Return of the Living Dead...

...aka my latest self portrait...

A couple of weeks ago I went to an excellent demo by Hashim Akib, having been very kindly invited by fellow arty blogger and all-round lovely lady Pat Elliot (thanks Pat :-)), and this is my first effort, having been well inspired.

It's acrylic on canvas, 10 by 14".

Despite having the appearance of an animated corpse, I'm actually fairly pleased with this. When Hashim Akib did his demo, he started off by laying on paint without any kind of drawing - he then built on this, looking for shapes, shadows and highlights, only getting 'fiddly' (and not too fiddly at that) right at the finish. His portrait style is a lot more colourful than I've managed here, but I was fairly happy with this for a starter. Painted from life (using a mirror) with flat brushes, no drawing. I did have some lovely juicy colours early on but managed to lose them along the way...

So, it's been a confidence booster in that I know I can paint without needing to draw first; for my next attempt I'll aim for something a bit warmer and less deathly!

Year of Painting 3: Koi

The Painting Friends Year of Painting challenge last month was Koi. I decided to try for something delicate.

Watercolour, 5" by 7".

I used a bit of clingfilm to try to get a watery ripply effect, which I think worked OK, but I failed to get the lost edges I had in mind.

Promise of Spring

Here's what I've been up to over the last week or so, a painting to add to Old Man Winter for the 'seasons' series.

Watercolour and ink, using the clingfilm technique.

Quarter sheet, on Fabriano Artistico HP.

Year of Painting 2: Still Life

Over on the Painting Friends forum, the Year of Painting has reached month 2. The reference for this month was a still life set-up, and I decided to have a go in acrylics.

Acrylic, 10 by 14"

My version is much simplified from the reference photo - the original had a stripey tablecloth for a start (and that looked way too difficult!). I think I could have been braver with the colours in the white cloth, but I like the texture I managed to get (applying paint with a palette knife), and I like the overall feel of the finished painting.


It was fun to do, as always, and it's great to try out different approaches and subject matter. Though I do think that I prefer painting still lifes from life, rather than from a reference photo, so I'll have to make the effort and set some up I guess...

Portrait from life

Thought it was about time that I did some more drawing from life. My model today was happily sitting, minding his own business and watching the Formula One Grand Prix on the telly...

Charcoal and white pastel, on some kind of grey, fairly lightweight paper with a little bit of tooth to it.  I found it a bit of a struggle as the charcoal lifted off at any opportunity (ie me putting my big clumsy finger in the middle of it...)

Not the greatest likeness, it has to be said, but not too bad....

Size is about 13" by 17"

Sally again

Here' the latest portrait I've been working on. It's a reference I've painted before, but I wanted to have another go. Not sure if this one is any better/more successful; I was really struggling with it for a while as I'd somehow gone a bit bright with the skin tones. Managed to drag it back a little with a couple of thin washes of blue/blue green. The likeness is better this time anyway.


Watercolour, quarter sheet, on Fabriano Artistico HP paper, a very smooth surface.

YOP 1

Over on the Painting Friends forum there is a challenge running - a Year of Painting (YOP). Each month a reference photo is supplied which we all paint and then share on or after the 20th of the month. Along with the painting, we are encouraged to share our thought processes, sketches, studies and goals, the idea being that having this kind of focus really will make you think about your painting approach.

The theme for the first month was landscapes - my absolute bugbear. And the two refs provided didn't fill me with joy either! However, I gave it some thought and went and researched some landscape painters, including Bruce Docker, one of my favourites. My first effort was very much in his style.

 I then thought I'd try something a bit more 'painterly', while trying to keep the energy of my first effort, so this is what ensued:

Both are acrylic, 8" by 12" on acrylic board.

I actually quite like both of these, but the first is my favourite. I think I'd like to be able to paint something that sits between the two styles - I love the energy and almost abstract shapes that come out of the first approach, but it looks a bit 'cartoony' for my liking. I am going to persevere with this approach for landscapes, and I might even venture outside and try a bit of plein aire painting, if I can work out a system for outdoors acrylics. Watch this space, as they say!