Ponte vecchio in pastel

It must be the recent heat in the UK that has made me think it was time to revisit this subject. I think also I was reminded of it during my recent trip to the Dordogne in France which has it far share of Medieval buildings with their shuttered windows. I have painted this bridge a few time before, this is going to be an A4 pastel painting.

The torch has been and gone.

Things are hotting up for the Olympics, it now all seems very real. Lots of excitement for the torch this morning as it passed though. The woman holding it looks very serious, just imagine if you'd dropped it!

KAOS 4 reopens for Surrey Artists Open Studios

Last chance to catch the SAOS event. Selected studios are reopening their doors for a final weekend. We're included in this, got my fingers crossed for some dry weather, if not we have a gazebo!

Mallard with ducklings

I enjoy my recent duckling painting, so thought I'd do another. This cute family I spotted on the Thames a few weeks back. A friend mentioned she'd not seen many ducklings this year, and that had heard that the strange weather has had an effect upon the numbers this year. I realised that these little one had been the first I'd spotted too.
This is an A3 pastel painting, I enjoyed this I love painting ducklings! However my oil painting is dry now so it back to the leopard next week.

Proud Mother (version 2)

Proud mother in pastels, I enjoyed this, using soft pastel it loosened up the overall feel of the painting, and speeded up the total painting process. I also have lost the harsh acid greens. 

Proud Mother

This is a first for me, to repaint a old composition. Obviously no interest to repeat the original, which I sold a couple of years back. It was one of my first paintings put up for sell when I returned to my art. The original work was in gouache and watercolour pencil, I was very pleased with it when I painted it, however over the years I could see the greens were harsh, and it was making me think it should be in pastels. So far I'm enjoying this, and the process has been swifter than the original, which I guess shows I am gaining confidence over the years.

Leopard Wip

I've made a start on a new small oil painting, it's obviously a study of a leopard having a catnap. I need to let this dry, then I can get going on the finer details of the fur. After my Open Studio, I've found it hard to knuckle down and get on with some painting.