KAOS Exhibition

I'm exhibiting next month with a newly formed group of Kingston artists which the joint aim to promote arts and crafts in Kingston.
If you're local it's 2nd - 7th May in the Market House, The Market Place, Kingston KT1, 10a.m. - 6 p.m. We've got the mayor opening on the 2nd May at 10a.m; here's to a successful launch of KAOS and a new and exciting art group in Kingston.

Funky gibbon

Made a start on a new project today, its oil on canvas, fairly small 30x30cm. This painting is hopefully going to be all about capturing tension, in the gibbon and the rope its balanced on as its pulled taut. The gibbon is bathed in a golden glow,  however details are going to kept to a minimum so the clean shape of the gibbon's profile isn't lost - well that's the plan! Got a very rough skin on the canvas this afternoon just to knock out the white, and to form a crude colour balance in my mind.

A bit more tinkering

I've been playing with the light coming through the feathers today, I've also softened the corners and edges, I'm trying to get the main focus on the birds head. Another painting that's going on the shelf for further thought!

Peacock at Kew, revisited

Another painting back on the easel. This one has been well travelled, its one of my first oil paintings since returning back to my art a few years back. It was in a gallery for a time in Falmouth, Cornwall and I exhibited it last November, however since having it back in my studio some things were troubling me. Some of the colours weren't glowing, and some of the details of the feathers too hard. I also noticed the head wasn't quite right so had a go at remodelling it. I'm going to have another day at it, then I'm leaving it.

A Summer's day revisited

This A3 pastel has been hung on my wall for the last couple of years. It was one of my first pastel portraitures, a scene from my son's sport's day. In the last year I guess my eye as an artist has improved and my skill in the pastels increased so the painting was beginning to annoy me, making me want to have another 'go' at it.
I've been asked to donate a pastel portraiture commission for an auction to raise money for the school that both my boys attend, I agreed, then realised I needed a pastel painting to demonstrate my pastel portraiture. The nature of taking on commissioned work is that the paintings don't stay in the studio very long, they are off to their new home as soon as they are completed. I have lots of paintings of my boys and cats in the house but mostly in oils, so wanted a pastel example. So finally this painting was taken down, removed from the frame and done! So glad I got round to it, finally I've stopped staring at it muttering about conrtast
and more form!

Resplendent

Here's my mallard, I think it's nearly there now.  I'm sticking it on the shelf with the zebra to ponder and tweak. The last thing I must get on with this week is to take some good quality photos of my new work, I want to get them printed up as greeting cards for the exhibition in May.

Grevy's zebra is finished!

I think I'm finished with my zebras, the exhibition isn't for  a while, so I have time to leave it on the shelf to ponder, but I'm pleased on the whole.

This is the latest on my mallard duck, the title for this piece had to be decided this week, as I needed to get it insured for the exhibition, so I called it Resplendent. I still have plenty to do to the ripples, but it's a slow one this, I worked on it a while today, but again need to let it dry, so I will leave it over the weekend.