The Art of It

Last weekend we went looking for photographs of people, which I could use as material for a painting. We landed up at the Simonstown waterfront and here is my interpretation of a photo that Bryan took inside the Quayside centre. The original of this painting is not as orange as this photograph - problems with colour reproduction again!

And another try at acrylics. Any comments?

Here's another charcoal, a little different from my usual portraits.

On Monday I attended an incredible all day workshop run by Lesley Charnock at her Montebello Gallery. The topic was Colour in Portraiture using acrylics or oils. This is the first attempt at applying her methods to mix flesh tones. My painting technique is very different to hers as I am tending toward a more photo-realistic approach, with smooth tonal ranges and a lot of detail. She prefers large, bold, splashes of colour and less detail. This is the first time I have painted young kids. I worked from a rather small picture e-mailed to me by my niece in America. I have never met the kids. Annie, I hope I have done them justice! Talking about colour, an interesting problem crops up in trying to accurately represent a painting in a photograph. Photographs taken in sunlight, shade, artificial light, using a flash or using different cameras all show big colour differences and seldom get close enough to the original to truly depict its appearance. Changing the camera’s white balance setting

My first attempt at a seascape in acrylic! This is also done basically in monochrome!

Isn’t nature interesting? If you look at some of my earlier posts you will see a pencil drawing of my late father and a couple of charcoal portraits of his grandson, my son. I am posting a new charcoal portrait of my Dad as part of this post and I’m busy with an acrylic based on the same photograph. Drawing a portrait concentrates your mind on those characteristics, which make a face unique. It was a fascinating discovery and a strangely emotional experience to find myself drawing the same lines on the forehead and around the mouth; shaping the same crooked smile and battling to get that ear right. Amazing! Can you see it too?

A few days ago I notice some interesting fungi on the mountain while taking my usual evening walk with Tammy, the dog. Fascinated by their magical shapes and colours I took my camera with me yesterday. These are a few of the pictures I took. They make me think of an enchanted land of fairies and goblins.

Well here it is, my first attempt at colour - my niece. I am going on a workshop on Monday to try to sort out my colours!!!! - it is different though?

I got this huge urge to paint with acrylics and this was the result. I painted it in late in February '07 and used just black and white as I have no clue about colour. It felt safe!

This is a drawing of my son and his fiance The photograph on which it was based was taken in the early days of their relationship! This is one of my favourites and I will be getting it framed soon for hanging in my studio. This drawing is from a photograph taken by I don't know who on a fancy cruise liner!

This is my gorgeous red headed, blue eyed daughter. The original photo was taken by her boyfriend and is incredible! This is definitely one I want to paint when I have a bit more experience!

This was one of my first charcoals; my sister. The original photograph was taken by her partner and her expression captivated me. I hope I have done it justice.

This is one of the first portraits since I started drawing again - it's of my father who passed away on the 1st September 2005. I miss him terribly and am busy with an acrylic portrait of him at the moment.

Welcome to The Art Of It!