Fun with Little Sprats
A very quick sketch of some sprats (as they thawed after several months in the freezer). I wanted to work quickly and expressively, with larger brushes and simple mark-making that is also descriptive. I also painted this grouping, but I…
Hydrangea and Chinese Vase
With a few bits and pieces on the go, here’s a little one shot Alla Prima painting. I don’t really like it all that much overall, but there are a few areas here and there, such as the shadow under…
Lessons in Perseverance
I haven’t posted very much lately because I’ve been experimenting with a few larger paintings and taking a little more time over them. At least three didn’t really go anywhere and I scraped them down ready to start afresh. This…
Brush sizes
In response to a comment on the Materials and Suppliers page, here is a brief post on the sizing of brushes from Zecchi in Florence. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that there is very much standardisation when it comes to brush…
Who’s That?
This is a small (8″ x 6″) self portrait sketch that I completed pretty quickly at the end of the day as a way to use up some left over paint. Everything is ‘in the ball-park’ in terms of placement,…
An Afterthought of Limes
This is a quick sketch that wasn’t intended at all for today’s painting exercise. I wanted to start work on a larger piece, and began the day by arranging and re-arranging still life objects again and again. Nothing made me…
Freesias in a tall vase
A very painterly approach to capturing these freesias and the soft lighting that the day provided, and I wanted to keep a fresh and spontaneous feeling to the work. I couldn’t see a lot of detail or definition within the…
The Crystal Rabbit and Other Talismans
Following on from my last post of the preliminary oil sketch of the mug and boots, here is the larger, finished painting. This is a commissioned piece where each of the depicted items represent special memories, and form a kind…
The Green Bottle
A new Alla Prima sketch of (what I think are) hyacinths in an old green bottle. The flowers were growing outside and are rather more sparse than the ones you buy potted for the inside. Whether they are a different…
Making it up
This study was a really interesting one for me to work on, presenting a number of challenges along the way. Firstly, I was using another of the very smooth gessoed panels that I recently bought from Zecchi. I’m not used…
