Wet And Dry

alan 2

Here are a couple more short poses from Thursday evening’s life drawing session at Swansea Print Workshop. The one above is a 5 minute pose and the one below 10 minutes. I was using gouache for the first time for life drawing, white and black onto black paper. I enjoyed the feel of the paint and I’m a bit more experimental with the wet paint than I normally am with dry media. Our lovely model doesn’t look like that, I was deliberately distorting.

alan 3

 

 

 

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique 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 and to see the complete image.

Inspired by drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique artefacts 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.

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

Yet Another Faking Friday …. with van Gogh ….

vg sunset 5

 

It Friday so it must be Faking day with the Cheese and Wine Painting Club on Facebook. This week we’re faking a van Gogh painting of a sunset. I think it’s one of his earlier ones. I think another hour should do it – but I always say that! This is my 26th lunchtime fake but the painter who runs the club, Ed Sumner, has been doing it since the beginning of the firts lockdown in March. He keeps a video of each session and they’re on the Facebook page – I think he’s done about 37 now.

Just Back ……

alan 1

Just back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop this evening. Tired now. Here’s a five minute pose. I used gouache which I’ve hardly ever done before, black and white paint into a black bound Seawhites A4 sketch book.

Nos da. Good night.

Klimt, Rivera, Brangwyn ….. Banksy?

Klimt 8a

Still plugging away, this time on the fake Woman In Gold – Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer –  by Gustav Klimt. This is a real labour of love. I want to do it well, but the original is so complex that it’s taking ages. Apparently Klimt took about 4 years to do it. He started his career as a muralist, working on a huge scale on massive decorative public art. That’s somehing we seem to have lost in Western art in recent years. In the first half of the 20th century they were really popular and great artists worked on murals – Gustav Klimt, Frank Brangwyn and Diego Rivera. Where are the muralists now? Banksy maybe?

Klimt 8b

I’m working with Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paint onto a cheap canvas. I’m using mainly metallics – copper, antique gold and silver, with some titanium white, mars black, Turner yellow, lemon yellow, orange. I’m using various techniques that I have been learning about in the Cheese and Wine Painting Club that I take part in each week – dry brush, wet on wet, and scraffito – scraping into the wet paint to the dry paint underneath. Klimt used gold leaf in the original, but I’m not going to go to that much effort. I’m focusing on the decorative work first and I’ll finish the portrait and hair when that’s finished.

I’ve been joining in with the Cheese and Wine Painting Club on Facebook on Friday lunchtimes, where painter Ed Sumner leads us in doing a painting by a great artist. This coming Friday it’s a van Gogh Sunset.  The sessions are free or a donation if you can afford to. He’s been doing these since the lockdown started back in March.

 

 

 

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique 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 and to see the complete image.

Inspired by drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique artefacts 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.

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

Just Slogging Now …

Magritte 8

I carried on working on the little fake Magritte, Son Of Man, that I started last week. It’s not exciting work, just slogging now. Most of  it has been done and I’m building up the layers and starting to make corrections. This afternoon, after a hefty stint down the allotment (I’m aching) I added a lot of small, fine detail to the brickwork, I think that’s probably finished now. Then I made the hands wider and extended them down by quite a lot – you can see how much by the hand on the right. I also made the face longer, the apple smaller, repositioned the shirt collar and tie, and made the leaves larger with white paint, ready for green next time. I think one more session should finish it. I’m using Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paints.

 

I’ve been joining in with the Cheese and Wine Painting Club on Facebook on Friday lunchtimes, where painter Ed Sumner leads us in doing a painting by a great artist. This Friday lunchtime it’s a van Gogh Sunset.  The sessions are free or a donation if you can afford to. He’s been doing these since the lockdown started back in March.

 

 

 

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique 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 and to see the complete image.

Inspired by drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique artefacts 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.

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

Doing The Detail

20201130_120608

I carried on faking “Son Of Man” by René Magritte today, focusing on the finer details, like the brickwork on the wall, rendering the cloth on the coat and sketching in the shirt, tie and hands. I can see what needs some attention – the left lapel, the hat brim and the apple which is too large, the hands are too small. I’m learning a lot about applying paint from doing this one, working wet on wet and blending colours directly on the canvas. I hope to get it finished tomorrow.

I paint a fake every Friday lunchtime with the Cheese and Wine Painting Club over on Facebook – it’s my lockdown challenge. I think this is number 25. Painter Ed Sumner, who runs the club, has done 35 since lockdown started in March. The cost is a donation or free for those who can’t afford it. The next one, on December 4th, is van Gogh’s sunset.

Nearly But Not Quite

Rob 6

I did some more painting today – what’s going on with me? I’ve hardly painted since I was in art college back in the 1970s and now I can’t stop. The fabulous GS Artists have been organising free art tutorials, a mixture of Zoom and on-site (observing safety protocols of course). It’s part of the 9-to-90 art events programme in Swansea and there are plenty coming up – click on the link to find out more. Today’s was a portrait class run by Tomos Sparnon and the subject was ‘Gavin And Stacey’ actor Rob Brydon. It isn’t a good likeness yet but I’m getting there. I’ve made his nose too long which makes his face too long.

Tomos started with some sketchbook exercises in pencil and then we tried a few quick scribbles of Rob before drawing him up ready for painting. I worked on paper in gouache, a new experience for me and I really liked it. One of my favourite artists, Egon Schiele, did a lot of his best work in gouache. I think that one of the most important things I learned today was not to be too precious about a painting. Keep at it even though there are mistakes because recognising those is part of the process. Then put it aside and start another. And another until you get it right. Good stuff.

 

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique 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 and to see the complete image.

Inspired by drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique artefacts 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.

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

 

 

Faking A Man With An Apple For A Face

Magritte 6

Today’s painting session with Ed Sumner’s Cheese and Wine Painting Club on Facebook is a famous painting by the Belgian Surrealist artist René Magritte, “The Son Of Man”. It isn’t finished, I reckon a couple of hours over the weekend should do it.

I set myself a lockdown challenge to improve my painting skills and found this paint club. This is my 26th painting (I think). It’s working, I’m getting better at it. The next Cheese and Wine Painting Club is an extra one tomorrow (Saturday 28th November) painting a Winter landscape.  And next Friday lunchtime it’s a van Gogh Sunset. If you fancy joining in, it’s suitable for anyone over the age of 5, it’s family friendly and it costs a donation or free for those who can’t afford to.

 

 

 

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique 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 and to see the complete image.

Inspired by drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique artefacts 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.

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

 

Passing On The Vintage

10 mins c

Here’s a 10 minute pose from last week’s life drawing session at Swansea Print Workshop. I worked onto a heavy textured vintage paper – it doesn’t have a watermark so I don’t know the make. Over the past few years I have been given loads of vintage papers, and some tools as well, by relatives of elderly artists who passed away.

It’s kind to pass these thing on to other artists and it means that they will be used for what their original owners intended. I will have to have that conversation with my relatives so they’ll pass on my materials when I shuffle off this mortal coil.

 

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique 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 and to see the complete image.

Inspired by drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique artefacts 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.

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

Building The Woman In Gold

Klimt 6a

I carried on doing some work on my copy of Gustav Klimt’s “Woman In Gold” today, building up the layers of sumptuous decoration on her dress and the background. I started this a few weeks ago when I enrolled on a Zoom painting tutorial taught by the painter Ed Sumner. Ed has been running free painting classes every Friday lunchtime since lockdown began – I think he’s done 35 so far. But mid week, he organises paid tutorials with very small groups. Check him out here.

Klimt 7

The Woman In Gold – portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, is one of my favourite paintings and Klint one of my favourite artists. It’s so elaborate, it’s taking me ages and apparently it took Klimt about 4 years to complete the original. I’m concentrating on the decorative parts first, I’ll leave the portrait until the end.

Klimt 6b

The painting was stolen by the Nazis during World War 2 and Adele’s niece, Maria Altmann, tried to get the painting back for her family. The story was made into a film in 2015 starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds, it’s one of my favourite films – here’s the trailer

 

 

 

 

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique 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 and to see the complete image.

Inspired by drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique artefacts 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.

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