Hours and Days

Yellow Marble

2014-01-14T20:22:00.003+00:00

Yellow Marble - oil on panel

SOLD

Onion & Plum

2013-12-27T22:03:00.000+00:00

Onion - oil on panel - 5"x6"

SOLD

Red Plum - oil on panel - 4"x5"

SOLD

Skeleton Key

2013-12-05T23:15:00.000+00:00

Skeleton Key - oil on panel - 5" x 7"

SOLD

Apple & Aubergine

2013-12-02T16:59:00.000+00:00

Apple - oil on panel

SOLD

Aubergine - Oil on panel

SOLD

A couple of autumn studies.

Pocket Watch

2013-11-30T11:48:00.000+00:00

Pocket Watch - oil on panel

SOLD

Garlic Clove

2013-11-25T13:04:00.000+00:00

Garlic Clove - oil on panel -3.5" x 6"

SOLD

Fig & Orange Segment

2013-11-24T10:55:00.001+00:00

Orange Segment - oil on panel - 3.5" x 6"
SOLD

Fig - oil on panel - 4" x 6"

SOLD

Retro Cola Bottle

2013-11-23T22:17:00.001+00:00

Cola Bottle - oil on panel - 3.5" x 5"

SOLD

I suppose a year and nine months is long enough since my last blog post....time for an update. Over the last couple of years I have strayed away from my smaller oil paintings and have been working on other projects, mainly within my publishing contract. I haven't had much time to post to this blog (or the work to post to it), so it has become a bit neglected. I’ve recently started painting small still life pieces again as a part of my daily practice. These are mainly miniatures - around 4” - 6”, and most will be available for sale via this blog. Just click the link underneath the painting to bid.

Flower and Pear

2012-02-01T12:52:00.000+00:00

Flower and Pear - oil on panel

A study of "dark light".

The Gloaming

2012-01-30T12:10:00.000+00:00

Red Flower - oil on panel

I have been looking for something very specific in my recent paintings. Something which I have been trying to understand for quite a while. There is a certain aspect of the light which exists between two extremes. Between the light and the darkness is an area of twilight - the dusk of the light -the gloaming. Not shadow or halftone, but a darker light.
The area of intense light which hits the surface of an object directly falls away very quickly from the highest point. Most of the remaining light sits within this twilight area. Rather than a building up of light towards a high point, It is a falling away of the light from the source into a more subtle state. Colours are more subdued - becoming generally cooler and more muted. It is an area which at first seems quiet, but is actually full of life.

Glenmorangie

2012-01-04T16:10:00.000+00:00

Glenmorangie - oil on panel

Translucence #2

2011-12-31T08:38:00.000+00:00

Oleifera - oil on panel

.....and another one.

Studies in Translucence

2011-12-23T22:36:00.000+00:00

Galliano - oil on panel

Not sure if translucence is even the right word, but here are a few studies where I'm just trying to get the jewel-like quality of the light as it passes through coloured liquids.

Faustino (for "The Routledges")

2011-12-18T19:57:00.000+00:00

A bottle of fancy Faustino dedicated to "The Routledges", I suppose you can have it back now!

...and another one - Pink Converse #2

2011-12-04T15:27:00.000+00:00

Pink Converse #2 - oil on panel

Here's the second converse. A bit tighter this time.

More Converse - Pink Converse #1

2011-11-29T19:25:00.003+00:00

Pink Converse #1 - oil on panel

Following on from an older converse painting - and still keeping with the loose approach (this time probably to the extreme). Here's the first of two more converse.

Linseed Oil - Staying Loose

2011-11-16T21:36:00.000+00:00

Linseed Oil #2 - oil on panel

Occasionally - either accidentally or deliberately - I revert to a much looser style of painting, allowing a large amount of the ground of the painting and the canvas to show through. For me, this is usually a raw umber tone. When using the stained canvas itself as a major unifying value within the painting, I'm always surprised by how little actual painting work needs to be done to make the painting work. When I do this, I do no real underpainting - using a fairly dry brush to just block in the basic shapes and suggest the structure of the subject, as quickly as possible - whilst allowing the stained canvas to hold the piece together in a unified way. The umber ground acts a middle tone for the entire piece and does the bulk of the work. All that's really needed are the darkest darks and the lightest lights, along with some suggestion of structure and mass in the middle range. I suppose the key is to put just the bare minimum onto the canvas to make it look like the subject. The painting comes together surprisingly quickly and, when it works out, I think is much more interesting to look at - warmer and more dynamic.

Anders Zorn was a master of this technique in his looser work as well as Sargent in most of his portraits….

Anders Zorn - Antonin Proust


Anders Zorn - Coquelin Cadet


John Singer Sargent - Robert Louis Stevenson

I know this isn't a new or surprising technique, but I'm always aware that I don't do it often enough. Staying aware of this approach and keeping it in mind is the challenge, and like most people I never know when to stop and usually end up overdoing it and spoiling the simplicity of the painting.

Keeping this in mind I picked up the old linseed oil bottle again and had another shot at it, trying to stay simple and let the underpainting do most of the work. The result is above.

Four Fruit Studies - #4- Strawberry

2011-11-12T16:53:00.000+00:00

Strawberry - oil on panel

Four Fruit Studies - #3- Tomato

2011-11-11T18:07:00.000+00:00

Tomato - oil on panel

Four Fruit Studies - #2- Two Cherries

2011-11-10T11:49:00.000+00:00

Two Cherries - oil on panel

Four Fruit Studies - #1- Orange Segment

2011-11-09T15:06:00.001+00:00

Orange Segment - oil on panel

Hello?

2011-11-09T11:05:00.000+00:00

..…Nearly two years since the last post?! Suppose it'll be time for another update!
Since signing with a publisher it seems like I've been doing a ridiculous amount of work over the last 18 months - around twelve to fifteen paintings a month, which is ALOT for me. I suppose it's less than many of the "Daily Painters", but for me this kind if volume doesn't sit naturally with my painting technique. As much as I've tried, I have never been able to finish a painting in one session and have resigned myself to a kind of three-stage attack - which works for me, but is time consuming. As a result the blog has become a bit neglected. Same goes for my website. I'm onto it though!

Matchbox #3: Orange & Matches

2010-01-14T14:39:00.004+00:00

Orange & Matches - 7" x 12" - oil on panel

Matchbox #2: Figs & Matches

2010-01-04T21:17:00.003+00:00

Figs & Matches - 7" x 12" - oil on panel

Matchbox #1

2010-01-03T19:33:00.005+00:00

Matchbox #1 - 6" x 8" - oil on panel

I have been thinking for a while now about painting matchboxes. I included one in an earlier painting and liked the look of it, so decided to do a study of it on its own. This first matchbox painting has led to the beginning of a series of paintings which, at the moment, all include the same matchbox. To me, matches represent something very powerful. They are symbolic of fire, an example of pure elemental energy. Not just the spark that leads to the fire, they are the catalyst – they precede the spark and exist as pure potential energy, and what they become depends on the intention of the person holding the match. In this way they represent human potential, the ability we have to create something from nothing and the power that human beings have at their fingertips.