Lionel

The last one finished and handed over with hours to spare!

Everyone seems happy, so now I can breathe again.

Lionel measures approx 13" by 9", painted with St Petersburg White Nights watercolour paint on Bockingford paper.

Gracie

This pastel painting of a white boxer puppy was delivered to the owner at the weekend. Everyone seemed pleased with it. Only one more painting to finish off now, and that is due for delivery before Christmas. No pressure.

Gracie measures 12" by 8" and was painted with Conte hard pastel on grey Winsor pastel paper.

Puerto Banus

Learning from my experience with the roller, this was painted with a palette knife onto a background created using the roller.

It measures 11.5" by 13.5" and was painted with Atelier Interactive acrylics on Bockingford paper. It took rather longer than 30 seconds.

Quickest painting ever

This was the result of cleaning my roller after mono-printing the Christmas cards. It must have taken around 30 seconds. Since then a series have people have said they really like it, and asked what it is. So over to you - what can you see?

Just for the record it measures 17" by 22" and could be with you in time for Christmas.

Noah's Ark

This was an interesting spin off from the Bruce portrait. A christening present for a little boy called Noah.

It measures approx. 13" by 9" and was painted with Atelier Interactive Acrylics on Daler Rownet Aquarelle 300 gsm NOT paper. Let's hope Noah approves.

Mono printed cards

This was fun at the Sky Blue drop in session yesterday. Printing cards with acrylic paint transferred from acetate. It took all morning to produce these two, and they are only A6 size. Not likely to be a profitable enterprise I fear. Still no two will ever be the same.

Peacock

This was fun. Following a tutorial from a text book to paint this peacock. It proved rather more difficult than I thought.

He measures approx. 14" by 14" and was painted with Atelier Interactive acrylics on Daler Rowney canvas board.

Bruce - an update

Bruce was revealed to his owner yesterday. She seemed to be pleased with the painting -  a great relief.

Thank you Andrea for providing such an interesting sitter, and for your great reaction to the painting. It made my day.

On to the next one.

Bruce

Meet Bruce. His owner won a pet portrait in a silent auction in aid of the Tickled Pink charity. This is the final product and he measures  12" by 8" and was painted with Conte hard pastel on Sennelier pastel card.

I do hope that the owner is pleased with it.

Out of interest these are these stages in Bruce's development:

This is the reference photograph chosen from the selection provided.

This is the initial sketch in burnt sienna Conte crayon. It is important to have this right. Can you spot the deliberate mistake?

This is the underpainting. With a "white" coat it is particularly important to introduce other colours to ensure that the finished painting does not look flat. There is an old adage in portrait painting that it is dangerous to achieve a likeness too early in the process - probably because you can then loose it again before the end. No danger of that here!

Now the final colours have been blocked in, and that deliberate error corrected - Bruce's neck was too long in the initial sketch. He looked a little like a llama.

We are nearly there now.  

The finished product.

Levada Walk

Another fun session this morning at Sky Blue. We looked at the work of Ann Blockley.

This landscape is inspired by the beautiful scenery of Madeira, and was painted with St Petersburg White Nights watercolour paints on Daler & Rowney Aquafine 300gsm paper. It measures approx 11.5" by 7.5".

Dahlias

A welcome return to the Sky Blue drop in sessions yesterday. This was so far out of my comfort zone, but great fun all the same.

Painted with St Petersburg White Nights watercolour on Daler Rowney Aquafine 300 gsm  paper. It measures approx 16" by 12".

Another in the "abstract reality" series.

Azure Window

Finished at last! This was started a few weeks ago on the theme "Through".

The reference was a photograph from our visit to Malta last year. This spot is on the beautiful island of Gozo.

Painted with Conte pastels on grey Winsor pastel paper, it measures approx 11" by 9".

Lancing Art Club Exhibition 2014

Well the exhibition is all over for another year. Congratulations to Alan and Eve for organising an excellent event. It looks as if visitor numbers and sales will be well up on last year. Thanks to my Facebook pals and others who  came along, and I hope that you enjoyed it.

My tiger in the water is off to a new home. Let's hope he is happy there.

Seaside sunset

We returned to a favourite theme at Art Club last week. This time acrylic (mainly) with a palette knife has been used.

It measures 16" by 12" and was painted on canvas board with Atelier Interactive acrylics.

Too late for the exhibition this year, but Jean likes it!

Two Colours

This was a lot of fun. The challenge was to paint a picture using only two colours - burnt sienna and french ultramarine blue. White was also allowed.

Here is my skater boy, measuring 12" by 16" and painted with Atelier Interactive acrylics on canvas on board.

I am desperately hoping that this trick is called an aerial.

Koi in pond

Another in my series of abstract realism, this one was painted over the last two evenings at Art Club.

A palette knife was used (to stop me fiddling) with Atelier Interactive Acrylic paints on canvas on board. It measures approx  16" by 12" and should make it to the Lancing Art Club exhibition from 16 August.

Derain in Worthing

We looked at the work of the French Fauvist painter Andre Derain this week. It started me thinking - if Derain had come to Worthing, how would he have painted it?

With full acknowledgement to the genius of the founder of the Fauvist movement, here is my interpretation of Worthing seafront. Rendered in Conte pastel on Winsor grey pastel paper it measures 10" by 8".

To misquote Terry Pratchett - " As much fun as you can have on your own with a pastel pencil."

Repetiton

Finished at last. This painting was started back in February. A big thank you to the amazing Jane Denman for her help in finishing this one.

It is painted in Winsor and Newton Artisan Water Mixable oils on Daler canvas board. It measures 16" by 12".

The inspiration is the Terracotta Warriors - so many figures and yet no two are the same.

Littlehampton Open 2014 - Deep Blue Sea

Some more good news this week. All three of the pieces submitted have been accepted, including "Found Fishes" shown above.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 26 July 2014 and runs to Friday 19 September 2014 at the Littlehampton Museum.

Adur Art Trail 2014

Some good news at last. "Frost" sold during the Adur Art Trail. This image shows it on display at St James the Less Church in Lancing.

The exhibition is on until Sunday 15 June. Pop along and have a look between 2pm and 4 pm daily. Still time to pick up a bargain.

Rebel Pebbles

This is something a little different. Several artists are painting stones that will placed on Worthing beach to coincide with the Worthing Art Trail. Anyone finding a pebble they like is welcome to take it and keep it.

There will be a website address on the rear. Logging onto the website should enable the finder to identify the artist responsible.

Full details of  the Worthing Art Trail are here. It starts on the weekend of 14/15 June 2014.

The three shown here are my contribution. Who knows how many others there may be?

Another Australian Landscape

This was finished off at Art Club last night.

Measuring approx 13" by 10" it was painted with Conte Hard pastels on Winsor paper.

For the next few weeks the Art Club are painting out and about in the Sussex countryside each week. Let's hope the weather improves.

Kingley Vale

This painting is heavily influenced by the artist Phelan Gibb.

Kingley Vale is a Nature Reserve in Sussex containing a fantastic Yew Tree forest. Some of the trees are said to be almost 2000 years old.

Painted with Atelier Interactive Acrylics on Daler Rowney 300 gm Aquafine paper, it measures approx 15" by 8".

Found fishes

This one was finished off at Art Club last evening. The title refers to the fact that it started life as random splashes of paint on the wet paper. When it dried I started to find the fish.

Painted with St Petersburg White Nights watercolour paint on hand made Indian paper. It measures approx 14" by 10". Another one ready for the mad exhibition season coming up.

Spirit Island

At the Sky Blue session this week we looked at the work of Canadian landscape artist Robert Genn. The top painting is my interpretation of a reference photograph of Spirit Island on Lake Maligne in Alberta, Canada influenced by his style. This was painted in Atelier Interactive acrylics  on Bockingford paper. It measures approx. 10" by 8".

The second painting is a watercolour from the same reference photograph, painted at the end of 2009. Interesting to see the change in approach over 4 years.

Spirit of the Woods

This was painted at the Sky Blue session this week, and is another in the series Abstract Reality/Patterns of Nature

It is mixed media and measures around 8" by 12".

Pen and wash

The theme last night at Art Club was Pen and Wash. Here is my effort - a thatched cottage in Amberley.

It measures approx 9" by 6" and was painted with St Petersburg White Nights water colour. It is a long time since I have used this medium. Not sure I will be rushing to use it again!

Wood duck

Last night at Art Club, the theme was ducks. Well this is (apparently) an American wood duck, not quite a fluffy yellow Easter ducking.

Painted with Conte hard pastel on green Winsor pastel paper, it measures approx. 12" by 9".

Quack!!

Jon Hiseman

This was a real trip down memory lane. Tasked with an exercise in portrait painting, my chosen subject was the near-legendary drummer from Colosseum. Their music was a major influence on me in the late 1960's. They reformed in 1994 and were touring as recently as 2010.

This sketch was completed in acrylic in around 2 hours. It measures approx 10" by 12", and was painted with Atelier Interactive acrylics on Bockingford paper. Not sure his mother would recognise him, but it was fun to do.

Purple Dancer

The theme last night at Art Club was "Dancing". It gave me an excuse to return to an occasional series of pastel paintings of dancers, which has proved to be popular in the past.

This one is approximately 9" by 12" and is painted with Conte hard pastels on Winsor grey pastel paper.

After a couple of stressful days it was good to just relax and paint for a few hours.

Art on the Pier 2014

Some good news today. "Frost" has been selected to be displayed on Worthing Pier this year. It will be the third year that this exhibition has been run. It opens in April (exact date to follow). Do go along and take a look. Work from 100 artists is on display, and it is free!

Muddy Boots

My over-riding memory of the winter 2013/2014 will be of rain. It rarely seems to have stopped. We have been much more fortunate than many in the UK - the sea defences held and the work done on the River Rife prevented flooding. However, everywhere you walk is so muddy.

This pastel painting depicts my walking boots after a walk with the dog along the banks of the Rife, down to the beach and back again. It measures approx 11" by 9", and was created with Conte hard pastels on Winsor paper.

Let's hope the spring brings drier weather.

What is the word for looking up your own name on Google?

Trying to find where I had posted a copy of this picture (Mirror Lake) on the web I entered my name into Google. It is amazing what comes up. Even with an unusual name, there are loads of "googlegangers".

The site where this picture resides was found and there a number of very nice comments. The original now lives with my daughter and son-in-law.

Not so good was that I found my own obituary. Don't think I'll bother with that again!

The House in the Woods

This was started at Sky Blue as an exercise in counterchange, and finished off at Lancing Art Club on the theme of warm colours.

The light roof against the dark trees is a fairly obvious example of counterchange, but check out the tree trunks. Against the dark foliage they are light; against the light sky the same trunk is dark. Not "right" but it is effective.

Approximately 12" by 8", it was painted with St Petersburg White Nights watercolour paint on Winsor Aquafine 300 gsm paper.

Rain Forest

Sometimes it is fun to just paint with no detailed goal in mind, and see what happens. This my latest piece of "abstract realism" and contains elements from four of my earlier paintings. Measuring approx 14" by 10" it was painted with Atelier Interactive Acrylics on Bockingford paper. It can't be all bad  -Jean likes it!

Black Friday

This painting was inspired by the much-publicised attempts by UK retailers to introduce Black Friday to the great British public on 29 November 2013. Our orderly queuing institution went right out of the window.

The painting measures 14" by 10" and was painted with Atelier Interactive acrylics on Daler and Rowney Aquarelle paper.

The Mask

Another painting completed this week. The theme at Art Club last evening was Masks.

This pastel painting is based on an image found on the internet. I measures approx 9" by 12" and was painted with Conte Hard pastels on Winsor pastel.

There are still two more paintings I need to finish off, so things are picking up again.

Frost

This my latest piece of "abstract realism". 

Inspired by the patterns frost made on the roof of my car, it is painted with Atelier acrylics on Daler Rowney Aquarelle NOT paper, and measures approx 9" by 13".

Horse portraits

Today, while talking to a couple of people, I had a blinding flash of the bl**ding obvious. Painting horse portraits has always been fun. Here are three examples from recent years. The most important part is that all these pictures have sold.

Clearly there is an urgent need to paint some more horses quickly. If anyone has good photos of handsome/beautiful horses that they don't mind me using, please send them in.