Infected By Art

I was pleased to be given my copy of Volume Three of Infected By Art at Illuxcon last week. I have one painting, "Approaching The Citadel" in it, the painting itself is owned by Pat and Jeannie Wilshire.

Sailing Into Byzantium sold

After eliciting lots of favourable comments at Illuxcon I packed this painting up and gave it to Pak Mail at the end of the show to FedEx it back to the UK for me as it remained unsold. I believe it is going off today. Unbelievably a buyer in California has just popped up through Asgard Arts and has bought it! I am now waiting for it to come back and praying that UK customs don't delay it as I have to unpack it and then pack it into it's own box to ship straight back to the USA! The buyer needless to say was not at Illuxcon.
Oh I wish that somebody at Illuxcon had bought it........

Off to Illuxcon 2015!

OK there will be no more posts on this blog until I return from Illuxcon 2015 in Allentown PA. I hope to be back on the 27th October and I also hope that I have good things to report!
I have sent nine paintings ahead and I am taking one or possibly two more small ones in my luggage.
I hope to be posting updates and photos of the event on Facebook over the coming days.

Fireflies

A small painting that I am bringing to Illuxcon as an extra in my luggage, the rest of the pictures having been sent ahead. This painting has proved very hard to photograph; the picture when you see it in the flesh has a richer green/blue colour to it compared to what you see here. It is influenced by Maxfield Parrish and Edmund Dulac and is just a simple scene of a Classical temple by a lake (based on something I saw near Rome) based on a blue/green - red/orange complementary colour combination,  the fireflies providing the red/ orange in the painting. Oil on linen 15 3/4" x 11 3/4". There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Fireflies - stage 5

Damn, this painting is hard to photograph. Anyway, I have made a start on the fireflies first using an orange although for some reason they are showing up very dark when photographed. This needs to be finished tomorrow or Saturday so that it can dry in time for being packed in the suitcase (and to be scanned) to go off to Illuxcon.

Fireflies - stage 4

Very difficult to photograph this painting, the main colour is a rich green/blue which isn't really shown in this photo. It also has less contrast in the original painting.
I have pretty much finished the landscape and hope to start painting in the fireflies which will have a yellow/orange colour to them to contrast with their complementary blue/green in the background.

Fireflies - stages 2 & 3

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday as there is so much to do preparing for Illuxcon.
In stage 2 I put down some rough colour that unfortunately didn't dry quick enough for me to get anything else done that day. Today I painted a Phthalocyanine Blue glaze over the sky before painting in the trees and temple. In the afternoon I was able to put down the basic water reflections by dragging a house paint brush over the blocked in paint. It proved very difficult to photograph the painting to get the correct colour and contrast and indeed is still wide of the mark.

Two more articles for Artists & Illustrators magazine

Departure Of The Bash Kadin

I have just been commissioned to write two more articles for Artists & Illustrators magazine, both of which will be a step-by-step breakdown of the different stages of painting "Departure Of The Bash Kadin" and "Idalou". 

Idalou

Fireflies - stage 1

It's all hands to the pumps at the moment as I get things ready for Illuxcon. The boxed-up paintings went off by FedEx on Friday so that's the major thing dealt with.
"Fireflies" is a small painting that I intend to take over in my luggage as an extra painting to exhibit. It will be a simple composition of a ruined Classical temple by a lake on a moonlit night with fireflies dotted around the foreground, a magical nocturne that will be all about colour and atmosphere. 
This stage was "drawn" in with a thin bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and Lukas Number 5 Medium for a short drying time. I then washed in some tone with a rag and brushes later in the afternoon using the same paint mixture thinned with turpentine and Liquin.

Angel's Diner sold

My painting of a diner in Florida has just sold through Asgard Arts. All I need to do now is to get it back from a gallery in Darlington so I can send it to the buyer. Oil on board 12" x  12".