Mistletoe

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#1394 mistletoe

8″x8″ oil on gessoboard-SOLD

Things are hitting up in the German household and I fear I may not get back into the studio this side of Christmas.  There are turkeys to pluck (nah, not really) and mince pies to make (possibly) so I’d like to wish all my lovely subscribers a very Merry Christmas. I shall be heading back out to Pakistan shortly after the festivities but will be painting my little socks off there so please keep reading so that I don’t get lonely!  Have a lovely festive season and here’s to a wonderful new year for you all.

 

Clementines, jug and block print 2

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It’s beginning to feel……..well, you get the idea.  I’ve decided not to put up a tree this year and instead do something natty with some twigs in a jug.  Anyway, the decorating will be up to Floss who breaks up tomorrow but I will post a photo if she makes a good job of it, which of course she will.  It’s a pity our dog isn’t here as he is the twig/branch-collector supremo.  Anyway, have a great weekend. Sorry this photo is a bit out of focus.

Clementines, jug and bp 2

8″x8″ oil on gessoboard-SOLD

Eggshells and cornishware

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I really enjoyed my day up in London painting yesterday. If you haven’t been, take a trip to the Mall Galleries to see the RIO exhibition – there is some stunning work.  I’d like to thank Ian Cryer and Tim Benson for organising a brilliant day.

Eggshells and cornishware

8″x8″, oil on gessoboard-SOLD

 

Figs and white bowls

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Same beautiful bowl, with another, sitting on top of my shadow box by the window. I’m off to London tomorrow to do some portrait/figure painting in the Mall Galleries with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. I’m really looking forward to it plus, I get to see some familiar faces and their annual exhibition to boot….. A good day out indeed.

Figs and white bowls

8″x8″. Oil on gessoboard-SOLD

 

Eggshells and bowl

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Eggshells and bowl

8″x8″ oil on gessoboard

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No matter how much colour is used in a painting, it is the tone that brings it together so I like to paint things without much colour and in similar tonal range now and then to practise this theory.  i bought this bowl at Forge 2 the other day when I was dropping off some paintings.  It is by Stuart Carey and it is a thing of beauty and simplicity.

Stage 1

Stage 1

I started, as always, drawing in my subject with a brush loaded with a weak turpy paint, making sure I didn’t plonk things bang in the middle of the board.  I also added some colour to where the shadows would fall as they always have colour in them.  Next I put in the major tones, aware that they would need adjusting as I went.  Basically, the journey through a painting should be a constant comparison of tone against tone.

So from here on in it was a question of doing just that, noting that the lightest tone was inside the left-hand

Stage 2

Stage 2

shell and the ruck in the cloth. I also wanted to make sure I kept all the small areas of light that shone through and provide areas of interest including through the broken shell on the left and behind the middle shell.  I left a few flecks of blue and red in places.

 

 

Figs and grandma’s bowl 2

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Figs and grandma's bowl 2

8″x8″ oil on gessoboard-SOLD

 

A sad day indeed today, the great Nelson Mandela  has passed.  A very inspirational soul with a lot of mettle, much like my grandmother whose bowl is now a treasured reminder.

 

 

Clementines, jug and blockprint

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Clementines, jug and block print

8″x8″ oil on gessoboard-SOLD

 

So, I haven’t been sitting on my backside really.  Despite my complete lack of Christmas preparations, I have been relishing in being back in my lovely studio.  The rafters have been groaning somewhat today with these stormy winds.  Very glad I’m south if the border and hope all my lovely subscribers up there are tucked up well.