Molly

Apologies, thought this had sent on Friday but evidently not. Here’s Friday’s blog then;

I did this quick sketch on Wednesday of a lovely young lady called Molly who was kind enough to sit.
Not sure I’ve done her justice but time didn’t permit too much in the way of improvement. Have a great weekend.

Molly

Molly

Portrait

Please excuse the prolonged absence. Things got on top of me but I’m back in Pakistan now and up and running at the easel. It’s getting hot here too! Last week, if you remember, I was in London doing a portrait workshop which was great fun if hard work. I made new painting buddies and we are hoping to meet up for some Plein-air painting later on in the year. So, I thought I’d show you a couple of “progression” photos of the work in hand. Of course, I forgot to take an ” end” photo is will have to show you that in April when I return. These two are the first pass (ie finding the major tonal shapes) and the nearly there stage. The model was called Namushka with the most amazing head of hair and the patience of a saint.

First pass

First pass

Almost there

Almost there

. My favourite portrait at the moment is by one of my all time favourite painters dairmuid Kelley, called “a forest” for reasons best known to himself. Not only is it a magical rendering of light and texture, it also features one of my favourite props – yes, wallpaper – great minds?

Sal

Sal

Sal – 60″x60″ oil on canvas

I spent last week on this large portrait instead of daily paintings before heading off on Friday for a weekend in Lahore.  This is Sally,  daughter of  Jobber’s cousin. She is a great girl, lots of fun, 10years old (when this was started) and has Down’s Syndrome.  She doesn’t let that or anything else hold her back and she has me in stitches sometimes! She loves making videos on her iPad and posing for photos.  Lahore was great. So nice to get out of Islamabad to somewhere where there is a bit of life and culture.  The traffic however is terrifying, more so than here on account of the fact that there is so much of it.  Astonishingly, I witnessed a tuk-tuk doing a three-point turn and then changing direction amidst bumper-to-bumper no-such-thing-as-a-lane traffic on what passes as a roundabout. Sorry, no photo, I had my eyes closed mostly. Home to the UK by the end of this week to rule-abiding drivers (mostly).

 

Smokey

Smokey

Oil on canvas – NFS

I’ve taken time off the eggshells today to finish this painting of “Smokey” who has the most gorgeous blonde ringlets on her crown.  She’s a lucky dog too – her family own a dog food business!

Head study

8''x8'', oil on gessoboard

A bit left-field in the general scheme of things but it was a very grey day yesterday so I ended up doing this head study for a larger painting.  This is a study of Colette, a lovely Irish model who used to sit for us in the Attic Studios in Bangkok.  I miss those days of painting with other people.  Once Colette was settled into her pose, we’d whack up the music (generally Donna Summer and other disco music – favoured genre of studio owner), pour a glass of wine (evenings only of course, tea during the day) and jiggle around our easels painting – ah, those were the days.  Still, onwards and upwards………..back to my lonely studio upstairs – just me and Jenny Murray 🙂