Friday 22 April 2016

Feel the Need in Me!

Feel the need in me....I'm singing this my head! This year, the year I promised myself, I would NOT paint flowers, this is the year of experimentation ......I just had to .....I needed to.....paint flowers!
I've never stopped peering in the florists window, just checking what they had in stock.
Everyone who knows me, knows I love the colour " magenta", so I really couldn't walk past these chrysanthemums!
I had a long narrow prepared board, larger than I normally paint and it just felt right for this painting!
I've had two days at it now and have decided to have a break and come back after the weekend and see how much I want to add or change. I have loved painting them and I can tell you I have thrown chrysanthemum paintings in the bin before now, as I have never rendered them in a way that excites me!
I'm happy with these ones

Friday 8 April 2016

Hare Today....

I feel I'm still settling into my new studio, even though I got the keys just before Xmas! 
Lighting has been an issue, even though it is basically a light space, with roof window and a large bay window, there are places , under the sloping roof, where it can be challenging to sit and paint! I'm conscious of my students comfort and have clamped my IKEA bendy lamps to table easels etc. The rep for the building, offered me some slightly larger clamp lamps, with a bit more power. 
 Hubbie got roped in to fix a clamping rail to the wall, to hold these lights. This morning we had our first class with the new lighting. I pushed the three large tables together and have the lights shining down on them. 
The new system seems to work for most of the students, it needs tweeked a little , but overall I'm pleased with the result! I have portrait and life drawing workshops coming up this summer, so I need to  have great lighting for those too.
I've been drawing and painting hares for a little while , experimenting with mediums and supports. The last couple I used acrylic inks initially. Number one, I roughly rendered the basic hare shape with yellow and orange/ red, then did a pencil drawing over the top. Number two, I literally splashed around with the yellow acrylic ink, then some sepia ink. The yellow dripped though the sepia, I then drew the hare with a sharpie marker pen. I had a fun morning! 
In the afternoon, a group of French tourists, came to see my studio and hear me talk about my work I don't speak French , luckily, Helen , the lady in charge could translate for me! They left a bottle of French perfume as gifts for Lizzie and I. Lizzie is a willow artist, who has a studio downstairs - she organised the visit.