FIREWOOD COLLECTORS IN INDIA

Wanting another image to go with the Indian water carriers painting, previously posted on flickr and this blog, I remembered that on a trip through India by car we had stopped off by a lake in the mountains, only to see a few minutes later a line of ladies in coloured saris coming down from the hills carrying firewood on their heads they had collected. I put on the video of our trip and enjoyed time going down memory lane.

This acrylic ink painting is the result. Don't know if you can see the texture I used for the treeline and the stones on the roadway - but they certainly add to the effect in this acrylic painting 20" x 15" on canvas, which will be mounted and framed as the previous Indian painting of water carriers. 

(I am playing with my new google Chrome blogger browser and seem to have a little problem with this image - ie the repeat on the left side of a fraction of the right side!! )

I now understand that it is even harder since our trip for the village people out in the countryside of India to collect firewood, their only source of heat for cooking and light.

FLAMENCO DANCER IN RED DRESS

This is the second flamenco dancer for the Dereham Music Festival Show. I wanted to create a green coloured backdrop to highlight the red in her dress and came up with this lovely pistachio colour. I decided to keep it quite simple and am really pleased. I created the additional glimpse of another spotlight in the front to add mystery - is she dancing with a partner out of view or another lady in red.??

WATER CARRIERS IN INDIA

Spent time over at Laura's last week whilst our grand daughter was being born, but since being back have worked on my latest piece using as a reference an archive photo of an acrylic I did a number of years ago of water carriers we met during a visit to Fatipur Sikri in India.

This latest version is mixed media, using acrylic inks on Lana Vanguard, plus oil pastels and soft pastels with addition of gold and torquoise glitter on two of the saris. I had fun creating their shadows onto each other rather than just on the road and, as you see, changed the format and colours of the saris and made the road and background much softer. I do enjoy making things up as I go along!

This is the original framed acrylic piece sold at a gallery in Holt during 2004:

Now I am searching for some photos I took of ladies in coloured saris carrying firewood on their heads beside a lake in the mountains. Think I'll have to resort to getting out the DVD we took and using a still from that for my reference plus my memory of this magical 'happenstance' as we were driving through.

DAY AT THE RACES

Went to Fakenham races last Friday with my art friend Sandra to not only have fun betting but to do a bit of sketching. Had a great start with a 7-1 winner in the first race! - nothing after that.

When we arrived the bookies were setting up and gave us a chance to sketch them before the crowds arrived.

It was interesting that a young lady was setting up and taking the bets during the afternoon at this first bookie stand in the long line.

After gorgeous soup chowders (Sandra had smoked haddock and I had a crab and lobster one) with chunks soft bread we spent some time near the paddock watching the horses parade and later went across the course to see a race level to the winning post from the other side. Here is Sandra sketching the back drop to a sketch she planned to do of the horses thundering past us at the end of the next race!! Braver than me! So a sketch of a sketcher sketching!!!!

A wonderful afternoon in continuous sunshine and a big thank you to Sandra for treating me into the members enclosure so we could see the races from the best (and less crowded) stand. Unfortunately we were also in line with the first fence when my second race horse fell!

PEN AND WATERCOLOURS

Two more pen and watercolour pieces for The Garden House Gallery in Cromer.

Number one is of the Hunstanton lighthouse at dusk after they had put on the uplights to give this glow to the structure. I have caught it from the cliff top garden after sketching with Anita on the beach during a long weekend last year when we hired a caravan.






This is from a visit to Cromer with my daughter and girls whilst we were strolling on the pier.




Both done with waterproof ink pen and washes of watercolour, selecting a few of the many figures on the pier either sipping tea, strolling or catching the small crabs bottom left.

EASTERN OPEN 2011

I was pleased to be advised that the following work was accepted for the EASTERN OPEN 2011 and yesterday Sandra joined me to attend the opening at the Kings Lynn Art Centre. Out of 642 works submitted from 7 east of England counties, 126 were exhibited. Although I did not share in any of the prizes, visiting the Red Barn (one of the four galleries at the Centre used for the show) I noticed a lovely red spot on my work. The Assistant Arts and Education Manager introduced me to the buyer and we had an interesting chat. Gathering at the Magic Pool This work was created with acrylic inks on the contemporary slippery surface of YUPO/Lana Vanguard I have been experimenting with over the past 2 years. The judges were Professor Nick de Ville a 70's designer of album sleeves and tutor at the Goldsmiths' College; Anna Lucas a London based artist film maker; and Poul Webb a watercolourist and past student at Cambridge School of Art, work acquired by the HM Government Art Collection and exhibitor at the Royal Academy, Museum of Modern Art at Rijeka plus many other prestigious international events. Their comments were most encouraging ie '...all artists chosen can justly be proud of having created a very strong and contemporary Eastern Open 2011.'

FIGURE PRACTICE YET AGAIN

Every so often I get out my Venezia sketchbook to practice figure drawing. Sometimes I use DVDs, others magazines or books and even 'real' people! Here are a couple of recent attempts.

This first one caught my eye in the SkyMagazine as I loved the movement. A few errors stare out at me from the too large left foot and the too little left foreshortened hand, but at least I had a go. I'm glad I added the tennis ball as it adds a narrative to just a sketch.


Number two is a double spread of our youngest grand daughter when she was staying. Here she is in the sunroom after washing her hair. I like the way the second sketch reveals her lovely dark hair after removing the towel. Decided the features were so bad I would leave the second face blank.



Used Lamy pen with Lexington Grey Noodlers ink and a little Daniel Smith watercolours.

Now you know why I need to keep practicing!

GRAND TOUR SKETCHES

Its been such bad weather that I put on a DVD of a programme called GRAND TOUR when the art critic Brian Sewell toured the cities of Italy. I stilled some of the scenes and sketched in the comfort of my lounge with my Schmincke watercolours.

Number one is of a group of people in a square with blue fountain and some columns - Brian Sewell is in the left bottom corner where you can just see his umbrella cum sun parasol.

This one was of a pretty corner in Vicenza - the people must have gone inside the pay the bill!!

Here's Brian - looking with my hand rather much younger - outside the steps of one of the many buildings he took us into.

Well, a bit of fun one afternoon getting practice trying to sketch people in street scenes.

FEET AND HANDS

I thought I might practice sketching hands and feet and with the Italian trip in mind I started with my Sistene Chapel book and inevitably went to the famous God creating Adam Michelangelo painting on the ceiling.

Then I checked out lots of feet from various scenes in the chapel and came up with this selection

from angels, sibyls and prophets:

Then at the weekend on the front cover of the Telegraph Magazine was this photo of Elton John using his hands to speak! Simply had to have a try:

All done with my latest favourite Stabilo Brown (45) fine liner with water and a little Schmincke watercolour.

FIGURES FROM THE SISTENE CHAPEL CEILING

Still working on practice sketches for my Italian visit, I went to my wonderful full colour plate book MICHELANGELO - THE FRESCOES OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL which I purchased a few years back at a local library sale. I was hooked when I came to the chapter on SEERS - ie prophets and sibyls. So began a series of watercolour and pen sketches using my Daniel Smith paints and Lamy pen with noodlers Lexington grey ink. Here are three efforts:

Jeremiah - lost in thought

I think the hands are a bit big but pleased with all the colours I managed to put into the flesh.


The Libyan Sibyl

Afraid she has turned out rather masculine and squashed at the top of the sketchbook page.


Zechariah - the Hebrew Prophet

This, in fact, was my first one and as you can see the head is too small. Well! its only practice and I have not done figures for ages.

To be continued at some stage.

NUMBER 3 SURFER COMPLETED

Finished painting 10" x 10" mounted and framed in light wood.

This week I have been working on the third surfer acrylic ink painting for Sheringham Reflections show in October and am very pleased with the result. It reminds me of the days I lived in Dorset and used to paint the sea quite a lot. Now I realise I have missed it as I so thoroughly enjoyed creating the waves and blending all the colours.

Thought you'd like to see some close ups of stages as I worked:

1) I was very pleased how I created the silvery lavender colour for the first background layer all over the Lana Vanguard silky sheet put on with a soft spongey 4 inch roller. I used Mars Red, touch of prussian blue and lots of white acrylic inks with cerulean watercolour:

2) Here I am at my working bench in the little upstairs studio, showing the colours I had chosen for the painting and my original photograph and how I was adding the figures colour by colour using quite soft water colour brushes. size 3 and 8 making them much larger and closer together:

3) Here's a close up of the boy and his blue surf board reflection after I had removed the masking fluid:

... 4) and finally a close up of the main wave showing all the colours I put into the water.

IT WAS FUN!

SECOND SURFER PAINTING IN ACRYLIC INKS

I have now completed number two of the trio of surfers for the Sheringham Reflections show.

When I visited Mundesley beach with the grand children, they were putting out the colourful flags for the surfers and swimmers and I took many photos. This one I feel reflected (ha ha!!) what I wanted to achieve. It had the dark back drop, against which the figures and flags showed up well and I must admit had staggeringly elongated reflections in the water lapping the beach. I did quite a few adjustments to the original photo, strengthening the colour of the sand and softening the distant buildings. I used a different blue to number one surfer painting, mainly because I had run out of cerulean acrylic ink!! I think I might cheat on number three and add some cerulean blue watercoloour to my mix to get back to the softer blue. You'll also notice that I did not put in any detail to either of the faces.

Here is a close up of the reflections, which I was very pleased with , without too much fiddling and almost exactly as I put down the paint in the first layer. Some of the white ripples were created with what you call in the US of A miskfit and we call over here in the UK masking fluid, which at the end was rubbed off to reveal the white streaks of water across the top of the reflected colours.

Now I have to consider what image number three will be created from. Always decision making this artwork, isn't it??

WEEKEND WITH ANITA

On Thursday last I had a phone call from Anita asking if I was busy at the weekend. Within minutes we had arranged for me to travel across Friday lunch time to her home (70 miles from me), join Anita on her trip to Five Mile Inn near Ely on the Saturday to meet fellow blogger Sue (http://artofanomad.blogspot.com/) and pay a visit to the Haddenham Gallery on the way so I could see her work including a series of National Trust property sketches. Even in these austere times she has already sold four works.

Friday evening we put on Power of Art (Simon Schama BBC art series) to sketch Italian architecture in preparation for our trip next May. Technology is so great nowadays that we stopped a shot of The Dome of the St Maria Cathedral in Florence, then St Peters in Rome and did a few sketches. I'll post these later in the week. It was great practice but need plenty more before contemplating doing it plein air.

On meeting Sue at the Pub/restaurant Saturday morning, we went inside for teas and coffees to chat and get to know each other. Then before we knew it, it was lunch time. My first sketch was done viewing through the window as lunchers came and went on the riverside terrace. His companions disappeared before I got round to them spilling over onto the left hand page to make a double spread.

After lunch, we went down by the river and the sun came out although it was still windy. Here is my riverside effort using graphitint pencils and waterbrush - plus leaning over and 'pinching' a few watercolours from Sue's box when I needed more colour blocks. Don't laugh at my cows!! Certainly shows my love of plants judging from the only decent thing in it being the tree trunk!!

Finally, after a cooked supper at Anita's home I decided to paint her glorious pink roses. Here's my double spread.

Its great being part of Anita's family weekend and after a quiet Sunday with a trip to nearby Benwick riverside, I returned home in the evening before the rain set in - but it was dark most of the way. Thanks Anita.

REFLECTIONS NOVA SHOW SHERRINGHAM

Have been planning my trio for the Reflections show. After chosing images from a trip to Mundsley beach with the girls (grand children) when I photo'd them playing as well as the surfers, I started one in watercolour. It just looked rather bland, so used it as my draft and decided to get out my new Lana Vanguard similar to YUPO and work in acrylic inks.

Here is the result of number one of a lonely surfer walking along the beach. It was great fun to do and I feel the result is quite interesting particularly as I used salt in the foreground sand area.

Here are some close ups where you can see the effect of acrylic inks on this shiny plastic surface.

Took this photo before I added more white foam around the bottom of the wooden posts.

Here you can see where the course sea salt granules and ground salt were scattered.

I think I shall be happy with this technique for the three pieces. Probably will decide on the one of the girls skipping towards the shoreline, both of them with both their feet off the ground and I can strengthen the reflected images in the wet sand.

Number three yet to be decided upon between a life guard putting out wonderful coloured flags to tell the surfers the condition of the sea and a couple which looks like a dad and son carrying their surf boards down to the sea.


I'll keep you posted. haa haa!

WELLS NEXT THE SEA WATERCOLOURS

Here I am again ages since my last post. Where do the days go?

Clive went away for a week by the sea in the Med and the time just flew by. Half way through Laura and Wayne came over with the girls for a day and night, and then left the girls with me for 5 days so they could have a little break together travelling and staying around Norfolk and Suffolk. There are so many wonderful places to visit. The girls and I had a lovely time particularly our day at the seaside at Mundsley - I'll post some of the lovely photos I took of them playing in the sea and of the local surfers one day soon. Before we knew it , it was time to go to the airport to pick grandad up. On the Monday I took them home to meet up with Laura in time for her birthday on the Tuesday.

So, the only thing I have to show you is two small watercolours I did from photos taken at Wells Next the Sea North Norfolk coast. I needed to mount them up for a gallery browser of coastal scenes.

Here's number one - a memory of a weekend at Sandra's cottage when we strolled into the quayside to watch the boats come in. This one had landed crabs and quite a crowd (I only used a few figures) was watching them unload. Number two is of a day spent on the beach sketching with Anita where some children were playing cricket by the beach huts. Afraid I made a mess of the little girls face so she doesn't look as young as she actually was - probably playing with her elder brother. It was a lovely afternoon together and I tried to sketch the beach huts in their glorious full row that seems to go on for ever. The main problem both times was trying to get in all the steps and railings.

Finished my large trio of Spring, Summer and Autumn scenes now and will show you once they have been delivered.

VIEW OF THE CITY OIL PAINTING

I had decided to create another 16" x 16" box canvas piece for the Kings Lynn Summer Show in oils, but it wasn't until I was on our way back from Yarmouth with Sandra that I came across the very subject. VIEW OF THE CITY OF NORWICH FROM MOUSEHOLD HEATH early evening.

View of the City complete

(actually there is a little more of the foreground pathway and sky as I cropped this image to use for postcards being printed by Vista)

It all came about because our return to the city coincided with the outpouring of the Norwich football club fans after the last match of the season which meant they had won the cup. The main road was blocked and everything came to a stand still, so we headed off across country to approach the city further round and Sandra took me on a detour past the prison to see the view that just about every artist worth his salt living or visiting Norwich has painted, from Seago to Cotman I am sure!!

Well, above is my finished version and below an early stage of blocking showing more sky and pathway foreground area.

I was trying to consider what tones I would use to create the early evening light and it was only later when I realised my other works for the show had figures that I decided to add the loving couple seated on the bench. Hurrah for google images for some references of people proportions to the size of the bench.

Early blocking in stages, not really knowing where it will eventually lead me!!

PASTEL WORKSHOP

two works in progress (plus the inevitable cups of tea)

Way back at the beginning of May I had a pastel workshop with my regular artists, but realised this morning that due to so much dashing about I had not posted info about our day together here in Coltishall village hall. It seems (thank goodness for my routine) I had put the photos I had taken onto my hard drive Coltishall workshop folder, so it was easy to find them.

I took many brightly coloured subjects and one of our kind ladies brought some new interesting figures and pots. So here are a some photos of the subjects they all chose from - I loved them so much I wanted to join in and in fact took photos for use in my studio when I get the time:

dancer, pansies and lace - blue plate, orange and vase of flowers

floral portion of our mixed subjects for a pastel workshop.

The morning began a little different than most of my workshops, as we plunged straight into a full subject learning as we went. Here are some works in progress (as well as the photo at the top):

... and here are some floral works :

I could not get all the variety of work into this post, but must mention our young lady's work on the Venetian mask Maggie kindly brought in for us. It would also seem we got so involved I did not photo the finished work at the end of the day and I know there was a delightful study of the ballerina with flowers as well as the one above with the lamp . Naughty tutor!!

PS: I have had real trouble with this post - with uploading the images and now with this massive space before the comments and other details - it won't let me delete blank lines all the way down!!!! I've given up trying so keep going if you want to add a comment please!!

I've been in to get rid of the blank lines this morning, hurrah it worked today!!