Sark Colour Gardens

My last day on the island of Sark. Here are the three finished paintings begun in the previous posts.

La Seigneurie Gardens ink on paper (above) A3

La Seigneurie Gardens Veg Patch (with accidental ink pot included) ink on paper A3

Sark Gardens ink on paper A3

La Seigneurie Gardens Veg Patch

La Seigneurie Gardens Veg Patch is the final drawing in the Sark Gardens series. Tomorrow I will begin adding colour.

La Seigneurie Gardens Veg Patch (ink on paper) A3

La Seigneurie Gardens

My stay on Sark continuous. Sark has only just become a democracy. Before Sarks first democratic election, taking place earlier this year, it was a self governing feudal state. In the feudal system the only people with a vote or say in how the island was run were land (tennement) owners. The Seigneur was the head of the island taking a share of all land sales. The only person above the Seigneur, in the old feudal system, being the Queen of England. In this drawing you can see the Seigneurs house in the back ground. I will add colour in the next couple of days.

La Seigneurie Gardens, ink on paper (above)

Sark Gardens

Sark is a small pin cushioned shaped island in the English channel, with a population of only 500 people. Sark has no cars, street lights or tarmacked roads and is even self governing. The only motorised vehicles on the island are tractors which are something of a status symbol. The residents get around on bicycles or by horse and cart. This ink drawing depicts the Seigneurie Gardens which are the islands main tourist attraction.

A3 ink drawing on paper of Sark Gardens (above)

Bath Portraits

Phew, its good to be back. Below are three portraits for an exhibition coming up next week. The exhibition has been orgnanised with a group of four others. Each artist chose a subject that reflects Bath to them in some way. I chose a volunteer at the Bath Abbey, the curator of the American Museum just outside Bath and a waitress from the Pump Room which is Bath's poshest place to have tea. One of the challenges was that the portraits had to be A6 in size, so these are all small pieces of work.

Volunteer at Bath Abbey (above) ink on paper.

The Curator of the American Museum just outside Bath.

A waitress at the Pump Room Bath's poshest place to have tea.

Roses, Marlborough Buildings

Roses in Marlborough Buildings Allotments are the initial dip ink drawings to be painted later this week. The pen I use is a piece of bamboo that I whittled in Australia when I first began drawing outside using inks. One of the benefits to using dip ink pens is the opportunity they allow for mistakes to occur (the act of making a happy mistake is called serendipity) such as ink drops or ink trickles.

Above Roses in Marlborough Buildings Allotments, A3 Ink on Paper

The soon to be white roses in Marlborough allotments.

American Museum, Bath

Cowboys is set in front of the American Museum, just outside Bath. The museum often has reenactments taking place in the grounds that lend themselves to some fun compositions.

Cowboys A3 ink on paper (above)

Emily, Portrait

The portraiture class was relatively quiet today with only three people, which is why there is so much floor space. For the last few weeks I have shied away from painting proper portraits, instead depicting interiors. This leaves my teacher to work on his own drawings skills which is why he is sitting opposite drawing the model.

An empty protraiture class in acrylics and charcoal (A3)

Royal Crescent, Bath

The Royal Crescent is Bath's largest and most famous crescent. I have included the steps leading up to finished painting from the initial drawing. This will be my last blog for a week or so as I'm going away, so will catch up later.

The final picture. A2 ink on paper.

After the first wash has been added.

The initial drawing made with a variety of dip ink pens.

Girl in the Hat

Another Wednesday portrait painting class completed and here are the two results. The class lasts for 3 hours which, after breaks is around two and half hours of painting time. The first couple of hours I spent on the larger horizontal picture, drawing in charcoal then working back in acrylics finally finishing with charcoal lines over the top. The second picture was done in the last half hour. The model was actually a beautiful young girl, but the portrait makes her look old and frumpy, albeit with golden shoes.

A3 portrait. Charcoal and acrylic on paper.

A4 portrait. The sitter was actually young and beautiful, although you could never tell from this : )

RAIN

Here is the first picture for Paris's inch by inch project this week the subject is rain. To find out more about inch by inch follow this link.

Rain 3 by 3 inches ink on paper as part of inch by inch.

The Parade Gardens, Bath

The English Summer. Optimism on a Stormy Day. This ink painting depicts the Parade Gardens, Bath, at the height of a British summer. The weather has been very hot here, so it provided a good opportunity to take some photos of packed parks. I decided to give this picture a twist with the dark sky and red triffid like plant shaking in the foreground. The loose fast brush strokes give the impression of something brewing.

The English Summer. Optimism on a Stormy Day. A2 ink on paper.

Roman Baths, Bath

This painting depicts tourists in front of the Roman Baths (after which Bath is named). You can see the statues in the back ground, these over look the one of the hot baths. The baths were originally built here as a hot mineral spring surfaces at this point. Translucent inks are great for creating lighting effects. The painting has a strong sense of the layers making up the fore, middle and background due to colour tints.

Tourist in front of the Roman Baths, Bath. Ink on paper (A3)

Bath Abbey with a blue sky.

Well after much deliberation, I painstakingly cut out the golden sky then stuck in on an additional piece of paper to the back of the original and painted it blue. So now the abbey sits against a blue sky. The final version of this picture has more work done in the sky with a little white moon but I forgot to photo it before taking it away, so this gives an impression. Over all I think the blue helps to define the shape of the abbey, lending contrast to the picture. Thanks for the comments Teresa and Paris. Tend to find if I can't stop fiddling with a picture then either I'm over tired and going circles or there is a big change that needs to take place (like cutting out the sky) but rather than biting the bullet I make small changes (like changing the shade of gold) which can and did go on for hours.

The Bath Abbey in colour with a blue sky ( this is not the final version, but gives an impression of how the blue sky looked.)

The original with sky of gold, which is heavy by comparison.

Bath Abbey People Colour

Bath Abbey People has been provided a morning of frustration. Trying to find a balance with the colour of sky. Initially it was blue but this seemed a little on the weak side as the drawing is heavy in terms of thick black outlines. So I have opted for this yellowy gold and can't decide if it works. Otherwise I think it looks fine.

Bath Abbey People (above) ink on paper A2.

The initial drawing. The ink was very thick which made some of the lines awkward to get down.

Pulteney Bridge Day, Bath

Here we have Bath's most famous bridge looking particularly cheery. Not to mention charmingly wonky. The medium is ink on paper. The water effect is created with pearlescent inks with washes of colour on top to create a shimmering effect. I'm not sure if the use of shiny inks looks a little kitsch, but I do enjoy the effect so will persevere with them.

Pulteney Bridge Day, Bath, (above) with shimmering river Avon.

Pulteney Bridge Day, the initial drawing.

The Circus, Bath

As a break from the big ink drawings here is a print called Number Three The Circus, Bath, At Nine Fifteen on a Sunday. I drew this on Illustrator in mid 2008. I plan to make a series this year.

A digital print that I drew on Illustrator (above)

Bath Abbey in Colour

Bath Abbey in full colour...

Bath Abbey drawn on A2 paper in inks (above)

The initial A2 drawing for Bath Abbey in colour.

Pulteney Bridge, Bath, Evening

Not blogged for a little while as the last week has been artistically uninspired. So yesterday was the first day in seven that being in the studio seemed like a happy idea. To get things underway I turned the large A2 drawing that has been lurking for some time, into a painting. Below we have the before and after of Pulteney Bridge, Bath, Evening.

Pulteney Bridge, Bath, ink on paper A2 (above)

Pulteney Bridge, Bath, the initial drawing.

Studio Building, Bath

This is a slightly washed out version on of the rear of my studio building in Bath. The tree is a magnolia in the garden below. My studio window is the one with the red curtain. This is painted on wood.

My studio window, Bath, (ink on wood).

Bath Abbey Drawing

Bath Abbey with Parade Gardens in the foreground. This is a large A2 size drawing made today. This one is now also awaiting painting. I seem to have a back log of large drawings with colour requirements.

A Bath Abbey seen from across the Avon with Parade Gardens in the foreground. Ink on paper, A2.

The Portrait Painters

In todays portrait class our model was a Polish girl called Mboushka (wild spelling guess). Since starting the course I have discovered that I do not possess a great aptitude for traditional portraiture. So for these pictures I decided to focus on the scene and not just the model.

Mboushka in mixed media (acyrlic paint, charcoal, pencil) on A3 watercolour paper (above)

The class of portrait painters (above) on A3.

Pultney Bridge, Bath

Here is the second of the Pultney Bridge drawings ready for painting. This one will be painted as an evening scene in purples and blues.

The second of the large Pultney Bridge, Bath, drawings.

Pultney Bridge, Bath

After making a point of working on wooden blocks to avoid the pains of framing. I now find myself making this drawing of Pultney Bridge on a large 59 by 42cm piece of paper. There can be and is only one reason for such a sudden reversal of technique. Commerce. It seems the world wants drawings on paper. I could do this on a wooden board but it would weigh more than me. So here we have the initial drawing of Bath's most beloved of bridges, which I will paint tomorrow.

A large 59 by 42cm drawing of Pultney Bridge, Bath, on paper (above)

Walking down a Bath hill at sunset complete

Here are the final two images in the Walking Down Bathwick Hill at Sunset series. You start with the image shown first in this post. I tried to give the impression of moving down the hill by making the distant houses bigger in each picture. The colours also get subtly darker in each frame to show time lapsing, as the sun goes down.

The first in the series of Walking Down Bathwick Hill at Sunset (above)

The second. This picture focuses on the slightly dysfunctional car rather than the view.

The final picture. I have made the shades deliberately darker in this picture to give the impression of the sun setting.

Walking down a Bath hill at sunset

Here is the first in a series of paintings, depicting the descent into Bath from a near by hill. I will post the other paintings as I finish them.

Another block painting as shown in previous posts. In this one I'm building up layers of ink to create the effect to of light at sunset.

Blocks and Blocks

More paintings on MDF blocks. I have included the initial drawing for Ducati (motorbike) in the Circus (double crescent building in Bath.) The two hare painting finish a set of three, the first shown in the last post.

Second in the Sophie Ryder sculptures in Bath series.

Third in the Ryder series. These sculptures of hares are life size.

The initial drawing for a new painting. I like the contrast of the modern motorbike against the historic back drop.

Block Paintings

I have just moved from a large dark studio to a small light one, so its been a while since the last blog. Thanks for all the portrait feed back. Doing the portraits has sparked a slightly different method of working. I know a lot of people who will only ever draw from life. This seems to make good sense as you are able to view your subject in three dimensional space, rather than a photo which is flattened. When doing the portraits it occurred to me that I'm not really interesting in modeling with light or trying to make things look round. A photo makes it easier to pick out pattern and contour which I prefer. Combined with this I have decided not to draw on paper any more. I find mounting and framing clumsy. So begin work in the studio by drawing on wood blocks.

St Mary's in Bath painted in ink on 5 by 5cm wood block.

The Bath Abbey courtyard. The hare and bull are two large sculptures currently installed by local artist Sophie Ryder.

The latest block painting with Bath Abbey in the back ground. The inks come out very bright when painted onto wood.

Portrait: Sweet Seller

Following yesterdays busker is a portrait of the owner of Bath's Humbug Sweet Shop. Looking rather like a sweet.

A6 portrait of the a sweet seller in Bath (above) painted in inks.

Portrait: Busker

I'm currently working towards a group portrait exhibition to be held in Bath during July. The theme is to choose local subjects that represent Bath in some way to the artist. All the portraits are very small, no bigger than A6 in size. My first is this portrait of a the Jamaican busker who stands on Bath's main shopping street singing loudly. Due to his loud and constant singing I have yet to discover his name, or anything about him.

A6 portrait of Bath's Jamaican busker (above) painted in in inks.