Painting faces exercise 06 Zorn palette

A further selection of faces of unknown people plucked off the internet. Each painting is done on cardboard, primed, and four colours used as in the 'Zorn' limited palette, as discovered by Victorian artist  Anders Zorn. Each one is sized around 12” x 9.5”.

Working on closeup 73

Working on closeup 73

A small snippet of a park based painting...

Southampton Common view towards Hill Lane - WIP stages

Southampton Common view towards Hill Lane - WIP stages

Stages of the painting featuring a part of Southampton Common.

This outdoor scene shows a view within Southampton Common, within the city of Southampton, UK. It is a sunny day in the autumn with long shadows being cast by the trees and over the path of one the main routes through the common. Locals are seen to be taking an afternoon stroll through it.

The picture below shows four stages in the development of the oil painting, created in late January 2020 and in view of the public at an art event held locally.

In the first panel can be seen the subject drawn on to a canvas with a light brown acrylic wash. The drawing is done in brown acrylic and high value tones painted in white paint. The second panel shows areas of colour added in using diluted oil paint, so that it is thinly applied. This is the 'under-painting' and in which the colour tends to be on the dark side with little detail. Once this layer is dry, (usually a few days) then the final application of paint is painted on. At this stage the paint is thicker and true to the intended colour value. Also details are now painted in as seen in the third panel. The final panel displays the finished landscape painting, which is on canvas sized at 20” x 16”. The artwork can be seen in better clarity by following this link.

Working on closeup 65

Working on closeup 65

 A small snippet of a London bus 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

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.

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.

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.

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 56

Working on closeup 56

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

Working on closeup 54

Working on closeup 54

 A small snippet of a London based scene...

 

Women Texting On Christchurch Station - acrylic painting

Women Texting On Christchurch Station - acrylic painting

Women Texting On Christchurch Station - acrylic painting

This acrylic painting was created during June 2018. It is sized at 16” x 12”, and done on stretched water-colour paper. The subject is a number of women, and one man, all busy texting while waiting for a train to turn up at the station. Christchurch, on the south coast of the UK, is the location of this brick built, Victorian station, set during a sunny but cold afternoon one December.

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

Women texting on Christchurch station - WIP stages acrylic painting

Women texting on Christchurch station - WIP acrylic painting stages

stages of working on 'Women texting on Christchurch station' art

This painting was produced during June 2018, and shows passengers on a station awaiting a train. They are all busy texting while awaiting transportation during a sunny winters afternoon.

The panel shows four stages to the creation of the painting, which is sized at 16” x 12”, and painted on stretched water-colour paper. In the first panel the drawing is shown, done in brown acrylic paint. A wash with the same colour paint is applied to show the shadows. Unusually in this case I did not do a coloured 'ground' over the paper, normally a yellow ochre or red, but just kept the paper 'white'. In the second panel dark base colours are applied, to help establish positioning of colours and act as an under-painting layer for when future paint layers are added. The third panel shows progression on the details and layers of paint being built up to there intended tonal values, which it turn leads to the finished artwork as shown in the forth panel.

The painting can be seen in detail on this link.

Winter shopping season Southampton - WIP stages

Winter shopping season Southampton - WIP stages

Winter shopping season Southampton - WIP stages

This painting was created during late November/ December 2017. The subject is a rainy day along a street in central Southampton, UK. It was created in response to an 'open' exhibition at the Southampton main gallery, the subject being 'the seasons'. This painting came 1st place the competition out of over 500+ entries.

Above is an image showing a composite of the painting being worked up in stages. In the first panel can be seen the initial drawing, done in brown acrylic paint on a reddish ground (base). In the second panel work can be seen on the application of oil paint, though these are just the base layers or under-painting. In the third panel it can be seen that quite a few layers are now being applied with details added as the work progress. The fourth panel shows the finished painting.
Follow this link to view the final painting at a larger scale.

Summer New Forest Picnic - oil painting

Summer New Forest Picnic - oil painting

Summer New Forest Picnic - oil painting 20" x 28"

During October 2017 this oil painting was created displaying a common and timeless scene that takes place in the new Forest, Hampshire. It is one with a family gathering together for a camping holiday during the summer. In the background can be seen a camping site. Separating the family and the site is a small stream, hidden in the painting.

Oil paint was used, a sheet of mounting board being used as the support. The image is sized at 20” x 28” and took approximately two weeks to create.

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

 

Working on closeup 39

 Working on closeup 39

 A small snippet of a street/ urban based oil painting...

WIP street scene in the rain oil painting

working on closeup 22

working on closeup 22

 A small snippet of a painting featuring the beach at Bournemouth, Dorset.... 

Winter Fishing at Weston Shore, Southampton

Winter Fishing at Weston Shore, Southampton

A group of people are seen fishing in Southampton Water, on Weston Shore, Southampton, during a sunny winters afternoon. The shore is made up of shingle, and this location is near to the car park. On the opposite side of the water is a part of the port of Southampton where a 'Wallenius Wilhelmsen' ship is in dock, next to the distinctive silos which are a local landmark at the entrance to the port.

The painting is done in oils on a canvas board measuring 16” x 20”, and was painted during autumn 2013, based on a photo taken during January of that year.

http://martin-davey.artistwebsites.com/featured/winter-fishing-at-weston-shore-southampton-martin-davey.html

 

Winter Fishing at Weston Shore, Southampton oil painting

Bournemouth Pier summer morning from cliff top

Bournemouth Pier summer morning from cliff top 

This small 10” x12” oil painting was done in March 2014. It shows the famous pier at Bournemouth, Dorset, in the UK, from the cliff tops during a summers morning. Already some holiday makers are settling down on the beach which will become very busy as the day goes on. In the distance can be seen the Purbecks.

The pier, in its current form, was built in the 1950s and features a theatre. 

Bournemouth Pier summer morning from cliff top-oil painting

 

http://martin-davey.artistwebsites.com/featured/bournemouth-pier-summer-morning-from-cliff-top-martin-davey.html

http://www.redbubble.com/people/martyee/works/11974063-bournemouth-pier-summer-morning-from-cliff-top

Monster Octopus attacking building in storm

Monster Octopus attacking building in storm

A giant octopus is seen attached to the side of a tall building during a stormy evening, its tentacles weaved around the office block. Lightning is flashing across the sky and illuminating the creature allowing passers by on the street to look up and be shocked by the sight of the monster. It has many sharp teeth, and will pose a threat for some time...

Painted in Photoshop to A4 size during February 2014.

http://martin-davey.artistwebsites.com/featured/monster-octopus-attacking-building-in-storm-martin-davey.html

Monster Octopus attacking building in storm