"Autumn Birch Wood" acrylic on canvas

Feeling inspired from a recent trip to the Lake District I wanted to capture the golden carpet of leaves I saw in the woods up there. The colours were so different to what I'm used to in Cornwall, the reds and oranges really caught my imagination. 

"Seated Nude" acrylic on canvas 12"x16"

"First Light" acrylic on canvas 12"x16"

This is the first in a series of nudes I am currently working on. I enjoy painting the nude form as it is a natural progression from my frequent life drawing. Expect to see more soon!

Life Drawing

Life drawing with tutor Jason Walker

40 minute pose

30 minute pose

30 minute pose

40 minute pose

Left handed drawing with tutor Kate Waters

20 minute pose

30 minute pose

Layered drawing, two 15 minute poses

With tutor Jessie Leroy Smith

Morgan Le Fay

The Parting Gift- acrylic on canvas 70cm x 50cm- 2013

This is my latest painting and is in response to Simon Armitage's translation of the poem Sir Gawain and the green Knight. It is depicting the scene where Morgan le Fay gifts Gawain her green girdle after failing to seduce him. 

This has been a real labor, the pattern on the dress was very challenging! Another tricky bit was the text in the back ground, its from the poem and reads "There is no nobleness she cannot take and tame"

 I really wanted to up my game with this one as it will be showing in the upcoming exhibition "Suspended Sentences" showing in Newlyn in September. All the work in the show is in response to the work of Simon Armitage who will be visiting in mid September, exciting times! I will be posting pictures of the event, I cannot wait!

Life Drawing at Newlyn School of Art

Drawing with Tutor Lucy Willow

45 minutes with charcoal, rubber and collage

20 minutes with charcoal, rubebr and collage

The four drawings below are all 15 minute poses working with the rubber from a mid tone

Below are two drawings each comprising five two minute poses

Drawing with tutor Jason Walker

Andromeda- Finished

                                                     

       Andromeda- acrylic on canvas, 35"x25" - 2013

It's been a crazy couple of months, this being the first post since May!! I have recently quit my job to take up painting full time though, so no excuses from now on! 

Andromeda has been finished since June and I'm pretty pleased with the overall look. I especially like the contrast of the wave's energy with the controlled painting of the body. 

Painting this has really confirmed my love of painting the human body and this is something I hope to continue working with. 

Andromeda

Work in progress

"Andromeda" acrylic on canvas, 35"x28" - 2013

May has been a really difficult month for painting. Work has been hectic as the summer season approaches and has really eaten into my time. For the majority of the month I've been had only enough time to make a few sketches and jot a few ideas down. This past week however I've made a more determined effort to squeeze in some painting, so I've been painting after work until late most nights! 

Above is a work in progress shot of my new painting of Andromeda. This will be part of a diptych with Perseus on the second canvas. I have always loved the Greek myth and have been inspired to paint the nude from all the life drawing classes I have been attending. Its going really well so far and I think I've done just under 12hrs so far on this piece. I am looking forward to getting really expressive with the wave and it should contrast nicely to the controlled tones of Andromeda's skin.

stay tuned to see the finished piece soon! 

Life drawing

Here's last nights drawings with Jason Walker tutoring at Newlyn School Of Art. 

These are probably my strongest drawings yet and I am really pleased with the results. Jason has really helped me with structuring the body, getting me to really LOOK and breaking it down into simplified shapes. This has helped me improve no end! 

45 minute pose

45 minute pose

Here I really concentrated on the upper body and face. In life drawing I really struggle with faces but with Jasons advice in seeing the face as just a series of shapes i was able to achieve a pretty good likeness. I aim to practice this method a lot more! 

45 minute pose from last week with Kate Walters. I really like the pose here but looking back on it i can see a big difference in the face compared to last nights with Jason.

Penwith Landscapes

Here are some work in progress shots of some new landscapes I have been working on recently. They are of the ancient moorland around Carn Galver and the Nine Maidens stone circle in West Cornwall. I have always been attracted by the rugged beauty of the area and have a keen interest in the ancient sites dating back many thousands of years. So its no surprise really that after a long break from landscape painting that I have returned to these subjects. 

"Carn Galver From The Nine Maidens" acrylic on canvas April 2013

"The Nine Maidens" acrylic on canvas April 2013

"From the Carn" acrylic on canvas April 2013

These Landscapes have been a real departure from my usual style. I have gone for a more gestural, in some places impasto finish. To achieve this I have added certain mediums to my paint to really thicken it up and then applied it quite aggressively with stabbing marks. I have not worked like this for years and it has been quite freeing after painting in a much more controlled manner for several years. It would be quite interesting to apply these techniques to my recent figurative works, though I do love the subtlety of working the figure up in thin layers it could be an interesting experiment.

Charcoal Sketches

I am currently putting down ideas for a series based on the Perseus and Andromeda myth and below is a sketch for Andromeda the Greek princess sacrificed to the Kraken. I actually found the source image from an old copy of Vogue and thought it was prefect for the narrative. The picture is so fitting that I don't really want to change that much in it but we shall see how it progresses. The light and shade on the body is excellent and I definitely would want to keep that contrast. 

I had not previously done a study of a face in charcoal so it was quite interesting doing this, a detail from a Titian. I have always struggled with faces in life drawing so i will definitely practice some more of these portraits in charcoal. 

Life Drawing

Life drawing at The Newlyn School Of Art with Marie Claire Hamon

20 minutes using paint, charcoal, oil pastel and my fingers!

5 minutes on the blue oil pastel drawing, then I knocked that back with white spirit and another 5 minute drawing with orange oil  pastel over the top

Same as above, two 5 minute drawings over each other

2 minute left handed charcoal

Middle March

Paintings done in this March, the first is continuing my project on studying traditional paintings. The second was done to see if I could achieve a reasonable likeness and I am pleased with the results! Especially pleased with the blending of skin tones

Study from Titian's "Pope Paul III" acrylic on canvas

Portrait of Nicole Trunfio acrylic on canvas

Life Drawing

Here is a selection of life studies made at Newlyn School of Art. I've sorted them into sections according to the tutor taking the class

Jason Walker

Marie Claire Hamon

Sam Bassett

Jessie Leroy Smith