Friday 31 August 2012

Orlando playing the guitar





About ten years ago I painted a picture like this, which in a moment of madness I put into an exhibition, and it subsequently sold.
 Although I was grateful for the money I regretted it. Hudge said I could always paint another but I don't like doing that. As the years past and Orlando grew into his large and bearded self, I missed it more and more.
So, when Woodbrigde art club asked for a demonstration in oils in February this year I decided to paint another.

I know lots of people work from photographs so I thought I would show them my process.
I did two pictures for them. The first one from the  gridded up, empty canvas. I drew the figure etc with green paint, and then added the under painting for the first stage, that needed to dry before I could work further  so I then worked on another version that I had started at home.
They asked me to go back in August and finish it. I did that last week,  but it was still far from finished, so I completed it in the studio this week. Its more photographic than usual, but I am trying to capture his expression.

here are a few images of the earlier stages.

























Tuesday 14 August 2012

starting to work again

It has been so difficult over the past year to work at my painting. Cliche as it is, inspiration just wouldn't come. It still is lagging...I have been working at my writing so perhaps that's it, I am not very good at multi tasking. I know as a woman I am supposed to be fab at it, but not me. I have tried out a few ideas, and I am still fiddling about with some of them but no real absorption, no challenge.

Of course I was still painting and drawing from the model once a week, a life line to other artists, and practise for me and I was pleased with the exhibition at the Buckenham Galleries in April, a culmination of three years hard graft. But as ever, no sales, not much feed back and all those lovely paintings have had to go back in the storage cupboard. I have tried, I have applied for shows, but no joy, I guess I'm not exploratory enough, just too figurative.

Well the time had come to move on, take a break from working from life, from the model and try something else. I worked hard at the paintings  and I think resolved lots of things there, but I felt I was hiding behind that. So wrench as it was I cut the apron strings as it were and empty days loomed ahead.

Months have passed, the studio has been full of students, and the kids furniture. Malcolm gave me some frames and they have just sat there, mocking me.... will I ever work again, I feared not.

But today I have cleaned it, and put on the Mozart. I have started to work on the landguard fort paintings, trying to push the work in a new direction... oh joy to be moving paint around again. to have a clear head, no expectations, no dead lines, I feel a little tingling of interest, a spark that might grow. Oh I hope so, I do hope so.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...