Saturday 10 October 2009

The Colourful Fish


Here's a sketch for a painting. I am going to try gouache for this one. I haven't used these paints for probably 20 years, but remember liking them when I did. This is hopefully going to be a colourful sparkly affair, the kids where dressed in lovely aquas and jades to create a beautiful under the sea scene.

Thursday 8 October 2009

Been into town


Jumped on a train into town today, something I don't do often enough. I met an old college friend, who lives right in the city, so relied on her instead of an A to Z. We decided to have a wander round the back streets of St Paul's, ending up at Smithfield Market,(famous meat market). I had a quick read of the tourist info up on the wall, apparently in olden times fed up husband would not only bring their cattle to sell, they would also throw in their wives to see if their could get an upgrade, it would seem divorce wasn't an option! Took some interesting shots at the market, it was very quiet as trading had finished for the day.

Tuesday 6 October 2009

Finished! A Quiet Moment


Ironically whilst drawing this I haven't had many quiet moments! I've finished for now, I tend to get fed up with stuff, then revisit. I didn't feel totally settled into this, or in control! I ended up working alot of this upside down to stop me make assumptions on the perspective and form.

Sunday 4 October 2009

Wip, finally get some more done!



As the title suggests, this has been a very drawn out affair. Got a couple of hours today whilst my son Spencer (who's the subject of this piece) was at a party. I have discovered another useful technique with pastels. For the folds and creases on Spencer's trousers I first used a hard conte pastel in the darker tone, then went completely over this with a very soft pastel in the lightest tone. Then used a stump tool to blend and rub away the soft pastel to create the different tones. I decided to to take the plunge and start the water. Still very basic tonal values, there is the beginnings of the movement, but no convincing ripples. Also have to consider the splashes of water and water droplets on Spencer's hand.