Velasquez

This is my latest study and I'm really pleased with it. I picked this image to study as i really like the contrasting shadows and light skin tones. I intend to varnish the painting as an experiment to try and make it look like an old oil painting. Might splash out and get a nice frame for it to

Study of Velasquez' "Profile of A Man"- acrylic on canvas February 2013

Drawings

More pencil studies i have made from paintings I admire. While not perfect i still think its important for  me to make these sketches as they have got me looking much closer at the originals.

Study of Da Vinci's "Girl With An Ermine"

Study from Millais' "Autumn Leaves"

study of Millais' "Sophie Grey*

Detail of Ingres'"Countess D'Housonville"

Nudes

As I have been regularly attending life classes I have been keen to paint a series of nudes. So far I have completed the two following paintings and I am eager to tackle some more. I am most pleased with "Seated Nude", the lighting really adds contrast and I think makes for a more interesting image than the starker "Reclining Nude". I will likely revisit "Reclining Nude" and adjust parts I am not quite happy with, but overall I am quite pleased with it. It is an important work as it was a real learning process and  with what I learnt I was able to follow on to the more successful "Seated Nude".

"Seated Nude" acrylic on canvas- February 2013

"Reclining Nude" acrylic on canvas- January 2013

I am wanting to return to the nude, possibly even in a more classical setting (Andomeda and Perseus, Venus etc). I will consider technique as well, possibly using thicker paint or even a gloss as in Laura Knight's nudes. 

Commisions

"Jade and Simon" acrylic on canvas 2012

A commission for my friend Jade of her and her boyfriend. Taken from her own photograph, this was a challenge as it was the first time i had attempted to paint dappled light. It took several attempts but im happy with the end result.

Studies

With a desire to improve my painting ability (specifically figurative) i decided to set myself a project in which i would make studies from well known traditional paintings. So in the summer of 2012 I set myself this task to improve my use of paint in areas such as blending, tone and matching colour from source material. It has been a great learning process and has helped me improve greatly and making these traditional studies has really got me interested in portraiture and i aim to make a series of works with the skills i have picked up.

Study of F Sandys' "Mary Magdelene" acrylic on unstretched canvas - 2012

Drawings

Since attending life drawing classes at The Newlyn Art School i've been keen to improve my draftsmanship a great deal. With help from tutors like Jason Walker i have been improving my "eyeballing" of the subject matter, looking a lot closer to get a more accurate description of what i'm drawing. with this in mind i have also been making little studies from old masters like Titian and Velasquez and also the Pre Raphaelites.

Pencil Studies from Velasquez and Titian- 2012

Pencil Study of a detail from Velasquez 2012

 Pencil Study 2012
This image comes from a fashion photography site but it reminded me of Velasquez' Venus. I may well revisit this in paint.

Pencil study 2012

Here i have combined an image of model Nicole Trunfio taken from a fashion magazine with the armour from Klimt's Pallas Athena. I chose this as i like the confrontational look of the model and also it was a chance to get some real contrast between the raven black hair and white skin and also to draw the tonal contrasts in the metal mask and armour.

Pencil Study of F Sandys' "Mary Magdeline" 2012

a quick self portrait 2012

lacking a model one evening i sat myself in front of the mirror, i will do more of this as i found it quite challenging

Summer 2011

2011 was a difficult year creativley. its was the first year i hadn't been in an arts institute and it was a bit of a shock trying to get paid work. These two paintings are the only ones i was able to get done at the time. 

"Summer Of '29" acrylic on canvas 2011
I did this as a present for my Mum and its taken from an old photograph of a champion swimmer from the 20's. its a simple picture but im really fond of it

"House Party" acrylic on canvas 2011
taken from a photo at my old flat, it shows my friends birthday party and reminds me of the fun times of student life!

University College Falmouth Degree Show 2010

The following paintings all appeared in my BA hons degree show at University College Falmouth in 2010. They were made in response to my personal life at the time including the places i lived, my studio and social life. 

"Cooking With Gas" acrylic on board 2009

At the time i was really struggling with trying to find a direction for my work so i drew inspiration from the things around me. This was the first painting i made on the subject and it marked a real turn in my work and was the key to the theme of my degree show.

"A Few Of My Favorite Things" acrylic and enamel on canvas 2010

My most vibrant painting to date and still one of my favorites, this was my central image in my show and represents what i was into at the time

"Two Girls, One Cat" oil on canvas 2009

"Two Girls, One Cat" oil on canvas 2009

"Two Girls One Cat" oil on canvas 2009

"Friday Night Is Music Night" acrylic on canvas 2010

"Trinkets" acrylic on canvas 2010

"Trinkets" acrylic on canvas 2010

This is as it appeared in my show, i painted over the pale back ground thinking it too busy but in hindsight i wish i either left it as it was or just darkened it ever so slightly a i think i went over board with the green!

"Dinkies Pool" acrylic on canvas 2010

2nd year at Falmouth

These paintings were made at a time when I was really struggling with what to paint. They come from found images that appealed to me. Looking back at them I can see that i was lacking in direction but I do have a certain fondness for them and I find them quite vibrant.

"Into the void" acrylic on canvas 2009

acrylic on canvas 2009

acrylic on canvas

"Bedouin" acrylic on board 2009 

"Pool Party" acrylic on canvas 2009

Snow sketches

These two quick studies in acrylic  were done mainly to generate some ideas whilst studying my degree. I did'nt come back to them in the end but I think they make nice little images none the less.

"Ski Sunday" acrylic on board 2009

"Cold Mountain" acrylic on board 2009