Sunday 21 November 2010

class 85 electric locomotive at euston station

class_85_electric_locomotive_euston_stationclass 85 electric locomotive at euston station

This is so far the oldest image of mine that has been posted here. It was painted in 1992/93 and it is,unusually for this blog, painted in gouache. It was based on a B/W 35mm photograph I took back in 1990. At that time I was also developing my own B/W prints, in the bathroom! The colour reference was gained from reference and my own memory.
These were old electric locomotives at the time. Built at doncaster,UK in 1960, they were withdrawn and mostly scrapped in c1990, this one pictured, scrapped in 1991.

from the website...
This is quite an old painting, one of my oldest pieces on this site. It measures 15" x 10" and is painted on paper with acrylics. The artwork shows a class 85 electric locomotive at Euston (London) station in the early 1990s. These railway locomotives disappeared shortly afterwards from the network. It is based on a B/W photo that I took on a 35mm SLR camera and then printed my self (chemically) on to paper using an enlarger. Painting on paper allows one to paint finer details, in a small area than on canvas, due to the absence of the canvas weave. The driver in his cab helps to add interest and anticipation to the composition. I also felt that the 'straight on' composition adds a factual, no nonsense feeling to the artwork.
Painted early 1990s. 

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Friday 19 November 2010

steam roller traction engine

steam_roller_traction_enginesteam roller traction engine oil painting

This was painted in oils during september 2010. It is based on a photograph taken about 5 years earlier at at steam fare. The engine is a Wallis & Steevens Road Roller, built in 1925.7844, Old Ken",and "HO 6442", are other details connected with it, possibly the registration number.
I think it turned out very well as a painting, and the brass and copper fittings worked nicely with the shiny green paint. The painting is 20"x16".

from the website...
This is an oil painting of a vintage steam roller. It is a 'Wallis & Steevens Road Roller' built in 1925 and named 'Old Ken'. It is seen here at a countryside steam fair traction engine rally, wearing two 'england' flags. It is painted in oils to a size of 20" x 16" on a canvas. Its fun to paint the shiny brass and copper fittings and put the highlights on the wheels. The two men driving the steam roller help to give it scale. Painting ellipses is always difficult, but is is a requirement to get these right when painting a subject like this.
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Friday 12 November 2010

Christmas Card 2009 dinosaur carol singers

dinosaur_carol_singersDinosaur Carol Singers

This was painted in photoshop very late 2009. It was the christmas card for that year. As you can see I have had fun with the 'Dickensian' traditional christmas, and it is always nice to research clothes of the period. Very few were printed out and sent. Instead it was mostly sent via an email attachment. 

from the website...
This was painted in photoshop to A5 size during 2011. I like to portray dinosaurs in more contemporary settings than pre 65million years ago. The combination of a victorian themed christmas adds more humour in to the strange mix. I did some basic research in to the clothes of the era and the rest is typical of what one finds on a commercial christmas card.
Photography Prints

Wednesday 10 November 2010

Cheeky alien invasion

cheeky_alien_invasion_ufoCheeky alien invasion

Painted in photoshop in late oct,2010. More scifi!. I suppose in the back of my mind I am thinking about HG Wells war of the worlds, but it would not correct, to the descriptions in the story. Only the victorian man would be correct. The alien is cheeky, because he is smiling!

from the website...
I do like comedy mixed with horror/ scifi, and this digital illustration took its Inspiration from HG Wells, 'War of the Worlds' novel. It is quite a cliched filled image but still fun. I posed myself for the man by taking a photograph and transferring it to photoshop, where the actual image was drawn and painted. The alien I have always thought of is more cheeky than nasty, but it is a fine line I guess! There is a slight tilt on the horizon to add drama. The illustration is painted to A4 size, in 2010.

  Photography Prints

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Oil painting collection 02 Bournemouth Sea front

Oil painting collection 02 Bournemouth Sea front

OIL_painting_bournemouth_beach_pierpeople on Bournemouth beach
OIL_painting_bournemouth_air_festivalBournemouth Air festival
OIL_painting_boy_bournemouth_beachBoy standing in sea

These 3 oil paintings were painted august-sept 2010 and are of roughly the same location.
The Air festival has now become a regular event at bournemouth and this image features the "Breitling wing walkers",one of the numerous events, though the women walking are on the other side of the plane and cannot be seen here! The location is 'overcliff drive, overlooking the beach.
The beach scene shows crowds on the beach. In reality there are often even more people on the beach than pictured here. The arches of the pier are in the background.
The solo boy in the water is my nephew!

from the website...
people on Bournemouth beach
This was painted in oils on a 16"x 20" canvas, during 2010. It depicts the beach at Bournemouth, in Dorset, UK, during the summer. The building in the background is part of the pier at Bournemouth and the beach itself if often crowded during the summer. It offers several miles of clean, golden sand. The painting is based on a number of photographs that I took, and then rearranged in photoshop to create one good,balanced composition. This is then scaled up and printed out, and transferred to the canvas by hand drawing. Then the drawing is redrawn using a fine brush and brown acrylic paint. On top of this the final oil paint layers are applied over a few weeks. My favorite areas while working on the oil painting was the deckchair on the right and the woman with a black top on the left.

Bournemouth Air festival
Bournemouth has been having an air show in late august for a couple of years. This painting is taken from a series photographs taken during the second festival year. Using photoshop I created a composite picture to use as the basis for this painting. The location is on overcliff drive, that looks out over the beaches at Bournemouth down below. I used another photo of the planes and positioned them in this location and jiggled the spectators around to get a nice composition. The distinctive biplanes are used in the Breitling Wingwalkers display, where a woman, on each top part of the plane wing, stands and poses while the planes perform acrobatic displays. The painting is done in oils on a smaller than usual canvas, measuring 12" x 16"
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Tuesday 2 November 2010

Animal Supermarket

animal_zoo_supermarket

Animal Supermarket

This was painted in photoshop and completed in oct 2010. It is a follow on I suppose from the animal underground commute illustration done a few years ago. Some of the animals are the same,in particular the crab and snake, but there are a few additions that were noty in the previous one. Doing all the packs on the shelves does take time, even using cloning,etc tools in digital painting.

from website...
This image is painted in photoshop at a size of 29cm x 21cm. It is a follow on from the animal underground commute painting done the year before, by picturing animals doing a very human mundane activity, and features a collection of animals enjoying their weekly supermarket shop. The animal customers featured are elephants (and daughter), Lion, Cow, Bull, crab (carrying stuff on his shell as on the tube journey picture), Lioness and son, Pig, Snake, Bear, Crocodile, Zebra, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Tiger, Giraffe, and Monkey. Horses are again featured serving the customers at the checkout as in the supermarket horse illustration, else where on this site.
Producing all the packs can be a bit tedious, even using photoshop, but it is important for the setting. Also for the setting it is important to have boards with prices around, so time was spent creating graphics that look like numbers but are not recognizable as numerals.

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