'Yahoo'

Its been a long time

Its been a long time since I have posted anything. The reason that there hasnt been any painting going on is that I am midway through relocating to North Wales to be closer to family. With a one year old daughter and another on the way things have been pretty hectic hence zero painting. I am absolutely itching to start another painting and have some ideas of what I am going to tackle so please bear with me and I will endeavor to have a shiny new painting here as soon as possible.

'Minnie Money' 2011

'After Dinner Games' 2011

Still here

I thought I should post something as I havent been very active on the blogging front lately as we are decorating our house in order to sell it soon. Also I have been on the road alot over the summer with family birthdays and wedding anniversaries so I really have had little time to pick up my brushes which has been pretty frustrating! I have just a couple more occasions to attend before I can get back to painting so hopefully I will have some fresh work posted soon.

A change

Whilst always striving for a better painting than the last I decided I wanted to change my technique. With the previous paintings being on Illustration board I thought it would be good to try masonite/hardboard as the resulting painting wouldnt need glass to protect it. I also used an underpainting as a base to establish darks and lights and this I feel has lead to stronger and richer colours with a more three dimensional finish. As I was keen to continue in the Trompe Loeil vein I thought about making a painting look as though it recedes into the space behind it. This allowed me to paint subjects such as the jar without ruining the effect.

'Recess' 2011 Sold

Another Trompe L'oeil painting

'Damaged,Please Return' came about because I usually present my work to galleries with crisp white mounts on. Instead of having to get a mount cut I decided that I would paint the painting to look as if it has a mount around it and then to enhance the look of the mount I painted a sticky label over it to increase the three dimensional feel. I hope you like it!

'Damaged, Please Return' 2011. Sold

Garfield commission

I have finally been able to publish my cat commission painting as the painting has been delivered to the clients. I finished this piece some time ago but I didnt want to put the picture up without the clients seeing their painting first as it would have spoiled the suprise. Anyway this painting really tested my patients due to the fur patterns and fiddly detail and I must say its not a subject I would revisit very quickly. Before I concentrated on Photorealism and Trompe L'oeil painting I used to paint quite alot of wildlife subjects and I did really enjoy it but for some reason this one was different. Just a little out of practice I guess!
I have just photgraphed a setup for another Trompe L'oeil piece so will be starting that tommorrow and will put up a picture as soon as it is complete.

'Garfield' 2011

Title for new work please

I have just finished the painting below but have been totally stuck for a title. Usually I either already have a title that I then base a painting on or I compose a painting and a title comes to me halfway through but with this one neither has happened. If you can come up with a great title then I would love to hear your suggestions! I think that this piece is going to become a Limited Edition Print also so I need a great title. Thanks.

'Marble Madness' 2011

New work

Here is my latest painting that I completed today. Its another Trompe L'oeil painting, and I must admit that I am really enjoying this genre of work. Initially this painting was going to be similar to 'No strings attached' with the knife protruding beyond the picture plane and casting a shadow but I wanted the 'trick' part of the painting to be a little more subtle. So I thought it would be quite good to have a blob of jam sliding down the picture as if someone has been really haphazard with the jam. I hope you like it!

'In a right jam' 2011

Update

I just thought that I would post an update as I havent put anything up for a while. After my last painting I have taken on a commission of a cat portrait. This is proving tougher than I first thought due to all the intricate fur patterns and colouration and is taking me longer than expected. I must admit it is both agonizing and fun all at the same time as I am actually finding myself learning different ways to lay down paint. I will post a photo of it when it is complete (next week, fingers crossed)and then its back to more comfortable climbs with painting something that I am more used to.

Most recent painting

My most recent painting below, 'No strings attached' is my first foray into Trompe L'oeil painting. I have really enjoyed this painting as it provided me with some technical challenges both setting up the reference material and also trying to portray shadow and depth of field convincingly, which to some extent I think I have achieved. I will definately be revisiting Trompe L'oeil in the future as this painting has given me inspiration for more paintings in this style. In some respects all of my paintings and photorealist paintings in general are kind of Trompe L'oeil paintings as they are paintings of an object (the photograph) made to look photographic and real on a two dimensional surface.

'No strings attached' 2011

Latest painting complete

My latest painting is the product of being brought up watching murder mysteries with my mum, such as Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. I have always loved this genre of film and television as it takes me back to those days watching with my family and although the films always contain a horrible murder they also seem to posess an eccentric English charm. The boardgame Cluedo allows the player to become an amateur detective and so it has always been a favourite. This was for me a great subject to paint as it encapsulates everything about the murder mystery genre that I enjoy.

'Colonel Mustard,with the Lead Piping,in the ?' 2011

New year,new gallery

I am pleased to have representation at Beckstones Gallery in the Lake District. It has long been a goal of mine to have my work exhibited at Beckstones so I was really pleased when they accepted my work for show.
I am also now producing limited edition prints of some of my paintings and although it is early in this process my prints seem to be finding favour with people in the art world. I also have a little daughter on the way (Feb 3rd this year) so everything is very exciting!

'Bash Street Ball' 2010

'Ivy's strike' 2010

'The tin man & the duck' 2010

Disclaimer

Looking back over some of my recents posts I have noticed that my naughty camera has been warping the horizon line on my paintings, so I am just posting this to point out that the paintings in the flesh have a perfectly straight horizon line. Maybe if I paint the line slightly on the tilt in the future the camera will show it correctly ;)

'Triplets' 2010

Phew its finished

The painting 'Fizzywigs finest' below has been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride of feelings. The initial excitement of setting up the composition and drawing it up, the start of painting full of enthusiasm through to 'oh my god I cant stand looking at this anymore' to finally realising I was on the home straight and completing it today. Funnily most paintings follow this pattern as my head fills with ideas for upcoming paintings and I now know I must deal with this throughout every painting.
The title for the painting came about whilst in Brighton on a holiday weekend with my wife and parents. On the last morning myself and my dad stumbled across a sweetshop in the 'lanes' of Brighton named Fizzywigs. It was early and just before opening time but the owner kindly let us in to peruse the awesome selection of all things sweet and this was where I brought most of the props for the painting.
Now on to start another one....

'Fizzywigs finest' 2010

'Silver and cheese' 2010

2 new paintings

The two new paintings, 'Sweets for my sweet' and 'Summer sundae' are now on sale at the Tallantyre Gallery in Morpeth, Northumberland. I have really enjoyed these two paintings as they both offered some interesting challenges. The clear wrappers around the sticks of rock were particularly fun as was the shiny surface of the cherries. I am now starting my next painting which is a little more on the 'traditional' side, so when it is completed I will upload it immediately.