Mum.

I worked from an image on the computer, something I try to avoid but I wanted to paint and I wanted to try out my new approach on a photo. The initial drawing was made with a thinned down mixture of ultramarine and alizarin. I like the way it dries quickly and looks good when it's scumbled over later. At this stage I keep as it as loose as possible looking for abstract shapes and doing a lot of rubbing back. It's hard to control the amount of spirit used, too much and it lifts off whats already there.
I start drawing more accurately now, still not bothering too much about a likeness and still able to rub back and change. I like the marks but most of them will be lost as the painting develops.

Now I start to block in the lighter areas using a cool mix of titanium white, lemon yellow, cerulean blue and cadmium red.

I start adding warmer mixes to the light areas using the same colours as above but varying the amounts. I also make a darker mix for areas of the hair and add white to it to do the grey bits.

This is the last stage for today. I am adding patches of warm and cool mixtures tying to get the relationships right. I like the fact that I can still see some of the original drawing and want to retain it when I come back to carry on with the next stage. I am quite pleased with the result so far as it has a nice painterly feel to it and is not too detailed, something I want to avoid at the next stage.

Jane, Usk 26.04 2010

Painted on a cheap white canvas board I started with a diluted mixture of ultramarine and alizarin. It didn't go on well and the frustration contributed to the energetic mark making. Using titanium white, lemon yellow, alizarin and ulramarine I started to block in the various flesh tones. I like this stage.



I underpainted with the heavily diluted drawing mixture to get rid of the white. It was absorbed into the board and dried almost instantly and I liked the way it showed through when I put the flesh tones on.



Not a good painting by any means, but it has an immediacy and energy that I like and given more time I feel I could have improved it. The basic drawing has been rushed but today was more about the painting and it had reached a stage that was satisfying for two hours work. the way the paint has gone onto the surface which was frustrating at first is more pleasing than last weeks.




Last weeks and this weeks together.

Jane. February 2010.

Painted on a dark grey canvas board I have started as I always do by drawing in using thinned down oil paint. I really liked it at this stage

This is after about an hour and I am sarting to block in the colours.

This is the finished stage and I like it because it still retains the marks that tell the story of the effort. You can see the dark coloured ground where I have scumbled on the colours. I should have left it alone but I didn't.

I have worked on this at home using a photograph. I have lost the freshness as I have tried to soften the image and refine the flesh colours.

Ocean. 23. 03. 2010

I was hoping for a different position todaybut it was not possible, so I decided to do more of a close up from the same place. I painted on canvas that had been prepared with a cool grey oil priming. I wanted to approach it the same as I had with Jane on Friday at i.e.with a lot more vigour and urencyand using a bigger brush.

The stages

I tried drawing in raw sienna and alizarin first but changed to ulramine and alizarin instead. I should have taken a picture earlier to show the energetic drawing that took place. I like this stage and would like to keep more of the drawing marks showing through in the later stages, as they tend to disappear.

This is the middle stage after about two hours. I am still redrawing but mostly trying to establish the right values and the relationships between the colours. I mixed alizarin and ultramine which I scumbled on for the shaded areas and then worked in a greeny mixture made up of white, lemon yellow, blue and a touch of red. Into this I also worked warmer mixture of white, lemon yellow, cadmium red and a touch of blue.

I ended up spending too much time trying to resolve problems with the face and hair, but am pleased with the overall outcome and think it is a big improvement on last weeks efforts. I must resist the temptation to do more work to it.

Ocean and Jane. March 2010.

This painting was done three days after the one of Ocean at Usk( below ). It was painted on a canvas board which had been prepared with a cool grey acrylic ground. I used a bigger brush and worked much more vigorously than usual. I am quite pleased with the result although it is tonaly weak. Similar poses by Ocean and Penny, but a different approach.

Ocean, oil on canvas board. Brockweir.

I found myself with a full on front view, which is not my favourite. I did the drawing in purple and struggled with the shoulders. There was a strong light over her left shoulder leaving the rest of the body in shadow. I have attempted to make the painting much softer by avoiding the hard edged facets that I have tended towards in the past ( Penny above ). What you see is the result of working on the painting the next day as I was not happy with what I had produced the day before. This pose is to be repeated, but I am going to start another one hopefully from a different position, but if not then possibly a section.

Landscapes

Llangenny, Coloured Pencil.

Horton , Acrylic on hardboard

Crickhowell bridge , Pencil.

Newport bridge , Oil on canvas.

Other stuff and annimals.

Spencer. Watercolour and guache

Coloured pencil Coloured pencil. Oil on canvas.

Watercolour.

Watercolour.

Oil on linen.

Desert Orchid. Acrylic on canvas.

Watercolour.

Oil on canvas.