'Christmas at the Coop'

'Babes in the Woods' finished

'Gothic House'

I am still painting on 18.0 x 12.0 cm coarse canvas so the detail you see here has to be suggested. If you click on the picture you can see this when it enlarges. I enjoyed doing this one and it would be great if some one commissioned a larger version.

'Priest's Door'

I liked the conceit here of it still being a door but looking out at the final 'home' ... a grave yard.

'Post Box"

I have started using 'Artisan Water Mixable Fast Drying Medium' for the glazing in this painting. Gosh it was fun. It was a good consistency to mix with the paint and dried quickly to a shiny glaze. The gold of the initial background layer shines through the glazes of the red post boxes. The only moan is that it was a little too fast drying for my slow painting.

The relief at being back and using a Mac is huge. This is tempered by having to learn how to use all the upgraded applications which is slowing me down.

RIP

My Mac has died. My hard drive has been recovered to an external hard drive.

Interuption

My Mac has decided to go bang and is at the local Mac shop. They have just confessed to me that they have had it for a week and not looked at it. Considering the price they will charge ... I am not a happy bunny.

I am using my daughter's PC and am surprised to see how washed out my images look on it's screen. I am not sure what to do about it as on my screen they are a rich and vibrant. Any suggestions? However there is more work to post and the beginnings of my Christmas card design when I have got my Mac home.

'DIY' - finished

The fun of the DIY is the many and varied objects and signs on its frontage. So I, once again, gave myself kittens trying to actually indicate some of the bigger words. I was mindful of the adage of not 'drawing all the leaves' but abstracting all the signage was not a portrait. What do you think?

'Bartholomew Rooms'-finished

I painted the background with acrylic gold. This influenced how I treated this picture from leaving the colour showing with minimum over painting to scratching through to retrieve the gold. This happened when drawing the features of G and M. I could not get the suggestion of their features with paint as all got were blobs at that scale. I started to clean back the failed attempt discovered that scratching through to the under painting work very well.
The result is reminiscent of a religious icon.

Postbox & Gothic House - Mill Street - Process

What excites me about this door series has been the notion of 'edge' or 'boundary'. This can mean the door as a line between public and private or the edge of dark and light in the shadows. The closed door present one face but the other side could be the far side of the galaxy. The dark shadow hides texture but defines a structure.

The Postbox stands outside the Post Office next to the Betting Shop. It's slot is entrance to missives for the world and the dark shape of the door to the Betting Shop a dangerous place of dreams and excitement.

The Gothic House has been recently refurbished but the front door is a public face looking down Newlands and it yells "look at me". The Victorians intended this to stand for status but the refurbished look hides all sense of the personal. I have been delight to find that the various changes of light here show radical changes of colours and moods. I can not show the wrought iron balcony above the door because the detail is to complex for the small canvases of this series so I shall show the drama of sun and shadows. In the future it would be good to paint again with the cool of the evening light and show the balcony.

'The Marmalde House', 23 Queen's Street-process 1

I started with taking a few photos and this was my favorite.
Slapped it into photoshop, cropped it and played with the levels.
Surprised myself when drawing the scene in my sketch book when I changed the focus.

So the sketch was traced, holes punched on the drawing lines and charcoal was pounced through the holes onto the canvas. Then join the dots.

45 Mill Street - finished

This one is a church converted into a house with the living quarters on the first floor. So this magnificent Edwardian door was a stout barrier to the street for the worship of God but now for privacy to bedrooms.

'29 Queens Street' - finished

I've painted this view a number of times now at various times of the year using various media. Each time I see it differently.

'The Old Forge Pottery Studio'-finished

I got seduced by the cobalt blue of the door paint. It should have been painted as a mid tone but here just likes to hog the lime light. The forge is still there at the back next to the modern kiln.

'Magic Numbers' Design Competition

I have offered 'The Christmas Apple' for the 'Magic Numbers' Design Competition at the Creative Art Gallery, Woodstock. You can view the other entries here.

'The Queens Gate' - finished

I did enjoy painting this one. There is great satisfaction going from the deepest shade to the full glare of the sun. The hollyhocks shimmered between the light and dark and are quite hard to see as your eye adjusts between the extremes of light.

'Dave; The Eynsham Morris Dancer'-graphite drawing

Still looking at Dave this time using graphite. It makes a delicate silvery mark but I have tweaked the levels in Photoshop so it is clearer for the blog. Have got myself an electric eraser and it not only cleared up mistakes but cleared away the light smear that you get from graphite on the light areas.

mmm ... need to clean the scanner.

Progress ongoing!

I will need to wait a week before all these are dry enough to paint on again. Every painting I do I try to be better then the previous one. There is no magic moment of ... trumpets blowing ... of "I done it" but only the graft of "next one better".

Sketches for new paintings

'Lucy's Door'
29 Queen's Street
'Priest's Door'
St. Leonard's Church
'Evenlode DIY
27 High Street

45 Mill Street

I am continuing with my doors of Eynsham series. Hopefully the series will be ready for exhibition next year. They have been very popular with people who have visited my studio.

'27 Newlands' -finished (almost)

'Almost finished' means that I will not be putting on anymore paint but when the painting is dry I will put in the house number and glazing bars in the window with oil pastel. This tiny amount of detail needs to be very crisp and oil pastels allow me to do this.

'Dave; The Eynsham Morris Dancer'-drawing

A drawing of Dave from one of my photographs. The great thing about photographs for portrait work is that you can take time to explore a face in intimacy and detail. Getting this close with the model would freak them out. When I draw from life next time I will have a better understanding of his face. All I need now is a bit of warm summer as the pose is outside in my garden.

Click on the image to enlarge and see the detail of the pencil work.