Angelic UpstArts

Where to start the artistic adventures of 2018? I had an idea for a larger canvas over the 2017 Christmas period – and following some good advice from Carole – I began with a developmental sketch, seen below.

From there I scaled the idea up and went from monochrome to colour. I’m not convinced by the larger piece yet – I think I need to make the figure looser, somehow. I’ll keep playing.

The canvas is 80cm x 30cm and the paper is 25cm x 10cm. The dessert spoon is shown to help you get a sense of the difference in size between the two pieces.

The two pieces are currently untitled – and I am grateful to MJ Carty for putting the blog title idea in my head, thank you.

Update: The monochrome sketch has now sold.

Cat’s Eyes

A friend was in touch several weeks ago asking if I would accept a commission to paint two members of his family. I’m not known for my skills as a portrait artist – and when my friend Chris gave me some more details about what he was looking for, I decided to go ahead and accept the challenge. The painting is to be a gift, and the two family members are cats. Black cats.

Chris and I exchanged a few notes about my approach to the work – and we agreed this should not be a portrait in the traditional sense. Chris gave me a sense of the personalities of the two cats, and it was over to me. I spent ages thinking about how to represent these two family members in an appropriate way, something which would both resonate for Chris and Paula, for it is she who will receive the gift, and be a satisfying challenge for me as the artist.

The more I thought – the more my nerves heightened. Chair and Paula love these cats, what if I fail to capture a good likeness? Portraiture is a really tough art form, but I kept plotting, until my ideas formed into something I felt would work. I decided the best way to represent the cats was to try and let their personalities show through, and in order to do this – the cats themselves needed to be largely invisible. Here’s what I came up with.

Chris and I arranged to meet so I could show him the work in real life. I was nervous heading for our rendezvous…what if he doesn’t like the work? On my way to the meeting I stopped off to hand over some watercolour postcards to someone in my network and I showed them the painting. ‘If he doesn’t want it – come back here and I’ll buy it off you’. OK – I’ve captured something here, that feedback settled my nerves a little. I went on to see Chris, and I’m pleased to say the picture has been signed, framed, and handed over.

I’m truly grateful to Chris for asking me to do this. It was a challenge and it was fun, and the end result really works. It’s great to see what can be done in a supportive environment when working with a willingness to try something new.

 

 

Adventures in Spain

These paintings are a few months old now, they were all made over a couple of days on holiday in Spain. I’ve been lazy when it comes to updating the blog – the free art project is currently taking up a lot of my painting time.

I painted four postcards based on the Spanish flag which I mailed to friends.

I made a sketch called Too Much Pressure, based on a tracing of a blind drawing of a radiator, weird!

I painted two canvas boards, one of the mountains, one of the sea. The mountainscape has been sold, the seascape was found as part of the free art project.

I made four simple pattern sketches – some of which have since been given away through the free art project.

The last piece, titled Lost In Spain – was made for the free art project. It has a new home in Wallington.

 

 

Winged Heart I and II

I painted these two winged heart designs for Carole and Keira. They’re made using blends of red white and blue acrylic paint on watercolour paper. I like the rough texture of the paper and the off white colour of it goes well with the paint. Winged Heart I is a finger painting, and I used a brush for Winged Heart II.

Winged Heart I

Winged Heart II

Here are the paintings framed.

I enjoyed making these and I’m currently exploring how to turn these works in to a limited edition print run. I think they would be a good design for my Etsy shop. More news when I have it.