Good Night From Frida And Her Parrots”

Long Haul Faff

I carried on faking “Storms at Sea” by Joseph Mallord William Turner today. It’s a long haul, it’s built up of many textures and layers of paint and it’s quite hard to see these in the print-out I have. I discovered a new way (new to me anyway) to apply the paint today, using thickContinue reading “Long Haul Faff”