Piccadilly Reflections

A new two-day London painting, "Piccadilly Reflections", another wet evening in Piccadilly Circus when Rich Newman and myself were walking to Pizza Express on Wardour Street after a long day of looking at exhibitions, oh and after a couple of drinks in The Chequers Tavern in Duke Street, St. James', a favourite watering hole. 12" x 12" oil on board.

Recent Life Drawings

The City From Falcon Point

The latest two-day painting is a view of The City of London from a point on the banks of the Thames near the Tate Modern called Falcon Point with the Millennium and Southwark Bridges crossing the river. I have set the painting at low tide as a nocturne A` la Whistler, a big influence on my London paintings basing the colours on a red-orange/green-blue complementary axis. 12" x 12" oil on board.

I make it to the final of Artist Of The Year!

Easy Street

I was delighted to find out today (thanks to Rich Newman) that my painting "Easy Street" has made it to the final selection for the Landscape category in the Artists & Illustrators magazine's Artist Of The Year competition. Seeing as all the other artists will be doing the same, I am requesting any of you that may feel sufficiently moved, to vote for me in this competition, the link is below:
http://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/artists-of-the-year-2012-landscape

A painting makes it to the final cut for the NEAC

"Full Moon High And Over" has been accepted for the second round of the selection process for the New English Arts Club 2012 exhibition at The Mall Galleries. After submitting a jpeg of the image by email for the first Pre Selection stage I have to take the painting to the Mall Galleries on 5th or 6th October for the final selection. I very much hope that it gets in as I will be in India on the dates for picking up the rejected paintings and not sure how to retrieve it!

Monday Afternoon Life Session - 17 September

The model, Frankie, is making an old man very happy......The second 50 minute painting of the afternoon session has Frankie interacting with one of the two resident skeletons at the Sussex County Arts Club. 12" x 12" oil on board.

Duck O' War

Sort of a first for me, a sort of still life. Following on from "Looking For Business" I have become interested in the bright saturated colours of children's rides on Brighton seafront and also in this case, as I bought it from a seafront shop, this rather silly rubber duck. I set it in my bathroom as I thought that it would be interesting to contrast the bright yellow of the duck against the white surfaces of a bath. I wanted to keep the focus on the duck by painting everything else in a more sketchy, blurry way and also thought that it would be nice to have some foamy water in the bath as a subtle colour variation. 12" x 12" oil on board, two-day painting.

Looking For Business

I am back to Brighton seafront for my latest two-day painting "Looking For Business". I feel like painting something very colourful and like the somewhat melancholy and surreal quality that unused children's rides have in a deserted seafront environment. I am also trying to get away from my tendency to paint everything with the same degree of detail and on this one you will notice that things get sketchier and darker the further you go away from the focus of the painting, the Thomas The Tank Engine ride. 12" x 12" oil on board.

Monday Afternoon Life Session - 10 September

First pose

Chose a green background again as it seems to be a good base for the warmer flesh colours to sit on. May have worked out a system for painting the flesh tones - shadow areas blocked in first and then warmer areas of colour for the parts in the light with a few juicy highlights at the end.... and then leave alone and don't faff with it! A long way still to go obviously but I am starting an Artistic Anatomy course at the Sussex Arts Club tonight so hopefully the anatomy will improve along with the painting, eventually. 
Two 50-minute poses, oil on board, 12" x 12".

Second Pose

Monday Afternoon Life Session - 3 September

The better of the two paintings from this session albeit a week late as I was away. The red bit that looks like an heart is actually a red Venetian mask.....

The Gherkin From Liverpool Street

Here is another two-day painting, this one spotted on a rainy night in January returning from a play in the Brick Lane area of London. This one proved a lot to get in over the strict time schedule. Oil on board 12" x 12".

Monday Afternoon Life Session - 27 August

Thought I would do a portrait as the model, Felix, was close enough although could have done with ten more minutes! The other painting was awful as he was too far away.....Might try another portrait next week. 12" x 12'" oil on board.