IlluxCon 10

I am pleased to see that I have been accepted for the Main Show at IlluxCon 10 to be held in Reading PA in October 2017. I am in much esteemed company as you can see from the List of Accepted Artists.

50,000 Page Hits

I am pleased to see that this blog has now had over 50,000 page hits. I would imagine that I could have got there earlier if it wasn't for the fact that I have been unable to regularly post step-by-step progresses through paintings for the past five months. Thank you to all the people who have visited!

Faeral

Phew! Finally finished (bar a few tweaks when I look at it again in a few days time) after starting it in October. Only managed to get a few hours work done on it every four days or so due to being away a lot from my studio to help out my elderly parents 150 miles away. 
Inspired by seeing shots of my model Naomi Wood taken at a music festival in the summer I asked her to pose in the head dress that a friend had made for her. One of the shots Naomi described as  "feral" when she crouched down with her fingers touching the ground and I decided that that was what I wanted, a feral fairy, which  I condensed together for the title "Faeral". I saw her as some sort of woodland nymph/fairy suddenly glimpsed in the dense branches and roots, a few shafts of light catching her face and body. I wanted the figure to merge into into the background so I kept the colours within a pretty narrow range of reds to yellow/greens, the complicated setting trying to distract the eye so the denizen of the woodland mixes in with her realm. It is very hard to photograph this picture as the figure is a bit less distinct against the background than it seems here. I might do another one whereby the figure is much more hidden behind branches etc...
Oil on linen 20" x 30"
There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Saharan Sunset sold

"Saharan Sunset", one of my paintings from the Roadside America series has just sold through Artfinder. Oil on linen 20" x 16". The painting was featured in the June 2015 issue of Artists & Illustrators magazine as a step-by-step demonstration, the article was called "Saturated Colours".

Wild Edge Gallery

I have recently sent three paintings to exhibit in a gallery ran by a friend of mine, Erica Sharpe, in Wedmore, Somerset UK. They are "Morning Mist, High and Over", "From The White Horse" and "Light on the Ouse". All three are located in the East Sussex countryside near to where I live, the last two paintings starting out as plein air pictures in oil on board that were finished in the studio. "From the White Horse" was a finalist in the Landscape Challenge of International Artist magazine published April/May 2012.
The address of the gallery is:
9 Borough Mall,
Wedmore,
Somerset
BS28 4EB
01934 710451

Morning Mist, High and Over

From the White Horse

Light on the Ouse

Faeral - stage 13

Managed to get a few hours' work on it this morning so I carried on working on the figure. Still a way to go yet but I am getting to see how much I want her to merge into the background colours. Hard to photograph as the digital camera tends to over saturate and adds too much contrast.

Abend Gallery Miniatures Show

The 26th Annual Holiday Miniatures Show opened on the 2nd December at the Abend Gallery, Denver Colorado. It runs to the 31st December and I have six paintings in the show, all are 12" x 12" oil on board:

It's Time For Your Bath!

Battersea Sunrise

Born Under A Bad Sign

Duck O' War

High Over Madurai

Piccadilly Circus 6pm

 

Faeral - stage 12

Finally managed to get something done after a week's layoff due to being away and getting my tax accounts together. I have put some preliminary work into the figure, making sure that she doesn't stand out too much from the background to try and get across that she is a denizen of the woods and forests and we're not meant to see her if we ever came across her! The colours in the painting itself are nearer to more burnt oranges and reds, an Autumnal picture I suppose influenced by the current season.

Faeral - stage 11

Pretty much finished the foreground and intend to start on the figure next session. It's very hard to photograph accurately but this photo at least shows how I intend to keep the colours within a limited range of reds to yellows with the figure blending into the background. This decision was made to keep a strong design to the painting and also to make it more interesting - if I had painted it in more natural colours I think it would be less interesting, in the end I want quite a Fantasy look to this picture.

Faeral - stage 10

Due to having to spend what limited time I have on getting my tax assessment ready for my accountant I have not had much time on this session to paint. All I have managed to do is carry on working on the foreground which actually doesn't look much different from before, it is also not helped by being a difficult painting to photograph and today it is very dull in the studio due to cloud.

Abend Gallery

Th

The Abend Gallery in Denver, Colorado is now starting to advertise the upcoming Miniatures Show which I have six paintings in. Here is their Facebook page for it. A detail of my painting "High Over Madurai"  is second from left.

Faeral - stage 9

Still working on the foreground and not actually looking that much different than last time although I have actually done quite a lot this morning. Next session in a couple of days time.

Faeral - stage 8

Just still working on the foreground with glazes and scumbles of reds and oranges with touches of yellow here and there. I still want the figure to merge into the landscape but no more painting now until Monday/Tuesday.

ARC 12th International Salon results

Although I knew a few weeks ago that I was a finalist in the Art Renewal Center's 12th International Salon competition I only found out a few days ago that I had two paintings accepted in the Landscape category; "The Gilded Prison" and "Cold Constantinople". The latter painting has been on exhibition in the Inner Visions: Contemporary Imaginative Realism show at the Abend gallery in Denver, Colorado. This is the second year in a row that I have had work accepted by the ARC and look forward to seeing the exhibition catalogue.

Ponte dell' Accademia sold

After a gap of a few months another painting has finally sold, "Ponte dell'Accademia" by Asgard Arts. The title is slightly misleading in that the only part of the wooden bridge in Venice that can be seen is just the first steps at the right of the painting. This picture was a result of one of my nocturnal walks around Venice a few years ago....must do it again sometime soon...
Oil on board 18 1/2" x 18 1/2".

Faeral - stage 7

I have just continued work on the foreground with washes of Alizarin Crimson on the ground and more opaque green/oranges on the tree roots. I also washed some Alizarin Crimson on the figure - it is important that the figure blends into the landscape. The next painting session will be on Thursday/Friday.

Faeral - stage 6

Decided to put some more definition into the underpainting of the foreground as I think I will paint the setting first and then the figure. Using a mix of Alizarin Crimson with touches of Permanent Sap Green and Winsor Violet.

Another satisfied customer!

I have had a good response from people that have bought my book "Dreamland", here is the latest comment posted on Facebook by Justin and Linda Adair in Australia.

Faeral - stage 5

Worked on the background this session, deciding on the three lightest areas and where to put them, the brightest area of light shining through the trees being behind her horns. The greens and yellows in the actual painting are purer than how they look here in the photo. I am thinking of adding some Cadmium Reds into the painting but I will try that on the next session on Wednesday/Thursday.

Faeral - stage 4

Made a good start on the background, working out the where the light areas are going to go, the next stage probably being to cut in with highlights with dabs of opaque yellow-green/whites. I then will move on to the middle ground, hopefully on the Saturday afternoon/Sunday morning session.

Abend Gallery

Here is the Abend Gallery in Denver, Colorado that has two of my paintings in the exhibition "Inner Visions: Contemporary Imaginative Realism". The show runs to 11 November.

 

Faeral - stage 3

After a five day break from the painting while I was in Leicester helping my Dad after his leg cast came off on Wednesday I have finally been able to get some work done on Faeral. I had a good chance to think about where I want it to go in the interim and decided to merge her more into the trees as this would more reflect how she is like a Nature Spirit living in the woods, only the smoothness of her skin contrasting against the textured branches and ground differentiating her from the setting.  It will still be yellows and greens in the background shifting towards oranges at the horizon and then more red/browns in the foreground.

Faeral - stage 2

Managed to get home to put down the monochrome underpainting which now gives a good idea of the tonal design. I have manipulated the paint to give maximum amount of unplanned detail to try and mimic Nature which I will then start to work on top of to bring out the shadows and highlights, at this point I have been thinking about the way that Arthur Rackham drew trees and roots as the inspiration for the foreground. The paint mix of Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson and Transparent Maroon thinned with Liquin was applied with an old battered bristle brush - a brush never loses it's usefulness even when looking totally knackered!
I am going to have some floating green (?) lights and maybe even a green light in her eyes, not sure yet.

Faeral - stage 1

After a three month layoff from painting due to me being away from the studio helping my elderly parents 150 miles away I am determined to make a start on a new painting even though I can only currently work on it one day in four. Some weeks ago I took reference photographs of the lovely Naomi Wood in her new persona The Feral Fairy and I resolved to do something with them as soon as I could. I have put her in a forest setting in a pose that she has been using recently as the Feral Fairy and intend to use a red/green complementary colour combination with yellows in the greens and oranges and violets in the reds. The design of the painting is being kept simple for maximum impact with all the foreground and figure in reds against a forest backdrop of yellows and greens.
This stage was "drawn" up with a thin bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna, Winsor Violet and Alizarin Crimson thinned with Liquin and turpentine.

Abend Gallery Miniatures show

I will have six paintings in the 26th Annual Holiday Miniatures Show at the Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado. The exhibition runs from 2 December to 31 December 2016 and I am very happy to be part of an exhibition with so many artists whose work I admire!
All the paintings are 12" x 12" oil on board:

"It's Time For Your Bath!"

Battersea Sunrise

Born Under A Bad Sign

Duck O' War

High Over Madurai

Piccadilly Circus 6 pm

Inner Visions

Here is the promotion page by the Abend Gallery for my work in the upcoming show at the gallery later this month.
 

American Art Collector magazine

The current issue of American Art Collector magazine has a feature on the Inner Visions show at the Abend Gallery.

 

Abend Gallery show catalogue

The catalogue for the Inner Visions show at the Abend Gallery in Denver Colorado is out. Nice to see my work exhibited in such illustrious company! I would love to see the show but the catalogue will have to suffice (if I can get hold of a copy).

Abend Gallery Show

The exhibition "Inner Visions: Contemporary Imaginative Realism" that I have two paintings in is now being advertised in social and printed media. The Abend Gallery in Denver Colorado is holding the show and is curated by Pat and Jeannie Wilshire and runs from 8 October to 11 November 2016.