Pinterest board of New York paintings

I have just posted a board of all my New York paintings onto Pinterest. A much quicker way of seeing them than going on my website!

https://www.pinterest.com/harrison9619/paintings-of-new-york/

Dream Of The Odalisque - stage 6

Didn't get a lot done today due to poor light and distraction of a burst radiator letting water through to the flat below. I worked mainly on the interior of the room on the right, putting in a light ray from a stained glass window, some work on the gold fireplace and the general lighting of the wall. I want the interior to be based around reds and oranges so that it gives the impression of it being hot inside in the afternoon heat.

Dream Of The Odalisque - stage 5

Pretty much finished the background and started work on the interior including a pattern on the flooring as this area was looking a bit bare. Only after taking this photograph did I notice the wrong perspective so I have since rubbed out the patterning and redrew the the perspective on the left side of the room as it looked as though it was sloping down. It was too dark to rephotograph after the adjustment so it will be seen in tomorrow's photo.

Dream Of The Odalisque - stage 4

"Drew" in more features in the room and redrew the lines on the divan as the perspective was wrong. I also broke up some of the straight lines like the tree on the left and the second light hanging in front of the fretted window. Tomorrow I hope to finish the background and then make a start on the room itself including some patterning on the floor.

Life Drawings

Here are a couple of life drawings from last night's session at the Sussex County Arts Club, the model was Kate Shields. Pastel pencils on Murano paper.

Dream Of The Odalisque - stage 3

Put down some rough colour today to give me an idea about the tones and values that will get me to where I want this painting to be. The interior is meant to be quite dark but rich in colour with a very bright landscape outside. Already I can see that I need to make the sky darker and warmer.

Dream Of The Odalisque - stages 1 and 2

Another painting hopefully heading for Illuxcon if it works out OK. A Sultan's concubine whiles away a hot afternoon with a nargileh (water pipe). She arches back her head and luxuriously blows out the narcotic smoke into the sultry air dreaming of the unattainable, perhaps of freedom from her gilded prison. Yes I know this is a western fantasy of the harem......
The first stage was to "draw" it up with an old small bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Dioxazine Violet thinned with Liquin and turps. I made a grid using the same paint mixture and "drew" in the figure from my reference photo I had taken on Friday and then wiped off the grid with turps on a rag. The next day I painted a tonal underpainting with a rag using the same paint mixture.

Pinterest board of London paintings

I have now posted a Pinterest board of London paintings, an easy way of seeing all of them on one page!

https://www.pinterest.com/harrison9619/paintings-of-london/

Pinterest board of Landscape paintings

I have now posted up a board of pretty much all of my landscape paintings in oil on Pinterest, an easy way of looking at my landscape work on one page:
https://www.pinterest.com/harrison9619/landscape-paintings/

The Mermaid's Treasure

A mermaid goes through the contents of a treasure chest that she has retrieved from the wrecked ship thrown high onto the jagged rocks by the retreating storm. She doesn't seem that impressed. The model for the mermaid is the lovely Naomi who I have recently met and will be featuring in my next painting of an Orientalist interior. 
The painting is based on a blue-yellow complementary colour axis that brings red/oranges and greens into play in the interest of colour harmony.
"The Mermaid's Treasure" will be exhibited at this year's Illuxcon at Allentown PA in October.
39" x 15 3/4" oil on canvas. There is a step-by-step progress through this painting on previous posts on this blog.

The Mermaid's Treasure - stage 6

Finished the figure now barring a few final tweaks so tomorrow I work on and hopefully finish the chest. I think that she will be holding some jewelry with a big red central stone and there will be some gold coins strewn around the base of the chest.

La Choza sold

"La Choza", a painting of a mexican cafe in Brighton has just sold via the Portfolio Plus section of the Artists & Illustrators website. I think that this is the third painting sold through this site which reminds me that I must update my page on it!  18 1/2" x 18 1/2" oil on board.

Pinterest board of paintings of Venice

I have just posted a Pinterest board of all my paintings of Venice:

https://www.pinterest.com/harrison9619/paintings-of-venice/

The Mermaid's Treasure - stage 5

Finally got back to painting after a three day gap. Working on the Mermaid today, hopefully will finish her tomorrow.

Pinterest board of paintings of Brighton and Hove

I have just posted a Pinterest board of most of my paintings of Brighton and Hove. A good place to see them without having to go page-by-page through the website.

https://www.pinterest.com/harrison9619/paintings-of-brighton-and-hove/

"Vertical Landscapes" article in Artists & Illustrators magazine

My latest article for Artists & Illustrators magazine has just been published in the March 2015 issue. This one is called "Vertical Landscapes" and is principally about the use of an upright panoramic format as a compositional device for certain pictorial ideas. Six stages in the progress of the painting are shown along with a list of materials. I have just written another article on Small Paintings which will be published in a couple of months time.

Pinterest board of Imaginative Realism

I have also set up this board of my Imaginative Realism work which will also be added to as new paintings are completed:
https://www.pinterest.com/harrison9619/imaginative-realist-paintings-by-mark-harrison/

Pinterest board of American Paintings.

I have now set up a board on Pinterest of my recent paintings of America which will be added to as I do new paintings. I have been told this is another good way of getting your work out there so here goes:
https://www.pinterest.com/harrison9619/paintings-of-america/

The Mermaid's Treasure - stage 4

Pretty much finished the background today so I just have a few hours tomorrow morning to do some preliminary work on the figure and chest before I have to go away for a few days - frustrating! I would like to finish this as soon as possible....
I am planning to keep it to quite a limited palette as you can now tell from the painting so far.

The Mermaid's Treasure - stage 3

Although it doesn't look that much different to yesterday's stage I have worked all over the background to a point where hopefully I will have it finished tomorrow ready to make a start on the foreground when I get back to the studio on Sunday (I leave on Wednesday lunchtime). 

The Mermaid's Treasure - stage 2

Got some colour down today to roughly give me an idea as to how my lighting and colour will work. The mermaid will be bluer and blend into the rest of the picture so that the whole painting is based on a yellow/ blue near-complementary colour axis with touches of orange, red and golden yellow, mainly in the treasure chest area. Most of the colours have been mixed from variations of Prussian Blue and Naples Yellow with Michael Harding Lead Tin Yellow Lemon acting as white. Might put some indications of cliffs on the left side of the picture tomorrow.

The Mermaid's Treasure - stage 1

Finally going again on another painting after a bit of a gap while I caught up with other stuff that needed doing. This will be another one destined for Illuxcon if it turns out alright and features a new model I have recently met, the lovely Naomi as a mermaid going through the contents of a treasure chest that she has recovered from the wrecked ship thrown high onto the jagged rocks by the recently departed storm.
The first stage was "drawn in " with an old bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet (Dioxazine) thinned with Liquin and turpentine. I let this dry a bit over lunchtime and then washed in a tonal underpainting with a rag and brush using the same paint mixture thinned with Liquin and turpentine.

The Lost Garden and Fondamenta dell'Arsenale sold

"The Lost Garden" and "Fondamenta dell'Arsenale" have just been bought by a collector in Arizona that came across my work on Facebook. This goes to show that maintaining a Facebook presence can be very beneficial as I guess you never know who could be looking at your page at any given time! "The Lost Garden" is set in the grounds of Sudely Castle in the Cotswolds and "Fondamenta dell'Arsenale" is set at the entrance to the Arsenale shipyard in Venice.