‘Waiting’ is now finished, in as much as I ever think a painting of mine is finished. There is always a terrible temptation to keep on adding in detail and refining the work and you end up with an overworked piece of art. I think most artists are perfectionists and are always finding fault with their work but you just have to let it go. So….this is 45 x 35 cm unframed and is up on the website for £225. It is oil on canvas. ‘Modern Blonde’ is also now completed and available to buy. I could not quite get the exact colour right in the final photograph. The skirts are a little more vibrant and yellow in the original and the blue tops have a slightly more turquoise hue to them. I apologise for this and spent some time trying to get the right colours in the photo but to no avail; first time this has happened…..sigh. I used an old toothbrush to add a little splash of colour on the walls as a finishing touch and like the effect. The painting is 50 x 40 cm and is priced at £325, not £350 as shown on the website,…
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I would like to thank everyone on Twitter who came up with ideas for titles for these two pieces, I was overwhelmed with the response. In the end I decided on a short title for both so this is now called MODERN BLONDE. Everywhere I go, I see people on their phones all the time – it is a truly modern phenomenon – and not sure if it is a good one, but hey, I am just the artist. One follower came up with the interesting thought that both paintings could be about prostitution or call girls, something that had not crossed my mind. I should finish this next week and am keen to get onto the detail as this makes or breaks a painting to my mind – that and my pink and blue spirited touches! As regards a title for this, again a lot of good ideas and thanks. The word ‘Waiting’ featured in so many Tweets with or without prefixes, but in the end I decided little is more and will just be calling it WAITING. Someone suggested ‘He said he’d call’ but I thought that was too specific and gender orientated, after all she could just…
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I have a note written large above my easel. ‘Put pinks in BEFORE adding blue shades’. I learned the hard way that if you mix the blues, pinks, yellow ochres and naples yellow, you end up with a mud mix. So I start with the highlights, then the darker tones, a mix of ultramarine, Kings Blue Deep (Michael Harding paint) and Quinacridine Magenta and then the pink mix. Then, and only then, when all is good and dry, I start adding the blue highlights which for me make the painting sing. I will also start adding in more pink tones next to other shades as opposed to blending in. Blending does work in the initial stages, but it can look a bit bland if done in the final stages. These are just my thoughts of years of learning (and mistakes) so it may well not work for everyone. You have to find your own style really. I have started to put detail on the face but need to do a lot more work here, at the moment something is not right…..will also add pattern on skirt as we go along. Have block painted better with this work so far, i.e…
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