Into the third week and getting down to detail. Should be finished next week when the fine work is added. I want to add softer focus to the fabric, possibly adding in some lighter mauve and blue shades. More work is needed on the shading of the arms. The sofa I think is almost complete. The hair has been lightened to a blonde shade and I think needs less height to it – next week. This model, one of my favourites, was coming to pose for me as I loved her blonde hair. However, a few days before the photo session unbeknown to me she dyed her hair a darker blonde! I kept on with the photo session regardless as she is so good, but was a bit sad as had blonde shades in my mind. I also have a follower on Twitter who has bought one of my blonde paintings and is always asking me when there will be another. So Roy, this one is for you! If you are a follower of mine on Instagram, please have a look at recent posts of mine as I have put up a couple of images showing my work now…
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‘If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced’. Vincent Van Gogh. This quote was on Instagram recently put up by another artist I follow, and it rang such a chord. It was not so much that I was dissuaded from going to art college when I was young, as it was considered a second class career (!), but more the voice inside my head telling me I wasn’t good enough and believing that voice. Only very recently, a dear friend who I have known forever said to me about my art progression ‘ I didn’t think you had it in you’! Sigh. Well I have indeed persevered and now paint each and every day following my true passion. I love what I do and will continue until I physically can’t paint any more. So to week 2 of this work which I am enjoying working up. The Ampersand gesso board is wonderful to paint on, giving a smooth finish. Not sure how it would work for a large piece but it is great for smaller works to get the detail right. Looking forward to…
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First week, first underpainting of 2017. I alternate between being excited when I start a new work and impatient to get down to the lights, darks and details which I know I have to wait for until the underpainting is done. Catch 22. Two good friends kindly let me use their house as a backdrop to my next photo shoot with my model and I am hugely grateful for this. Much as I would like to paint from life, in practice I have to work largely from photos, so every few months I will set up a photo shoot with a different model and take a load of images for future use. The lights work perfectly in this and the composition benefits from the wonderful abstract painting behind the model. I am not usually a fan of green in my colour palette, but this time the colour of the sofa compliments the lilac Grecian style dress and also the cushions which will eventually be purple shaded. On a different note, I am absolutely delighted to have been given an Award of Merit in Manhattan Arts International ‘s New Beginnings Exhibition http://ow.ly/xOba307yJKd for this painting :- If you would like to…
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