A COLOURFUL LIFE

David Hancock - One Day Workshop

2011-10-10T04:58:00.000-07:00

Hello again.

One Saturday during the summer months of this unusual year, I took part with roughly a dozen others in a one day acrylic portrait painting workshop held by the renowned Manchester based artist David Hancock, held at my local art centre - the 20/21 in North Lincs.

David has an Internationally held reputation for very detailed portraits, often taking anonymous young people and putting them into fantasy come futuristic scenarios, but always with a meaning that the subject and the viewer can both relate to. His art is held in very high esteem by many people, and once you take in the amount of work and attention to detail he puts into each and every one of his works - then it's easy to see and understand why.

Before he arrived, you should have seen the faces on everyone when they took stock of their equipment supplied by 20/21 from David's instructions; no pun intended, but they were 'a picture'! (Tiny brushes No4 & No6 small rounds, and a large 20" x 28" canvass.) After introducing himself and setting out his background and aims, we all had our photograph taken, then printed off and covered with a pre-printed grid before David showed us how to grid up our large canvasses and use that method to get our photograph down onto it. Surprisingly, not everyone knew this way of working, and to those who did, then it is always good practice.

As you can see from the picture on the right, everyone's efforts were plenty and varied. David kept wandering round behind us all, keeping up a nice barrage of hints and tips; he was there for a purpose, and no-one would escape! This was taken during a quick break for a well earned brew, and a chance to catch up on each others work. As is usual in these circumstances, some work far faster than others, but I think only a couple had got close to anything like finishing come the end of the session.

That, of course, is not the whole point of the exercise. Learning, but above all enjoyment is the main aim, and we all agreed with that. Once we had 'finished' timewise, David photographed each of our work for his own records, and then stayed for quite a while answering a wide range of questions from those who wanted to ask. I think the biggest difference is that he takes up to 4 days to complete a work - we had around 4 hours!

A very enjoyable workshop, with many thanks to 20/21 for their help, to the other students for their banter and friendship, and of course to David Hancock himself. I for one will be looking forward to his next workshop visit this side of the Pennines.

Whatever you art - enjoy it.

Paul

The Last Cartoon!

2011-10-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

As promised to you sometime (maybe a week or so) back, here is the picture of my last cartoon work.

I have done a number of these during the last couple of years, covering a wide range of popular subjects, some of them going back in time so as to incorporate as much of a cross-section as I could, thereby keeping everyone happy. Well, that was the plan at least.

It seems to have worked, as I've had many positive comments about them, but the most bizarre one at least as far as I was concerned was the eccentric chap who wanted one of a large Scooby-Do to go over the fireplace in his dining room as a talking point. That in itself, must speak volumes for his cooking, or so it appeared to me, and luckily it was not a place to which I ever received an invite.

This one follows the familiar format of acrylic painted onto hardboard, being roughly 24" x 18" and having a smooth planed timber edge on the back to support it, have something to fix hanging materials to and to finish it off nicely. Many people will know it is an 'Hello Kitty', but a friend of ours asked if I could do one of her little girls favourite character. It just seemed so obvious to me to change the name to that of the little girl, making it more personal and enjoyable. Her mother thinks it's great, and loves the idea. I just hope Ellie is too when she receives it.

Why 'the last one' I hear you all cry in unison? Well, as I've already said I have done these for a few years now, have enjoyed doing them, having learnt a lot by working on them in many ways, such as grid-drawing to scale, neatness, a certain amount of self-discipline, having patience with the black lines, and building everything myself from scratch to a completed work.

I also feel that it is now time to move on and to try and concentrate on other areas.

When someone first starts out on their artistic careers, I think deep down we are all basically the same. "My best work is pastels", someone may say, "and I will work in them." Fine - no problem, but then they see watercolours, or gouach, or oils, coloured pencils, charcoal, pen and ink - the list seems almost endless. And it so easy to get carried away, curiosity gets the better of us, and before we know it, that small box of materials we once had eventually turns into a cabinet or drawers full of differing things. And then of course we all have to have a certain container for each one of these mediums, even leading to easels, brushes and dozens of other things - big and small.

My hand goes up as I am just as guilty as thousands of others. But now, I want to just try and work with two of the most popular mediums, those of watercolours and oils. The first for use outdoors and especially when away on short breaks and holidays; the latter for working with at home on ideas I can build up over a long period of time, maybe getting inspiration from those holiday watercolours.

There is no way on this earth that it is a unique, or new idea. I'm just treading on the same artistic pathways that artists and pleasure painters have used for hundreds of years. The only thing different is that it is now my turn.

And so it is: one journey has ended, and another has begun. I hope you like this last one.

As usual, what ever your art - enjoy it.

Paul

This Is Art.

2011-09-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Hi there

By tonight I will have completed the painting part of my latest acrylic cartoon, and once it is dry etc I will begin making the frame/support for it, and draw a line under it (no pun intended). I have not done any of these for quite a while, but this is one I have been asked to do by a family friend for her daughter - a 'Hello Kitty'. Once it is complete, I will photograph it and upload it onto here.

Although I have always enjoyed working on these, I feel it is about time to call it a day with the cartoons, and begin to concentrate more on my oils and watercolours. The freedom of being let loose with a palette knife after the strict colouring and black-lining that entails with a cartoon is amazing, I can tell you - and the ease and looseness of a watercolour is so liberating!

It was part of my collection of cartoon works that I used to take part in the 'This Is Art' event run throughout parts of Lincolnshire during the summer of 2011. A range of events over a couple of months covered art, dance, music, drama, film making, singing etc. Although these are the usual sorts of event you would assume, the emphasis was also on the much lesser known forms of art - such as woodcarving, writing, story telling, story reading, needlecarfts etc

The artworks supplied by the artists were distributed for display to a variety of participating outlets around the local community. Many of the events had both an amateur and a professional element to them, and the whole thing was a great success. I think plans are already afoot to run the scheme again next year.

That sparked a thought (I try to have at least one a week!), asking myself how many artists (full time and amateur) support local events like this one - more often than not under their own steam, and for no gain at all except the thrill and satisfaction of taking part, and maybe a little publicity? In that sense is the spirit of community dead or alive where you live? Or - do you support local artistic events by attending them in your area? Like I said - just a thought.

For further info and ideas on the event, try searching for www.thisisart.org

Until next time, when I'll let you into another summer event I attended - whatever you art - enjoy it.

Paul

And then there were Two!

2011-09-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hello there.

Quick update for you in between coats of drying acrylic - so you know it will be a speedy one.

Oh my - last week I was told that my art intake was dropping down from four to three sessions per week - and now I start this week being down to just two! How come I hear you all type back?

Simple; last night's Life Drawing Group was cancelled due to lack of numbers, which is an awfully sad shame, and hopefully will not become the norm. The folks who run it - the 20-21 Gallery in Scunthorpe, North Lincs, need a minimum of eight to make it a viable session, and it was down two last night to six artists.

Hopefully we can all try and bang the drum and try to get more support for it, because it is a difficult thing in itself to get models in some areas, and once this is gone, I fear it may be for good.

Brushes crossed for next Moday.

Whatever your art, please enjoy it.

Paul.

Last of the 'Full Weeks'.

2011-09-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

Yesterday - Thursday - was the 'last of the full weeks' as such in my little art world.

After what seems close to being a lifetime of attending 4 art sessions a week (one Life Drawing in a nearby town, one Tuesday kid's group, one Thursday kid's group and one adults group on a Tuesday evening), I now find it down to 3, as the local art group leader has deemed it fit to drop the Tuesday kid's groups, due to falling numbers. It is hoped to be able to combine all the kid's into the Thursday session.

Obviously it may not go down well with everyone, probably more so with parent's who have their routines; some may sadly stop coming altogether, but it does not make sense to be open twice a week for just a couple of children per session, especially in this economic climate. My best hope is that those who really want to come and learn some artistic techniques, who want to progress and improve their abilities will be the ones that do accept the change.

Personally I would much rather sit with perhaps 4 youngsters who are serious about what they are doing or want to do, than have maybe upwards of a dozen or so who treat the place like some sort of after school club.

Hopefully after you read what I put in my last post you may remember we have around 3 youngsters who want to make a concerted effort with their art, so starting next week we will be able to see if they can work in a one day a week group.

Right, things to do, places to go, and some more blog pages to start and plan, so until next time - whatever your art - enjoy it.

Paul

The First Week Back

2011-09-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Now then Bloggers - how the devil are you?

Thought I'd have a brief resume of the first week back after the school holidays, and like plenty of places, that's the time when our kid's and adults art groups close down for the summer too, as well as the Life Drawing Group I'm a member of nearby. I guess in the long term it does do us all good to have a break: or does it?

Millions of adults around the world will be saying the same thing - "It doesn't seem like 2 minutes since they broke up!" And, I guess to a certain extent it's true, though I feel that 'since I was a lad', the youngsters I know around here are now admitting to being bored and actually WANT to get back to school. Sign of the times eh? We always had loads of things to do to occupy our time, but even with all these modern gadgets, games and technology - they can't wait to get back.

Our art group and it's re-opening had not been properly promoted by the proprietor, so on Tuesday we only had ONE child turn up, and on Thursday we only had TWO children (both sisters). What I found interesting was that Tuesday's child had been carrying on practicing and using her sketch book during the summer, and the eldest of the two who came on Thursday had been doing the same thing (to a lesser extent as they had been away several times during the break). That's a great testament to both of them, and they both have even at this early stage of their lives and school careers (they are both not in senior school yet) - want to carry on with artistic based careers. Obviously neither of these two were bored!

I teach art to children, or should I say I help them and encourage them with their art as technically I am not a qualified teacher. But whatever the technicalities of it, I find it very satisfying to have children like these who actually sit and listen to what you say, watch what you do, intelligently question why you do things, then go and try their best at interpreting what they have just encountered. One wants to be a furnishings and interiors designer, the other is setting her sights on getting into private school for her art, finally becoming an artist in her own rights.

Both have a range of "cheaper" materials at home with which they already work, but both are seriously interested (and their Mum's know too) about buying their own "artists range" of products they can learn to confidently use with us and at home. They seriously experiment with styles and techniques based on what they have learnt, and even at their early ages are both slowly building their own portfolio's. What a comparison to those who were bored and couldn't wait to get back to school eh?

As always - whatever your art - please enjoy it!

Paul

Since Last Time

2011-08-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hi there once again - remember me?

Long time no see as they say (or type, or read or whatever), and yes, it has been a long time - around a year in fact since I last posted anything! Shocking, I know, from someone who's been trying so hard initially to get a regular blog up and running, and making the most of what the modern world has to offer. I could guess that it has to be just about one of the longest 'time outs' taken in history - so what is it that has absorbed so much of my time since we last 'spoke'?

Well, various things, and not all technically art related - I have to admit. Here in my small home town some of you may recall that I help out at a local children's art group twice a week. At the same venue, once a week is also an adults art group - though this is purely a 'taking part' as opposed to a 'teaching or learning' group. The same can be said for Monday night's to which my art materials (more often than not my watercolours) attend a Life Drawing class in a nearby town. This is not a 'teaching' or 'taught' group, just something I really enjoy and look forward to, and I have to admit that my work has come on no end since starting - and is something I would recommend to anyone who wants to improve their work. My main tip here is to use materials you can work with very quickly, as our longest pose lasts only 40 minutes - and we only get one of those per session! The rest are split between one, two, and maybe five minute quick poses.

There are mixed views for me regarding Monday nights, as it's the same evening chosen by the panto/theatre group I'm also involved with. This means that a good half of the year the Life Drawing has to lose out to rehearsals, readings and other theatre related things, as we normally put on two shows per year. Theatre is deemed as being another form of art, and a sub-division from that comes the form of stage lighting, to which I have now found myself attached since our latest production. As I am deemed 'artistic', that means I'm a suitable candidate for future stage lighting requirements. Lost yet? Not as much as I am I can assure you!

One fun day I had was a day a good friend came over who wanted me to help her recreate a scene she had painted on a mug while doing a day's pottery/ceramics session. Her master plan was to paint a similar scene onto a canvass and hang proudly above her fireplace. One landscape canvass, around five hours and goodness knows how much acrylic paint and mugs of tea later and she was happily driving home with her prized possession still wet on the back seat of her car. Happily it survived the journey, and is now in pride of place in her new home. Result!

Like most 'artists' I have also been trying to collect plenty of material which one day may find itself on paper hanging on a wall somewhere. The Rivers Humber and Trent, weekends near York, time in the Cotswolds, to Blenheim Palace, and two weeks in Mexico, have been my main sources for this last year. Hopefully, sometime in the future, I hope to be able to sit and make something out of all this material. Let's just hope it doesn't take another year!

Until next time - whatever your art - enjoy it.

Sifting through

2010-08-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Hello there.

I try hard not to be repetative, but my health and circumstances have meant that I have not been able to do what I have wanted, as in catch up with projects, finish things, start new works, put into place new ideas etc.

Yes, sometimes it gets a little boring, but that's just how things are. Physically I am not always able to do what it is that I want and need to do. Hard though it is (believe me, it's bloody hard at times) that's how it is.

In this "state" I have come up with an idea I have been able to work at on and off, piece by piece, a little at a time, namely going through all of my old sketchbooks, earlier drawings and scribbles - and kind of sorting through the wheat and the chaff. All of the good stuff, those with ideas linked to them have been retained, the rest binned. Of the retained material I hope to be able to rework all of those ideas and thoughts into a couple of easy to use sketchbooks instead of countless reams of jumbled bits of paper and messy books.

What I hope to have is a couple of new books with a better grasp of what it was I am trying to get out of an image or idea; to get something down on paper that I can really sit next to and work up into that final work that I can see, understand, and put my name to.

Does that sound too difficult, too backweard a step, or even too vain?

Whatever your art - enjoy it.

Paul

Moorland Sheep Oil

2010-08-17T23:44:00.000-07:00

Hello hello!

I have now managed to put a frame on this work to finally complete it, which I hope you will agree helps display it at its best. I have to put my hand up though and publicly acknowledge the help of my wife Sue in helping with the choice. Never nock the advice of another who can often see things you are too deeply involved in with a fresh pair of eyes!

I do hope you like the completed item. If you have any comments etc, please feel free to contact me.

Whatever your art - enjoy it.

Paul

New works!

2010-08-11T00:24:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

This post is a short one, not intended to keep you hanging on, but just to let you know that I have a new work to show you very shortly, (it's a second large Iris) which is fully complete apart from it's framed support. I have had a go at photographing it already without and posting it on my FB page, but it is too distorted and looks a real bad photograph. Once I have the support frame made - it will be on here!

There is also the Moorland oilwork I have previously posted. This has now got a frame and looks totally different - it has really enhanced it (many thanks to my wife and her suggestions), and that will be on the same posting once I get the chance to properly photograph it (hopefully the same time as the Iris)!

Look out for the next post then ASAP!

Whatever your art, enjoy it.

Paul

Moorland Oil

2010-07-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hello once again!

Seems it's the proverbial case of "All or Nothing" - and to prove it's an "All", here's my latest oil work for you to have a look at. As the title suggests, it's just a place - anywhere - on one of England's moors.

This work is once again done using palette knives, and is on a stretched canvass, measuring 10" x 8" and at the moment, is unframed.

The two pictures give you a chance to have a better look at it - one close and one from a slight distance.

Hope you enjoy it, thanks for looking, and please leave a comment if you wish.

Whetever your art - please enjoy it.

Paul

Coastal Oil Work

2010-07-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

As previously promised, as soon as I have been able to, here is my Coastal Oil Work now in a card mount, and fitted into a nice wooden frame - completed and signed.

Approximate measurements are - area of work 11.5" x 8", total size of frame approximately 17" x 14".

Price for this is £50, so please contact me if you are interested in owning an original signed, oil painting.

Thank you for having a look, and whatever your art - please enjoy it.

Paul

Moorland Oil

2010-07-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hi there.

I told you in the last post that despite a lack of picture evidence, I was still working away, and I can now tell you that I have finished my latest oil work. This one is a very small moorland scene, complete with a couple of sheep and a drystone wall, very loose like the last one, but this does seem to be my developing style.

Like may artists, having a style is something that often does not occur naturally, and it cannot be developed overnight. You have to get used to sketching and drawing in the first place, to have a sense of perspective, balance and tone, and even then you have to grasp the materials you are using and learn their characteristics in differing situations, methods and application.

Finally it seems that at last I can say to myself that I am "getting there". It is something that I do take great pride and care in; I don't want to churn out endless pieces of inferior work just for the sake of it. That is false, both to any prospective purchaser, and to myself, and is not a road that I will knowingly go down. Each of my works are individual - nothing is printed or copied - each work is unique, and will remain so. There will be times in the future I will see something I did a few years back and think "erm, that's what I did, right". Hopefully I will be able to look at it and see how it could be improved, and how far I have improved. I said before - we all live and learn.

This weekend my wife and I, along with 2 very dear close friends are going away, so the work has some time to dry, though even next week it will still be wet in places, but by then I may be able to get some sort of frame for it. Probably not the right one, but at least you will have a better understanding of it, and it will look so much better for having a frame round it just for photographic purposes.

Hopefully some of you may have noticed the new blog layout, and I hope you like it. My hand goes up though to say I was actually playing around with it, and lost the previous one, so we all have this through default!

Whatever your art, enjoy it.

Paul

Pochard Box

2010-07-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

Hi there, how are we all doing?

No new work for you yet, but there are a few WIP's strategically positioned around the place!

In this post I want to tell you of a new piece or art "kit" I have just bought, and thought that I would take this opportunity to share it with you - just in case you have not heard of it. To set the scene, please read below.

The coastal oil work you have all seen, was being taken to some friends to show them, but as it was still wet I placed it on a medium sized board with a small lip to hold it during the short car journey. Unfortunately it mysteriously managed to fall off the board and into the footwell of the car, but somehow avoided being damaged. That started me to look around for some "clever idea" that would stop events like that from happening again.

I have hopefully found the solution, which is an item called a "Pochard Box". So far the only downside I have found is the size, but I'm sure larger ones may be available somewhere. The box/easel I have found comes in 2 sizes - taking 2 canvass textured boards sized 10" x 12" or 8" x 10". There is more than enough storage space for brushes, palette knives, tubes of paint etc, and once opened out, the hinged lid provides a comfortable angle on which to paint, and part of the box also makes a fair sized palette for your paint!

It has great uses for oils especially, but also acrylics, and with a little preparation watercolours too. The surface to be painted slides down between grooves set in the easel lid and are held securely in place. You could use it for your proper work if you so wish, and also for a quick en plein air session. The whole thing only measures around 15" x 13" x 4", is light to carry, and even comes with a shoulder strap and handle!

Apparently it has been stated that similar items were said to have been used by the likes of Turner, so if it's good enough for him................ Hope this little article is of help to you - I'm just waiting for my oil paints to arrive before I'm off out and using it!

Whatever your art, enjoy it.

Paul

Small progress!

2010-07-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hello there, and welcome!

I've not seen you for just over a week, so the kettle's on, go get yourself a drink and we'll settle down.

Finished productions have slowed down since the last post, but 2 completed works in one week was a bit much - especially for me! The acrylic Iris was loved by the recipient, and should hopefully be hung and on display by now. The oil coastal scene has been well received by many people, both online and in person, and I thank you all who have commented on it. It is extremely rewarding to have people, especially complete strangers, make comments on your work, even more so if they are all positive, but I can take constructive criticism too you know, so don't be afraid!

As you may be aware I'm new to oil painting, and have been sat waiting patiently for this first one to dry. I never knew it could take this long, but maybe that's because I have always worked with watercolours or acrylics which are pretty much instant drying. One interesting tip I did pick up during this time, and which may be of interest to some of you, is that if you let oils dry in the dark, or very dim light, they can develop a yellowish film which can show when dry. This can be avoided by letting them dry naturally in a dry, well lit and ventilated area. So please remember that.

The Iris was easy to see to afterwards, as I had made and fitted a nice wooden backing edge to the hardboard work, so it was very easy to get on the wall. What I did have was a couple of annoying, but easily surmountable problems with the oil. First I went and bought what I think is a very complementary frame for it, then got home and found it didn't fit - the frame was slightly larger than the board, and there was no room for a cardboard mount! Arrrgh!

So, back to town, this time armed with an identical board to ensure that I came away with the same style frame and a cardboard mount, ensuring a properly fitting oil painting once I got home and it had dried. I just checked it again today and there are just small areas of it that are not quite dry - but we are getting there. Hooray I here you all shout!

In between I have been working on what I thought were some good ideas involving butterflies and watercolours, but after a couple attempts I'm not entirely convinced, but a few more runs and my mind will be firmly made up if I'm going to go with it or not.

Also during this last week, plenty of my time has been spent online, and like so many people, on Facebook! On there I have been trying to get an art page up and running, called EdrickArt, and linking it to as many people and groups as I can. This has lead to some success, and at the moment I have 64 members which keeps growing, slowly but surely each day. If you would be interested then please go and join, or get your friends or other art followers too - the more the merrier, and hopefully we can make a nice site to share and exchange ideas, projects and generally encourage each other.

Some of my ideas will come to fruition, some will fall by the wayside, and others I will just forget! But that's just part of the fun, and that is what I want you all to experience - whatever your art, please enjoy it.

Paul

Acrylic Iris

2010-07-08T03:23:00.000-07:00

Me again - how you all doing?

I'm on a roll here, so had best make use of it while I can!

Here is my second completed work this week. It's one I have recently posted and told you that it had been requested as long as I could change the background colour, so off I set.

The background was changed to a much lighter, slightly greener toned blue colour, which looked good and matched the colours in the room where it's to be hung. After doing that, the black lines needed to be tidied up some, but before that, I decided to change the petals. In the original work they are basically a very deep purple, but I now went for a lighter blue colour, and tried to give them some highlights and a bit of "form and structure". That also involved re-working the centres, blending the whites and yellows, plus introducing an orange into the centres, which gave it some focus and "lifted" the whole thing.

Once that had been done, I then went and completely changed the leaves and stems, introducing differing shades and tones to them all. The last thing to do was to re-paint all of the black linings to everything, but this time I decided to make them much thinner if I could. That still gave them an edge, but not a thick black one that could dominate - especially with thinner stems etc.

So there you go, now have a look below and see what you think.

The first image is the work as a whole - 4' x 2'8", with the second image being a detail of part of it.

Please feel free to leave a comments, I appreciate them all.

Whatever your art, enjoy it!

Paul

Oil Coast

2010-07-08T02:31:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

Finally I can now post the end results of my first venture into oil painting, after hopefully managing to put the finishing touches to the work on Tuesday night without overworking it.

This is done on a 10" x 12" canvass board using a small selection of palette knives, and as yet remains unframed or mounted. Wonder how long it will take me to find what I think is the most complementary means of doing that? Luckily I have plenty of time, so I'm not worried.

Anyway, hope you like it and remember that I always welcome any feedback you care to leave.

Hope you enjoy your art, whatever your style of work or preference of medium.

Paul

Oil painting!

2010-07-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings Bloggers!

At last I have completed my very first oil painting to my satisfaction, but have no time to upload it here tonight, so I'm afraid you will have to wait until tomorrow - Thursday - until you can see it.

Hopefully you will be able to have a good look, and leave me some comments as to what you all think. Good or bad, I don't mind any constructive criticism. Honestly, as long as you leave comment.

So, whatever your art, until tomorrow, please - enjoy it!

Paul

Thank you!

2010-06-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hi there.

This is just a very quick post to say that Jayne and Lara both completed the Race For Life last Sunday and my wife and I were both lucky enough to have witnessed it!

They have raised the fab total of £275, so on their behalf I would like to offer a very big THANK YOU to any of you who may have contributed in any way, and please enjoy the photo of them warming up for the big event. As the London Olympics approaches - the World trembles!

Whatever your art - please enjoy it.

Paul

Oil Painting

2010-06-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hello there, hope you are all well.

Here it is then, my latest work, which as you can all see, is definately a WIP. As I have said before, I am totally new to all of this oil painting working, and have no real idea as to how long it will be before it dries enough for me to add to it. Still, there's no rush, and it's all a learning curve. Nice and gentle.

What I am hoping for is to try and enhance the clouds or sky a little more, and to add some waves, both out on the sea and on the shoreline. Anyway, that's later on, as and when I can get to work on it.

The whole thing is done using oil paints, worked using palette knives, on a canvass textured board 12"x10" in size.

So there you go, you can now see that I have been working of sorts, and hope that you like it so far.

Whatever your art - please enjoy it.

Regards,

Paul

Questions!

2010-06-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

Well hello there!

Grab a chair and the kettle is on - would you expect anything less? No you wouldn't would you.

Tonight I hope to get back to the adults group and finish my first ever oil painting, you know, the very loose one I told you about last week. It's all exciting new stuff to me this oil painting, as I am intrigued as to how it has kept; is it still wet, part dry, and what will it be like to continue working over the top of what I started last time? Gosh, I'm almost excited!

The plan I had to have a go at home has slowly started too, but all I have managed to do so far is to overpaint a part worked on canvass previously using acrylics. But that's another experiment for me. What does oil cover acrylic like? Does it? That original work was a landscape, with only a light wash of pale blue on it as I started to work on the sky, so perhaps one side will be different to the other?

This canvas is a long rectangular one some 39"x12" in size. My master plan, though not an original one by any means, is to have a go at portraying one of the Massai people we met in Kenya in January of this year, using one of the photo's I took as my inspiration, coupled with a little artistic license I had from doing some sketches a couple of years ago, when I had a go at portraying some jumping warriors in a sort of abstract way. We'll see how they turn out, given time.

So there you have it, my week so far. Hopefully if I get the first one done tonight, I will be able to get it home and possibly photograph it and get it online for tomorrow. Drying times and smudges permitting of course!

Whatever your art, please enjoy it.

Paul

Stained Glass

2010-06-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

Hi there once again!

Today I would like to use this post to give you the chance to go visit the site of a good friend of mine.

Eddy Crick - who does some wonderful stained glass work lives in the same village as me, and I have know him for a number of years now. His work is bright and extremely colourful, being a traditional stained glass artist who uses coloured glass - not covering cut pieces of glass with coloured films. You really do get the real thing from him.

He has a small stock of items at home, supplies various galleries and outlets across the country, but is also very obliging to commissions - no matter how large or small.

Please go take a look at his site, I am sure you will not be disappointed. You can simply click on to his site using the "Edrick Art Supports" panel at the side.

Whatever your art, do keep enjoying it.

Regards,

Paul

Oil Be There.

2010-06-16T00:47:00.000-07:00

Hello!

It's so nice to be able to welcome a new member to our happy band of blog followers, and this time it's Rob. A very warm welcome Rob, and thank you for taking the time and effort to join, I hope you enjoy it.

It's also very nice to be able to tell you all that last night I finally got round to having a go at doing some art again, after what has seemed a small lifetime! After the past few weeks I finally felt good enough to have a go at something loose and informal, so went the whole hog and went for a list of firsts!

Using oils, palette knives and a very loose style I started my very first oil work! To be honest with you I really enjoyed it and was more than pleased with what I have achieved so far. It's a beach, sea, sky, headland, small cove scene, and I hope to have it completed next Tuesday.

Jon who runs the group was so pleased someone finally got round to using the oils after having them sat on the shelves for over 2 years - he let me bring them home to use as and when I can. Nice touch - thanks Jon, I appreciate it.

My hand has to go up though as I admit to being a little lazy, not really wanting to get to use brushes with oils. From what I have read and heard it's a heck of a lot of trouble cleaning up afterwards. At least with palette knives it's a quick wipe with kitchen roll and your equipment is cleaned!

Hopefully I will be able to post a photo of it next week - then you can all let me know what you think.

Until next time, whatever your art, please enjoy it, and keep at it whenever you can!

Regards,

Paul

Run For Life

2010-06-14T01:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

As the deadline for the big event fast approaches - and it is NOT football - can I ask anyone who is still contemplating to pledge something, however small, to Jayne and Lara's Run For Life fund to finally do it?

They are now only £25 short of their target, which is a very modest one indeed, and every penny goes straight towards the fight against Cancer, something which helps everyone.

Details are on the right hand side of this posting - so please pledge and help if you can.

On their behalf, a very big THANK YOU to everyone who has done so far, or now.

Regards

Paul

Iris

2010-06-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hi there - how we all doing?

I still have not been up to much, but one thing I have got to look forward to is the picture below.

Someone has asked me if I can re-paint the background a different shade of blue, then they will have it and hang it in a prominent place in their home. So, when I can clear my head for long enough, then I will oblige.

Hopefully it should not give me too much trouble as it's a nice large piece, around 4 feet by 2 feet 8 inches, so not much fine detail on it to send my eyes and my head daft (or dafter) - who said that?

Some of you who have seen my earlier works may recognise it, but for those who have not, it's acrylic on hardboard with a wooden frame.

However it ends up, I hope you like it.

Whatever your art - enjoy it!

Paul

Heads!

2010-06-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

Yes, it has been a while since my last posting, but unfortunately I have just been too ill these last few weeks, and had to spend some time in hospital, undergoing a bit of surgery along the way. I am pleased to say that I am now on the road to recovery - albeit slowly - but I will have no new works to post for a few weeks yet.

My new medication is playing havoc with my head (don't all artists go through phases like that?) and I am having a lot of quite bad headaches, so am unable to sit and draw, paint, sketch or anything artistic. My time on the PC is also limited to my headaches.

Main thing though is to make progress and to get well, so as and when I can I will try and post a bit of script now and then, hopefully once a week and put up a couple of my older works for you to have a look at. I hope this will be OK for you all, but there's not much I can do about it.

So until next week - have fun, take care, and whatever your art - enjoy it.

Paul

Saying "Thank You!"

2010-05-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome once again!

No works for you to cast your eyes over today - but a word of thanks instead.

Last Friday I went to a new venture for the Life Drawing Group; we have a model who is not only posing nude for us - but pregnant too! Our model will be making 4 sittings to our "studio" to pose for us at varying stages of her pregnancy, so it should prove to be a more than interesting time.

My work for that day consisted of a watercolour: it was done in very pale washes - almost entirely made up of pastel colours, but trying to do the model herself in slightly stronger colours to help make her stand out and to be the focus of attention. Perhaps when I have time this coming week I will get to post it online, but as yet I am undecided if I should re-work it or stick with the original..

However - my main reason for this posting is to thank Kathryn for her efforts in modelling for us. She was excellent - posing for almost 2 hours without having no more than a 5 minute break. Could any of you do that - dressed or not? Even though a model gets paid for their work - it takes little effort to say hello and to thank them for their efforts. After all, if they didn't make the effort - you would not have the opportunity to work on such a subject, and it takes nothing to say "thank you".

Whatever your art - please enjoy it.

Paul

Afghanistan Flyover

2010-04-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

Hello there - hope you are all well.

A couple of weeks back I posted one of my new works, an acrylic, but it was without a title.

After giving it some thought I have come up with a suitable title now, it being - Afghanistan Flyover - which I think is rather self explanatory.

As a memory aid, I have re-posted it below. Hope you like both the work and the title.

As ever - whatever your art - enjoy it!

Paul

Second New Watercolour

2010-04-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings art lovers of the Internet!

Here is the second of my current watercolour works for your (hopfully) enjoyment.

Like most of my watercolours now it is done on Saunders Waterfod 140lb paper, using Daler Rowney artists grade paints, painted with the use of Rosemary & Co Red Sable brushes and Jacksons Kolinsky Sable brushes. However - they are all done with the aid of mine own fair hand of course!

I have to admit that since taking this photo I have enhanced some of the details slightly, and added some stronger shadows. These are not shown on this photograph as I have posted it off to it's new home and the very nice lady who asked me to do this work for her, before I got chance to re-photograph it. There is, however, enough of the work here for you to get a good idea of the finished work.

OK - time to go and make progress, so whatever your art - enjoy it!

Paul

Watercolour from Kenya

2010-04-23T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hi there again!

It would appear that I have been on a bit of a roll over the last couple of weeks painting wise, so I had best make the best of it while I can.

Below is one of two watercolours that I have been asked to do whilst on holiday in Kenya earlier this year. Each was requested by two lovely sisters my wife and I met whilst there, and both wanted a watercolour of a local small fishing boat, always to be found directly in front of our hotel. This one was anchored alongside a small sandbank that ran along the coastline there. The fishermen would tie up each day and wander along the sandbank looking for crabs or whatever.

This is done on Saunders Waterford 140lb paper, using Daler Rowney artists quality paints.

I hope that you like it - and most of all - that the lady who requested it likes it or I will be in trouble!

Whatever your art - please enjoy it.

Paul

New work!

2010-04-22T04:10:00.000-07:00

Hi there, hope you're all well.

Below is my latest work - an acrylic done on Winsor & Newton canvas textured paper, using Reeves Acrylic Paints and worked on using my Favourite Rosemary & Co Shiraz brushes.It's just short of A2 size, with a card mount surrounding it to finish it all off. Please bear in mind the photograph is not the best!

As yet it is untitled, but I hope you enjoy it.

Whatever your art - as ever, please enjoy it.

Paul

Makeover

2010-04-09T00:11:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

Yes - look again.

You may just have noticed that I have tried to make some changes to spruce up the blog; not anything really earth-shattering of course, but hopefully just enough to make a bit of a difference.

So how do you like it? Have you any ideas that you think could make it better, more appealing? Whatever you may have, please let me know by emailing me at edrickart@aol.com.

Good news I do have is that there is one watercolour I have finished this week, hopefully it will be on the blog over the weekend, with the second due for "release" next week!

In any case - please take a couple of minutes to register your support for the Race for Life (link provided on the last blog post) and make a donation - however much, if you can. Thank you.

Until next time.

Paul

www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/jayneandlara

2010-04-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

Regular readers will know I have not done this sort of thing before on the blog, but I hope you will agree that it's a kind of an important one this, and deserves some support.

Two of my very good friends who are both involved in local radio, and have both been very helpful and supportive of me in the past, have registered to take part on a fundraising run in Britain called "Race For Life" raising money for Cancer Research, so I am asking you on their behalf to please pledge a donation to this very worthwhile cause. It's the least I can do to use the blog to raise awareness for this.

To do so simply click on the link and make your pledge - www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/jayneandlara
and on their behalf - THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Regards,

Paul

Happy Easter Holiday

2010-04-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone - how's things?

Hope you are all enjoying whatever break you have got, and that the sun shines on you wherever you are.

Not too much to report lately; as previously mentioned the Life Drawing Group has closed for a break, and so has the Kid's Art Clubs and the adults one I attend -all closed for the Easter breaks - so there.

At home I am stuck with two current watercolours I am attempting - but just keep going to my practice boards to, well - errrr - practice I suppose you would call it, until I get the kind of completed image I am hoping for and working towards.

Also there is something on one of my easels that has held a spot in the back of my mind for years I suppose. Like millions of people, my grandad fought in the Great War - WWI - whatever you want to call it. That thought until recently was always difficult to convey in a way I would like to. But last year I found two images I liked, thinking that I could develop them and work with. One is a very vivid sillhouette, and the second one to me a very poigniant one. As I have often said with many of my subjects - I hope that I can do them justice.

In the meantime, circumstances enabled me to finally complete my last Bratz picture for my grandaughter, reward for her doing so well in her latest Irish Dancing Competition. Next work similar to this will be a suitable one for my grandson.

Like all of the previous picturers in this line, it is done on gessoe primed hardboard using Reeves Acrylics and worked using my favourite brushes for this medium - Rosemary & Co's Shiraz. She will just love it.

So, until next time, whatever your art - please enjoy it.

Paul

Pen and Ink

2010-03-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

This last post marks the end of the current session of Life Group Drawings, as this Monday now sees us have a break for a few weeks. Trouble for me is that when it starts up again I have other commitments during the summer, so it may be a couple of months before I can get back into it. Never mind, can't be helped.

Not a very long post in typing terms for you today, except to say that these 2 works are done using waterproof ink pens on Bristol Board - which is basically a slightly thicker, smoother paper surface, but one which I do find very nice to work on. Try it sometime.

Personally, the one on the left is my favourite of the two, and I have to admit that I am rather proud of that one. The sketch on the right is not bad, but the model's shoulders look a little twisted to me now, plus the gown and it's folds were starting to cause me a problem. In the short time given, there is only so much you can get down, and I didn't want to become too bogged down with the gown. I suppose in the end I got a little too involved and didn't concentrate on the model and her shoulders enough.

Ink colours are sepia, sanguine and black; I think that these three colours are enough to cover almost any situation that I am likely to encounter. In fact, the sanguine is almost like working with the coloured materials of some of the Old Masters - just go look at some of Da Vinci's works to see what I mean! Not that my works are that good of course, but it does give you an extra something.

Tell you what though - I have some old parchment coloured paper somewhere, and I may just have a go at seeing what the two look like together!

Right - other than an acrylic that has been waiting for completion for months, I have no more news, except to say that I do have a page on Facebook, and thank everyone who has joined that too. All your support certainly does help me, and as I have said before - I do appreciate it. Thank you!

So until next time - enjoy your art, whatever it is.

Paul

Patience + Practice = Pleasing

2010-03-19T05:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome everyone - hope you are doing fine.

Firstly I have to welcome a new follower - Sam; thanks for making the effort and joining Sam, I hope you get something out of reading some of the posts and maybe have a go in your own time.

Since posting the Eye Of Horus circumstances have restricted me in some ways, and the work I have been doing has suffered as such, so things are a little slow. Two watercolours I have been asked to do have had a few practice runs to try and get them right, but I have just not been able to. Patience is one thing I do have, and it will enable me to get there in the end.

That is something you must all have too - if it's not quite right then don't worry - go back later and look at what you could not master the last time and have another go. If you are set on doing one particular subject, say landscapes, and you struggle with trees - then work on them. The advice is - practice on what you CAN'T do - not what you CAN.

That's one reason I go to the Life Drawing Group, to improve my ability and style of drawing the human body; if it's something you cannot do then keep having a go until you are satisfied. In my past postings the one thing repeated is that practice time is never, ever wasted.

Even simple things can help you, like last year I sat out in the garden and found this "bug" sat on a plant - so I got my pens out and had a go at sketching it. No it's not perfect by any means, but the point I am making is almost anything can be a good subject to have a practice on - and in this case it's modelling fees were free! Plus, with wildlife - they could move at any time, so it also helps with getting your subject down onto your surface as quickle as possible.

In this case, as an opposite to the bug, one day I was sat indoors on a dull day and simply decided to have a go at this small piece of drawer furniture.

Yes - some of the wooden mount the main subject is fitted onto are not exactly straight, but that is another thing to learn to draw as you develop.

There is plenty of shading on this sketch, highlights and darks - tonal values and probably more than enough information to have a good go at when I feel like putting it on to paper properly. The only thing really missing is any reference to colour: the wood, the knocker, the plate. If needed they could be made into any combination I wanted.

So keep having a go at whatever you fancy, whenever you feel you are up to the task of taking it on. Any subject, no matter how large or small is there just waiting for YOU to interpret it in YOUR way.

Until next time - whatever your art - please enjoy it.

Paul

The Eye of Horus

2010-03-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to you all.

Here is my latest completed work - an acrylic version of the Eye of Horus - hope you like it!

This work I have done on canvass textured paper which is A3 in size, using Reeves Acrylic paints, and lovingly applied with my favourite brushes for this type of painting - Rosemary & Co's Shiraz synthetic brushes!

At the moment it is neither framed nor mounted, but I have been working on it over the last couple of weeks and some of my friends said they could not wait to see it - so here you all go!

Hope it's something you like, as I have toyed with the idea of doing a series of works on ancient people's in countries I have visited.

Anyway - as usual - whatever your art, please enjoy it.

Paul

Watercolours and Waterproof Ink

2010-03-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

Hope each and every one of you are well and thanks for logging back in to the blog.

I am pleased to announce that I have a new member - Carol; a very warm welcome to you and I certainly appreciate your efforts, hope you enjoy your time here.

As for things new, I now have a Facebook (FB) Group - EdrickArt - where I hope to attract people to have a look at the website and blog. It is already doing quite well after being started this mid-week. To those people who are already aware of my sites etc I apologise, but in the modern times in which we live (says he sounding old), you just have to make the most of the opportunities that are presented to you. Hopefully I will not appear to be too much in people's faces, but if I am, then I apologise - I am only doing my job as a non-techie amateaur artist trying to show my work

This blog contains below a little mix for you to hopefully enjoy.

The first two works I am showing here are a couple more of my sketches I did recently in Kenya.
This first is a study of two small palm trees, situated alongside a good sized pond with hundreds of small fish in. A small A5 sized waterlour pad, student's quality paint and cheap synthetic fibre brushes are all I used for this. Who says all your materials have to be expensive - especially if you are taking them abroad!

This is a waterproof ink sketch done on a small A5 pad of cartridge paper. It depicts a local fishing vessel, anchored up at the side of a small reef that stretched out along most of the local coastline.

It's worked using a combination of sepia and black coloured inks, with plenty of the white cartridge paper left to give the impression of highlights in the bright sunlight. Most of the boat was drawn using an 01 sized pen, with some details done with a heavier 03 size.

This is done in waterproof inks on cartridge paper, using sanguine, sepia and black coloured inks.
It's strange how when you draw in pencil and then rub out and re-draw and work away, it can take you ages to get it right. But do the same thing in ink and for some reason you don't seem to make as many big mistakes. Any corrections look like part of the original work - which I find quite wierd. Perhaps we should all work this way all of the time!

This next work is obviously along the same lines, and is also of the same pose (bit of a giveaway if you look closely!) Same materials used exactly, but on this one I have tried to give it a bit more substance by giving more support to the figure. On the above work you can see a suggestion of a bed or pillow, on this one you see them. I also had some trouble with this pose with the folded under left leg, no matter how I tried it just wouldn't come good, but never mind - it shows we are all not perfect by any means, and just need to keep practicing!

Right - I think that's enough for now, so I will try and concentrate my efforts on tomorrow's events - hopefully it's back at the Life Drawing Group, this time with our male model. So, until next time - whatever your art - enjoy it!.

Paul

Life Drawing

2010-03-09T03:35:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.

Last night I was back at the Life Drawing Group, held in a nearby town. Despite having every intention of going with my soft pastels which I have not used in what's seems ages, as my lift was on it's way, I changed tack and decided to go along with the ink pens I had been using on holiday. As a back up though, my pastel gear was packed in my bag!

The opening quick starting poses I took on with the ink pens, simply to loosen up, but enjoyed it so much I just carried on working on every pose with them. Although the pastels were laid out to one side, they never got touched, except to put them back away!

One thing I must put my hand up and admit to, is that portraits as such are not my forte. In fact, I am not happy with the vast amount of faces I do. Loose figures are more my type of work, and the Life Drawing Group is helping me with this type of figure drawing in a big way. Below is one of the ink sketches I did last night.

Hopefully it shows that even though there are things you cannot tackle to your satisfaction, or just genuinely struggle with, you can still produce something that is starting to look reasonable and is maybe a base for a future work.

The very fast warm-up sketches help to get us to loosen up and focussed on the task in-hand. Admittedly they almost always turn out to be very poor indeed, but no matter - they are there for a purpose, and do their job.

This is one of the first sketches that I did after doing the warm-ups that I thought had some potential. Hopefully it gives a nice image with some interest for people looking at it, but - if you look closely you should notice from some of my previous postings that I have committed one of the faults that I tell you to try and avoid!

Yes, the model is not sat on anything - she is "floating in mid air" - not anchored to the "ground" or any base. Our model Suzanne was actually sat on a wooden cube with a large soft cushion on top. No excuses - I failed miserably!

Right then, enough for today, another posting tomorrow probably. This afternoon I am helping at the children's art group, then tonight it's a relaxing session at the adults group. Before I went away I had started an acrylic on one of those Egyptian eye symbols - sorry, I don't know what they are called - and so I want to try and finish, or at least make good progress on it.

So, until next time - whatever your art - enjoy it.

Paul

Kenya Travels

2010-03-07T05:27:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, and a warm welcome as usual.

Hopefully I can rub off some of that flippin' hot Kenyan sun on you all - up to 33C at times! Far too hot for me, but there's enough shade about, so it's no problem really.

As promised last week, now I have got myself all gathered up and back together, I have managed to scan and upload some of the sketches and watercolours I did whilst away.

I hope that it gives you some idea of how I like to work - a mix of little watercolour rough works and some fairly detailed waterproof pen work. All my sketches I like to do in pencil first, correcting any mistakes with the soft putty rubber, then go over them with the ink pens which are waterproof. This stops the soft pencil from smudging, and helps my sketches survive until I get back home (at least!). Some I keep purely as pen sketches, some I use alongside watercolours - pen and wash.

OK then - here are some pages taken directly from my sketch and watercolour books I used recently.

This detailed sketch shows part of the natural foliage roofing used on the buildings - it lasts about 5 years I was told. Once there is a break or hole in it, then damp gets in and gradually spreads. Always a problem when there are monkeys around I would suppose! The ridge is covered with overlayed pieces of tin, each about 3ft long, and painted in a reddish brown colour, which the sun burns off, no doubt rather quickly.

This ink pen sketch shows a small variety of nests from Sociable Weaver birds, a fantastic, gregarious, mainly yellow little bird, which once you sit down and they see you are not going to disturb them, quickly get on with their business. It really is amazing just how close to them you can get, and I was lucky enough to sit and watch one bird make the best part of his nest from scratch. Truly fascinating, and I think one of the main wonders of nature.

I like to travel with 2 small pads - one watercolour, and the other a small A6 sketching pad. A small travel watercolour set, and a small selection of waterproof ink pens, putty rubber and a couple of 2B pencils with a small collapesable water bucket complet the set. Water can always be found locally. So there you are, hope you get some inspiration and ideas from the rough field stuff I have done, and have the patience to wait until I have put some of them into action.

Until next time - whatever your art - enjoy it.

Paul

Jambo!

2010-03-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I'm just typing a quick post to let you all know that we have returned from 2 weeks away in Kenya (hence the word Jambo, which sort of means "hello, how you doing?") so once I get my stuff sorted it will be service as usual, probably after the weekend.

Yes I have tales to tell, pictures to post, and lots of catching up to do, so till then, whatever your art - please enjoy it responsibly!!!!

Paul

Acrylics

2010-02-12T12:13:00.000-08:00

Hi again - me back for the 3rd time this week!

It's OK, it really is me again! Another couple of things that have crept into my head recently, and I had forgotten to pass on are these 2 little items.

Firstly, I read a few months back about primarily American artists who like to use heavy brown paper for using watercolours, and Gouache paints on. If I recall correctly there was some kind of debate as to how easily acquired these painting booklets were - they were becoming somewhat elusive. The deep and mid-toned browns this sort of paper provides gives a unique base for some wonderful works, and it needn't be expensive.

Some purists prefer to buy ready made booklets of this paper to carry out into the field with them or wherever, and it is possible to track some of these down, but, for a fraction of the outlay, you can still buy the good old fashioned wrapping paper - primarily from the post office that will do just as good a job. You can use this paper in your own individually sized pieces, or if feeling crafty can make them into your own personal booklets. If you want to be even more adventurous - then why not use the inside of some cardboard boxes found in everyday use? My gouache paints imparticular are being tried out on this method.

My second thought concerns acryilics. Since I have been back painiting and have discovered acrylics which were never around "when I we're a lad!" I have always used Reeves Acrylics, even after trying several other brands, and been very pleased with their results on my work. All of my finished acrylics on my web pages are done using them. Results on my style of work have been so good that I recommend them, as at the top of the blog. But recently I have seen another brand which seems to have revolutionised this form of medium, so I have bought a small set and am going to have a go with them. Once I have had a couple of attempts with them, I will let you know my thoughts on them.

There is no way that I would jump ship purely for the sake of it, or for "fashionable" reasons, but if something really improves your work, or the way you work, then it would be foolish not to have a try with it and find out for yourself.

So, whatever your style of art - then please enjoy it.

Paul

Pen & Ink

2010-02-10T14:52:00.000-08:00

Good morning to you all across the World!

I hope you are well, and while I have not been able to post for the last 2 weeks, I hope your sketching is coming on leaps and bounds!!! You have been doing some - I hope?

The last 2 sessions of the Life Drawing Group (LDG) I have been to I have taken my ink pens, using just them for the first Monday, and in a combination with some watercolours for the second Monday which was this week. Having gone through quite a selection process of deciding which materials etc to use since joining the LDG, I thought I had all the final decisions made - but alas no.

The initial poses are very short, but it's good to get loosened up, ready for the longer ones. This now means only one thing - and it does not include mixing paint for a 1 minute pose! So pencil or ink pen for these it is then. In addition I have decided not to draw the full body instead deciding to mainly go for the top half of the body, which will give me slightly more time to try and get a decent sketch done. When a pose has been done to my liking, and there is time to spare, I use this time to practice the bits we normally miss or take for granted like ears, hands and feet. Hopefully these will pay off and I will see an improvement over the weeks and months.

My longer pose time was taken with a combination of ink and watercolour, some coming out OK and others not so, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Not every session will be a good productive one in terms of quality of work, but it is never a waste. As long as you can see your own faults, and think about how to correct them, then it has been a good session, and that's a big part of what counts.

Whatever your art, until next time - enjoy it.

Hopefully some scans of my recent works will appear over the weekend.

Paul

A Starry Night?

2010-01-25T06:39:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone - how's things?

First off, a new follower who has taken time to join since the last post is - Freya - whom I welcome and thank, appreciating your efforts, plus the cheeky threat that you may even get round to reading the blog. That just fills me with encouragement - hahahahah!

After my last post which featured a Van Gogh, I thought about making the dubious link between a second work of his - Starry Night and tonight's Life Drawing Group. This is the second of his works that I have done, and is also on a 24"x18" stretched canvass, wrap-around painted and is not framed or mounted etc. I did it using acrylic paint, maybe 2 years ago at the time of writing, and must readily admit - it was a lot harder to work on than I imagined!

On first looks, this seemed a reasonably straightforward piece to do - few swirls etc, but with all truly great Masters, they are a lot harder and more complex than you ever initially thought.

Nothing worth it's while is ever easy, and that is exactly what I discovered working on this, but I also learned how to understand his style of painting a little, and now appreciate this type of work that much more.

So there you have it - two great paintings by one truly great artist (his - not mine!), but I hope you have anjoyed my attempts at his work.

It is something that anyone can actually have a go at. You don't have to be an expert at anything artwise - just find a work you like (hopefully a simple one to start with), look very closely and study it before you attempt anything, then just go for it - nothing ventured nothing gained is the phrase. One saying a TV artist always used - "If you get a painting or sketch wrong, what does it matter, what have you done except waste a piece of paper?" I am sure you will enjoy it, and learn into the bargain.

Oh - and the link with tonight's Group? - I hope it's a "starry night" as far as my sketching goes!

Whatever your art - enjoy it. Until next time,

Paul

Van Gogh

2010-01-21T07:41:00.000-08:00

G'Day (I'm in Australian mode!)

No new followers of the blog since last time, so none to mention ............................

Earlier this week I posted that recently I made a sale of one of my works - and seeing that the photograph of it has now been located, I can now tell you a little more about it, so please read on below.

It is one of my acrylics, painted with Reeves Acrylic paints on a pre-streatched canvass measuring 24"x18", un-framed or mounted, except with the sides being painted in sort of a wrap-around style. The whole thing was one of the first I hade done using my now much beloved Rosemary & Co Shiraz acrylic painting brushes, and as such, has a sort of special sentimental appeal to me.

But I paint to enjoy, and hopefully sell one or two to go buy some more paint and maintain the cycle - so away it goes.

Although all I basically did was try and have a go at copying the Master - I really did enjoy working on it, and had a great time looking, trying out and working in the ways of a great painter.

No expert as I am at all, but looking at Van Gogh's use of colour, and the way he uses his strokes etc really appeal to me and to millions around the world. As you may have read on other pages on here - I love the use of big, bright, bold colours. Maybe this bloke goes some way to accomplishing that!

Last piece of this blog is also good news - just how much can we all stand? As an addition to this sale I have also received two commissions; one to paint a scene of Whitby Harbour, the second to include Whitby Abbey for a "Born again Goth". How's that for a challenge and a bit of variety? There are no stipulations as to size or which medium to use, but be sure you will all be among the first to hear once it is decided!

Whatever your art - please enjoy it.

Paul

Brushes

2010-01-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

Hi there.

Not long since the last post (a day or so), therefore no new followers to welcome. I have been lucky having reached so many up to now, therefore I'm not downhearted.

What I am upbeat about though, is that after working my first children's art group of the year, I also got to enjoy my first adult group meeting too after an hours break for tea etc. YESSSS! - it felt good to pick up the brushes once again in anger - so to speak. It's alright using them whilst "home alone", where you can practice or potter about, but to use them properly in the company of other artists - amateur or not, is always a good thing.

One of the main benefits of being part of an informal group is the friendly banter that goes on, helping to lift and lighten anything that you may be nervous or uneasy with. There are times when you need to be alone, working solitary to ensure your maximum concentration, but also times for the help that you receive from people who see things you are working on, or perhaps struggling with, from a different angle, but still with an artisitc "eye". Last night was one of those nights, and I received help from everyone in the group, they all contributed positively to my latest project - a real team effort. Never be afraid or shy to ask!

My current project is an acrylic, and invloves me using my favourite brushes for this medium - Rosemary & Co's Shiraz - a really nice synthetic bristled brush that holds good quantities of colour but is responsive enough to your every touch. I like using these a lot, and amateur as I am - I highly recommend them.

Not enough time for me to post about my recently sold work, but I promise it will be in the next one, I just need a little more time to sort one or two bits out, so, whatever your art - enjoy it!

Paul

Recent Events

2010-01-19T06:31:00.000-08:00

Hello - quick tea-break for you!

A new member since last time is Rosemary - and I thank you Rosemary for taking the time to register as a follower - I appreciate it. There are a few other people who are also trying to join as followers, but seem to be having trouble registering, so we may have some new friends in a few days time. I am trying to do what I can to help them, but I hope they are patient, persevere and my "help" pays off!

Last Monday the Life Drawing Group was not on, so that was that, and I was not well enough to go to the 2 kids groups and the adult group I attend locally. So, no art groups - no genius to work that out!

Yesterday it was unsure if the same Life Drawing Group was on or not, and I was the only one from our group who could make it, so I decided not to go, especially seeing as I'm not in possession of a phone number. This afternoon I start back at the kid's art group, and tonight I am looking forward to the adults group too!

So there you have it - short and sweet, so to speak. Don't worry though, I will get down to the next posting soon, with news of a sale! Yes - I do sell some of my works now and again.

Until next time - whatever your art - please enjoy it.

Paul

Sketching Part 3 Then!

2010-01-14T02:40:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone - hope you have a few moments to spare!

Luckily the blog still continues to grow, and I'm really excited about it, with new followers who have taken the time to join since the last posting being - Bailey, JackT and Jenny - thank you all for joining and I really do appreciate your support.

The last couple of posts I have been, to be honest, a little worried about, thinking that they might have been a bit on the long side, so this one is going to be shorter - on purpose. By making it a little shorter it will give you all the chance to get your sketching practice well and truly running, and for one lady who is lagging so far behind already, to eventually get started (she knows who she is, but we don't mention names to purposely embarass folk, do we J.. whoops, almost let slip).

So all I really intend doing on this posting is to further show you what I mean by the use of shading, and how it can enhance your sketches. Below I have posted 3 sketches - done as I have told you before - light pencil, then ink pen over when you are happy with them, then lift off the pencil with the soft putty eraser. These are not my originals - I never lay claim to anything that is not completely mine, but they do show what I mean quite well. Simple lines can help dramatically, but also note the lack of a background leaves them "floating".

Well I hope this is enough to help guide you along what I am trying to explain. A simple line can show, on this occasion, the woodwork of the handles, and then the criss-crossed lines showing differing levels of shading, tone and texture all go to complete the subject. Now imagine these done with a background, be it on the floor as if they were standing upright, or with back shading, as if leant up against a wall etc.

Just in case you were wondering, they are old style peat cutting tools - now you can sleep!

Until next time, whatever your art - enjoy it.

Paul

The Great Pencil Case

2010-01-07T12:50:00.000-08:00

Greetings - just hang on while I tie up the iceberg!

Customary as it is for me to firstly offer a welcome to new followers, here are the names of those who have joined since the last post: Jenny, Ian and ......... a Weasel?

Right, as you all munch your way through the last of your end of year rations, your turkey stew, broth, soups etc, I'll try and get down to writing part 2 of The Great Pencil Case - snowfall permitting of course (well there is Global Warming on you know).

Last time we went through all the mountains of gear needed to start sketching, and seeing as you have now got your pocket bulging full (yeah - right), lets try and make a start. Holding the pencil as described previously, we can now start to make our marks, but please remember that each mark you make really needs to be quite a light one - for 2 reasons. Firstly, if you make a mistake it's easier to erase using your newly acquired putty eraser. Secondly, if you wish to paint your sketch afterwards, then the lighter the marks, the less likely they are to show through on your finished work. Of course, if you want to be just plain awkward - then you can always go round your coloured in sketch when it's done with a permanant ink pen (only joking, I do it with a lot of mine) making them into essentially cartoons.

We are hopefully now making marks on paper (high fives alround) and are starting to put together some shapes. There is little I can do regarding your subjects or the lines and marks you draw to initially portray your subject. A lot of it is all down to practice, and looking at your subject. I mean not just looking, but really LOOKING at your subject. If you have it, time spent studying what you are looking at - the lines, the shapes, is well spent but once you have done what you are happy with, then try and add some interest and character to your work by using varying degrees of shading. You do not have to simply shade everything the same tone of grey, but by using subtle marks you can achieve quite a lot. Simply following the lines or curves of your subject when shading will enhance it too.

Try doing one area of your shading by using the pencil on its side, and make diagonal marks, but keep them close together. That gives you a light tone - good to start with. To increase the depth of shading, go over the same area with, again, diagonal marks, but in the opposite direction - basically ending up with a criss-cross effect. By experimenting with this effect, you can achieve quite a surprising amount of varying shadings. Remember - each "layer" you put on, makes the area that bit darker, and there are usually some areas that need to be really dark, so just go ahead and press down a little harder than you normally would to achieve this. It may sound complicated at first, but as they say - a picture paints a thousand words. It may well do, but we are sketching here so may have to make do with a couple of hundred!

To help you with your sketching, never be afraid to have a go at drawing simple shapes. Things like boxes, balls, cylinders, cones etc are, if you look carefully, what a lot of objects are simply composed of, and by getting to grips with these simplified shapes, your sketching will improve. Also don't forget to include any shading, running it in the direction of the curve of a ball etc - and it will look twice as good!

Now - you are feeling really confident - right! No? Ah well, it's early days yet, so don't worry. But, when you feel happy enough, then go for a set of drawing pens, and have a go with them. I use black Pilot Pens of 4 varying thicknesses: 01, 03, 05 and 08 sizes. Use them as you do with your pencils, the only difference being that you cannot erase them, but don't panic - by not being able to, it can really help give you the confidence to tackle your chosen subject. Plus, on a little cheat line, once you have done something you are really pleased with in pencil, then you can always go over it with the pens, then erase the pencil! Cheat ye not - it's called "Artisitc License".

OK - as promised - I will try and include more pictures this year - so here are 2 examples of what I have done - initally sketched in pencil, then gone over with the ink pens when I was satisfied with them. Note the crossed hatch shading to try and give it some simple depth and shape.

This sketch has some shading around its base,

enabling the image to look like it is anchored

down to something - not floating in air.

It's important to do this with your work too.

On the other hand - this feather doesn't have any. Maybe it's because it's because it's lighter than air! Something like this you may just get away with, but you must always try and use something to physically anchor your work down to a surface, as nothing floats round in real life.

So, there we are - you are both happily sketching away like there's no tomorrow filling book after sketching book with all manner of subjects. And you know - that's one of the beauties of this. A good sketchbook is like a visual diary; an old friend to dip into again and again; something that gives you deeper memories as each sketch is your own, and you remember it all the more as you have taken time to really sit and look at your subject. Photo's are often very good, but a good sketch of which you are quite rightly proud, is even better!

Until next time - whatever your art - enjoy it!

Paul

Stand By Your Pencils!

2010-01-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

Why, hello there - nice of you to drop in, and a Happy New Year to you!

Well, it's Monday, January 4th 2010, and this is the day that most people here (England) are all officially back at work, maybe throughout most of the World, so I thought I would too, hence the blog post!

But firstly I would like to welcome the following people who have joined since the last posting. They are - Elisha, Fiona, Bailey and Banjo. Thank you for making the effort to join, and I appreciate it.

This time seeing as it is a New Year, new start etc, I would try and encourage some of you (those who have made resolutions, and I know who you are), to at least pick up your pencils and have a go. But what sort of pencils, will any old thing do; what paper should I use - anything? Basically yes - if you are not too bothered about your end results; but if you do mind, then a little investment of pence - literally, is all that's needed.

The pencil your child has, or the one you keep by the phone etc is probably no good. The lead in it is far too hard, and sharpened to a needle-like point is no good for drawing and sketching - but excellent for what it is designed for - writing. Usually it has the letter "H" somewhere on the side - as in "H" for "Hard". I use a softer leaded pencil - a 2B, which I find suits my needs. Some people, myself on occassion, will use something like a 4B, which is very soft indeed. One this soft gives a darker, broader stroke, and there are times when using something like this will be of use. Beware though that because it is a softer lead - it also smudges easier too! Pencils are often only pence each, and I suggest you buy 2, the reason being I will tell you later!

As for paper, well it pays to use quality cartridge paper, nice, smooth, clean and white, but there are also rougher textured papers if you need more of a grainy (like tree bark) effect to your work. You can buy them in a variety of sizes - A6 upwards, and I like the spiral bound ones, so you can fold the booklet flat. They also come in cardboard or hard backed versions. It's often easier to buy an A6 or A5 size to start with - easy to carry around and store. If you are shy, a smaller pad is easier to use and more descreet. Most art or multi store style shops sell them, and they are not expensive. To complete your "kit", you will need an eraser, and the best sort to use is a soft putty one, again under £1. A harder school style "plastic" eraser often leaves marks and dirty smudges. A putty one is quite surprising the first time you use it, don't rub hard, and it gently lifts off your little errors, leaving your surface cleaner too. You can also nip and make points with it, to lift out or erase small places and marks.

Once you have purchased your pencils, use a small hacksaw or very sharpe knife and cut them into half at least, even into three! Then, with a sharp knife, cut back plenty of the wood and leave a nice, long piece of lead, but not pointed. This enables you to use the pencil held sideways in your hand, and not like you are about to start writing with it. Like I explained previously, use your nails to protect the paper from your hand, grease, dirt etc. This cutting also gives you the advantage of having "extra" pencils - so you will never lose them all, handy if you are out for the day or on holiday etc! Have a look at the photo I have posted and see the differences I have been talking about.

The yellow ochre coloured pencil is a normal length hard writing one. The two top ones are both 2B pencils, showing that you can get three sketching pencils out of one, and the bottom black pencil is a heavy 4B - just look at the thickness of the soft lead compared to the others! So for probably less that £5 you have half a dozen pencils, an eraser, and a small 20-odd page sketch book.

Right - we are now all set to have a go - but - like all good cliffhangers - you will have to wait for the next post to progress any further!

Whatever your favourite art is - enjoy it.

Paul

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-12-31T06:02:00.000-08:00

GREETINGS - THIS BLOG CONTAINS NO GIMMICKS

IT IS SIMPLY A WISH FOR YOU ALL TO HAVE THE BEST, HAPPIEST, BRIGHTEST, BOLDEST, HEALTHIEST, HAPPIEST, MOST PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR YOU EACH CAN.

AND TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE MADE A RESOLUTION TO HAVE A GO AT ART IN THE NEW YEAR, PLEASE REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING PIECE OF ADVICE

I WILL BE WATCHING YOU!

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING ME IN 2009

PAUL

Black Coffee

2009-12-29T06:34:00.000-08:00

Why, hello there!

You all know I like to start off with a welcome to new followers of the blog, after all, it's only right - you have made the effort, and today I welcome BJ and Carl - you are very welcome, and I appreciate your support.

Still sober? Why? - (Oh it's only a bit of fun, don't go getting upset.) But, if you are, this will be the best blog you have ever read! If you need to have a black coffee, then go get one now.

Only a couple days left to the New Year, and if I'm honest, I reckon I think more of this time than the rest of the holidays. We all have different thoughts, beliefs etc. and I think the end of the year certainly does mark some form of closure on many things, and the chance of new projects and experiences in the year ahead.

As some sort of artistic resolution - there are projects I would like to get more involved with:

making more of the Life Drawing Class and progressing with my watercolours, concentrating on upper torso's as opposed to trying to get a full pose in during the allotted time;
trying more portraits in acrylics;
more cartoons, maybe some gouache and pen and ink samples too;
a couple of larger acrylics done on hardboard (a surface a enjoy working on);
and lastly, consider exhibiting my work a little more.

That sounds enough to me - we cannot all be masters of all things, even though at times we may all try, but it's the trying and succeeding that is half the fun of it!

Here is a small selection of what I have done so far at the Life Drawing Class, and as the weeks go by, I want to show some form of improvement. If you look at these too, you will be able to see things where I have gone wrong, and try work out improvements for yourselves, sort of an online class where we work together.

This one I found hard to get his left foot looking something like, which spoils what was turning out to be fairly reasonable work. The colours I was happy with, and this chap has the reddest head of anyone in the world I have ever seen! Before anyone asks - not just reflected from the red blanket.

Well here we are, the last two pictures for today, and I hope you can see something in them. They were both on the same sheet, but I have cropped them somewhat.

They are both done on the Saunders Waterford 300lb Rough paper. Skin tones I feel are getting there, made with my usual mix as described in one of the previous posts. But I hope you can see the pale tones as opposed to the richer one in the male above, done on the Turner 140lb paper - the difference is quite clear I think.

Right - that's enough for this post I reckon.
Time to close methinks.

The figures I know are not perfect by any means - it was the first time I had seen a female nude model and I was shy! But there is something there - and with plenty of practice and some committment on my part, they may well get there yet.

Until next time - whatever your art - enjoy it, and why not make your own resolution and pick that pencil or brush up and have a go!

Regards,

Paul

Wind Down?

2009-12-24T05:17:00.000-08:00

Seasonal Felicitations to you all.

Hi everyone. As I usually try and do first off, here's a very big welcome to my new blog followers at the time of typing - Rachael, Sheila, Roger and Angus. Thank you, I do appreciate it, and I hope you enjoy it.

It's Xmas Eve, and I'm hoping that you are just about ready for it all - basically just sat clock watching, waiting for the starting gun to fire. And then? Well especially if you have small children, all hell breaks loose! Why do they never get up that early when it's school? Even if you don't have children, it still seems the same somehow, maybe we are, and always will be, nothing but Big Kids. Hopefully, if you have been good - you may just get some of the art materials you have asked for!

Post title is "Wind Down", and I'm wondering if you actually do something like that if you are of an artistic or creative sort. Do you halt, draw a line under things just because it's the year end? Probably not - it's a lot of wasted effort if you are part way through any work, then you stop it just because the end is nigh! But everyone is different, and there are subtle changes that some people may make. Some actually love to get outside or work from cards or photo's of lovely winter scenes. I suffer from the SAD syndrome, so each thing I work on has to be of a "bright" matter. That means bold, bright colours, or warm subjects. So the one thing I do not do is snow covered olde worlde landscapes.

Me at this time? Well, I'm just copying out and reworking some pen and ink sketches I did a couple of years ago, now having a go at watercolouring them. They are old tools, primarily used for cutting local peat - though everyone makes the best use of what they have, and they were probably used for other things too. I love historical things, and often imagine what tales they could tell if able to. Luckily I was fortunate enough to hold these items, and to get a real idea of what they were all about. Fascinating!

What I am saying, is although I do not relish this time of year weather wise, I can use the time to think of, and work on more cheery subjects for me as an individual. Using this line of thought, I work on smaller things, and use them as practice subjects - getting used to the new papers, paints and brushes I have purchased over the last few months. Having simple items like a 2B pencil, putty rubber and good paper is all that is really needed.

Actually, I was talking to a good friend today who said one of her relatives was an artist, and she had wanted to have a go herself. So I told her to just get the above items and simply have a go - copy as neat or loose as you want, simply shading in the darker areas with varying degrees of pressure. One tip here - do not use a sharpened pencil - that's for writing! Cut back some of the wood and leave a longer end to the pencil - mines about 1/2 inch, then use the pencil on it's side. Sounds wierd at first, and can be awkward to get used to, but it works a lot better when you get the hang of it. If you want to get really technical - using your pencil this way, gets you to use your nails to rest on the paper with, thus avoiding getting any grease or dirt off your hands on to your paper. Finally - always draw very lightly on your paper with your initial efforts until you are happy with the result, then you can start to press on harder. By drawing lightly, it's so much easier to rub out if you have to, and doesn't leave a mess or "dirty" marks.

Right - that's enough for this blog, or I'll have nothing to tell you next time!

Please have a very Merry Xmas, and an even better New Year! Regards to you all.

Paul

A Very Interesting Update

2009-12-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

Hello there!

Blog read = tea-break, so pull up a chair, get a brew, and pop on your fave pair of slippers.

First a mention and welcome to 2 of my blog's new followers, Amanda-Jade and Matthew. Thanks for taking the trouble to follow - I appreciate it, and I hope you enjoy what you get to read.

Tuesday's promised report did not happen as I was unexpectedly snowed (oh it is winter) under with other things to do, and Wednsesday, well, I was rather ill, to be polite, and spent all day asleep and doing nothing!

So, today it is then. On Monday evening I took along one 1/4 Imperial size sheet of the Saunders Waterford 300lb paper, as I knew the first pose at least would be fast and furious! Try it for yourselves; sit down and take just 1 minute (timed, and no cheating now) to draw, sketch or even suggest something. It's not as easy as you think. Another couple of quick 1 minute poses, and we were all loosened up, and we set off for the luxury that is a 5 minute pose.

For this, it was time to break out the new paper! And as if by magic (how many remember Mr Ben?), the Hahnemuhle paper appeared. I find it to be a good handy size to carry about and to work on. It's a glued pad of 140lbs paper, and a good looking surface to work on it is too, obviously smoother, but also much brighter. My first impressions were that it takes a good covering of wash without running too much, and I'm not sure that I changed my skin tones any, but they seemed to keep more of their colour, not paling out as with the Saunders Waterford. As I continued working the rest of the colours all appeared brighter, and having more "life" so for me, it is looking like the paper of choice for this type of work. The SW paper is an excellent paper for landscape work, and one I will continue to use for that purpose.

One point on using watercolours; there is a big divide between watercolour artists about using white in their work and others who do not. I have never, ever used white in my still lifes or landscapes, but, for skin tones especially, I do not think that you can beat having white in a mix of cadmium red and either cadimium or lemon yellow. Just my observation.

Having worked my way through a couple of 5 minute poses, it was on to the "big one" - the 40 minute pose which always ends the sessions. The previous few poses had been good, I had enjoyed them and had begun to understand how the paper reacted to different situations (please note begun, and not fully) and so was feeling that little bit more confident in continuing. Now it was just down to me and my ability, so, brush loaded with a light coloured skin toned paint, it was off to draw in my initial sketching.............

I really enjoyed working with this paper, and will continue using it again for my life drawing group. One thing for certain though, is that I will deffinately be ordering some more. Perhaps in the future I will see what it's like for working still life's on, and maybe the odd bit of landscaping. There is also the probability of using it come next spring when I can sit outside and attempt some watercolours of my hens. There is also the interesting thought of using it with ink pens etc!

Hope this has been of some interest to you, and please remember that these are only my personal thoughts.

Until next week - whatever your art - enjoy it.

Paul

Spanners?

2009-12-13T12:40:00.000-08:00

Hiya - put your brushes down and grab a cuppa.

As one of my dearest friends would say "hummm". The last couple of posts have been about my finding some sort of parity with my materials for these life drawing sessions. And, to be honest, I thought I had. However, just when I thought that all of my equipment was coming along all nice and organised like - I go and throw a potential spanner in the works.

There are no problems between my brushes and I - we get along just fine. The old saying that a tradesman never blames his tools stands, and my brushes are good ones. My paints and me are at one with each other. I respect their colouring potential, and they respect that they can stain my clothing.

Last piece in the partnership is my paper. For as long as I can remember, or more like since the last time I bought any, I have used Saunders Waterford 300lb rough. A truly grand paper - one I heartily recommend. Enjoyable though it is to use, I am not sure I have the experience to get the best out of it in the time allowed in these sessions, and have thought about using a smoother textured, lighter paper. Something that I can work with quickly, and gives me enough coverage with the amount of paint mixed to use for each pose.

So, last week, after taking things into consideration, I ordered some. Having previously used and enjoyed the Hahnemuhle bamboo paper primarily for gouache works, but also some acrylics, I decided to give their watercolour paper a try. Eventually I decided on some of their "Turner" 140lbs paper -10 sheets, roughly 9.4" x10.6" in size, in a glued pad.

How much excitement can you all stand I ask? A report from tomorrow nights session, plus some technical info on new papers too; will you or be able to sleep. Me? Oh yeah - definately!

Until Tuesday then, whatever your art - please enjoy it responsibly, and remember - a canvass is not just for Xmas - it's for painting on!

Paul

The Next Installement

2009-12-11T06:55:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone - how's things?

Firstly today I have to welcome 3 new followers of this, my humble blog.

I am unsure if I welcomed Marie when she joined or not - and it's very remiss of me, so - Marie - you are very welcome! There are also 2 more recent followers, they being Phil and Jayne - and a really big welcome to you both too. Thank you all for having taken the trouble, and I do appreciate it. Don't forget, if you know of anyone else who may be interested in joining, then please guide them through the process.

Since Monday I have been practicing with some of the flesh tones and subtle changes that I have encountered at the life drawing sessions. The time I have spent at this venture has now started to come in really handy, as I continue on a couple of acrylics that I am currently working on. Both have fleshy tones and shadows to try and work on, and I hope that I have been able to give them some justice.

This coming Monday is the last one of the current session at the Life Drawing group, so I will have to try and get some good stuff down on my papers to carry me over the end of year break. Talking of that - wonder if Santa will bring me any art supplies or arty related stuff. Probably end up with another Paint By Numbers kit from one of my cheeky friends! Doh!

I have had a think (medication on the way), and there is an amount of my work that people have not seen for one reason or another. So, starting in January I will upload at least one image per week for you to look at, and hopefully enjoy. Some of the images in earlier posting of this blog will be repeated (it sounds like the BBC) but more people will be able to see all of my work over time.

Next post next week after Monday's Life Drawing session, so, until then, enjoy your art.

Paul

The Grindstone

2009-12-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

How Ya Doin' Y'all?

Just thought I'd try out a little American - but never mind - maybe not.

Right, tomorrow night it will be back at the alleged grindstone that is the life drawing group, this time with our model Suzanne - and very good at being a model she is too.

Yes, I will once again be taking my watercolours with me, as I think I have finally settled on them as being the most portable and effective way for me to work at these sessions. After all the experimenting I have done, I do think that I get most out of the session this way.

One change I will be making is the following. Up to now I have been using 1/4 Imperial Sheet size paper, which gives lots of room, space and scope for a nice large work. However, the one drawback I have found for me personally, is that it needs an awful lot of water and paint to cover said size of paper. If you have read the last but one posting, then you may have some idea of what I am referring to. So, tomorrow I will be going with a spiralled pad of watercolour paper instead - 11" x7 1/2" in size. I do not do metric! My paper will still be the same - Saunders Waterford 300lb.

For those wanting a little more technical info, well here goes. My paints are all Daler-Rowney Artists Quality tubes of watercolour paint. I have 9 colours in my palette - 3 each of 3 primary colours, plus a tube of Titanium White, and a tube of Neutral Tint. All my brushes are Red Kolinsky Sable, but I do also have 2 Squirrel Hair brushes.

So, until tomorrow, I will take my leave of you, and as always, whatever your art, enjoy it!

Paul

A Recent One

2009-12-03T07:20:00.000-08:00

Hi all.

Thought that seeing as I have not posted a picture on this blog for a while, I reckoned I would give you all the chance to see that yes, I have been to the life drawing art group, and that yes, actually I have done something.

So here you all are - just the one, mind!

Hope it's something you might like to comment on, or even enjoy.

But as usual, whatever your art - please, enjoy it.

Paul

Twister?

2009-12-01T05:13:00.000-08:00

Hello again!

Crikey - this blog is seemingly getting carried away, as they now become almost daily. From my well below par initial hope of posting twice a week, I now find myself going to the opposite end of the scale! Anyway, let's make the most of it while we can.

Last night I went to the weekly nude life drawing session, armed with my watercolours as per last week's attempts. Apart from missing the first 3 poses (they are around 1 minute per pose!) while I got set up (lesson learned before even starting), I also learnt one other invaluable lesson - but more of that shortly.

A male on his first ever nude posing assignment was our model for this evening, and he was excellent at it. The only comment being his shaven head (and face) was the most brightly coloured I have seen. It did look at times unnatural, but it was there in front of me. However, it worked very well, as the colours of his head ran and merged into the rest of his body colour with using watercolours.

Now, to my second lesson: last week I mixed five differing skin tones, but often failed to mix enough of each colour. Silly man, you may well say. There is actually very little time in between poses - probably enough to change sheets of paper, never mind mix colours! So, this week it would not be a problem, as having mixed my initial five tones, I added plenty of water to make sure I did not run out. Well what's the problem, I hear you ask? Your five skins tones, and enough of them so as not to run out - what could possibly be wrong with that? Plenty!

Once you have mixed what you think will be enough of each colour, you then have to either be a world Twister Champion, or be such a contortionist that you are able to sit still, and not let the colours run into the adjoining pan on your palette and merge into one yellowy - pinky lake! Doh!

Looking back though, last night I learned 3 lessons; set up ASAP, mix the correct amount of colour, keep your palette still.

But, I really enjoyed the session, and whatever your art, I hope you enjoy it too!

Paul

Thank You!

2009-11-29T09:03:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

I have just realised that I owe everyone who has ever read this blog, a very big "Thank You", and especially to those who have kept on reading it, as I have very recently passed the 1,000 mark on hits! That's excellent - thank you once again.

That is an amazing achievement when I sit back and think just how long it since I have been doing this, and the fact that I have not always posted, or been able to. This blog started, I think, in March of this year - 2009 - and I have had more hits on this blog than running both of my websites combined. What a thought that is. It's simply stunning when I think about it.

Hopefully if anyone feels they know someone who would like to become a follower, then please ask them to sign in; remember it's free, and totally safe, and they can become a part of the next 1,000 hits.

Whatever your art - just have a go and enjoy it.

Paul

The Colour's In The Water

2009-11-24T07:25:00.000-08:00

Hellooooo

Monday we were back again at the life drawing group I go to. Not a class as such, nobody judges anyone else's work and it's not led by anyone, just a nice group of fellow artists who enjoy taking on the challenge that is nude life drawing. When it works well, we have an alternate male and female model once a week, but as with most things, we find that "It Ain't Necessarily So" as the song goes!

Since I've been going (a couple of months now), I have tried pen & ink, charcoal, pastels (hard & soft), and pencil works. I am trying to find the best medium with which to work quickly, and one that's easily transportable for me.

Recently I borrowed a couple of art mags, and in one of them was an article covering loose watercolour drawing, which was so interesting I just had to use it to give watercolours a try.

Without trying to appear clever or big-headed, one thing I can do is mix up a good level of skin colours and flesh tones. My wife sometimes says she does not like my works, but she does like the skin tones! Using this, I made up several mixes and had a go trying to reproduce a likeness of our female model.

And pleased with the results I am too. This must be the first time that I can think of that I have really got to grips with washes and limited palette colours all in one session. Of course, they are not perfect, but as with all things, that little word practice just seems to pop up again and again.

Why don't you get yourself some materials and have a go - I'm sure you would enjoy it, and maybe even be pleasantly surprised with your results!

Regards,

Paul

2009-11-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hi there, and hope you all enjoyed your weekends.

By reading the previous few blogs, you will all have some ideas as to what it is that I have been up to, and am up to. For those who have not: chickens, grandaughter's art competition, practice.

Now that the big art competition is over, I am back to practicing and working on ideas, some of which include for my hens to make a bit of an impact on my work. Well, not them exactly, though I bet someone will have already thought of the idea of using hens feet dipped in paint to walk all over a canvass and sell it for thousands, if not millions!

I have, what I hope, are a few different ideas, that I have run past a very good friend of mine, who thinks there may be something in it too. There are now several pieces of paper with written ideas and scribbled notes on, and a similar number of sheets of paper with sketches etc on them that are now joining the "project pile".

Of course we all know and understand that ideas, notes, plans, thoughts and brainwaves etc can and usually do always end up in tears, or just plain old simple frustration. That is, of course, if they ever get past the "I'll just pop it over here and get back to it in six months" pile in the first place!

Hopefully all will not be lost; the practice will be worth it, the ideas will come to fruition, and the sketches will be a springboard for better things.

Whatever your styles - enjoy your art.

Paul

Pride

2009-11-18T09:04:00.000-08:00

Oh Dear Followers...........

I just have to share this with you.

Last week our 7 year old grand daughter told us she was entering her school art competition, and could I offer some help. I put together some rough cat sketches for her, gave her a proper artists pad, pencil and putty rubber, and told her to take it home and practice. That is just what she did.

As a result her pencil work of her 2 cats was voted into the top 4 by pupils and teachers of the school, and she was all excited that this week the voting was going down to the top 3 places.

As soon as she got home from school she rang us: not only had she got into the top three places - she had WON THE COMPETITION!!!!!!

No massive prize, just doing so well was enough for her to appreciate the need to practice, and that is something we can all learn from. She did 5 attempts at each cat, and on the completed work even put a mouse in front of the cat! Artistic license.

On a very happy note, enjoy your art.

Paul

Eggxciting times!

2009-11-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

Howdy Bloggers

Hope you are all well as usual, and don't forget - there are only so many shopping days left to Xmas!

As an update to all you eager updaters - here goes. Thursday I had 2 whitish eggs, obviously from 2 of my hens, both being soft shelled and of no use. Think on though - they are young hens and it's a "first" for them, with what could be quite a shock! However, Saturday I had the very pleasant surprise of an egg from my last hen to lay; we caught sight of her nestled in the coop, so had a good idea as to what she was hopefully up to.

Imagine if you can the thrill of discovering a perfect blue shelled egg once she had left the coop and gone outside to join the others!

Nothing else until today, when I had a second blue shelled egg - we are on our way!

As yet there is no repeat from the first couple of hens, but as I said, they are young, so I'm not worried.

This has given me fresh impetus to try and get them down on paper etc, and I have started to try a few loose watercolours and sketches as they explore and go about their new world around the back garden when we let them out of the run.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks, I may be able to show you the produce of my labours too.

Whatever your art, enjoy it.

Paul

Chickens!

2009-11-13T02:51:00.000-08:00

Greetings Bloggers.

Today is only a short post - how can that be from someone who is 6'3" I hear you all say, but that is how it is.

I have to report, and quite proudly so - that yesterday 2 of my 3 hens laid their first eggs. Being overcome with joy, it's taken me until today to calm down enough tell you all, but I love my chickens and it's a big moment between us and our bonding process.

There are founded rumours that I may have started to attempt my first watercolour using one of then as a subject.

When it's done - you will see it here first - another World Exclusive for you all.

Until then, enjoy your art.

Paul

Roll on bedtime.

2009-11-03T03:16:00.000-08:00

Hello once again - how you all doing?

Well - after my son's recent wedding, which combined a long weekend away and an even longer drive, plus all the other things that have been happening to us, I now have yet another occupation.

I have recently taken delivery of 3 chickens (does that make me a smallholder?), which after a 2 week confinement to their run, they now have free range over the back garden! It has taken me a good few weeks to build the run, bit at a time, and to be honest, I'm still tweaking with it, but they are wonderful. My eye though, is always watchful of them finding an escape route somewhere!

Maintenance I'm finding is quite minimal compared to other animals, plus sometime in the not too distant future, we hope to have eggs. THAT - I am really looking forward to. They are so much fun, even now, and I really can't wait for next spring and summer to stay out in the garden with them and enjoy them to the full.

One of my aims for next year is to try and produce some works involving them. That should be fun - being able to sit and sketch and work away in our own back garden with a living subject. Hopefully I will be able produce some nice works in watercolours, pastels, inks and acrylics. Wonder if I can get them to hold a pose????

That adds another string to my proverbial bow; something else to occupy me through the day, yet give me some inspiration. It's no wonder I get so tired at the end of the day (or even during). Roll on bedtime!

Enjoy your art - as ever!

Paul

Normality

2009-10-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Hello again - so, how's everyone doing?

Hope you are all well and ready for Xmas! - Hahaha - only joking (good job).

Tomorrow - Monday 19th October - I boldly state that I am hoping to get back to some sort of normality with my artwork. Yes - you read it here first. It's not a typing error.

I am looking forward to the restarting of the next sessions of life drawing, held locally with live models, a selection of pastel paper and a box of pastels. Hopefully, nice, free and easy working. Get that stiffening arm working and loosened up.

There is also a new venture I am looking forward to at home. We are now keeping a few hens, for the grandkids, us, and some fresh eggs too. But, I also hope to get to sketch and maybe do some work on them over their duration with us. Hope it all works out anyway; I can experiment with a few ideas and mediums, and all in the convenience of our own home.

Good lazy art eh?

Right - better get them in the coop then and look after them!

Until next time - enjoy your art.

Regards,

Paul

Update

2009-10-16T03:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings Blogger Followers!

Not much in the form of blogging this last month I'm afraid to admit, but as usual, nothing quite runs to plan, but here is an update of sorts.

You may well be aware of my wife falling and injuring both her arms, and it was only yesterday (15th October), that we found out that she had actually broken one of her elbows. Previous doctors had been non-committal, presumably due to the modern culture of litigation. Doh!

I did take part in the Insight events, and had a few sales, covering the 2 weekends it ran.

Our bedroom has come in for some serious decorating and makeover. This has resulted in us living out of suitcases for the last few weeks in a near building site environment. Don't you just love looking back at those moments in your life, almost with a near fondness!

Last weekend saw the completion of one of my latest projects - keeping chickens!

Yup (ooo arrrgghhh - Mandy), I am now a smallholder(ish). Most of my good weather time was spent outdoors making a run and other bits for our new friends - again taking time away from my artwork. One of the plus sides is that come next summer, I hope to be able to sit outside and spend time working on some hen forms of artwork.

Failing that I could always decorate the eggs!!!

As ever - enjoy your art.

Paul

Treats

2009-09-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

Hi again - hope you are all well.

Today - seeing as some of you - well go on then - all of you, have been so good lately, I've decided to give you all a treat.

So, please find enclosed the last three of my works. They all need no introduction - just a slight apology for the quality. Guess I was just too excited!

Hope you like them, and that you think that they were worth waiting for.

Enjoy your art.

Paul

Mixed weekend

2009-09-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

Why hello there - fancy meeting you here!

Well, the big arts event has turned out to be a very mixed weekend to say the least!

Saturday was a little slow, but I still had 4 sales of smaller items, enough to keep things ticking over and helping to pass the time. The people who came in were more browsers and Saturday shoppers, just popping in for a look. Two surprise celebrity guest visitors certainly helped brighten up the day - anyone spot someone familiar???

Sunday was as different again. People visiting this day seemed more involved with their art; they stayed longer and asked more questions of the artists, crafts people and their work. This seemed to really lift the mood and atmosphere of the whole hall, and was a real pleasure to be a part of.

Towards late morning I sold my large Scooby-Doo work - acrylic on hardboard. The chap who bought it said it would be a feature and make a good talking point in his dining room. I couldn't agree more! A man of taste - just like me!

But then I had to pack up and leave very quickly - my wife had a fall and broke her arm. So that obviously took a priority and put paid to the event for me. As of now - I am unsure if I will be able to attend for the second weekend, but priorities must.

Until next time - enjoy your art.

Paul

Insight Eve

2009-09-18T02:04:00.000-07:00

Good morning!

Hello, and a very warm welcome to you serious art appreciators, and to my regular followers.

Today is Insight Eve - the day before we open the doors for the first weekend to the public for our big art and crafts show - and the one where we go along and set up! Gosh - it's all so exciting.

My works are all wrapped up, easels etc in the car - bags of bits and accessories, but you know how it is, there is bound to be something forgotten. Still, I suppose that is all part of the fun - until you realise it is just the one thing you can NOT do without. Aaarrghh!

Yesterday I was interviewed by a good friend and presenter of mine for regional radio, which was an experience indeed. I think my reputation is still in tact. At least I have not received any threatening emails etc so far today, and I've just checked my post-box for hate mail. All clear.

As a result of all this workload, I have not had time to post any new photo's for you to peruse, but hopefully I will be able to post some next week, during the "lull" in exhibitions. I think off the top of my head there are 3 new works to show you, but a look through my art photo's may reveal a couple more.

OK - time to make another cuppa, sit with my feet up and relax until this evening, when I will be leaping out of my car like a SWAT team member and getting to grips with setting up.

Until next time - enjoy your art.

Paul

Looking Good!

2009-09-11T03:06:00.000-07:00

My - how time flies - especially when you're having fun!

Only 7 more pictures to box frame, and 3 of those frames are already cut and glued; just waiting for me to finish the paintings so I can attach them.

We have had our final meeting for the forthcoming Insight art and crafts event held in the region, with ours being held in the Imperial Hall in Epworth, North Lincs, England on the 2 following weekends - September 19/20 and September 20/27 . We also have a very local member who is running a ceramics event at the same time - details from the above venue. But it is in very easy walking distance, passing a local art gallery as you make your way.

I recently ordered some new business cards (visions of grandeur or what?), and they arrived today; and, very nice they are too. That's a nice lift. Another is finding that one of my works has been included on the postcards to promote the event. Things are looking good!

Right, now you have all been updated - it's back to my painting, so please - don't disturb me unless it's important!!!!!!

Enjoy your art.

Paul

Excited!

2009-09-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well hello there!

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my little old Blog; hope you enjoy it, and the life changing effect it will have upon your life. It does mine. After all, I've had to start and make time to write my Blog - so that has changed my life for a start!

As regular readers will be aware, I am taking part in an annual Arts & Crafts event called "Insight", which is now only 2 weeks away - and counting! Today I have been continuing my quest to get all of my hardboard works fitted with box-frames - ready for the sale. I now have 4 medium-sized works done; 7 smaller works have had their frames made today, ready for gluing to tomorrow, which leaves me with only 5 large works to make frames for, then attach them to in the remaining 2 weeks. Easy!

Also in preparation for said event, last night I designed and ordered some business cards - just in case. Well, you never know, and if the occasion arises and it turns out I have none - then who's fault is it? Anyway, they arrive next week.

What I really am excited about though is the fact that today I received a number of promotional postcards to distribute for the event - and one of my works is one of a number used to illustrate the cards and event!!!!!! And, it came as a complete surprise, I can tell you. How nice of the organisers too.

So, with all of this hyper activity going on, I had better have a rub down with a wet towel and a some of my medication to help me calm down!

Until next time - enjoy your art.

Regards,

Paul

Helpfull

2009-09-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

Yo Followers!

Hey - getting back into the swing of things eh? - 2 posts on just about as many days and all that!

Well, actually it's a matter of 2 things: firstly I have started making box frames for some of my hardboard paintings (3 down, only another 12 or so to go then); secondly - I have been being helpful. Yes - that's what I typed - you read it here first.

Spirited chap that I am and all that, I have been setting up a Twitter account for my favourite Internet radio station. Oh go on - you all should know it by now - http://www.wildbeatzradio.com/ . Not that I'm a name dropper by any account you understand, but, I am probably their wildest listener. Well at the very least one of their official "Wildies" - so be warned! (He typed, laughingly.)

So, back to reality. Now when this glue has set by morning - I may be able to get it surgically removed from my hands!

Enjoy your music and your art!

Paul

Steady Now!

2009-09-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all - whatever your time zone!

Yes - 'tiz I - typing here once again from the heart of Edrick Central. Steady now - don't go getting all excited, and coming over all unnecessary. So how you all doing? Really? Great.

Well I have to put my hand up and admit that since my last posting in July, I have had times of forgetfulness, not being able to, and even times of lethargy. I know - shock horror - and I apologise for it. Even one of my followers has commented about it (and rightly so). Some of my art has suffered too, but hopefully there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

At the moment I am working hard towards a regional art exhibition held over two weekends at the end of September. I am trying to make sure my work is up to scratch: putting a backing onto my hardboard works for helping with mounting etc, and ensuring any watercolour, pastel or acrylic on paper has a cardboard mount on it to better present them; also sorting out packing and transporting arrangements.

These are easier said than done! And ........................ then there is the problem of displaying work inside a building where you are not allowed to mount anything on the walls. Lots of practice with what will go on which easel and sorting works into presentation folders etc. How to best use the table space provided; a cloth to use for the table; maybe even some sort of clampable stand? I also have made some hardboard figures and put magnets on the back to use as maybe fridge magnets, so I need a metal sheet for displaying them.

Gosh, it all seems to be go!

There - my post is just about complete for today. There are no new works to show you as yet, but as I make progress in this event, then I will be able to get on with other ideas I have - and yes, I do have them, and write them down.............................................. now where's that blooming bit of paper gone.........................................

Whatever your art - enjoy it.

Paul

New Post!

2009-07-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Wow!

Just looking over my blogs, website, Facebook and Twitters and I realised that it's almost a month since my last posting on here, something I can hardly believe - but it's true; it's in front of me in er, different colours.

But when I look back and think how, what and why, it does make some sense; I broke my elbow which curtailed my exploits, then went on holiday, then spent a busy week with my wife as she had extra time off work, and nothing seems to go faster than time.

I just know that you will all be thrilled to know that I did manage to get some sketching and painting in whilst away - I just knew those watercolour pencils would come in handy some day! Over the course of the week I got around 15 sketches done - some I think are quite good and some mediocre, but as in Egypt, I again drew (no pun intended) a small crowd and some interest. That's got to be good - as it does show people that there are artists out there of differing experience - often found in even the more modest places. Anything can be used as a subject, and it hopefully gives people a different view of usually everyday objects.

My time was also spent taking plenty of photographs of various subjects which are now safely downloaded onto my PC (no more Bank Holidays for those little Japanese men inside my camera); some of these I think will make some really nice paintings. Just hope I can do some of them justice.

So, as you may guess - no real work equals no new pictorial postings - for now anyway. Hopefully I will be able to rectify that sooner rather than later.

Until next time - enjoy your art.

Paul

Website!

2009-06-30T03:27:00.000-07:00

A very hot, warm and sunny welcome!

Just a quick post to tell you that today I have managed to upload lots of new works onto the website. Some have recently been posted on here - but other's have not!

Go look now (please) at www.edrickart.co.uk at please - don't be afraid to send me an email and tell me what you think.

As ever, enjoy your art.

Paul

Here comes the Sun!

2009-06-29T01:18:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

Welcome along to yet another thrill-a-minute-suspense-filled-installment that is (looks at the title) - yep - "A Colourful Life".

First off I have to welcome a brand new follower to the blog - Color Life - who I know lives in New Mexico in the good old US of A. I have been lucky enough to have seen some of her work which she sent me online, and believe me - it's stunning. Wood carving, weaving, blankets, ceramics - this lady does it all, and very well too I may add. At the moment she does not have a website, and I am having a go at helping her along, so if there is any news on that front, then I will give you the details.

I have had 4 or 5 days off now from painting related things, but as promised last week - here is the second of the recently finished Impressionist beach scenes. Perhaps as it's been Sooo hot here recently, and this one is more warm toned, I should call it "Here comes the Sun". Anyway - hope you like it.

Like the last work, the angle is slightly distorted due to my photographic prowess - but you get the picture (oh, great joke!). All the technical details are as the previous work, so if you are interested - go back a posting and re-read.

Whatever your art, until next time, take care and enjoy yourselves!

Paul

Life's a Beach

2009-06-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

Hello again, and thanks for stopping by!

Here is another of my works that I have recently completed, and one that I hope you will like.

It is based upon one of my favourite Impressionist pictures, but one that sadly I do not have any information on, other than a photograph of my first attempt at this work from 2006. Attempts to find the title or indeed the artist have drawn (no pun intended) a blank so far. Please - if anyone can help in that respect then please do not hesitate to send me an email to edrickart@aol.com to put my tormented mind at rest!

This is done using my favourite medium of the moment - acrylics, but this time on artistic board (something I have never used before), which is roughly 16"x12" in size, though actual picture size is roughly 12"x8". To try and enhance my photographs of my works (again, see earlier postings) I have put this in a glass free frame on one of my easles. That's why it still looks a little out of shape - before anyone makes and comments!

There are 2 variations of this picture, this one being a cooler toned work. The second one is surprisingly enough a "warmer toned" one, but you will have to wait until my next posting before you can cast your eyes across that one!

Hope it meets with your critical approval, and I'll blog again next week.

Whatever your art, enjoy it.

Paul

Improved?

2009-06-24T00:41:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

My creative rush is still, er ......... rushing, as I get a few more of my WIP's completed, mounted, photographed and safely put away in my portfolio cases (crikey - they are getting heavy). But, that's what I want and need, so no moans - just get on with it.

Yesterday was a stunningly hot, humid day over here, but up to mid-morning not bright and sunny. Ideal conditions for me to try and re-photograph as many of my works as I could. So, I took outside a picture frame with no glass in it (no reflections), and lovingly placed each work that would fit in, one at a time, and then got in front of the camera (which rather technically for me, was safely secured to a tripod). Each frame was also taken using the camera's timing facility (no wobbly or hand shake frames for me, thank you very much!).

Hopefully when I get them all downloaded to the PC they will have improved immensely, and all be of a far better quality. This time I have no excuses whatsoever, as I do have a really good digital camera. This workman will no longer blame his tools (weather maybe, but tools - no).

I have never sold any of my works in frames, just mounts. However, I have needed to place these in a frame to hold them flat for photographing, more than anything. In my web pages and blogs etc I have always maintained that frames are purely personal, plus if they are sold with one, it adds to the cost, and who would want to buy something that they were only going to discard? It also means I have heavier loads to lump about too!

Soapbox returned to owner - the pictures now have to be safely downloaded to the PC so as to be used in blogs and updated to my website etc. Best crack on with it then, make some progress, and see some return for my efforts come the end of the day!

Please, enjoy your art, and be happy with what you have achieved.

Paul

New Works!

2009-06-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here they are!

Well, as I promised earlier this week, here are two of my latest new works. Probably it's just a personal thing, but I have to try and wait for a natural light with which I'm happy in which photograph my work. Before you all email me and say "But you're not very good at photography" - I know, I know, I may not be, but hey ho!

We all learn by actually doing things - especially hands on practical things, and eventually I will get the hang of doing it right, well somewhat better at least. In the meantime "what yer see is what yer git" - or word's to that effect.

This first one, I suppose, I should call something really original like "Green Vase". And, do you know what - that's exactly what I'm going to do!

The working surface is canvas textured paper, painted with acrylics: some of the colours have been mixed, but not many. One of my preferences (read-up on previous postings) is to use colour straight from the tube/pot without mixing, and I've done that same again here.

It's a roughly an A4 working surface, fixed in a single cream coloured mount.

This next one is taken from a photograph I took while we were on holiday in Mexico in 2007 - obviously some species of Green Parrot. We went to a couple of excellent nature / wildlife parks, where the animals were mostly totally free - the birds anyway - as they knew where to get fed - they're not daft are they!

This turned out to be quite a reasonable picture (perhaps I should re-evaluate my photography afterall), so I thought I would give it a try and see how it came out.

Not too bad overall I reckon.

Once again the picture surface is just over A4 in size, painted with acrylics on canvas textured paper. This time it has been finished off using a double card mount - cream with an inner burgandy coloured border, just to enhance it a little.

The parrot picture especially has turned out a little distorted, but I hope that it gives you at least a more than fair insight into some of my works.

Whatever your media - enjoy your art.

Regards,

Paul

Phew!

2009-06-18T01:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome once again to the wonderful world of Edrickart!

I must admit, it did come as a bit of a surprise to find that I have not posted for one whole week exactly. But, then again, I have had fair reason, I suppose.

Friday was a bit of an off day, but the weekend turned out to be just hectic/total chaos. We had the hedges cut, grandaughter stay and I attempted to help do some gardening Saturday; and Sunday - well, we were still clearing up after the previous day, then out for a well earned family Sunday lunch.

Since then I have had an artistic spell and have so far painted and completed 5 works in progress - all gummed in their card mounts, ready to display, and have still another 6 to get on with - phew!

It is very satisfying though to be able to complete things - to see an idea through to an end product, and it be something you are proud to have done (just hope the rest turn out that way too).

All I have left to do is to wait for a sunny break in the clouds - then I can photograph them and post them all for display on my website, and some in this blog. Best keep watching then!

Enjoy your art.

Paul

Sqwark!

2009-06-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hello, good evening, and welcome!

I have a few spare moments as I sit here blowing away at my mug of near steaming hot tea, trying to cool it enough to drink it, waiting to be transported to a friends house for dinner, and pick up some hanging baskets (hope it's not salad).

Today has been a good day in my little art world; my green parrot acrylic work which I touched up and finished off yesterday is now gummed to the back of its new cardboard mount. It has been left to dry under a weight of watercolour paper (well it's 300lbs so should be heavy enough) as it flattens overnight, then back into a cellophane wrapper for protection.

Two similar Impressionistic beach scenes have been started, this time a little different for me - on acrylic board, which I have never used before. There are also two works, both very similar but of differing sizes, of apples and a trug. Nice idea of a subject to work on - hopefully it will all work out well.

One last note - I have pencilled in two more parrot works (but I don't want to get too typecast). This time I'm looking at a red, yellow and blue bird, as I think this will stand out really well against a green foilage background, and is more in keeping with my love and use of bright colours. Maybe some time next week I will decide which one, if any, to get stuck in to.

Tea's cool - got to go eat!

Enjoy your art!

Paul

Agent!

2009-06-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

Good morning, once again.

This is becoming too regular. I mean, virtually consecutive postings - I'm spending more time on here than painting (well, it seems like).

Today I just could not get back to sleep, so weakend and eventually arose before 07.00am; that's something I only do when we go on holiday and have to catch a flight at silly o'clock. My eyes have yet to adjust to this early morning light - perhaps I should have some of those reactalight glasses?

What I did manage to read (and later print a version off for legal purposes), is that I have now been awarded the sum of 5% commission on sales of a friend of mine's work! Fancy that, me - an agent! Who would have thought it; so all I have to do is sit back and let the cash roll in.

She knows who she is - so everyone in the Hastings area of England, tourists or day visitors, get out and buy some local fine art and help towards sending me to, er ...............................

Anyway - just thought I would share that with you all; I'm so excited I could make another mug of tea!

Whatever your art - enjoy it!

Paul

Careful does it.

2009-06-09T04:32:00.000-07:00

Well hello there!

As you would expect being a trainee part-time temporary artist (allegedly), hidden amongst the little pile (my wife would argue very strongly otherwise) of reference material I have, is a selection of floral pictures (amongst other subjects) - some with vases, some without, that I always thought had potential. I suppose it's just a matter of putting various components together to try and produce something that looks good as a completed work. Almost everyone who has seen my work will testify that I do not produce "real" looking flowers - there is no way I am a floral artist, but we have to get our inspiration from somewhere!

However, with a little practice and perseverance, even a little luck as you just drop on to some techniques - you can portray a reasonable looking floral "bouquet". It's just a case of "careful does it", and it's amazing as to what you can achieve.

Your levels of success are enhanced should you use better quality items. That is an issue I always thought was more of a cunning "sales" ploy than anything else. However, a few months ago I bought a set of acrylic brushes from Rosemary & Co, and can honestly say they are a pleasure to use, and have helped me achieve much better results than I was previously getting. Various types of surface had been tried, along with differing makes of paint. It was the paint that most disappointed me; big name paint gave me small time results! But, the quality brushes used in conjunction with the Reeves acrylics paints I had used for a long time, gave me really pleasant and impressive results. This workman cannot blame his tools now!

It is worth doing a little experimenting and shopping around to a certain extent. We all can achieve results, and not everything works for everyone - it's just finding that fine line - that balance in your subject, materials and ability, to get the results you want. Though whatever you do, please don't look around for too long or you will never settle on anything and be satisfied with your results!

Whatever you do, enjoy your art!

Paul

Happy Days!

2009-06-05T01:24:00.000-07:00

Good morning the World!!!

Me again. Yup - 3 times in one week - no need to check your stats. It's true.

Without wanting to seem "boring" (see previous postings), I have been somewhat restricted in my activities. This usually revolves around "colouring in" previously sketched themes in a variety of practice sessions and experimental ideas (some of which have ended up looking terrible, but we all live and learn). But, not any more, happy days!

Yesterday I got down to doing a reasonable pencil sketch of an item in our back garden during the day. It's not perfect, and needs some "tinkering" but I'm quite pleased with the first attempt. It will make it past the "drawing board" stage. My only problem is watercolour or acrylics.

However, last night while listening to the best Internet radio station, I managed two more drawn works, now ready for "real" colouring and working on today (hopefully) - first on my beloved bamboo paper, second on acrylic canvass textured paper. That's how much better I feel. I can just sense from your vibes you are enthralled.

Some of the art materials I purchased earlier this week consisted of paper, which I thought was pastel paper. Er - NOT! Never mind, I say, let's get on and try it out. Hmmm - it's not quite what I expected, and so far it's not had the best of results (well, I don't think so anyway). Ho hey.

It's all part of the learning curve, as they say, and I'm sure it will not be wasted.

I have also helped a friend of mine (she knows) set up a blog of her own. "You're a good man", I can just about hear you all mumble; it's all about life - being friendly and helping each other. Anyway, point being that part of the building involved a "counter" - every good site has one! Unfortunately, the young lady concerned cut and pasted my counter; this results in her now having a couple of days old blog with over 500 hits!

That's enough for now I reckon, or I'll never get anything done. I will leave you with a previously done pastel sketch of some parrots, photographed on a holiday to Mexico in 2007. It's this work that got me thinking of using a parrot in my work. I love birds, and wanted to use them in a lot of my work, but they never quite looked right. Hopefully this one will. See what you think.

Till next time - enjoy your art.

Paul

Hoorah!

2009-06-02T03:28:00.000-07:00

Yes - a hearty hoorah!

Today's visit to see the hospital consultant has ended in complete success!

The elbow is well on the way to recovery; the medical man was more than satisfied with my recovery so far, and it is now only a matter of time for it to be fully healed. A bit obvious I know, but I'm so happy I don't care - say what you want.

Apart from stopping on the way home to buy some new art materials (you can tell I'm really feeling so much happier, can't you), I'm just so ready to start working "properly" again.

That's all follks!

Enjoy your art.

Paul

Mini's

2009-06-01T05:03:00.000-07:00

Sundrenched hello's from a sunny England.

Yep - it's true - it is sunny - and even H.O.T.

This, I am afraid, is a mini posting; enough to tell you that you can now find me on Twitter as well (does that make me a "twit?).

The elbow is recovering, slowly but surely, and I sincerely thank you all for the countless messages of support, chocolates and flowers that I have received. I am now able to sketch - of sorts, and have started to put a few things together to start and work on in earnest shortly. So confident of this am I, that my selected acrylic colours are out ready!

Please note, that this is not an "interesting, funny or even cool (not in this temperature, anyway) posting".

Whatever your medium - enjoy your art.

Paul

Official!

2009-05-22T02:38:00.000-07:00

Well hello there!

Hope this edition finds you all in the best of health, fighting fit, mentally alert and raring to go! Oh it's a Friday for goodness sakes. Everyone in the known Universe is always up and buzzing on a Friday; the weekend and all that. And so should YOU be. Get on with it - smile - NOW!

Yep - it's official - my elbow is broken, so it's only another 5 weeks to go and I will be just like you all; well, sort of. That's all the bad news for now I reckon, except the weather which no-one has control over [bit like me and my body really], but I can't think of anything else that readily springs to mind, so that must be good.

My real painting is obviously curtailed for now. It was pencilled [no pun intended] in as a possibility last week, but now I find myself confined to running ideas through my head and trying out some practice sessions in my little home studio/office. You would think it's fairly easy to work with just one hand, after all, how many brushes etc can you use at the same time. It's weird though - taking tops off paints [I couldn't open my inks last week], holding stuff, mounting papers etc onto the easel to work on, using and tearing masking tape or simply trying to balance and support yourself whilst working. Oh enough of that!

My watercolours have been given some hammer, now the problem of transferring water to my desk without spilling any on the laminate flooring, thereby enabling me to slip and possibly do myself an injury [another - haven't you got enough already - how many do you want] has been successfully overcome.

There is a slight chance that with a lot of luck and plenty of perseverance on my part, that I may just be developing a bit of a style of my own. Yeah - thought that would shock you all - make you splutter on your cereals and all that.

As a standby I am also doing reasonably well with one of my newer bestest friends, the gouaches. Although we have only known each other for a couple of weeks now, I feel we are getting along famously. Those who have seen stuff on my website will be aware that I like doing cartoon type drawings, as I call then; oh you know, things done with black lines round them all - whatever the subject. My iris have been given a work out using these on a smaller scale, and the poppies are in for the same treatment soon - but please don't let on to them. I don't want them to start putting themselves into a forced "wilt" just to spite me.

Last night we were at a party for a friend's birthday, I saw on his walls classic railway posters from the "Golden Era" of rail travel. The same style I was working but minus the black outlines. Now I have never seen these, and I was sort of taken aback. I wasn't sure if I was pleased things like these were popular, or that what I was working on had already been covered. The only outcome was that they looked good and somebody else liked them too. Best develop some more ideas for subjects then!

Whatever you use, please, enjoy your art.

Paul

Given the "Elbow"

2009-05-13T04:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a dull, cloudy and quite breezy part of England, but at least the sun will be shining on other parts of the world. Messrs Brown and the Cabinet have probably had to repay their claims for sunshine and their receipts returned for such. Hence a dull day!

Oooohh - Paul - being sarcastic - controversial. Stop it!

So, hmmmm, er, not a lot to report apart from I have a suspected broken elbow after falling on Monday. That, may curtail my artistic temperament somewhat. If it's not broken, which is hopefully the case, then I may be forced into doing simple sketches and matchstick figures.

Hey, come to think of it, Picasso didn't do too badly out of it! Neither did Lowrey! Hey - I could be famous! Yeah, and the Government innocent of money laundering; right!

Ooops - there I go again!

That means of course that my pastels are sat getting dusty; my acrylics have "welded" their tubes shut; my watercolours all but dried up, and my "dipping" ink pens have picked up their towels and gone in!

You may be interested to know that I eventually got my camera to download its contents to the PC; I offered those little Japanese figures inside some sushi - and opened them a tin of tuna. Simples! eeeks. - That's for my buddy Claire!

For my very good friend DJFreeSpirit - here's an unashamed add for her radio station - http://www.wilbeatz.com/ - some of the best add-free sounds you will hear, and unlimited requests. It's like painting to my ears! How's that for a plug!

Right, I'll see what I have to post this time and hope you enjoy it.

If you have seen this before, then I apologise.

It's a soft pastel of my old fireman's helmet, done
on Spectrum Colourfix paper which has been
finished off with a spray of fixative.

The actual size of the paper is A4, but the card mount that finishes it off makes it just that little bit bigger.

Enjoy your art.

Paul

Frustration!

2009-05-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

Evening all - and especially to my new "follower" with the world's longest title!

Have you ever played "Frustration" which was a game I think marketed some time in the 80's? If it wasn't actually the 80's, then there's usually someone who does know such life maintaining facts, and can put me right. This edition of the blog is so called due to the fact that this week I have spent most of my time working on my art, producing so far 7 works of varying degrees of success and experimentation. And, it's only early Friday evening!

I now have a small, steadily growing mound of work. "Great", you may say; so what's your frustration? And a mighty fine, intelligent question it is too, given the above mentioned facts.

The frustration comes in the light of (or non light as you will soon find out), a distinct lack of photography and PC production. I personally prefer to photograph my work outside, in good light, maybe even "sunshine", but as we all know and love living here in England it is not always so. More often than not the floodlights "fail" - and that's only in daylight. So it has been once again this week.

Whereas it stayed dry enough for me to do a couple of small outside jobs, it was no-where good enough to get my camera, tripod, easel and works out.

Aha! I have a cunning Plan "B" to turn to (no - I was not a boy scout!). There are some pictures still on my camera which I can download onto the PC and work with them for my files, website and blog. Simples!

Nah - not in your wildest dreams. For some reason known only to the little Japanese men working within the confines of my camera, nothing seems to want to transfer from camera disk to PC. Is it some sort of a holiday in Japan I wonder?

So, as you can now see - this is leading to large chunks of frustration, coupled in between washes of watercolour and swathes of ink upon paper. Don't forget the continuous supply of tea too!

I am at somewhat of a loss, even though I have been "productive", and it's not really my fault. Ah well, at least it has not resulted in loss of life or limb, as my wife would say; so that makes it all right then!

Guess this just means you will all have to log back in again next week to see if it has corrected itself, and my face is once more a smiley. Until then, er .... here's one a did earlier!

It's after Paul Cezanne - soft pastels worked on pastel paper, sprayed with a pastel fixative and enhanced with a cardboard mount.

Enjoy your art.

Paul

Update

2009-05-04T00:44:00.000-07:00

A very good morning to you from deep inside "our house" (it's a bungalow actually!)

Right, not much in the form of "content" in this posting, I suppose, but it still counts as a posting nevertheless, Claire!! (She knows who she is!)

The main reason is to let you know that I have been slaving over a "hot" keyboard since my last post, as I try to improve the layout, look and content of my website. It's not as easy as you think, and things that are placed in a certain position with love and care, magically re-position themselves once you decide to upload it to the internet! So, all I am really doing is to get you to try and take a look - all those who have yet to be arm twisted to do so.

Try it - you'll like it (allegedly.)

Also, and in a vain attempt to "bulk out" this posting, I have managed to sit outside on a warm, hot (almost), sunny day here in England and watercolour paint. Devout followers of this blog will know what's coming next - yes, it's the bamboo paper - which is fast achieving it's own "blog" status.

As inspiration, I followed an excercise in an art magazine - the content of which is meaningless to this blog and in the grand scheme of things in general. Important thing to note though is that I found the paper to work admirably for me. Although I did not put wash upon wash of heavily watered medium on it, the washes I did put on went on well, did not "bobble" or "peel", and the paper took it all very well, drying nicely, evenly and quickly. Bear in mind though that I was outside which does effect drying time, though not in direct sunlight. Colour retention once dry was very good.

Up to now I have to say that I have found it to be a very good paper to use, the only claim left for me to try are pastels. I have both soft and hard pastels, and will maybe give it a quick try on something small, just to complete the series of mediums. Please note that I do not use oil paints, so will not be trying them. I do have access to some, but will still not be using them.

These are, of course, only my personal observations, and I do not possess any doctorate in paper construction, colour pigmentation formulation, vario medium analytical thesis essay or shares in the paper company.

Enjoy your art.

Paul

Flying

2009-04-28T01:47:00.000-07:00

Hello my 3 blog readers (that's how many I know read regularly for sure - so who is everyone else?).

Now then - how's things?

Named this post as "Flying" due the fact that a new cyberfriend of mine - Claire - mentioned to me I had not posted for a while; my, how the time "flies" as they say. And ...... it does. No sooner had I settled down after writing last Tuesday's "epic", than here we are again. I mentioned when first setting up my blog that I had wondered what it was that I was taking on!

Do not despair for me dear reader. It's not that bad at all - honest; it's just like many other things, down to that old friend, time!

So, using the theme of flying - here are two of my earlier works. The one on the left is of a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, done in 2006, and is worked on plain cartridge paper, mainly done using pen and ink (yes, all the strokes are all individual and lovingly done using just an ink pen and not a brush in sight). Other media used in this are a couple of soft pastels, and a little touch of soft pencil.

Just to be on the careful side I sprayed it all with a pastel fixative just in case the pastel was smudged. Size wise it comes out fighting, measuring a massive 7"x5". Once done I simply put it under plain glass, backed with a small piece of hardboard, with no borders etc.

The right hand side work is of a Bittern, and is done purely using acrylics on pre-stretched canvas. These are very secretive birds, and I tried to capture it "blending" in among the reads where it lives in an Impressionistic, almost Abstract way. This one worked out being 16"x12" in size, again unframed or mounted, and was bought last year by a local lady.

In one of the earlier postings I mentioned that I was starting to have a go working on bamboo based paper - a "multi media" paper, and so far I am impressed with using it along with acrylic paints. Please be aware that this is only my opinion. Recently I purchased a small gouache set, and have used them too, but not in great depth. It turned out OK though, as did the brush and ink that I used. It's pastels and watercolours next, and I just know that you are on the edge of your seats!!

Paul

Amazed!

2009-04-21T01:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Bloggers

It's Tuesday already, and though I don't write every day, I do try in theory to blog something at least twice a week (well, alright then - whenever I can or remember to).

I have to say, that since starting this 'ere blog in March, I have been totally amazed by the number of hits the blog has received in such a relatively short time - far more percentage wise than on a webiste for over a year! These things I have to admit I find quiet unreal.

In the grand scheme of things, I am not a prolific artist; my work is not well known around the world, and both my website and blog have started from total scratch with no-one having the foggiest who I am. For that I have to thank each and every one of you so very much.

One of my biggest and most sincere "Thank You's" goes to a young lady (well she's younger than me) who hosts a top internet radio show - http://www.wildbeatz.com/ no adverts, just great music. DjFreeSpirit has become a good friend through cyberspace - and long may it continue!

As mentioned recently, I am now trying out my work using bamboo paper - and I have to say I reckon it's really good - so far. Who would have thought that - bamboo paper? I wonder what great artists like Turner and Monet would have made of it all? Posting of some of that work will appear shortly.

For now - here's one of my works from last year - 4'x2'8" acrylic on hardboard hope you all enjoy it.

Paul

Stealth!

2009-04-18T03:33:00.000-07:00

Happy - whatever ..............

(there's bound to be a festival or carnival etc somewhere in the World going on!)

Would you believe it - this last little Bratz painting that has only just been completed this very weekend, has been snatched up and claimed already.

Remember the recent tale about little hands rummaging through a pile of stuff and saying that this one looks good etc, but it needs finishing? You do? Great, you have been reading and taking things in. Well, those same little hands have now laid claim to the finished piece.

Methinks it is a case of acquisition by stealth - or some other legal waffle, but you all get what I'm thinking of. Especially all those who have the pleasure of grandkids, or access to little ones close to you in your families that you can spoil.

I'm not complaining really. It's just so nice to see a very genuine look of pure pleasure on a little one's face when you can give them something that they really want and treasure, however simple it may be. They think they have in their hands the very prize of prizes - the ultimate item for them - until something new comes along then that goes in the back of a drawer, wardrobe or cupboard, and they rush off to get the next new thing!

Now, if only that stealth could very occasionally be transferred into movement around a house - sort of a "quiet as a mouse" type stealth. Wouldn't that be something!

Till next time.

Paul

Blistered Brushes!

2009-04-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

Avast there, me hearty bloggers!

Well it sounded a good, wholesome, hearty welcome to me.

Anyway, gosh, it seems as if I have been painting non stop for, er ................ a long time.

Well to me it does anyway. But, at last, there is light at the end of the tunnel or tube - probably because it's empty due to me using so much. BUT, and it is a big but because it's in capitals (note the correct spelling our little American chums), very good progress has been made.

My last Bratz thing has been done, completed, finished, ended, so now I can take a little rest, recharge my battery powered drawing hand, and look forward to something else I have in the pipeline, as they say.

It really does seem as though my poor little brushes have blisters on them, they have been working so hard! But at least they have now seen the back (well, front really) of this batch of hardboard paintings.

My next paintings I must admit, I am rather looking forward to having a go at - in the nicest possible sense - because I am going to start and work on bamboo paper! Now don't go start getting all excited; I am not going all Oriental, far from it. It's a new medium (to me) that I have stumbled upon, and am really intrigued by its possibilities. More details to follow.

So don't miss the next thrill a minute, suspense filled edition that is "A Colourful Life".

Paul

3 Buses?

2009-04-15T02:42:00.000-07:00

Good day to you, dear bloggers.

Ever heard the saying (familiar to all British types, but no doubt other languages have their own translation), that you can seemingly wait ages for a bus, then typically 3 come along at once? If not - it doesn't matter.

As you are all no doubt aware, having read the last post, I have just completed my 4 small Bratz acrylics, but now 2 more larger ones have appeared almost straight after them. Obviously I knew I had drawn them out, probably months ago, but I had forgotten they were "there" so to speak, until being rooted out by little hands seeing what was in a certain pile. "Oooo - these look good, you must paint them too."

Yeah, OK, it's not like I have anything else to do is it? And, you all know the situation: - those big eyes looking upwards at you, from a grubby face, full of love and expectation, almost with a tear of hero worship in them; and you start fumbling in your pockets, looking round for a collection tin. Then you snap out of it and realise you are being given your next task to keep you safe and occupied.

Safe? Correct. If I did not sit in and paint, then chances are I would have to go out, no doubt crossing the road at some point, and having checked to see if it's safe to do so, stepping out into the road, and 3 buses come along at once....................

Paul

Pictures!

2009-04-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

At last bloggers - here they are!

Despite overcoming every technological hurdle known to man (and believe me, new ones are purposely invented daily, just to test me), I am pleased to be able to reveal my latest 4 acrylics.

Yeah, they are of the Bratz origin; those noble, cute, loveable forms so endeared to our children and grandchildren, mainly of the female variety (though other genders are readily avaliable).

Each one of them is painted on hardboard using acrylic paint, primed with up to 3 coats of gesso - each one lovingly applied by mine own hand, and sanded in between coats to reveal a surface akin to, er ................. primed hardboard!

I have to be honest, and ask you - what more could you possibly want or ask for in a fine work of art?

As I hope you are already aware of (this is a test to see which of you have been reading all of my previous blogs) - none of these 4 gorgeous pin-up girls are for sale.

BUT! I hear you all gasp - such and such a one is:

a) just like my current girlfriend

b) just like my sister

c) nothing like anyone in our family

d) like one I saw on "Most Wanted"

e) the girl of my dreams and I need to get out more.

So there you have it (well, them technically speaking, as there are obviously more than one of them). Each one of these roughly speaking 8" x 10" beauties is one her way to a bedside in a hospice near me!

Seriously - hope you like them, and they add a bit of colour to the day.

Paul

Kids - eh?

2009-04-06T04:47:00.000-07:00

Hello there.

I know you will all be on the edge of your seats, dying to find out the next exciting installment that is part of "A Colourful Life". Well, here it is!

Like all good laid plans, there is always that small moment in time that we dread that throws a proverbial spanner in the well-oiled works. You know the sort - earthquakes, swarms of locusts, world migration etc - OR - asking a newly reached 7 year old a simple question! So it was with the newly "completed" acrylics and my granddaughter.

"Oh Paby, they are just so good so far that I could faint, but they are not done, yet." She lovingly told me. "WHAT!" I turned in slow motion - mouth agape in disbelief. Where, why, what, how?

"Well, you haven't painted in their eyeshadow or eyelashes yet." Don't you just love kids; especially smart ones, even though they are your own?

But, to be honest, once I had come back off the inhaler and the medication had been given time to kick in, I was glad of her honesty. It was such a blatant mistake on my part - one of those so glaringly obvious that I had missed it.

Now we are "cool" or "chilled" again - let's take a practical look at the situation. I had given a fresh pair of eyes a chance to cast a critical eye over what I had done, and those young eyes had found a very valid fault. This brings me to say, that no matter how finished you may think something is, always leave it for a time so you can keep looking at it for faults before handing it over, or get someone else to take a look at it for you and give you their honest thoughts. Better still - DO BOTH!

A situation such as this also highlights the fact that everyone, no matter how young they may be, can have a truly valid point to make, and should only be discarded at your own peril. It gives you that final chance to make sure you have gotten it right, whatever it is you are working on, and saves you making the silliest of mistakes. Then, and only then, can you hand it over, safe in the knowledge that you have achieved your aims, and that the child really does have the right to faint!

As a result, the photographs will now appear in a future edition. Stay tuned!

Paul

Finished!

2009-04-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

Good evening dear reader.

I lead a fairly simple life, my wife tells me, and as such, I have to tell that my latest "bits" are now finished - 4 small acrylics of "Bratz" characters.

Now, before any big, high-powered legal counsil starts court proceedings, these are NOT FOR SALE - savvy? They will be going along with my other donations to a local children's hospice to hopefully bring a little cheer into their difficult, young lives. OK?

My master plan is to photograph them tomorrow, weather permitting etc, then get them uploaded onto this young blog so you can mull over them at your leisure.

That is all.

Blog over.

Paul