I want to emphasis the textures of the room, from fuzzy fur to the obdurate brickwork; from luscious leather to the cold, steal log-burner.
A Creation of: Ann Joyce
I've already completed a portrait of Ann, for which I will release a blog entry soon, painted from an indoor scene. This a study of her in an outdoor light. There is no heavily glint of light from the corneas and her shiny indoor complexion reacts with the light differently in the sunshine. It picks up lovely colours in her skin tone.
Timelapse: Leather Bound
A timelapse of a self-portrait. Enjoy!
Commission: John's 70th Birthday Portrait Surprise
A commission of John completed as a surprise gift for his 70th birthday. His partner, Anne, said it was a "great success".
Painting: The Hidden Music
Atmosphere is it's unique impression, its passion, it's energy. It is a quality quite removed from the more apparent qualities. A painting's realism or accuracy doesn't necessarily affect the mood it emits: a more crudely painted picture can have far more atmosphere than a photo-realistic piece that took 1000 hours.
Leather Bound
"Enough detail so that as your peripherals drink in the background they are unaware of the lack of sharpness until they focus on it"
Darcey Again
"In her elegant and statuesque pose, Darcy gives of an aura of strength and grace"
Either/Or: First Past the Post v Proportional Representation
"In the 2015 election, UKIP tallied nearly 4 million votes, although they didn't manage to get a single seat in parliament. The SNP, on the other hand, got just over a third of the votes UKIP received but managed to get 50 seats in the Commons."
The Creation of: Mikey
"I didn't want to relinquish the crudeness that was bestowed upon the painting with the thumb and finger painting. I think it adds a charm"
Lazy Days
Sometimes extra detail crystalizes the emotion of the painting with greater precision - sometimes it robs the painting of the passionate effect that a less complete stage of the painting had emitted. The trick is to trust yourself - once you have it, leave it or risk losing it.
Double-Think: The Pharmaceutical Industry
"There can be little doubt that pharmacological intervention has improved the lot of human beings - eased pain, killed infections, treated diabetes etc. But it is a business. It is making huge profits as a business and we humans are it's market... we, as their consumers, basically go on trust."
Despair
It's an artistic representation of a reduction of despair - as though despair could be simmered in a pan until in reaches a thick, sticky bitumen.
Intimacy
With Intimacy, I'm trying to capture her experience, give the observer a peek into her existence, her life.
Either/Or: Capitalism vs Socialism
Whilst we watch the political game unfold, there is an underlying current of contest, and that contest is Capitalism vs Socialism. What's the difference?
