After a brief visit to London  – I became (again) so inspired by Waterhouse’s paintings. Couldn’t resist it – over the years I’ve made hesitant sketches of the beautiful portraits drawn and painted by Waterhouse. Just for fun I thought that I’d try turning one of my pencil studies into an oil sketch. There’s something (other than the lovely method of painting) that he had in descibing this longing gaze. What a marvellous ideal. 

Study of a girl (After Waterhouse)

300mm x 240mm Oil on panel 2011

Sometimes making a painting is challenging and then sometimes

it can go way beyond that. Then even sometimes you push yourself even further,

way beyond what you even

imagined you were capable of. I’m mentally exhausted after this effort.

Here’s the final, about-to-be-varnished layer

on my copy of my favourite painting of all-time. I’ve slaved over the drawing,

tones and transitions and probably over-painted it, but have learned

so much in the process. I do need a break.

There are thoughts hovering on my mental horizon suggesting

doing this again, but a lot more elegantly. We’ll see.

I’m off to France in just over a week and will be taking this with

for an exhibition in the beautiful village of Grignan in Provence during the

annual Festival De la Correspondence. I’ll be exhibiting at my good friend

Mireille Favergeon’s place – she’s an amazing ceramicist of

deservedly international repute –

check out her work site:

http://mireillefavergeon.blogspot.com/

Girl at Dusk (After Charles Weed)

500mm x 400mm

Oil on lead and chalk-primed fine linen

2011

The oddest of concidences. I was cleaning out the studio and wallop… …Staring at me was a frame  tha fit exactly the sink painting (above) that I’d just finished working on. Serendipity’s really something, isn’t it?

‘And Then The Sun Came Out (Slip)’

Oil on linen on panel 2011

I hope that you’re all well. Trying to stay true to my promise to get some flower studies under my belt – here are some daffodils picked from our garden. The ambition’s been there to paint daffs for years - the hope is to get another couple done before the season’s over. Tried to hit it in one go but some of the colours muted out due to some bad mixing on my part. However, a fresh pass with no added medium and, voila.  Here are also two quick shots of paintings in progress in the studio. The sink is an ebauche of a subject that I’d been asked to remake (don’t you love paintings at this stage, too?)  The daisies are a larger painting started at the same time (few months ago) as a small. I wanted to get the heads right and then for giggles work the background more subtly (backwards painting) in order to see what I could do get light to fall softly against the wall at the rear. A bit of varnishing’ll bring out the deep rich reds and darks on the petals. Dunno yet if I’ll strengthen the leaves, they look ghostly as they are and that’s a bit interesting. Hmmm.