BP Portrait Award 2016

Well, there is good news and some not so good news.

Firstly, one of my paintings has been selected for the 2016 BP Portrait Award exhibition, initially at the National Portrait Gallery in London, then touring. Which is, of course, astonishingly good news.

The not so good news is that I'm going to be winding down this blog - I've really been struggling to post here, what with the day job as well as the painting, and I've decided pretty much to stop trying.

Instead you can find me on facebook for works in progress and so on, or (occasionally) on twitter as well as the webpage and there is a newsletter to sign up for, which will have invites for exhibitions.

Hopefully will still see you guys around - it's been fun!

Painting Frocks (And Some Jackets)

Thurs 4th Feb

On thursday I began to tackle A Century Of Style , an exhibition I'd been to a couple of weeks ago at Kelvingrove. I was very taken by the exhibition, especially the mirror used so we could see right round the clothes, and thought they's be a good basis fr exploring space and composition as well as colour.

Two Frocks

Three Frocks

Masculine Red

These three paintings are the result and I am fairly pleased with them, but am aware they are a beginning - this is very much a theme I will be returning to later.

Inspired by Mackintosh

So the challenge of the day was to make work inspired/based on a particular artist - I chose Mackintosh, since he is such a local hero and his work is quite different from mine, loads of sharp edges and geometry as opposed to soft organic curves.

Relatively pleased with the results, learned a fair bit and the second painting's viewpoint is something I will develop into bigger paintings later on.

The Little Dancer

Degas is one of my art heroes and I knew as soon as I started this challenge I'd be including this little lady. I intend to do a whole series eventually, hopefully with her in various museums around the world, but to start with here she is in the Musee D'orsay.

(Rather enjoyed painted the little paintings in the background of the first paintings, and the man in the second - he really did have his feet in a very similar position to the statue! )

The Threshold, Kelvingrove Museum

The Threshold

Really happy with this one, based on The Threshold by Mary Buchanan at Kelvingrove Gallery.
It is painted on a board prepared earlier with a layer of cadmium red, and the darks were put in first with an inch brush. Then went in the light tones, with most detail for the sculpture. The result is a very warm painting with glimpses of fiery red - which suits the theme.

Colour Crazy

After painting The Red Wall I thought I'd continue the colour theme - I'm on a mission to use all the colours!

The Red Wall

Yesterday was a good day. The main aim of both these paintings was to explore mark making more and think about colour. Happy with the results!