BIG paintings about to begin....!

I have a received my bespoke canvases delivery yesterday and will be taking time out from Daily Paintings to get on with paintings for a local Restaurant that I have been commissioned by. (Belle House Restaurant)
These are going to be quite a bit different to paint on from the normal 30x30cm canvases I use for the daily paintings!!

I have three still life paintings to do for the restaurant of locally grown fruit and veg that is specific to Worcestershire; plums, asparagus and pears.


I will start work on Monday hopefully and will keep you updated with images about progress and then show the paintings in situ in the restaurant hopefully before Christmas!

Aubergines and Linen

Great excitement yesterday! Well, for an artist anyway! I had a delivery of Winsor and Newton Artists' Acrylic. There are 80 colours in the range and they claim that there is no colour shift. The colour they are wet is the same when dry on the canvas.

I used them today to see how they are and was very impressed......

'Aubergine and Linen'
Acrylic on canvas Board 30x30cm
FOR SALE £75 shipping included anywhere in the world.

I adore Aubergines! Often buy them just because of their glossy deep purple skins! This painting was actually quite a challenge to capture that glossy skin. The colour is so dark and yet has such depth to it. I had ordered a tube of Payne's Grey and used it for the first time today. I must admit I am a convert. Up until now, I produce 'black' by mixing Prussian Blue and Burnt Umber and it can often have too much of a blue tinge. I love that you can mix crimson or blue to the Payne's grey and change it's character. Great for Aubergine skin with a touch of Alizarine Crimson.

ARTSWAP

What is ArtSwap?


ArtSwap is the brain child of David Pringle, an artist from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. On a set date all the signed up artists post out a piece of art to their allocated artist somewhere in the world! 


Why, you may ask? What is in it for the artists? 


Well, nothing financially, but it is great fun and a fantastic way to make connections and build a network of artists from all around the world! I have been a part of the Twitter art world for about a year and find it a wonderfully supportive and fun place to chat. We all *cheer* when another artist sells a piece of work and swap advice, give feedback and generally chat about ART! I also 'tweet' for my husband's business and it is a very different experience. No real personal connections are made.


For the first ArtSwap, earlier in the year,I sent a painting (below) to Kim Foale in Tasmania, a wonderful ceramic artist. We now chat often on Twitter and I love to think that my little painting is all the way on the other way of the world! 

'Green and Pleasant Land'
Acrylic on canvas board 8"x10"

I received a piece of art from from Simon Rudd a Freelance writer, artist and Web programmer and, likewise we now chat and support each other with our artistic endeavours! 


For this ArtSwap I have been sent a lovely colour drawing from David Pringle's wife Pattie Pringle. Really lovely and now sitting on my mantle piece! I was surprised to have received it so quickly from the US! 

Looks good in it's new home!

My allocated artist to send my painting to was Stina Jones - (Artist, Illustrator, Designer, Art Director for Creative Elements design studio and blogger for the Arts eZine Creative Boom.) This time I sent to the UK not the other side of the world! She received it the next day and I think she liked it!

'Time for Tea' 

Acrylic on canvas board

Thanks to David for the fun and for the hardwork involved in the organising of the 'swap' When is the next one?

'Time for Tea' - for ArtSwap

Time for TeaAcrylic on canvas board
30 x 30cm

This painting is being posted out today to another artist somewhere in the world and I will be receiving a painting from another artist somewhere in the world!! This was the idea of David Pringle an artist and photographer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

Took part in it last time and really enjoyed it! It is a wonderful way to make great connections with other artists around the world.

I went for a still-life for this painting, and have kept it quite loose and open. I didn't want a very finished painting but went for a more 'illustrative' style. Hope the recipient likes it!!

Porthcurno-Storm approaching

Porthcurno - Storm approaching
Oil on canvas board
30 x 30 cm
FOR SALE £75 Shipped anywhere in the world included in price.

Looking at this painting on the blog as made me think it might need some more work on it. I will leave it to dry for a while and then do some more. Will post the re-worked version when I have finished it. 

It is a good tool, the computer, for really 'looking' at a painting. It helps you to pick up mistakes easier than looking at the actual painting!

Waiting for water

Waiting for water
Acrylic on canvas board 30x 30 cm
SOLD

Finished this yesterday evening but had to wait until it was light to photograph it. I am looking into getting some daylight bulbs so I can work later into the evening now that winter is on it's way.


I used acrylic for this painting as I wanted to add the fine detail into the boat. I find oils are more suited to quick sketch paintings if you are only doing them in a day and not allowing them to dry.

Sitting Proud

'Sitting proud'
7"x5" acrylic 

A Twitter artist friend in Norway, David Sandum, has come up with a wonderful idea to raise funds for a Library in Moss, Norway who have had their funding cut and are needing to buy books for the Children's Library.

140 artists on Twitter are painting small postcard sized paintings and posting them to David who will then exhibit them at the library from the 1 December for a month. Once sold, the money raised from the little paintings (small to symbolise a 140 character tweet!) will go towards the Children's Library.

I was really happy to get involved in this worthwhile project as I have two daughters and know the importance of easy access to books for them as they have grown up!

All the best David with the project and hope the exhibition goes well!

Off to Norway!

Link to David Sandum's blog

"Tide's out"

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"Tide's out' - oil on canvas board (30x30cm) For Sale £75 (inc worldwide shipping)


If you follow me on Twitter you will have heard me having a rant about a 'rubbish' painting I felt I had done the other day and that I was determined to re-paint it and get it right!! Here are the two paintings side by side so you can hopefully see why I was in a mood!


It is funny, I didn't realise, until I photographed the painting on the left to put it up on the blog that it was no good! Once I saw it on the computer I saw the problems and tried to correct them but it didn't work! 


Why was I not satisfied? I had not concentrated when I was painting the boat and, as the focal point of the painting it has to be right. The shape was wrong and looked like a child's painting of a boat, it wasn't 'sitting' right on the sand, the colour was all wrong and the background was too busy. 


I paired down the background and used less colours and made sure that I painted the boat with more care! Hopefully you can see the difference.


It is not a bad thing to paint a bit of 'rubbish' every now and then. It stops you getting too cocky and makes you realise that you have to concentrate and really 'look' at what you are trying to paint!

Tide's Out - (Oil on canvas board 30 x 30cm)

Christmas Cards now available

As Christmas is approaching fast, I thought I would show these cards that I asked to draw for BHS some years ago. They have been up on my Zazzle account for a few months now and are suddenly selling well so people must be thinking about Christmas already!

   

All four are available as Christmas cards through my three online Print Shop accounts: Zazzle, Redbubble and Imagekind.

     

Alf's Gardening Shoes

Alf's Gardening Shoes - Oil on canvas board 30 x30 cm 

For Sale £75 (inc worldwide shipping)

We were having lunch recently with some friends and this pair of shoes was outside the back door! Obviously well used and wonderfully battered and old, I thought they would make a fantastic oil study for a daily painting! I loved the way they are trodden down at the back from being slipped on without un-doing them!!


I am getting more adept at using oils now for fairly detailed work and am really enjoying it. I still like to use acrylics sometimes but seem to be using oils more now. Am off to Brittany soon and hoping to gather lots for potential daily painting material. More seascapes too, hopefully!

More cherries..........!

'Lounging about' (Pear and Cherries) 30 x 30 OIL on canvas board

For Sale £75 (inc worldwide shipping)

I adore painting cherries (and eating them!) These came from a tree in my parent's garden and were the biggest and juiciest they have been this year. Really enjoying be back into the daly painting regime again!

Left the back ground in this painting the original acrylic under-painted colour as I love the contrast of the blue against the white napkin. 

I am interested to look back through this blog to some of my earlier work and see I have developed in style. A lot of people are commenting that my paintings are 'fresh' so maybe that is my painting style now! A fresh contemporary realist? : ))

Daily Paintings are back!!

New Version

I did a little bit of reworking on this pairing today with the background to make the little white jug stand out more and refined some of the strokes on the jug. 

I feel it works better now.

Old version

'Juicy Cherries and White Jug' Oil 30x30cm canvas board (For Sale £80 unframed)

I have had a good break from my daily painting challenge and managed to get some other things done and felt it was now a good time to start again.

Thought I would start with a quick oil sketch to get my eye in again. I love working with white as it is a real challenge to get the tones right and yet make it still look white. I shall probably add some pure white highlights to this when it is dry in a few days.

I have a blog article half written about the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy in London a couple of weeks ago. I will hopefully finish it soon.....!

Best Friends

Best of Friends (Bethany and Fuzzy)- Coloured Crayon on cartridge 


Have had a few days break from daily paintings to get some other projects under way.
Thought I would have an experiment with coloured crayons today as I haven't used them for a long time! I really enjoyed it! I love layering the marks to achieve the different colours and really loved experimenting with 'making marks'. I think I need to by some cheaper crayons though! (Don't usually say that!) They should make for definite lines and marks which is what I am trying to achieve. I will have another go with crayons tomorrow!

England's Green and Pleasant Land

 England's Green and Pleasant Land - Not for Sale (Acrylic on canvas board 8" x 10")


This small canvas was painted for Art Swap 2010 the brain child of David Pringle
This Wednesday, those artists taking part all have to post out their piece of work to a given address of another participating artist somewhere in the world! A bit like Art musical chairs!!  It is a secret who is getting it and I am very excited to see what turns up in the post for me!!


I have decided to paint a scene of 'England's green and pleasant land' and sent a bit of it abroad! This was a scene from a recent holiday in South Devon over Easter.


Painted in acrylics today but found they were drying on the pallet before I could use them it, is so hot!

Jug of Red Tulips

'Jug of Red Tulips' - Oil sketch on canvas board - 30x30cm

For Sale £75 (inc worldwide shipping)

Had a busy day today sorting out lots of jobs that have needed to be done. It is very easy to lose hours painting!


This was a quick oil sketch of a vase of tulips on my coffee table and I loved the way the sun was striking it.

Half empty.....?

'Half empty.....?' Acrylic on canvas board (30 x 30cm) - SOLD

I have been asked by a few people to paint my glasses with some wind in them! The red wine becomes a wonderful inky grape colour which is actually quite difficult to get right!


I have had an offer from a local hotel in Stratford upon Avon to use their wall space to hang my work in their restaurant! This is a very exciting venture and I am very happy about the idea.  Looks like I need to learn to frame now!

Glass and Three Plums

'Glass and Three Plums' Acrylic on canvas board (30x30xm) 

For Sale £75 (inc worldwide shipping)

I love the way that the water in the glass distorts the background. This was a real challenge to get right this afternoon, but I am happy with the outcome.  I thought the plums would add a splash of colour and they are such a lovely colour!

Went to the preview evening for the WANA exhibition on Friday and meet the group of members. Some wonderful art on display! Looks like it is going to be a fun artists group to be a part of!

Transparent Couple

'Transparent Couple' Acrylic on canvas board 30 x 30cm 

For Sale £75 (inc worldwide shipping)

I have not managed to paint all of this week. Family life and other work has prevented me but I 'broke the duck' today and spent some time in the 'garden studio' (with a rug over my knees and the heating on, mind you!). It is a lovely place to paint as I don't get disturbed by the 'house' and can concentrate. Not too easy today though, as there were noisy blackbirds on the roof and a hedgehog scrabbling around under the floor!


I am really enjoying trying to get the effect of glass and the wonderful reflections that it throws. I had to buy some new WHITE acrylic yesterday. The one I had, didn't give me enough opacity and I was getting very frustrated with it. I have gone for GOLDEN Artist Colors (USA brand) which has been very good today and helped with the light sparkles on the glass.

I have joined WANA (an artist association in Pershore, Worcestershire) and they are putting on an exhibition on Friday of members art so it will be the first time any of my work has been in an exhibition! Very exciting! 

Transparent

'Transparent' Acrylic on Canvas Board - 

For Sale £75 (inc worldwide shipping)

I turned back to acrylics for this painting today and enjoyed using them again. It is good to be able to use light washes, especially on a subject like this. Had to remember to wash out my brushes though and not just lie them down on the table as I do with oils!

I haven't managed to paint for a few days as I have had some garden design work to do. Two plant supply jobs in The Cotwolds. It has made a change. 

I heard yesterday that two of the framed paintings that were on display at Lapstone Gift and Furniture shop sold! I am so delighted! 

I have decided to join a local Art Society in the area today and have sent off my membership form. WANA (Wychavon Area Network for Artists) http://www.wana.org.uk/Site/home.html I love chatting with artist friends on blogs and Twitter but I feel it is time to talk to other artist face to face!

White with a splash of Red

'White with a splash of Red!' - Oil on canvas (30x30cm) For Sale £75 (inc worldwide shipping)

Haven't managed to paint for a few days as I have had a garden needing planting for a client. I love being a garden designer. It is so rewarding to see a terrible patch of mud and weeds turn into something beautiful which the client uses and enjoys.


Turned back to my white mugs today to try and work out how to paint white with a white background and make the subject matter stand out.  Thought the painting needed a touch of colour so added a shiny red tomato.