Tuesday 18 April 2017

Latest Efforts

The following are recent efforts. Mostly done at AVA sessions, although I've missed the last two due to family commitments. Struggling to concentrate a bit at the moment.




St Kilda - 16" x 12" Lanaquarelle 140lb not

This was a 30minute sketch including drawing and painting. It was based on an old black and white photograph - very hazy and gloomy.  St Kilda is the remotest island off the Orkney isles from North West Scotland. It was inhabited for centuries and the last dwindling inhabitants were removed at their own request in 1930. Life was very harsh and sea birds formed an important part of their diet.  The subject  was buildings which I don't do these days - not a favourite of mine. Colours as you can see are basically puddle colours mainly mixed from Ultramarine Blue and Translucent Brown from Schmincke. This latter has been re-named Transparent Brown in the recent updating of the range. I don't like this paper much.



Tropical Bird - Fabriano Artistico rough 12" x 9".

I'd drawn this one a while ago and as I finished early and quickly painted this. (I always seem to finish early and usually wash the cups up).  






The next subject this Thursday is farm/domestic animals so I drew this composite from three photographs. I quite like it  and intend to view the painting of a cockerel on Gerard Hendriks DVD before I paint it.

4 comments:

SilverMom said...

I so enjoyed both of your paintings in today's post.

Even before I read your description of the first work, I knew that it was depicting a place with grey weather and a grey existence. The way you painted the buildings definitely contributed to the emotional tone of the painting...you may not enjoy doing buildings, but you did really well on these!

And your bird is expressed with a fine, delicate touch with great use of color. Thank you so much for sharing your work.

Oscar Solis said...

I really like both the paintings. They have character. They just work. One of the things that made me smile was that you painted the first one in thirty minutes. A lot of people don't realize that working fast has benefits that working slow doesn't. It gives the work energy and energy means life.

Keep going.

Peter Ward said...

Thanks for comments SilverMom. Appreciate them.

Peter Ward said...

Thanks Oscar. Your comments always welcome. I've temporarily forgotten his name (one of the problems of advancing age) of one famous artist of the past , some of whose best paintings were said to have been done in thirty minutes.. I find if I'm too slow and deliberate it becomes a grind! That's my excuse.! After all painting to me is a hobby pure and simple. I think I remembered Hercules Brabazon (?)