Happier times

Posted on August 4, 2020August 4, 2020 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Life, Painting, Spode, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Studio2 Comments

Just found this view of my studio wall, a selection of smaller paintings I did a few years ago. I wish I was still going there. Maybe by September I can get back in there? I’m paying rent for a room I’m not using.

I’ve got paintings to take down there, maybe when I finish this semester I can get back to it? I’m glad I’m busy, I’m glad I’m being creative. I just need to get my act together more.

Anyone else struggling with being organised at the moment?

I’ve just noticed how many times I’ve written ‘I’m’ here. I wonder if its bad grammar….

Eyes

Posted on August 3, 2020August 3, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Design, Editing photos, Eyes, Eyes painting, Painting, Photo directorLeave a comment

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The top image is a painting of my eyes reflected in various ways, the second has been adjusted in Photodirector that can change the style of your image and has lots of tools that I have used, but this is my favourite. It’s interesting to see how a painting can look if you were painting it in a different style. I don’t know if I could achieve this in actual paint. It also gives you new ideas that you could maybe use instead.

I do like experimenting with art. The original painting is a bit different. It was about looking into myself. Possibly a failed experiment. But I like it.

Mural of The F Frame

Posted on August 2, 2020August 2, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged 1990's, Art, Emulsion on board, Florence Colliery, Florence near Longton, Mural, Painting, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

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This was a mural I painted quite a few years ago of a local colliery at a place called Florence, near Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. I was commissioned to paint this as a piece for the working men’s club there back in the 1990’s. The image is based on various historical pictures and photos. I had fun putting it together. It took me about six weeks to complete during weekends and evenings. It was painted in the corridor inside then installed later. X

Summer Dream

Posted on July 31, 2020July 31, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged 1982 to 1983, Art, Burial mound, Fun, Large picture, Memories, Oil painting, Painting, Standings tones, Summer dream2 Comments

One of my largest paintings, done between 1982 and 83.about five foot by four foot. The man is my hubby and the cat our old lady cat we had several years ago. The rest is completely from my imagination. I’ve always been interested in standing stones. It’s based neolithic burial sites. The foxgloves and poppies are about medicine in the past. I think we must have visited Devon or Wales, because of the waterfalls. It’s oil on canvas. No idea what the book is about. But he’s always reading!

1980’s self portrait

Posted on July 30, 2020July 30, 2020 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged 1980's, Art, Blending, Fine Art course, Learning, Life, Oil on canvas, Oils versus acrylics, Painting, self portrait, Youth2 Comments

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Oil on canvas

Forty years ago I was at college learning how to paint. I had lots of fun and did some painting too! I used to paint in oils until I discovered how fast and clean acrylics were a decade or so later. I’m a fast painter but acrylics go off very fast so my style changed somewhat. Instead of mixing colours wet in wet on the canvas I ended up trying to get my colours right on the palette. I think I probably ended up with a more splodgy style until I learnt to blend layers on the canvas.

Moving paintings

Posted on July 29, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Building work, College, Commission, Lots to do, Painting, Spode, Storage, Studio, TiredLeave a comment

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I really must get all my paintings stored down at my studio. These are a tryptich of Jupiter. I need some work doing on the house, but I’ve got things hanging around that could be put away safe, they are up in the bedroom where I’m doing college work and everything is crammed together on one side of the room. Plus I actually have a commission. Someone contacted me. My first real job this year! I need to start getting things sorted out…. Spring cleaning – in late July. Perhaps I will get it done by September! In the meantime I need to get the college work done. The date for handing in work is soon. Help!

After Hokusai

Posted on July 22, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, After Hokusai, Art, Copy?, Japanese artist, Life, Painting, Picture, Woodblock print2 Comments

wave hokusai after

I painted this small painting a few weeks ago. I was seeing if I could even get close to the great artist Hokusai’s work. If I’d painted on to paper I might have added the fishing boats that are being dragged into the great wave while the fishermen in them try and row away from it. It was so hard to get the fingerlike protrusions that show the wave breaking. The colours are not too far off. I think the sky is greyer? When you try and analyse a picture its hard not to miss the the mistakes you have made. Being self critical is important because you try and improve each time.

Triangle

Posted on July 9, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Design, Painting, Picture, Sketch, Sketchbook, Stoke-on-Trent Urban sketchers, Triangle, Urban SketchersLeave a comment

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Not my favourite challenge, but I looked out of the window and saw various triangles. I rearranged the clothes on the airer so they made definite triangles, and the coats on the cupboard were hanging down in a triangle. I left the standard lamp out because it didn’t help the composition. The acrylic paint I used is quite opaque and as the group I’m in is called Urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent I felt the sketchy feel was OK. If I had been doing a ‘proper’ painting I would have done a more realistic, painterly I ture. But I was concentrating on the triangles….

Finished Lobster painting.

Posted on July 9, 2020 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Animal, Art, Blogging, Completed, Finished, Life, Lobster, Marine, Ocean, Painting4 Comments

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On the easle, I used a bit of gold paint in the background to give it a bit of sparkle. I hope the recipient will be happy with it. It’s acrylic on canvas, about A4 size. I did the background with very thin paint to start with and lots of water so the paint spread out and looks blotchy. Like a rough stone surface with bits of weed floating with it. I also tried to get the shadow underneath it to make the body stand up away from the ocean bottom.

Almost finished Lobster

Posted on July 8, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Blogging, Commission, Lobster, Painting, Picture, Water, Work in progressLeave a comment

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Work in progress, about A4 size, acrylic on canvas. I’ve got to work on the background. It’s now a commission as someone saw the start of it and liked it. I’m not sharing this on my Facebook page because I want it to be a surprise. I don’t think I will do a lot more to it. I want to resolve the head though. The photo I’m working from has a lot of dark rock and patterns around its head and its hard to see what’s happening. That’s why a lot of the surface is on is light so the lobster stands out a bit more.

I’m trying to make it look like it’s almost floating. I might add some light and dark bands, like ripples of light and shade being reflected down from the surface.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Painting