Our spanish apartment

While I was on holiday in Spain I was really stuck for things to paint. It,s amazing the more you look for inspiration the harder it is. I had the equivalent of writers block,nothing really inspired me, anyway here are a few of the things I found in the apartment that I sketched and painted. If you like the
art of Jack Vettriano you may want to follow this link http://www.jackvettriano.com/paintings/ I read that he is self taught and practised by copying other artists so I,m in good company, but I dont think I,ll be another Vettriano. Shame, I think I could deal with the money and fame.

here,s a page from my sketchbook the sofa is real, the plant a figment of my imagination.

I,ve never painted a bowl of fruit before so this is a first.

There was a Vettriano print on the wall in the bedroom so I thought I would give it a go.Have a look at his web site http://www.jackvettriano.com/paintings/ a genius.

Recent Watercolours

                                                                        
                                                                         "Going home"

I,ve recently sacrificed watercolour in favour of pastels but after returning from Spain when I took a small paint box and did a few sketches I,ve sort of come back to it. Here is my latest painting.

Some more Pastels

Tweaked Photo

Here are a couple of new pastels I have not really decided whether its best to fix the pastel or not. I think the downside is that fixing does darken the painting, but if you leave it un-fixed you really do have problems handling and storing.Has anybody got any thoughts ?. The first is a tweaked photo  I really liked the texture and colours so I started here!.

Pastel

This is the second pastel they really do let you use bright vibrant colours so that is the exercise here.

Here are two more pastels again I used UNISON pastels.

Here's another pastel it,s from a painting by John Miller entitled " Hayle Mary Returning".You can get more information about this artist at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Miller_(artist)

I,ve been using soft pastels recently and have been experimenting with different paper and pastels. The paper I have found to be best for me is the Clairefontaine Pastel Mat. It does seem to be able to take a lot of pastel. Without a doubt the best pastels I have found are UNISON soft pastels they are easy to apply and come in a very large range of colours so they are worth checking out if you are looking to try pastels or change your pastels. I,m not really into trying to reproduce the exact copy of a photograph or scene. For one I don,t have the talent or skill and as a photographer feel I would rather use the camera. I really admire artists who can produce life like pastels ,but it,s not for me. I have tried in this to give it a painterly quality only you can say whether I have even half succeeded. Your comments are always welcome.

I bought some pastel pencils at an art and craft show a few weeks ago so I thought I should justify the purchase by trying them. This is my first effort and I quite like them they are not that dusty, but you seem to use a lot of pencil.

In Memorandum

In Memorandum

One day I'll be a chair
all Beech or Oak
just sitting somewhere.

In a park, on a cliff
looking out to sea
That'll be me...R. I. P.

One day I'll be a chair
brass plate what a state
just rotting somewhere

by a road or the sea
that'll be me
smelling of pee. ( dogs )

This is Ralf in his " You think I,m asleep, but I,m watching everything " mode. Ralf is a Tibetan terrier/human.

I like water colour, but I might try this in acrylics also, but like the loose style . I based this on an image I found on the net.There was no artists name so I cant give a credit unless you know who he or she is.

Before I go

Here are a few of my latest sketches. I,m quite pleased with the Skater , but I think it,s a case of " nice body shame about the face" . The other two I wanted to achieve a " loose " feel. I don,t know whether I have managed it effectively. I,m off to Tenerife for a few weeks so I hope to come back with a full Moleskine.

Here are a couple of newer paintings in Acrylic they are both copies of paintings by Julie Askew . When I started painting I was really lucky Julie was the resident artist on board a cruise. I had already decided that I would try my hand at painting so along I trotted with my pencil and paper to the art class together with my friend Tony. Julie had a few of her paintings on display and I thought wow what a terrific artist not only that she was a terrific teacher also. She was a great encourager and showed over a period of 6 weeks or so that we can all draw and paint ... to one degree or another. She gave me a great start with the basics of drawing.You can see her work at www.natureartists.com/julie_askew.asp

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