tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58655802211017374612026-01-15T08:16:21.259+00:00A painters journalKeithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-71526218239932666162012-02-01T13:30:00.002+00:002012-02-01T16:49:47.829+00:00

The next winter sketch is complete and has now been framed. Apologies for the poor photo - the gold colour on the water-gilding is a reflection of a cream wall but in reality it all appears silver (12K white gold). This painting, along with the previous winter sketch that I posted a few days ago, are destined  for the Affiliates Exhibition at the Nottingham Society of Artists

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-38437937843628064872012-01-18T12:53:00.001+00:002012-01-20T09:48:51.279+00:00

A return to my normal fare today. This winter landscape sketch was based on a photograph I took last winter. For Nottingham folk that might be interested these are the fields at the bottom of Netherfield looking towards Radcliffe. I am working on a couple of other small panels based on this winter theme and I will probably be posting these within the next couple of weeks.

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-52927784690387837982011-10-27T09:42:00.000+01:002011-10-27T09:46:11.357+01:00

I am absolutely over the moon to announce that the dragon boat painting, which I eventually called" Sparkling Light - Nottingham Riverside Festival", was awarded the Holbrook Trust first prize at the Nottingham Society of Artists Autumn Exhibition.

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-5452660385087811892011-10-16T13:36:00.000+01:002011-10-26T03:49:07.861+01:00

The Dragon boat painting is finally finished and has been handed in at the Nottingham Society of Artists ready for the Autumn Exhibition which starts on Tuesday. I was going to gild a frame but time and finances got in the way. I did however have time to gild a frame for my other submission, a much smaller picture,  " Early Morning Light - Jim's Garden".

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-9717772976551425362011-10-05T15:24:00.000+01:002011-10-05T15:29:46.228+01:00

Not far of the finishing line! It hasn't turned out as I initially thought but they never do. The major change since the last post is that I have glazed over everything (apart from the highlights) to lower the tone. I was trying to recreate my initial impression on first seeing the subject of how dark everything appeared when the sunlight reflected off the water. I have a bit more to do to

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-35359054969314490412011-09-26T18:53:00.000+01:002011-09-26T18:53:06.762+01:00

Current state of play with the dragon boat picture. I have been working back and forth between the water and the boat in the middle distance today. I reckon there is at least a couple more days of work yet. I am considering attempting to unify some of hues in the water with some glazes but I'm not sure yet.

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-27911585083497643292011-09-19T14:41:00.002+01:002011-10-26T03:51:17.202+01:00

I'm having a break from the dragon boat picture whilst it dries so I thought I would dig out my watercolours and have a go. It must be two years since I picked up a watercolour brush in anger - now I know why. They are so difficult. It doesn't help that I can't seem to make my mind up whether they should be  built up wash upon wash to reach the desired tone

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-57779254674964556412011-08-31T10:02:00.000+01:002011-08-31T10:02:31.482+01:00

Still a considerable way to go yet but I thought I would share the current state of the dragon boat picture. This seems strange for me because although I have started to put highlights in there are still parts of the canvas as yet untouched ( I would normally leave this until the end). I think this is because I see the highlights as the key to this

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-76713916581450337682011-08-23T19:40:00.000+01:002011-08-23T19:40:18.186+01:00

How hard can it be to paint a dragons head? I'll tell you - bloody hard. I must have repainted this 5 times. At one stage it looked more like a Duck Billed Platypus than a dragon. Anyway, although it is a long way from finished it is the closest I have got to the feel that I want so I'm going to let it stand for now and move on to another part of the painting tomorrow. The big

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-38390069950353762932011-08-20T13:13:00.000+01:002011-08-20T13:13:16.295+01:00

I have been doing a couple of hours a day over the last few days on the picture. I am using paint thinned with Liquin, concentrating on covering the canvas getting the  tones as accurate as I can. The paint is drying fairly quickly, allowing me to redraw with charcoal where necessary. I hope to have all the canvas covered and the drawing done in the next couple of days. I will

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-4040358182709812142011-08-15T12:44:00.000+01:002011-08-15T12:44:15.362+01:00

I have just started work on a new picture based on the recent dragon boat racing at the Nottingham festival. It is a 40 x 48 inch canvas so it is a big one fore me. This photo shows the canvas after about 3 or 4 hours work so it is very early days yet. At this stage I'm just trying to get the drawing and composition sorted out so I am using fairly thin paint. I will post more as the painting

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-79001218393371507882011-07-06T16:58:00.002+01:002011-07-06T17:12:26.623+01:00

It seems like an eternity since I last posted and I'm not going to bore anybody with my the reasons for my absence. Anyway, I am painting again - now with a new purpose built studio / picture framing workshop (see keith-wilkinson-frames.co.uk). This is a rework of an earlier picture - with the improved light in my new studio I could see the light on the grass was way off being far too warm and

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-90083824491144377802009-08-12T08:27:00.004+01:002009-08-27T14:02:20.949+01:00

Finally finished - I think. If nothing else, this project has opened my eyes to the possibility of painting more formal gardens with their ready-made structure and reflecting ponds. I might persue this idea because the pure English landscape becomes too dominated by green for my taste during the summer months.

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-89793336614910333702009-07-15T19:22:00.004+01:002009-08-12T08:27:05.799+01:00

A bigger challenge than usual this one. This 24 x 30 canvas of Sorolla's garden in Madrid is based on a photograph by Lubranco. I dont normally use other peoples photos but I couldn't resist this one. Because of the nature of the Creative Commons Licence, which forbids me to sell it, this painting is destined for my studio wall.

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-8835862908280467142009-06-28T12:24:00.000+01:002009-06-28T12:24:55.813+01:00

As the title suggests this was painted contre jour but, although it gives the sensation I was after, there is something that I'm not quite sure about yet and I can't put my finger on what it is. I will live with it for a while in the hope that it comes to me.

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-84783063197876749072009-06-25T11:45:00.002+01:002009-06-25T12:04:13.885+01:00

I mentioned recently about starting to grind my oil paints. Not only I have found the process really enjoyable but I'm impressed with the results too. Yes there is more variation in the consistency of the colours compared to those prepared by comercial manufacturers but I haven't found that to be a major problem. Some of my colours have actualy turned out to be noticeably brighter than there

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-63588290005572498002009-06-16T19:12:00.000+01:002009-06-16T19:13:14.797+01:00

The sun was out today and so was I. After a couple of hours searching for a subject this morning without any luck I was making my way back home when I stumbled on this subject. It was painted on a 14 x 16 canvas covered panel over about 3 hours during which time I met some lovely people. All in all a great day. If you are one of the people I met - hello again

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-88889092977659764052009-06-15T15:23:00.002+01:002009-06-15T15:40:24.797+01:00

This quickly painted 10 x 8 oil panel is the first painted using my new home -ground paints. The main interest here was the variety of hues in the water. great fun trying to keep up with the ever changing patterns of light. I think with these type of studies you need to map out the main patterns quickly and then stick to them.

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-2882553608237250852009-06-01T12:03:00.001+01:002009-06-01T12:18:30.392+01:00

I have not put my brushes away, honestly! Just to prove it here is one I'm working on at the moment. This is a 20 x 20 oil on linen. The frame doesn't mean that it's finished - I often put a piece into one of my stock frames as the work in nearing completion. This helps me judge how far to take the piece. Whilst I'm on the subject of frames, I am awaitng delivery of all the equipment and

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-71896984331004415202009-04-23T16:10:00.000+01:002011-10-26T03:44:43.697+01:00

Back to oils again with another view painted from my garden (the dandelions aren't mine by the way). This is a 10 x 12 oil on canvas painted in one wet. My initial motivation for this was the light on the rooftops. Aren't windows difficult? Very easy to overstate the detail of the frames!

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com423-47 Little Ln, Kimberley, Nottinghamshire NG16 2, UK52.992347807315213 -1.256593465805053752.992049307315213 -1.2572104658050538 52.992646307315212 -1.2559764658050536tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-54449340655603607992009-04-21T08:55:00.000+01:002009-04-21T08:56:04.802+01:00

I will be the first to admit that I am not a watercolourist (yet) but, as this is the first picture that I have done in weeks, and therefore a bit of a milestone, I thought it was worth posting. If you have seen my blog before you may know that I have been too preoccupied over the last couple of months to paint. Well things are improving. Dad is now settling in at the nursing home and I am keen

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-10148293267719354842009-02-18T08:48:00.004+00:002009-02-18T09:18:36.828+00:00

I feel I owe an explanation for my recent inactivity. Anyone who has followed me for a while may recall that I moved my studio to my fathers house towards the end of last year so I could be on hand to offer him more support. Since Christmas I have found myself spending more time doing things for my dad as his health deteriorated. Then, nearly a fortnight ago, I found him on the floor one morning,

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-90717816295140589192009-02-03T14:10:00.000+00:002009-02-03T14:10:55.782+00:00

Just testing an idea to see how it works. I did this today - very rough and ready (10 minutes tops) There was snow on the ground and the sky was quite heavy. The thing that interested me was the rythym set up by the glimpses of the snow though the hedge contrasting with the otherwise static horizontal bands. I think it might work as a big picture so I'm going to have a stab at a 48 x36. That

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-47496875054580513632009-01-09T15:21:00.004+00:002009-01-16T11:27:31.593+00:00

I have been experimenting with the texture of paint recently. Simple things like alternating the direction of brush strokes or changing the grip on the brush can impart a different quality to the surface. Unfortunately, such subtlety does not photograph well (at all!). In this painting that I finished this week the whole foreground was repainted in a couple of minutes after it had become too

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865580221101737461.post-19805965684528034722009-01-05T13:26:00.011+00:002009-01-07T09:30:04.697+00:00

This is a rework of Summer Landscape, a picture I posted a while ago. I had some concerns with the first version:the central tree on the previous version was dividing the picture in twoit lacked any obvious focal point the prominent foreground shadow led the eye out of the picture on the left hand sideDuly, the tree has been felled and a walker, accompanied by his dog, now makes his way across

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696037671317713168noreply@blogger.com5