May Day Morris

May Day Morris 1

This is four days work and the mapping of the image is just about in place. It is amazingly difficult to draw this many people and keep their proportions and their relative sizes more or less right. The mark making is horrid but I hope my next pass will improve my lines. I will leave it for a while as I have just accepted a watercolour commission which needs a fast turn around.

Eynsham Morris; May 2014

Intial Drawing

It's been about 9 years since I drew a full line up of Eynsham Morris. Last time I drew them on a very large sheet of paper and paid for it to be mounted and framed. Lessons have been learned over the years ... do not paint large pictures unless commissioned!  I was lucky and it was purchased. So I planned this time to work to a standard pre-cut mounts and frame with ones from Amazon.

Drawing to size proved to be very difficult. It got easier as the drawing developed but the finished result is not nice. I am not the fastest worker but I decided to take the lessons learnt and start again. Sigh!

Artweeks 2014

Morris dancer's beer mug.

I am exhibiting for the local Artweeks festival at the Organic Deli Cafe in Friar Entry, Oxford. I am right on the top floor of this medieval building. Looking round after we had hung the paintings you could see how much I am interested in painting morris dancers. They are not just men dressed in costume for a particular form of folk dancing but the cypher for ideas about spirituality and morality. Go and look and enjoy the food.