Finished Simon

Well I have at last finished Simon the Cat. Put a little more depth in the ears and put a little cold colour into his body and used the blue as a background. I also like the way it 'fills the frame'. This was completed on Drafting Film with Polychromos Colour Pencils.

Simon the Cat WIP

A little slow in doing some pictures lately but here is a coloured pencil drawing that I am in the process of completing. The is drawn on Polydraw Drafting Film and Polocromos pencils.

I need to finish the background and the rest of the body.

More - Sketch Book

Here are some more pics from my sketch book.

Chertsey Bridge, Surrey, UK

Corfe Castle, Dorset, UK

Albert Hall, London, UK

St.Peters Square, Rome, Italy

Carew Castle, Pembroke, Wales, UK

Carew Castle & Bridge, Pembroke, Wales, UK

Found Old Sketch Book

I found this old sketch book today of sketches that I drew in circa 2000. Obviously sketch means sketch but these are the best ones. I was very prolific with a certain style in those days. Here are some in Wales.



Views from Tything Barn - Wales


























A boat in the channel at Tything Barn











A view of an old sunken boat at Tything Barn












Two views of the swimming area Tything Barn

Plein Aire Oil Painting - Tything Barn

Well after so much rain this summer I decided to go camping and yes you guessed it rain. Nine days camping, 7 days rain and 2 1/2 days sun. I was able to do this painting of one of the lakes. The sun was directly overhead when I started so there wasn't too many shadows. The sun was bright but there were still clouds in the sky.

This is the 1st PA oil painting I have done so in that event I am a happy man - been waiting for soooo long to get out in the UK to paint due to the amount of rain we have had this summer. I am a little disappointed with the picture as when I look at it on the computer screen there is very little depth of field and it appears to be flat. It is also shiny which precludes me to think I may have used too much linseed oil.

Still one hopes I can only get better!!

The painting was done with Winsor and Newton oil colours on 10 x 12 canvas on board.

Another visit to Italy

Another great visit to Italy and the area of Lake Garda. Weather reached 30C+ in the week we were there and it was hot.
I did some painting en plein aire and here are the results:

This is the house that my daughter and her husband live in. The last pick was taken from a photograph, this one was painted in situ. I like the depth of colour and the shadow lines.
I had taken some time in drawing this as I had mis-counted the number of windows in the line 6 instead of 5. This is watercolour paper 16x12 300gm hp paper

This is a pencil drawing of Maria Callas home on Sirmione, Lake Garda - although it is now a block of expensive apartments.
I had a lot of fun with this drawing making sure that I got every little bit of detail. I wish I had time to paint it but that was not to be in the time limit I had. The next day I went it was too hot for me to sit in the sun. I will paint it at home and show you when it is completed. This is watercolour paper 16x12 300gm hp paper.

This painting was seen as I walked around a bend on a walk along the banks Lake Garda.
It is a scene of a pier owned by a hotel on Sirmioni, Lake Garda. As you can see it is partly hidden by grasses and trees but I will expand this picture into an oil painting. This is watercolour paper 16x12 300gm hp paper.

There was one other painting that I was doing at Salo, the home of my daughters pianist and coach. This was coming on quite well but the paint was not dry enough when I wanted to add the shadow colour to it. It was ruined by a big splodge of colour that completly ruined the painting. The moral of this story is make sure that the watercolour is dry first.

I enjoyed this week in Italy not least seeing my daughter and husband but for the painting that I have done. The worst bit was at the house of Maria Callas. There were so many people looking at my drawing, but no-one commented but someone asked if I minded taking a picture of me drawing it - that was praise indeed.

I am next in South Wales near Pembroke Dock and I hope to complete some oil paintings there, if this rain will ever stop!!

Still Raining

We have come away to Norfolk for a couple of days hoping to catch a few moments plein air painting but it hasn't stopped raining for 3 days, since we have arrived here. We are going home now and there is still rain albeit a little drizzle. I hope it stops soon as I need to go out and paint!!