One Bottle At A Time.

Painting The Pink One.

I’m still copying the painting by Manet and it’s a right slog, I can tell you. It’s mostly done, just the finer details to do, so today I decided to tackle it a bottle at a time – there are a lot of bottles – and worked on the pink wine bottle. It’s nearly finished, just a bit of tidying up and then it’s onto the Bass Brewery beer next to it. An early example of product placement according to this link here.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Another Day, Another Segment

Tidying Up The Oranges.

I moved onto another bit of Manet’s “A Bar At The Folies Bergere” painting that I’m copying today, upside down because it’s easier. The oranges are almost finished, the glassware is shaping up and I’ve laid down a base coat for the bottle. Still-life painting is new to me and much more complex than I ever realised. I started copying great artworks early in lockdown 2020, with Ed Sumner’s Cheese and Wine Painting Club on Facebook. He started it to give people something to do during the pandemic – none of us realised that we’d be in some sort of lockdown for 18 months back then. I really like doing it, I’ve learnt so much about technique.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Details And Fiddly Bits.

Painting Champagne Bottles.

I’m still copying Manet’s painting, “A Bar At The Folies Bergere” and still working with the picture upside down. It’s certainly easier than painting it right way up, but it’s so complicated and it’s taking ages. It’s not just a portrait, it’s also a series of little still life groupings and these are the things I’m having problems with. I’m not used to paintings still lifes and it’s hard going. But I’m learning tons.

The Work In Progress.

Here’s where I am now, it’s mostly done but I have got to get stuck in to all the details, all the fiddly bits…. It really makes me appreciate what a talented painter Edouard Manet was.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Right Place, Right Time.

View From “Taco Bridge”, Swansea.

Husb and I were out and about in the city yesterday and strolled across the new “Taco” bridge. I can’t remember what it’s official name is, locals have come up with a few nicknames – Taco Bridge, Crunchie Bridge and Waffle Bridge. I’m going with Taco. It’s got all these interesting patterns cut out of it and I spotted it’s reflection in a window through one of the holes, so I snapped it. Right place, right time. Took it on my phone.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

More Upside Down Shenanigans

Slow Progress On This Still Life Section.

I carried on copying Manet’s “Bar At The Folies Bergere” today, working on a still life section of the painting. I’ve kept to the upside down technique as I’m finding it easier to copy when what I’m seeing is shapes and colours, rather than ‘things’. There’s a fair bit more work to do on these few objects though – painting glass is REALLY hard! And after these, there’s all the champagne bottles to do in the original.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Too Polished.

A Segment Of Manet’s Background.

I carried on painting another segment of Edouard Manet’s “A Bar At The Folies Bergere” this evening after work. I didn’t do much because I’ve been so tired since I went down with Covid19 back in March, but I’m getting better bit by bit. Now that I’m studying Manet’s painting upside down, the roughness and spontaneity of his brushstrokes is obvious. Which it should be, as he was one of the leading Impressionist artists. When it’s the right way up, I’ve been falling into the trap of being too polished. It’s much less stressful to do it from this angle.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Doing It Upside Down

Copying Manet’s Famous Painting.

I started this painting ages ago, back last year, when we were in lockdown and I was painting weekly with Ed Sumner’s “Cheese and Wine Painting Club” on Facebook. It’s a famous work, “The Bar At The Folies Bergere” by the Impressionist painter Edouard Manet. I’ve been putting off finishing it, partly because of life, work and Covid19 but also because I was stuck on the finer details, especially the model’s face. So today I told myself to get on with it and took a new approach. I turned it upside down. And it worked!!!! So much easier. I’ll do the rest of it upside down now.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

A Quickie Down The Pub.

A Quick Sketch In The Local Pub.

Popped into our local pub, The Brunswick Inn, for a couple of hours a few evenings ago with some family, listening to the acoustic live music and just chatting, like things were before Covid19. Of course I had a quick scribble ……

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Pastel Sausages And Scribbles.

Trying out my new pastels.

I gave my new pastels from Florence Paintmakers a go today, on some black paper, just messing around to get the feel of them. Nice. Looks like a box of sausages though 😀

Scribbling a head. More to come.

Then I had a go at sketching a head from a photo. Didn’t have time to do much today, but I’ll finish this tomorrow. I like the easy, scribbly action of the pastels, although they’re very soft and crumbly. Gorgeous though.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Ochres from Clearwell mines.

As well as the gorgeous mineral pastels from Cumbria I featured in my last blog post, I also have these lovely pots of mineral pigments from the Clearwell Cave mine in the Forest of Dean. Husb and I visited last Autumn and were amazed by the beauty of the underground caverns, which are reasonably easy to get around. But my main motive for going there was to buy some of the pigments they mine there. Ochre has been mined there by Freeminers for about 4,500 years and it’s still going strong.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.