Strawberry

12 cm x 10 cm oil on canvas paper.

Little Brown Jug

16 cm x 20 cm oil on canvas paper

Another bargain prop from the charity shop...getting to be quite a regular :-)

Joined By The Roots

12 cm x 12 cm oil on canvas paper

I was painting these grapes when I remembered a lovely quote of Jules Renard from his journal.

‘My father and I did not love each other outwardly. We did not hang together by our branches; we loved each other by our roots.’

And that’s how I’ll always remember them.

Tuesdays Lesson.

Tuesday classes at SARAH Hall and Orrell 

This week I want to use a full palette of warm and cool primaries and attempt to paint in the style of Peggi Kroll Roberts, http://www.krollroberts.com I like the simplicity of Peggi’s work, but don’t confuse simple with easy.

Lay out your palette first and don’t skimp on the paint. For the example shown I used

Cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, cadmium red, crimson red, cadmium yellow, lemon yellow and white.

As a general breakdown of the colours used I laid in cobalt blue for the background and ultramarine for the shadow; adding the compliment is one way to take down a colour in the shadows but if you have a darker value  of the same colour try that first. For instance the mid blue cobalt has the dark blue ultramarine for the shadow. Similarly with red, cadmium in the light could use crimson in the shadows. Both these examples will give a cleaner shadow colour, give it a try.

From left to right the fruits were cadmium yellow; cadmium yellow and cadmium red to make orange and lemon yellow.

Take them into shadow this time using the complementary of each colour.

The dark background on the left is a rich dark brown; make your own using a mix of three primaries, ultramarine blue, crimson and cadmium yellow.

The teapot is a little of the same mix added to white; you may need to adjust it to get a greyer mix without any obvious colour dominating.

The green foreground is cadmium yellow and ultramarine blue, and remember the shadows are a darker green, not black.

The other part of the foreground was crimson red and ultramarine blue added to white.

Remember when mixing add the dark to the light. Don’t over mix the paint and use as few brushstrokes as you need. Use a swatch.

On The Easel

Oil on canvas 21 cm x 18 cm

I come across some really old Cornishware props and used the nice blue jug with the complementary coloured oranges. I'm about two and a half hours into a still life and on the home straight. I think I'll leave it here for now as I'm starting to wane... it's best to come back and have another go if this is the case.

Painting Class; Using a Palette Knife.

Working from a painting by Julian Merrow Smith

As requested by some students I’ve uploaded a picture to study and recreate; the computer image is always going to be better than the photocopied version, especially with my printer.

Complete the whole picture using a palette knife; only use a brush to soften edges and lay down the shadow on the road. Remember to set a time limit when working from images to avoid overworking them.

Mixed Media Demo

Charcoal, ink, acrylic and wax.

Mixed media demonstration went well with the group of painters in Southport. Hers the collage seascape from the night.

Mixed Media Collage

Mixed Media Landscape

Cape Cornwall

Mousehole

I'm giving a demonstration with mixed media on Monday evening for the Southport Art Club. It’s easy to forget the joy of experimenting with different materials where the outcome is secondary to the exploration. Acrylics, ink, charcoal and wax were used using some old sketchbooks and paintings I did around Cape Cornwall and Mousehole