Southampton Common tree by path in Autumn - oil painting

Southampton Common tree by path in Autumn -  oil painting

Completed artwork of tres at the entrance to the common.

An Autumnal scene is pictured in this scene on Southampton Common, painted during September 2019. The tree is near to the entrance of the common, and has been recognised in this painting. It is the early part of the season so some trees are still green, whereas others have already lost their leaves. Other trees display golden leaves, still clinging on to the branches.

The painting measures 14” x 13”, so is quite smaller than usual, and is done in oil paint on a home made canvas (cotton primed and attached to a home made wooded support frame).

It can be seen in greater detail by following this link.

closeup working progress 09

closeup working progress 09

 A small snippet of an industrial fantasy scene...

London Cockspur St bus stop - oil painting

London Cockspur St bus stop - oil painting

Finished oil painting of a bus stop at Cockspur st, central London.

Two buses are shown parked at a bus stop in Cockspur Street, central London during a wet summers afternoon. Both buses have terminated at the stop and a number of tourists are planning their next move, which may well be a visit to Trafalgar Square. This famous Square is very close by and Nelsons column, situated within it, can be seen in the painting. Two passing police with bright safety jackets make a distinctive pair within the crowd. There are a number of big buildings in the street and behind the buses can be seen parts of Canada House. The street is also quite old, going as far back as the 16^th century. The damp conditions of the day add interest with the scene being reflected ion the wet paving surfaces.

This landscape painting was done during July 2019. It measures 33” x 23” approximately, and oil paint was used on acid free mounting board. It can be seen in greater detail by following this link.

London Cockspur St bus stop - WIP stages

 London Cockspur St bus stop - WIP stages

Stages of development of a London street painting.

A wet summers day at Cockspur Street, central London is the subject of this landscape painting, featuring two famous red London buses at a bus stop very close to Trafalgar Square. A number of tourists, having disembarked of the leading are presumably planning a trip to the nearby square.

The image above shows 4 stages of the creation process regarding the artwork. The first panel features the initial stage with the scene drawn out in brown acrylic on a yellow ochre wash, also done with acrylic paint. To the right in the second panel stage, a wash of diluted oil paint has been applied to suggest basic colour choices. This will act as underpainting and will be, as shown in the third panel painted over with thicker paint, to the correct colour and tonal values. Also in this layer of painting, finer details are applied. The final panel shows the completed London street scene painting, which can be seen on this link in better detail.

Working on closeup 69

Working on closeup 69

 A small snippet of tree in Autumn oil painting...

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Working on closeup 65

 A small snippet of a London bus painting...

Greek lady on stool portrait - WIP stages

Greek lady on stool portrait - WIP stages

Stages of painting the seated woman in oils

This lady of Greek origin was kind enough to pose for a photograph. She sat on a stool and basic studio lighting was applied with her against a white sheet. This background was replaced with a blue mottled effect, during the painting process. The picture shows 4 stages of the production of the image, which was created during August 2019. In the first panel is the drawing of the figure drawn with brown acrylic paint on a yellow ochre colour wash base. Moving on to the second one we can see that white/ lighter tones have been indicated on the figure, again using acrylic paint. The third panel shows that colour has now been blocked in using diluted oil paint, which will act as a guide for the upper layers. These are the finished layers using thicker paint,with the right colours and values. Also the details are refined at this last stage as shown in the final panel where the finished artwork is shown, complete with some colour glazes on top. The finished portrait can be seen in greater detail by following this link.

Greek lady on stool portrait - oil painting

Greek lady on stool portrait - oil painting

Completed figurative painting of seated greek lady.

A local woman, whose origins are from Greece, posed for this painting, sitting on a stool. It is done in oils on some acid free mounting board, itself measuring 33” x 23”. It was painted during August 2019. The artwork can be seen in greater detail on this link.

Working on closeup 67

Working on closeup 67

 A small snippet of a forest based oil painting...

London Brick Lane - WIP stages

London Brick Lane - WIP stages

Painting of London's Brick Lane in stages

This painting depicts a sunny day on this famous street in London's east end. Brick Lane has had a chequered past but is now known for its many curry houses and the thriving artist community locally, with Gilbert & George, and Tracey Emin living in the area.

The panel shows working progress stages of the artwork, with the first panel illustrating the drawing, done in acrylic brown paint on a yellow ochre 'ground' colour. In the second panel everything has been given a blocking in of colour, using diluted oil paint to work out the colours and tonal values. Some elements have had more work done than other elements, meaning that further thicker paint levels have been added and details refined. Finally the last panel shows the finished painting, on which all the details are finally applied and the paintwork built up to represent the intended colours. It measures 40” x 60”, and is painted on canvas.

It can be viewed in close up on this external link

Working on closeup 66

Working on closeup 66

A small snippet of a figurative based oil painting...

Woman Ceramicist at work in her studio - WIP stages

Woman Ceramicist at work in her studio - WIP stages

Stages of portait of Ceramicist oil painting

This portrait was produced during May 2019 and features a ceramicist busy at work in her studio working on a stylised bust in clay.

Above can be seen four stages of the process to paint the portrait. The fist panel shows the drawing, scaled up from a posed photograph, which is done with brown acrylic paint on a yellow ochre wash (ground). Moving on, the second panel shows basic areas of colour thinly applied in oils to act as a base under-painting. This will be painted over with thicker paint with truer colours, as shown in the third panel. Detail is also added as the painting is created with more 'finished' strokes. The final panel shows the oil painting (sized at 33x 23.5”) now finished.

It can be seen in detail on this link.

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Working on closeup 63

A small snippet of a London based scene with taxis oil painting...

Brick Lane London - oil painting

Brick Lane London - oil painting

Large oil painting of Brick Lane in London

This large oil painting, which measures 60” x 40” was produced during May 2019. The subject is Brick Lane, on a sunny day in the east end of London, an unglamorous street but very popular in recent times. The lane itself is shown running left to right across the painting, with Hanbury street cutting through the centre. Originally a site for making bricks and tiles in the 15^th century, it is very close to Spitalfields, known for the Jack the Ripper killings and later criminal nativities of the Kray Brothers. The area was largely avoided and forgotten, but during the latter part of the 20^th century it became a large Bengali community, and is famous for the amount of curry houses in fierce competition with each other. The area is also host to an art community, with most notably artists Gilbert & George, and Tracey Emin living in the area, and the ex Truman brewery now given over to art exhibitions. Nowadays the area is quite a tourist destination and has large crowds in the area during the weekends. This painting was exhibited in the area, in a small gallery along the lane.

The painting can be seen in greater detail by following this link.

Bishopsgate London - oil painting

Bishopsgate London - oil painting

London, Bishopsgate finishd oil painting

Painted in May 2019, a busy view of Bishopsgate is shown. This is a main road on the edge of financial district of the city of London, and Liverpool Street station is seconds away on the right hand side of the street. A number of pedestrians can be seen to be crossing the road which appears to be full buses. It is a sunny day so plenty of shadows are cast on the ground. Interestingly light is being bounced around by some of the large glass fronted buildings so further shadows are cast leading to quite complex patterns on the road. The skyline is dominated by tall buildings so unusually there is no sky visible in the London landscape view.

This landscape oil painting is done on mounting board, with an area of 33” x 24”.

A clearer view of the painting can be seen here on this external site.

 

Flyer and business card 2019

Flyer and business card 2019

I recently produced a flyer (A5 size) and a buisness card for my 'fine art' operations. They have come out quite well. Initially the business card was done first but was quite expensive for a total of 100, so I decided to create a flyer that does partly the same job, but cost a lot less. The 500 of these produced was almost half the price of the 100 business cards, and the flyer is double sided too, so I expect to hand out more of these. I expect when new supplies of both are done the designs/ images will be updated to more current work, possibly.

Working on closeup 64

Working on closeup 64

A small snippet of a still life/ portrait subject...

Group Of Trees In The New Forest - WIP stages

Group Of Trees In The New Forest - WIP stages

Steps in the creation of 'Group of Trees in the New Forest' painting.

A peaceful scene in the New Forest, set in the county of Hampshire, Southern England, is the subject of this work. It was painted in June 2019, on mounting board sized at 20” x 16”, using oils.

The picture shows a WIP stages view of how the painting was created. The first panel shows initial work on drawing in the scene details using dark brown acrylic paint on a lighter brown base colour. Basic tonal areas are added in to show the lights and darks within the composition.. Once this is dry which is only a short time for acrylic paint, the oil paints are opened up and basic areas of colours and tonal areas are applied with thinned out paint on top of the acrylic drawing as seen in the second panel. This layer acts as a guide, or underpainting for the later process, which is shown in the third panel, where the paint is now thicker and applied in a more meaningful manner, with the correct colours and details laid on top. Final the last panel depicts the finished oil painting.

The artwork can be viewed in greater detail on this link to an external site.

Woman Ceramicist at work in her studio - oil painting

Woman Ceramicist at work in her studio - oil painting

The completed painting of a Ceramicist at work.

A Southampton ceramicist known as Leo Deville is depicted in this painting, produced in May 2019. She is shown working at her studio, surrounded by the tools she often uses during her creating process. As well as many brushes and old jam jars peppering the scene, an animal vertebrae (off a donkey) can be seen. Leo is pictured busy working on one of her stylized clay busts.

The ceramicist says “I create ceramic stylized faces, figures, sculptures and jewellery that can include coloured wires, textiles, beads & paint.” She also paints in acrylics and oils. Her website can be found at https://www.leodeville.co.uk/ .

This oil painting is sized at 33x 23.5”, and is painted on treated acid free mounting board.

The portrait can be viewed in greater detail hereXXX.

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Working on closeup 62

A small snippet of a London based landscape painting...

Bishopsgate London - WIP stages

Bishopsgate London - WIP stages

WIP stages of Bishopsgate/ Liverpool street oil painting

This landscape oil painting is of a central/ east London view. The area is known as Bishopsgate on the edge of the busy financial district of the city. Painted on mounting board, the artwork measures 33” x 24” approx, and the image above shows progressive work on the painting.

In the first panel can be seen the drawing, done in dark brown acrylic paint on a yellow ochre 'ground' wash, also done in acrylics. I use such paint for this part of the process as it is quick drying, rather than oil paint. Next the oil paintings are opened and a basic colour wash is applied with the paints being diluted with thinner as seen in the 2^nd panel. The colours and tones are 'blocked in' to give a rough indication of the direction of the artwork. Once this level is dry then thicker paint levels are applied with careful views to getting the correct colours and tones. Also details are added at this stage, as can be viewed in the 3^rd panel. Finally the 4^th panel shows the finished oil painting of this urban landscape.

The artwork can be seen in detail on this link.

Group of trees in the New Forest - oil painting

Group of trees in the New Forest - oil painting

oil painting of a grouping of trees in the New Forest

This outdoor forest was painted during June 2019. It depicts a view within the New Forest, which is set in the county of Hampshire, of the south coast of the UK. It is a hot day but the densely packed trees offer shade from the hot summers day.

This landscape painting is created in oils on mounting board, sized at 20” x 16”, and can be examined in greater detail on this link.

London Piccadilly Circus With Evening Light- oil painting

London Piccadilly Circus With Evening Light - oil painting

PIccadilly Circus, London completed oil painting

During April 2019 this painting illustrating Piccadilly Circus during even light was created. The painting is done in oils on canvas, and measures 60” x 40”.

The landscape painting shows this famous London landmark during a sunny evening and as always it is populated by many locals and tourists passing through. It is a road junction for a number of main roads running through the city, and first became so during the early 1800's. During the early 1900's, with the widespread use of electricity the first illuminated billboard appeared, of which the area has always been famous for. The centre is dominated by the cast aluminium statue of Eros on top of a fountain, designed by sculptor Alfred Gilbert. Directly under this location can be found Piccadilly Circus underground station, a busy 'tube' station linking various underground lines.

This landscape painting can be seen in detail by following this link.

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Working on closeup 61

A small snippet of a painted figurative subject...

Working on closeup 60

Working on closeup 60

 A small snippit of a forest based oil painting...

London Piccadilly Circus with evening light - WIP stages

London Piccadilly Circus with evening light - WIP stages

WIP stages of the Piccadilly Circus oil painting

The panel above shows progress in three stages of the painting 'London Piccadilly Circus with evening light' finished during April 2019. The first picture shows the drawing of the scene done with brown acrylic paint applied on a brown wash. The sky area has been filled in with some white acrylic paint as a rough base at this stage as it is the lightest item in tone in the image when compared to the other elements in this landscape painting. Moving on, the second panel shows the scene with underpainting applied using oil paint. This level acts as a colour base to illustrate basic tones and colours within the painting. The last panel shows the finished painting, in which the oil paint has been applied on top of the previous, dried layers, in a thicker consistency and with the correct colour values and details added. The artwork of the London scene measures 60” x 40”.

It can be viewed in detail on this link.

Working on closeup 59

Working on closeup 59

A small snipped of a street scene at London's Bishopsgate...

Men At Northam Southampton Boat Yard - WIP stages

Men At Northam Southampton Boat Yard - WIP stages

WIP stages of boats at a Northam boat yard oil painting.

The Northam area of the city of Southampton in Hampshire, features a number of boat yards as it is located on the river Itchen. This painting, completed in January 2019 features a scene of a drydock with men preparing to use a crane to place a boat in to the river from the dry land.

The picture above shows a number of stages of how the painting was created. The first stage shows the drawing which is done with dark, brown acrylic paint on top of a wash of a similar colour. The dark tones within the scene are painted in as are very light in tone subjects, such as the sky, using white acrylic paint. The middle panel shows work moved on where now oil paint has been used to indicate the underpainting, often in darker hues of the final intended colours, and is achieved by using diluted, thin paint. Detail is still quite basic at this stage. The last panel features the final, finished artwork. It can be seen that the colours are now correct, having been applied with thick oil paint and also details regarding the surfaces and lighting, are now included.

The painting can be seen on this link.

Men At Northam Southampton Boat Yard - oil painting

Men At Northam Southampton Boat Yard - oil painting

Finished oil painting of men working at a Southampton dry dock

In this marine based landscape painting we see some men standing in a boat yard next to a crane. Their job later will be to lower one of the boats in the drydock they are stored in, in to the water, using the crane. The river behind them is the River Itchen, which starts north of Winchester and joins the busy shipping lanes of Southampton Water, at Southampton city. This particular boat yard is at Northam.

Painted in early 2019 and in oils. The size is 28” x 20” and is painted on mounting board.

A more detailed view of the artwork can be seen on this link.

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - WIP stages

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - WIP stages

WIP on London financial district oil painting

The picture above shows development work of the painting 'London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn'. It measures 60” x 40” and is painted in oils on canvas. The first panel shows the drawing, done in brown acrylic on a brown wash. White areas have been added to illustrate the intended areas of brightness, such as the sky. Darker tones are added using a brown wash built up in layers. The second panel now shows the underpainting of the scene, done ias a wash in oils. No detail is added at this stage and the colours are of a slightly darker tone than what would be the final colour. In the third panel detail and more colour is added to the overall painting, with the colour paint becoming more thicker in the way it is applied and truer to the final required tone. Finally the forth panel shows the completed oil painting of this busy scene, set in the heart of the financial district of the city of London.

The completed artwork can be seen on this link.

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - oil painting

London City Bank Area In Sunny Autumn - oil painting

Oil painting of a busy autumn day at Bank, London.

'Bank' is an area of London situated in the financial heart of the city. This painting features a number of famous buildings of different ages. Dominating the scene is the Royal Exchange, while on the left is the Bank of England. In the background can be seen the tower 42 (Natwest) and the Scapel. In typical London fashion the streets are littered by plenty of red buses at this busy junction.

This painting is quite large, measuring 60” x 40” and is painted in oils on canvas. Work on it was completed during very late December 2018.

The london landscape painting can be viewed in greater detail on this link.

Southampton Old Cemetery In Autumn - WIP stages

Southampton Old Cemetery In Autumn - WIP stages

Steps of progress on the painting of Southampton 'Old' cemetery

Created during autumn 201, this painting features the 'Old Cemetery' in Southampton, attached to the common. Most of this Victorian cemetery is overgrown with nature reclaiming the area. This oil painting measures 20” x 16” and is created on mounting board.

The panel above shows work in progress on the picture. The first step is to draw out the scene using brown acrylic paint on top of a brown wash of diluted paint. Some areas are painted white where there are strong bright areas. The point to this step is to fix down the range of tones through out the painting. The second panel indicated where the underpainting has been applied, using diluted oils, to find the base colours. Often at this stage the colours are intentionally darker hues of the final applied paint choices. The third panel shows progress on applying thicker paint with the correct hues, and also with details added. Finally the last panel shows the finished art.

The painting can be seen in greater detail on this link.

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Working on closeup 58

  A small snippet of a London based painting...

London National Gallery In The Winter - oil painting

London National Gallery In The Winter - oil painting

London's National gallery during winter - oil painting

Completed during autumn 2018 the subject of this painting is the world famous National Gallery at Trafalgar Square, London. The original was built in the 1830's but has been heavily modified as time passed so only the front of the building is true, the rest needing to accommodate the expanding collection. During the 1980s a whole new section was built, known as the 'The Sainsbury Wing'.

The painting features a cold, winters day at the location, and is painted at 23.4 x 33.1 inches on mounting board in oils.

This painting of the famous London landmark can be examined in greater detail here.

Southampton Old Cemetery In Autumn - oil painting

Southampton Old Cemetery In Autumn - oil painting

Oil painting of  'Southampton Old Cemetery In Autumn'

Gradually nature is reclaiming this old cemetery in Southampton, Hampshire. It is known as the 'Old' cemetery and was first opened in the 1840's. It has a size of 27 acres and features 100's of headstones from the Victorian and early part of the 20^th century, including a number connected to victims of the titanic disaster.

The painting was done in oils during November 2018, and is painted on mounting board, and features the location during a sunny, autumn day. It can be viewed in greater detail here.

Passengers Boarding The Hamble Water Taxi In Hampshire - oil painting

Passengers Boarding The Hamble Water Taxi In Hampshire - oil painting

Oil painting showing the river taxi in operation

This painting, created in oils during summer 2018 shows eager passengers awaiting to board a 'taxi' service one sunny summers morning. The ferry operates on the river Hamble in Hamshire, in the south of the UK, and operates between two villages on each side of the river, Hamble and Warsash.

The painting is sized at 28” x 20”. The artwork can be viewed in closeup on this link.

London National Gallery in the winter - WIP stages

London National Gallery in the winter - WIP stages

London's National Gallery landscape painting WIP

Shown above are four panels demonstrating development of an oil painting. The subject is a view of the National Gallery, London, situated in Trafalgar Square. In the first panel can be seen the line drawing, done with acrylic paint on a coloured ground. White acrylic paint is used to show areas of highlights/ high tones. The second panel features the basic underpainting colours applied to the painting, which give a basic tonal and colour representation of the subjects, although kept to the darker tones overall. In the third panel the final layer of paint is applied, this time thickly than before and with the correct colour and tonal balance. Also detail is painted in at this stage. Finally, the last panel shows the completed painting, which measures 44” x 37”.

It can be viewed at full detail on this link.

Working on closeup 57

Working on closeup 57

 A small snippet of a marine based oil painting...

Working on closeup 56

Working on closeup 56

A snippet of a London street based oil painting...

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Working on closeup 55

A small snippet of a graveyard painting...

Passengers boarding the Hamble Water taxi in Hampshire - WIP stages

Passengers boarding the Hamble Water taxi in Hampshire - WIP stages

WIP on the Hampshire 'water taxi' service oil painting.

In the panel above can be seen progression of work on the painting 'Passengers boarding the Hamble Water Taxi in Hampshire', completed in September 2018. The first stage is to painting a yellow ochre wash with acrylic paint on the support, in this case mounting board'. When this is dry then the drawing is done on the surface using dark brown acrylic paint. Moving on to the second stage the underpainting is applied, which means dark base tones are added through out using oil paint. Once this is dry, then the final layers of oil paint are applied. This final application is when the colours are more truer in value and detail is also applied at this stage, but the underpainting is still visible underneath. The final panel now shows the completed painting (20” x 28”) with all colours and tonal applied.

The painting can be seen in detail via this link

Girl Watering Horror Plants - digital illustration

Girl Watering Horror Plants - digital illustration

Giant monster plants being watered by little girl illustration

Strange and dangerous plants feature in this illustration. A girl, seemingly happy and content is quite happy to be watering these monstrous specimens using her toy watering can. These plants may like the girl, as it can be seen that some previous gardeners have not been so lucky. Hidden away the viewer can find an arm and a skull with one eye ball in the undergrowth of a long disappeared gardener.

'Auto Sketchbook Pro' software was used largely in the creation of this artwork. Initially work started on the concept using an Android galaxy tablet to sketch out and work out the colours. Once this was achieved to a satisfying level the file was then exported to a W10 desktop computer running the same program but in a more powerful environment. Here the image was greatly enlarged and repainted to produce the final artwork. It was completed during August 2018.The artwork can be seen in detail here.

Working on closeup 54

Working on closeup 54

 A small snippet of a London based scene...

 

Dinosaur And Son With A Parasol - digital illustration

Dinosaur And Son With A Parasol - digital illustration

digital illustration - Dinosaur And Son With A Parasol

Created during October 2018, this digital illustration features a 'take' of the famous painting by Monet, 'Woman with a Parasol/ Madame Monet and Her Son'. It is also known as 'The Stroll' and was painted in 1875. My version does not feature humans but a Tyrannosaurs Rex and dinosaur son, out for a stroll in summer in the same field. It is painted in 'Auto Sketchbook Pro', initially using an android tablet, and then later exporting the file to a desktop computer running the same painting software to produce a final version. Some time was spent studying the original painting to create similar brushmarks and use of colour and light, as painted originally by Monet.

The digital illustration can be seen here in detail.

Winchester Hill Area In Hampshire During Summer - WIP

Winchester Hill Area In Hampshire During Summer - WIP stages

WIP of 'Winchester Hill' oil painting

The panel above features stages of the creation of a painting showing a scene at Winchester Hill, located on the South Downs, Hampshire. It is located in Southern England. The landscape painting is done in oils, but the first stage (in the first panel) shows the drawing of the scene done in acrylics on a brown acrylic wash. It should be added that an inital application of oil paint had been added to the sky, when the photo was taken. The second panel shows an application of diluted oil paint, to act as the underpainting for the finished painting, much like a foundation using darker colours. The final panel now shows the finished painting, which the oil paint applied on top with a heavier body, basically using paint straight out of the tube.

The finished landscape painting can be seen on this link.

Boat out of water with dumped parts at marina - oil painting

Boat out of water with dumped parts at marina - oil painting

Oil painting of boat dumped at a marina, Southampton

This marine based painting was finished during August 2018.It depicts a scene at a boat yard in Northam, East Southampton. The yard is on the banks of the River Itchen, and the marina features a lot of boats under repair or in dry storage. This part of the yard has older boats, some poorly maintained and various spare parts littering the site.

The painting is created in oils on primed mounting board, with the image sized at 20” x 28”.

By following this link, the painting can be seen in more detail.

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Working on closeup 53

A small snippet of a marine scene based in Hampshire...