portrait peek

Nothing like spending a good part of the day dealing with the vagaries of digital printing and the inability of a machine to render colours accurately. Or is it the machine? Could it be the machine operator who may not have told the printer what it had to do? This could be a long debate.

It did remind me how much more fun it is to mix paint and apply it to canvas and not have to deal with intermediaries like computer, printer or the printer operator in the case of having work printed elsewhere by people who "know better".

Time is running short and this portrait piece needs to get done, no later than tomorrow. There are currently two more paintings waiting... like planes waiting to land at Heathrow airport in London... circling around patiently waiting to get all clear from the tower.

Lots of layers of glaze and more adjustments.... and taking care not to overwork it... although I believe I may have already. My inner critic is a mean person who is never happy with the work I do....Enter dear Hoarknockle with gin and tonic which always quietens the critic down a lot. Either that or G&T makes me deaf. Who knows?

I have added a last trompe l'oeil effect in the form of a sticky note which seems to be attached to the painting. Rather like a fun dessert after a big meal, I'm enjoying this last little tweak. The critic within seems to have lost the battle temporarily.

The wolf painting is watching me from the other side of my studio table. Lots to be done and I shall be away for all of next week on a skating retreat with Michael who will be perfecting his technique of speed on long thin tongues of burnished steel, shimmering across 400 meters of flawlessly perfect Olympic ice from Games long gone.

Lady Sandra is recovering well.

Here is a tidbit of the portrait piece. Not wanting to show too much before I deliver it into the hands of T and D... the proud parents.

Hoarknockle is coming down the passageway to my studio and I can hear the surreptitious clink of glass and ice. Good Heavens! Its friday!

state of studio

The studio has a life of its own. (or maybe its Hoarknockle who adds his personal touch overnight?)

During the making of work, things get used and put down, often not touched again and left to stand where is came to rest. Work will sometimes move to another part of the studio and the table will be left as it was for some time. It becomes rather like an archeological dig...layers of things telling a story of something that took place, offering clues but nothing certain.

I'm back at the studio table and easel again, working on the portraits and another piece which has been commissioned for a couple as a memoir of their adventures. How does one really capture many and diverse experiences into one piece without making less of an important moment or diminishing the intensity?

This couple have been exploring the length and breadth of Canada, especially the great outdoors and far off and desolate places few human feet have walked. (which is why they often took a canoe... not many feet get to walk on water)

I'm considering painting elements like a canoe, a wolf, a fish and birds... many different elements and objects which will allude to their travels and experiences....and avoid making an image which might end up looking like a bad collage of holiday pictures.

Hoarknockle has been sent to find the ingredients for peyote infused tea. I'm hoping that a cup of that will bring on visions of what I need to do. The regular Earl Grey has not been of much use.

Ah!...I hear his well modulated footsteps, he aproaches! Hmmmm Tea!

caught!

After stumbling around without getting any results, I called in D-Man the aeroplane hunter.

He is a consummate professional who set traps scented with jet fuel and hung out sticky strips of fly paper. The very next day we had ourselves more than 300 aeroplanes! The work on the aviation pictures can begin!

I have been hard at work on the portrait piece. Lots of glazing and underpainting and lots of intent and patient gazing at the work in progress. (as it certainly behooves an artist to do)

I am still smitten with Van Dyke brown and Raw Umber.

The Bluthner grand piano seems to have been affected by damp and Hoarknocke had to invite Gorefinch over for a session of replacing the damp piano with the concert Bosendorfer, a fabulous deep black instrument with remarkable accoustical aesthetics. I think Murray Perahia is supposed to come by for a recital tomorrow. I shall have to remind Hoarknockle to chill a magnum of Taittinger for the occasion.

My list of pictures to start on has suddenly grown alarmingly and I may consider bringing in a suitable apprentice. I should start interviewing possible candidates.

Lady Sandra may be visiting a health retreat to refresh herself and I shall be without my inspiration for a while....or the Bugatti.

I think I need some tea to soothe my psyche.

painting faces

The studio is filled with the scents of paint and tea again. Blissful to be back after hunting for aeroplanes which still have not been captured! RATS!

I am doing a double portrait, twice. This means four faces across a piece of canvas. So far got the drawings down and some first layers of glaze to give it some depth and also kill back the unbearable glare of white gesso. (yes one should tint the gesso beforehand, but why do it the easy way?) Glazes give a softer glow rather than a flat surface.

While the glazes soak quietly in the background I have Alfred Brendel playing Beethoven. Hoarknockle and his friend Gorefinch brought the big Bluthner grand into the studio for the occasion as I do find Beethoven very soothing. Brendel plays awfully well.

I am also designing some tin toys for adults. Rather more risque kind of wind up plaything. Strange what one thinks of whilst hunting aeroplanes!

Ah! Here is Hoarknockle with some Taittinger, just in time!

cherubic face

The picture is going in the right direction (thankfully) and its progressing well. Possibly due to the rain outside which is keeping me off my bicycle. This summer certainly hasnt been known for its heat an sunshine in my part of the world. Im not impressed.

I have two canvasses distracting me... one is still pure virginal white and requires another liberal coat of primer... then the drawing can begin...I'm still not decided which colour I'll use as ground and which I'll use to draw with... something earthy in both cases...reddish?

The portrait is taking glazes well and its growing steadily... Im trying to balance a looseness and also an accurate detail here and there to nail the delicate facial features. Its fun to see the glazes illuminate and build depth into the image. Every step of the way I have images of truly great portraits haunting me...but also inspiring me...

chubby cherub painting

Here is the start of the cherubic portrait I am doing right now.

When I was visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, I took a lot of hard long looks at the 17th Century painters and how they managed to do such beautiful work. Im still rather at a loss to explain how...but I did notice a lot more loose brushmarks than one sees in reproductions. Seems like a lot of very subtle glazes too.

There recently was a fabulous portrait of F D Roosevelt on the cover of Time magazine by Michael J Deas... just wonderful to see how subtle a portrait can be..... But dont get your hopes up that this cherub will be anything like Deas' work.... but one aims high and tries hard. He paints in oils and I play with acrylics.

Time to drag myself to my easel and lift the heavy brush.... in between hefting the leaden brush I am also prepping a canvas for a painting of a house...the home of a good friend of mine who moved away and misses the place. Right now the canvas is white...I didnt think to show it here yet. As soon as I have anything apart from the gesso, I'll reveal it.

Oh and tea will be served shortly..... one cannot imbibe gin and tonic too early in the day. Frightfully elegant and refined if I may say so myself.

"Jeeves! I am in the painting studio. You may bring the tea!" (I hope he is wearing his clean white gloves)