update on Tom WIP

It's a bad photo I know but it shows what I need to change in this new painting. That is the right lower leg length which is too long. I should have taken more time at the underpaiting stage.!!

WIP anita standing

Sorry this is blurry. (I need to use a tripod but have left it at Figgins.)
Now I've replaced it with a new photo.

New painting of Anita started

I started this one last weekend and this was how it was after the first paint of the head.
I will post more soon of updates.

Paintings and drawings on new site

I'm posting new paintings and drawings on the other sites, accessible from the links on the right. There is a new oil of Anita and Rainny and lots more drawings from our trip to the Coromandel at Easter.
We'll go back to posting other stuff here like photos of that holiday.

Update on Standing SP

Here is a detail of the head which is about 2 inches in length.
And below is the half length detail. I've used a limited palette for this painting so far.

New websites

Don't forget to check out the new sites from the links to the right.

Charcoal drawing

Here's a big charcoal drawing. It's on A1 size paper which is 23" x 33"
I wanted to do a big drawing and have found it difficult to get the scales right in different areas as I am looking in one direction only without being able to see the rest.

Update on Standing SP

I've done a second coat on the face, hands, and the clothes. I've also adjusted the shoulders to be higher to shorten the neck as it was a bit long! It may still be too long. I'm not sure what to do with the room just yet, but I'm thinking about it.

Pastel of Anita watching TV

Pastel on dark green Canson paper. 19" x 23"
This one I have made the effort to finish and I'm much happier with it now it has some more interesting background. I've also tried to sort out the issues with her eyes and hands and it is a bit better. I'm going to leave it as it's already been sitting around for months.


Detail.

New weblog for Paintings and Drawings

I have started a new separate site for drawings and paintings. This is accesible by clicking on the link 'Gallery New Zealand' on the right.
I will be transferring all work there to keep this one free for other family photos as they have taken a back seat recently.
Please check out the new site and let me know what you think by commenting.
Thanks.

Here is the 1st paint. Not much colour there yet but that can change.

New Self portrait

I've started a painting of Anita and Rainy but have only managed the charcoal drawing stage. Tomorrow I'll start underpainting it. In the meantime, I've also started another self portrait. Here it is in the early stages. I'm adopting the Claude method of underpainting in pinky brown as the final drawing, before starting the painting proper.

A pastel drawing of Anita on coloured paper. Still in progress.

I've done some more work on the shirt, jaw, face and now I will probably leave it more or less as it is. Time to start something else.

I have painted over the sky and clouds background and returned it to the pale blue but with a bit more yellow in it to bring it closer to the yellow in the figure. I have worked into the face some more this time adding a pinker range of skin tones so reducing the yellow.
I have done the same with the hand.

Sky Background

I've put a sky into the background but I'm not liking it. I am going to try to improve the cloud forms and also change the overall colour of the figure or background or both, but I'm thinking I may change it back to a more simple one.

I've done another session on the oil. I've worked in some background and worked up the figure. I had a blue undercoat on the board before painting and after I'd painted the figure I like the undercoat colour, so I've kept a similar colour for the background when I painted it, like a new Zealand sky. I may put in some variation in there. I'm not sure what to do with the lower background apart from making it darker. I'd like to take it out of the studio to an exterior with a sky.
Also, I need to do some rearranging of the jaw. It needs to project more to the left.

Work in Progress

I've started an oil on hardboard here. I have mixed a bit too much linseed oil into the dark paint for the shirt and as can be seen it has run down the board.

New Weblog for drawings and paintings

I am starting a new site/weblog more for the wider world to look at drawings and paintings.
It will be at: www.gallerynewzealand.blogspot.com

Please have a look and let me know what you think.

I have pretty much finished work on the Anita portrait now, as I want to start something new. One thing I have found with pastels is that mixing is limited; you can mix on the paper by smudging which is a bit haphazard. So for this reason very large ranges of colours are produced to allow you to choose the colour you want. I have a range of 24 and I have found that to be far too small, especially in the dark colours. I found myself using black quite a lot in Anita's portrait because there just wasn't another colour dark enough. I have a dark blue which is the next darkest and up from that is a dark brown which is quite a bit lighter.

The other problem is that working on a small scale is tricky because of the bulky-ness of the pastel sticks. Sometimes I want a fine point to draw a line say for around the fine lines of the face. Trying to locate the corner of a thick stick of pastel is haphazard and I don't get enough control over where it is going on the paper.

I am going to read up about these issues for solutions, but I am thinking I may start oil painting soon.