Merry Christmas

Two minute doodle on the tablet! With a little refinement..............I like it!

Some Stuff I've Been Doing...........

 Long Tall Thin  Cherry   WIP

 Jean  10" x 12"  Acrylic

Dennis  10" x 12"  Oil

Happy Holiday

Painting

Did a bit more to this , which is slowly getting there, I think. 

WA - Worn and Weathered continued -not.

 We had a bit of drama at the start of the afternoon when part of the ceiling fell down! Luckily no-one was hurt, we moved all the tables to the other end of the room and carried on regardless!

Jack and Archie 20" × 16"  Oil  wip

I didn't carry on with the same theme as last week
 because Judith gave me a commission, to paint her friends' twin boy grandchildren. I have tackled this by blocking in local colour first, with refining to come. Good start

Black 20" x 8" Oil

David 20" x 16" Oil

Drew this first with burnt umber, probably because of the coat, but then continued in my usual way with ultramarine, cad red and raw sienna. And I did use titanium white on the T-shirt and highlights. Seems like I have extended my palette with no conscious thought of doing so. Ha, go with the flow, then!  ;-o

David 20" × 16" Oil beginning

Practice

WA - Applying All We Learned

 The girls didn't like this 'miserable' one

So I did another!

And then made some adjustments.

Pastel Play

Last Wed at the WA we were treated to a demo of pastel painting by Mo Drake. She has inspired me to get out my pastels again and practice in ready-ness for the WA meeting tomorrow when the brief is to make use of tips and techniques shown to us by Mo. 

One thing she showed was to paint white pastel first on passages of sky or water, to help get a look of transparency and for ease of blending. I wondered if this would work for skin, so I tried today, with my best white CHALK! Have to go buy some white soft pastel....pronto!

Evie Black + White 12" × 16" Pastel

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

Went here today, for the first time, and saw this.

Had the BEST day!

With Lucien Freud, David Hockney, Giacometti, Alison Watt, Stanley Spencer, Francis Bacon, Matisse, Modigliano............to name but a few..............how could I not? 

Brilliant.

There was also an Art Nouveau exhibition which I have to save for another day because I was pooped!

WA - Fur or Feathers

So I said to Roy "Fur or feathers?".  " Squirrel" he said.

Slow Progress

A couple of glazes on the skirts and one on the face, and it is coming together very slowly. I am going to have to buy me a fast drying medium before this drives me nuts!

WAG Portrait from Life

Young Jasper came to sit for us today and he was brilliant. A delightful young man, who not only did not move a muscle, but was also very impressed by our efforts. 

This painting was also done by my technique of using very thin paint, different colours straight from the tube  and using no medium to thin it. Much easier to control and to get 'portrait' colours. Loved it!

This is what I had hoped to demonstrate and teach yesterday!

WA - Self Portrait

Sharon

 Linda

 June

 Valerie

 Christine

                   

Judith

 Veronica

Michelle

The girls kindly allowed me to show them how I start off  a portrait, in oils. None of them paint portraits and most of them are unfamiliar with oils, so....brave girls. 

I started by going through the basic proportions, eyes halfway between top and chin, nose halfway between eyes and chin, etc. I asked them to make an underpainting in one colour, paying attention to form, light and dark, shapes. I didn't do much of a demo, preferring to talk to folks about their own work and worries. I applaud every one for having a good go, and getting very close to a likeness. You would be able to match each girl with her portrait, which is a fantastic achievement for a first attempt. 

I had a good time, despite not usually liking to be in the spotlight, and finding it difficult to articulate my methods, but I am thrilled with the results. The girls enjoyed it too, and we even talked about 'next time'! 

More Play

I am currently working on a commission, which I will show when done, but I'm enjoying using up the paint at the end of the Session!

Smile 10" × 12" Oil

Continue to Play/Practise

This delightful lady allowed me to photograph her to practise my portrait painting skills, for which I am grateful. I regretfully omitted to ask her name, though! Thankyou......and sorry.

Rembrandt

Enjoyed chucking some paint about today, and was not ready to stop when the dinner gong sounded! A lot of adjustment to do.

This resulted from a meet up with Martin Kinnear, a very interesting chat about all things arty and a portrait commission, more of which another time.

Next

Detail of start of new painting. Same girl, different colours.

Progress

Remember

 I didn't get much time in the studio today, and most of that was spent getting ready for the art group tomorrow. I was thinking about winning the Syd Davison award a couple of weeks ago and it got me remembering other prizes I have won and the paintings.

That Letter!  24" x 24"  Acrylic  2003

Best in show at the Art on the Waites in St Ives, Cambs for which I won a veery useful box of Faber Castell pencil assortment. 

 Me Three   16" x 16"   Acrylic  2009

I was one of five winners of the One Show Summer Exhibition, where the prize was an appearence on television,

and this.

Receiving  10" x 12"  Oil  2012

Snettisham 12" x 9"  Oil  2010

Adolescent  24" x 36"  Oil  about 1996

A small pastel version of this won Sponsors Choice

I have, on several occasions, won 'Visitors Choice' or 'Members Choice' in local exhibitions, for which the prize is usually £50 or art material vouchers.

The accolades have been few and far between, but I am proud of them.

New Start

Evie  24" x 36"  Oil  In Progress

Two afternoons' work, first the drawing and then an underpainting. I am hoping for a realistic rendering but not OTT photorealism. This is a big one for me so it might take awhile!

Castle Acre Life Drawing

A brilliant day! Starting off with quick sketches using charcoal.  I like the first one best, because I caught her stance in a few strokes. We didn't get a long two hour pose after lunch, which was disappointing, but a jolly good day was had by all I think!

This is my favourite from the day, which I shall very likely paint a larger version.