I was feeling disappointed that I couldn’t loosen up my style more with my last picture and so sought inspiration again on Pinterest. I’ve been following an amazing Australian artist, Joseph Zbukvic and I love his paintings of Venice.

So, of course, I wanted to give one a try. Just working out the how’s and why’s of his wonderful paintings is a big enough puzzle but putting them down on paper is very tricky indeed. Here it my lumpy attempt….

It has a very different feel to my previous painting and one I’d love to emulate. I’ve got to watch  my verticals but overall I’ve learnt a lot. The big question is can I apply this to my own subject matter?

I’ve been thinking of working on a larger painting for a while and found a photo of this market in Venice. I’m travelling there for the first time soon and felt this was a good opportunity to look at the colours and architecture of the city.

I’m happy with the basic drawing and some of the colour work but its not the painting I set out to paint. I wanted to try out a much looser style but I always fall back to the safer, more detailed, route. I think the looser style will come eventually but only after lots of practice.

Its taken me about 9 weeks since the op for my interest in art to return. I think the healing process made me internalize and I have been more  focused on the physical side, such as walking and rehab. I’ve taken art materials with me on the walks but have not managed to sit down and create. (It’s been so cold).

Recently I was looking on Pinterest, at the amazing work (watercolours) people post. I felt I could rekindle my relationship with watercolours by copying a painting I really admire, using the artists techniques to guide me and learn from their composition and palette.

I found an artist called Brian Robinson, who has a wonderful style with watercolours, having been a graphic designer and now a full time painter. His paintings of Venice are glorious and I selected one called Black Knickers. I hope he doesn’t mind me making a clumsy attempt at learning from his work. My brushwork is so poor compared to his and my colours are more elementary but I enjoyed the process and felt I had gained a lot from the task. Even if its only to get me painting again.

I wanted to produce my own work now and so I looked through my photo album and this brought many memories flooding back. I’ve been relatively happy with my work from Morocco and Italy and I rediscovered a photo of Limone, on Lake Garda. I had a wonderful dancing holiday there and we visited the town one afternoon. Wandering it’s picturesque lanes was so relaxing and I found this view taken by one of my friends.

I’ve tried to maximize perspective, light and tonal variation through the painting. I feel its composition works but I worry that its too busy.

My next project is a model of my daughters horse – Candi. I’m now calling these models rather than sculptures as I feel they are representations rather than works of art. The difference is a point of view but one that makes me think I need to move towards art rather than models (craft).

I started with an armature of wire and foil and covered with the Super Sculpey.

The hooves were added later using epoxy putty. Not sure I would do this way again.

Next was to safely harden the clay in the oven, not confusing the temperatures and covering with a grey primer

I’ve added a fence to cover the supporting wire and giving a reason for the horse to jump.

Next painting. I’m using cheap acrylics and they are, I’m finding, not ideal. They are shiny and don’t merge easily. I would be better off with an airbrush but this is an investment I need to decide on for the future. I’ve also discovered a whole sub-culture of model horse painters. I think they are all horse riders/ enthusiasts who want to take their interest into art. They use powdered pastels and layers of lacquer to get the best smooth results.

Happy with some elements of the of modelling but not with the painting. I need to think this through a bit more. It would be interesting to make a mold and see what alternative finishes are out there – marble, granite, metal, monotone…

After a scary episode of serious burns to my latest project I think I’ve rescued it. I always planned to make it look like a bronze statue, that’s been subjected to the elements but the cooker has added something unexpected – but not necessarily a bad thing…

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at sculpting for ages and so I thought I would give it a go.

I decided on an oil based clay called Super Sculpey. Its used for all sorts of modelling and can give pretty good detailing.

What subject to model ? Well I’ve had an idea to try out a farmyard animal for a while and I thought a pig would be a good place to start. Not too complicated and no problems with fur or feathers.

I looked online and found the Old Spot Gloucestershire an ideal subject. Full of character, nice shape and not to much detailing. I drew some sketches to get a feel of the animal.

Next to find out what I needed to buy to get started. Obviously Super Sculpey but looking online the list grew. Here are some of the items….

The first task is to create an armature or skeleton using the wire. I found the wire in a garden center, loads of it with a low price to match. I then bulked the frame out with foil from the kitchen cupboard. I enjoyed this process but the sharp ends of the wire can be painful. Pictures of the pigs skeleton and muscle structure helped.

Next to ‘flesh’ it out with the modelling clay. This is a multi-layered process.

Looking promising I softened the skin with a spirit and made fine adjustments. Then to bake in the oven…. paint and display.

Disaster!!  I mistake Fahrenheit with centigrade and its a hog roast!

  Ruined! Start again……

A longstanding dance partner asked me to work on some dance related paintings. I’ve dabbled in painting dancers before but only been partially successful. So I set about finding suitable subjects and getting down to painting again. My medications give me a headache (still waiting for the op) so concentrating and getting motivated has been hard for me recently, so my attempts have been patchy.

I didn’t expect these attempts to be successful so the results are subjective, it was more about the process. I enjoyed painting them but I don’t really know if people will like them. They are a little ‘romantic’ I  suppose and away from my normal style. Along Jack Vettriano lines.

 

Merry Christmas!

Polesden Lacey, a watercolour painted in Dec 2015.

Still on the waiting list for the op. Will know more in early 2016.

I’ve been working on local views to see if I can produce anything from landmarks close to home.

Its been amazing to travel abroad and work from the wonderful sights and memories these trips have generated. But I need to be able to get inspiration from sources closer to home. So on a sunny summer’s day I walked around Leatherhead looking for the history, character, colours, the light and shade of the town. I launched into creating pictures from the photos I took and the feelings I felt from viewing them.

Leatherhead Station is a lovely Victorian building with plenty of interesting features. Its placed high, overlooking the ring road and car park. So the setting is a little challenging. This view will be recognisable to those commuters using the station daily. I’m not sure they will want to be reminded of this building but I think its makes an interesting subject.

The next painting is of a row of cottages running off Church Street. I liked the simple subject, colour of the brickwork and the perspective. I’ve treated the trees in the background slightly differently and feel this has worked.

I moved on to this view of Church street, with its large trees and Victorian buildings. It may not be to everyone’s taste but I like the colours and wanted to get the feeling of arriving in to the town from the Dorking Road, with town’s history and character. The style is a little looser and I’ve treated the trees in yet another way.

The final painting of Leatherhead, for now, is of the River Mole as it passes under the railway bridges and on to the water meadows downstream. I was looking for a scene that captured the water reflections, the shadows under the bridge and the curve of the river. I’m not that happy with this painting as the trees are too uniform in colour and the sky too yellowish. But its worth showing as a comparison to other work on this blog.

Following a gap in posting on to this blog I’m back with some new art, thoughts and intentions.

I’ve moved house again, travelled to Lake Garda and returned back to work part-time. So a busy month, where I’ve managed to paint and sketch a little.

The trip to Italy started with Verona. I had a day to wander around, draw and dance, before meeting up with the rest of the group. Its a beautiful city, with many sights to photograph and draw. I found a spot by the river to sketch the spectacular bridge and castle.

I moved on to the main square in Verona and had a bite to eat and drink at one of the cafes around it’s edge. I started a sketch of the arena and finished it off at the hotel. With so many arches the wonderful arena is tricky to draw but it was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Built by the Romans its still used today as a music venue.

In the evening I managed to find a local Tango group, after getting lost a little. I had a lovely time with the local tango dancers but had a long walk back to the hotel.

The next day I met up with the group at the airport and travelled to Lake Garda, close to Malcesine. The weather was really warm and we swam in the hotel pool and a couple of us in the lake, its was beautiful. We danced in a castle overlooking the lake in the evening , which was magical.

I managed to draw by the lake side a couple of times and in the town of Malcesine.

I sat and chatted in the harbor with Sheila as I sketched for this view and was pleased with the finished work.

During the short stay at Lake Garda we wandered around the towns, drank coffees and ice creams at the cafes and took trips on the various ferries crossing the lake. A wonderful relaxed time. And in the evenings we danced!

On returning home I have worked up some of the sketches and photos into paintings.