Bucket update2

Ok i am happier now ... i fixed the colours and a few things and i feel like the face looks heaps better. Guess what i did ? I worked in the kitchen standing up ... so i could move backwards and forwards!!! so i got my distance .... that really helps ... not to mention the natural light ... i am usually working in the office with a desk lamp... so this is something i think i might have to do more of in the future !

Bucket update

Here is an update of the bucket pick. I am really finding this one challenging and frustrating, mainly becuase of the colours and i keep working it over to get things right and in the process end up changing bits and pieces .... so arghhhh...

anywho here is an update... i always go through this stage and it works out ok in the end :)

Max in a bucket

Recently have been so inspired by Tommy Hunts http://www.tommyhunt.com/ portraits amoung many other CP artists. But Tommy has such a wonderful and unique style that always seems to capture something about the person with the painting. So not comparing myself to him but i thought it would be fun to give one a go. I really wanted to open up a bit with this one and be a bit looser and freer with my strokes as well as my burnishing. Turns out i dont think i am supposed to be one of those artists and i cant help myself but to smooth out every single colour
and stroke. The funny thing is i can do it in painting i just cant do
it in CP.

Anywho, here is the beginings of Max in a bucket. I always loved this photo, we were swimming in the pool but he decided that the water was too cold and that the water in the bucket which had been sitting in the sun all day was much better so in he went. I am not sure i can do it justice but i will give it a go :)

The colours arent quite right here its alot bluer than it is in RL. I think i need to add some more peachy type colours on the light side of his face. As this are all light colours i am actually really struggling with it. There are so many colours in the shadows as well i am finding it difficult.

50 dark movies

I came accross this website from inspiration from Heather Castles Blog (which i just find so inspiring (http://blog.illustrationcastle.com/), its 50 dark movies for new dark M&M's its very cool painting check it out.
http://us.mms.com/us/dark/

Three Pears

Looking over some of my previous work (particularly the yellow flower) i remembered how i used to work and how i enjoyed "getting dirty" with pastels but i so enjoy the detail with CP so i decided to do a pastel underpainting and have a bit more "fun" with my next piece.

So here is the Three Pears, its still a WIP, i really enjoyed this so far process, i sprayed fixative in between the pastel and the CP and it worked a treat :) I feel like it flowed really easily i didnt trace this one it was drawn from a ref photo. I think this process worked really well as i was able to work fast with the pastels and was able to get all of the elements in quickly in one sitting i think the usual CP underpainting takes too long for me as i am constantly getting interrupted i could do the underpainting and beginings of pencil work in approx an hour.

Appologies if this post sounds a bit confusing i have had two teeth out this week plus now i have an earache and a cold .. so the old head is a bit cluttered.

Red Onion

Here is what started to be an ACEO but turned out to be just a little test run thumbnail of a Red Onion pic i wouldnt mind doing a series in. I think i might try doing a larger CP piece as well as a oil maybe of this one i have a few variations but it was a cute little one to try.

1 mirror down another 2 to go. yay ... the other mirrors are for xmas tho so i can put them aside for a bit .. these are fun to do and i enjoy switching from acrylic to cp... and i find i am coming accross many similar problems in both mediums but i am fixing them so thats great :)

anyway here is a post of the latest mirror, lorcan loved it and had a good 2nd birthday :)

Boys mirrors

Here is two more boys mirrors i am doing as presents. One will have a car theme an another will be dinosaurs.

One is for a birthday in a week or so, so i need to get these finished before moving on. :)

Mirror Sophia

Here is my latest in my line of mirrors which is for a 2 year olds birthday. I wanted to do a girly one and decided to do a pattern this time instead of pics in the background. I like this one not 100% on the colour of the letters but i need to finish it off so i dont mind it :) I think i will use the pattern in future ones.

Isn't it funny what you come across when you through your computer files...

I was doing a bit of housekeeping on my computer and looking through previous artworks when i came accross some old work i have done. I have been reading various blogs from oil painters lately and it has reminded me of how i enjoyed using them (but dont so much now as its a bit hard with the two kids) and hope to do some more in the future.

Anywho i came across these two oils i did some years ago, which i had totally forgotten about. I still have them on display in my Dad's showroom, hmmm maybe i should ebay them ? I love the background on the fruit pics, at the time i was experimenting with trying to show different textures. The other is acrylic which i also enjoyed i think i was experimenting with impasto on that one.

Well yay i am finished ! Theres a few things on here i am not happy with, i ended up erasing a few sections of this a couple of times which the paper didnt like so as a result i couldnt lay down as many layers as i wanted to in the end result. I had hoped that spraying would allow me to add a few more but it didnt work as well as i hoped.

Nonetheless i think this one came out not too bad for a first attempt. I learnt a few things with this one. One big thing is when i work so large i need to remember to work the "same" area in the one sitting. As i am frequently called away from my work i tend to work on small areas and become really focused without sitting back and working all over the place. This is one reason why i am choosing to do underpaintings as i really tend to struggle with this. Something to be mindful of in the future.

I have some really good ideas and subjects for my next pieces but i need to finish a few other projects i have going first. Stay Tuned!