'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.

'Dave; The Eynsham Morris Dancer'

My friend Dave has agreed to model for his portrait. I am excited about having a live model but anxious that I have not yet got a handle on what I want out of the finished work. I have friends who are going to join me at the next session.

'The Queen's Gate',

The under-painting on this canvas is a rich indigo for the shadows. I drew using the usual charcoal and pastel for the pink and green. I needed to see the colour balanced against the deep shadows. I am very pleased with the mark making of the lane and I hope I can keep it going.

'Bartholomew Rooms'

I painted this canvas with acrylic gold because the open doors remind me of a medieval icon. It is also the same colour as the oak doors.

'The Old Forge Pottery Studio'-1

This one is going to be fun coming from the deep darkness of the Forge to the bright sunlight on the chair with the drying green pots.

Sketches

I have used charcoal for working out the next canvases. I like the marks it makes!

'27 Newlands' -process 2

'The Thatcher' - process 4

I think a little more work on the thatch and his gloves and I will have finished this painting.

'24 Newlands' process 4

This is very close to finish. All I am doing is adding glazes.

'Babes in the Woods' - process 3

This is still getting more thinking time then painting. It feels like groping around in the dark for something and not knowing what you are going to touch. The horror!