Finished…For Now

Here’s the slow selfie that I’ve been working on for a while, on and off. It’s more or less finished but I’ve reached that stage where I can’t see the wood for the trees and so I’m going to leave it for a couple of months and look at it again, to see what, ifContinue reading “Finished…For Now”

Having A Rummage.

I was having a rummage through all my portfolios the other day, looking for something important that I never found – I’ve probably put it somewhere “safe” which means it’s on the other side of the Multiverse! But I discovered all sorts of things I’d forgotten about, including these 4 sheets of sturdy cotton ragContinue reading “Having A Rummage.”

Slapping It On …..

I carried on with the still life painting I started a couple of weeks ago. I’m really enjoying this, I’m not being precious about it so I can just slap the paint on without stressing about it, impasto style. If I don’t like what I’ve done, I’ll just paint over it. It’s gradually building upContinue reading “Slapping It On …..”

Carrying on with the little still-life painting, I filled in the colours roughly on the bottles and took the background through a mixed pink to dioxazine purple. Once the drawing is in place, this painting seems a bit like colouring-in. I normally stress over making art, but this is very relaxing. I started the paintingContinue reading

Done At Last.

I’ve finished my painting of two siblings on the beach at night watching the bioluminescence. It’s been a long haul. I don’t often work from photographs and I don’t find it easy, I prefer to work from life, but this was a good exercise. I did a lot of the painting upside down – theContinue reading “Done At Last.”

Tiniest Tweaks….

I’ve almost finished this painting of two siblings on Swansea Beach in the dark last summer. We went to see the bioluminescence in the bay and sat around a driftwood fire for a while, watching the stars. It was lovely. I took some photos and the painting is from one of those – many ofContinue reading “Tiniest Tweaks….”

Teaching By Faking!

I work part-time for a national charity, teaching art to adults. I love it, it brings me such joy. One of the techniques I use occasionally in my painting class is copying great paintings, encouraging my students to understand how the great artists worked and how they achieved their effects. This latest one (it’s myContinue reading “Teaching By Faking!”

Emerging ….

I started this painting a while back, from a photograph of two grown-up siblings on the beach back in the summer with a driftwood fire. It’s taken lots of layers of paint, doing a bit of work and then returning to it, again and again, the siblings emerging more and more with each layer ofContinue reading “Emerging ….”

Painting Upside Down 3

Did a bit more work on this painting of siblings in my family today. I find that it’s so much easier to work from a photograph upside down, which is liberating because it ceases to be representational, everything becomes shapes, colours, tones and lines.

Painting Upside Down 2

I started this painting a couple of months ago (here), working on top of a recycled canvas. I’m working upside down from a photo as I don’t see the subject clearly any more, just colours, shapes and lines, that I find easier to place accurately. It’s still pretty rough but I can see it startingContinue reading “Painting Upside Down 2”