Wednesday 24 June 2015

Colombine's birthday

A few months ago, I did a series of 3 paintings from my sister's instagram photographs of her lovely daughters (click here to view them). I gave them to my sister as a present but my mum confessed she was rather jealous of it... It was her birthday last week so I decided to paint a similar painting just for her that includes her three granddaughters from my sister's side. I gave it to my mum a few days ago and she loves it so I'm happy too!


Colombine's birthday  12"x12"  oil on board

This painting was done again from an instagram photograph by my sister. It was taken during her daughter Colombine's birthday party in South Africa. She is the happy girl in the chair (or should I say 'throne') and the lady on the right is a 'professional fairy' that they had for the day to entertain the kids. You can see her applying removable girly tattoos on Colombine's arm. Next to Colombine, you can see her sister Aliénor, and behind her, her little sister Aprilia is having a walk around in the garden.


Here are below the few stages of the painting process:












Here are below a few details of the finished painting. I had great fun painting all the little girl's fairy dresses and cute hairstyles.


Detail


Detail


Detail


Detail

Sunday 7 June 2015

Small oil sketches

For the past few weeks I have been working on a client's commission in the studio on large canvases which means I have less time available for plein air. So, in order to feed my need for quick spontaneous outdoor work I have decided to develop a series of small oil sketches. These below were done in my favourite allotments spot in the evening. I made a point of keeping it fresh, quick, simple and lively. 

Traditionally, old masters would do such outdoor sketches to use them later in the studio as a reference for larger pieces. And it is only recently that they are being seen as proper stand alone pieces of Art. I have secretly always preferred these small spontaneous sketches to the sometimes overworked studio pieces. 

Here are below my first 7 paintings of the series. I hope you enjoy looking at them half as much as I enjoyed painting them...



Small oil sketches series - Allotments 1   5"x7" (13/18cm)  oil on board


Small oil sketches series - Allotments 2   5"x7" (13/18cm)  oil on board



Small oil sketches series - Allotments 3   5"x7" (13/18cm)  oil on board



Small oil sketches series - Allotments 4   5"x7" (13/18cm)  oil on board



Small oil sketches series - Allotments 5   5"x7" (13/18cm)  oil on board



Small oil sketches series - Sky   5"x7" (13/18cm)  oil on board



Small oil sketches series - Sunset  5"x7" (13/18cm)  oil on board



Here are below some pictures of the paintings in progress. As mentioned before, I've always loved painting in this serene allotments place. And you never know what will happen. While painting some of these scenes, I got to chat with lovely people, received some rhubarb which I turned into a crumble (my proudest moment of the year - I never bake) and got invited to their annual allotment picnic! Who knows what will be next!