Another Day

Anne's Face, August 3

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 09:08:00 +0000

I had another attempt at Anne's face last session.

Naked Man Holding a Cup

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:09:00 +0000

Naked Man Holding a Cup. A quick silverpoint drawing I did at my last life drawing session. This was done with a biggish piece of stirliing silver onto a light yellow toned gouache paper. I've proven to myself that silverpoint doesn't have to be all painstaking fine lines and cross hatching. I really liked the natural pose. This was just as he was standing naturally during our coffee break. I prefer these poses to the more contrived poses that models are often encouraged to assume in life drawing classes.

Anne's Face

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:04:00 +0000

A detail of Anne's face after another session.

Silver Point Drawing

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:58:00 +0000

I've been doing more drawing recently, trying out different mediums, and I thought I would try out the ancient technique of silver point. Siver point is, as the name suggests, simply drawing with a sharpened piece of silver onto paper that has been prepared with a coating of gouache to impart a tooth. For my first atempt I sketched Dale sat knitting whilst watching TV. A rare occasion that finds her sat still!

Anne in Chair - sitting

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:02:00 +0000

I have been working on Anne's fluoresent orange plastic crocs and struggling to relate how I see everything to the chair I painted. Perhaps Pearlstein knows something afterall.. I have had to move the chair up in relation to the figure slightly. It's still a constant juggling act at this stage for me, I find. I've begun Anne's face and she is looking rather fierce. I feel the face needs to be smaller perhaps.

Slow Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 10:18:00 +0000

Here is the progress so far on the portrait of Anne. I worked on her clasped hands which are in a strong focal point in the composition. I'm not happy with them and they will need repainting, however it gives me something to relate everything else to.

I also have started to establish the chair itself. I worked on it when she wasn't there. Just a couple of pillows and her fluorescent orange crocs..! I am always conscious of wasting peoples time, just sitting for my benefit. Painting from life always seems such a self indulgent activity in many ways. I read somewhere that the American figurative painter Phillip Pearlstein insists that his models are sitting there even when he's painting the furniture... but that seems a bit excessive to me. Sometimes I wonder if you perhaps have to be a bit of a sadist to paint people from life. Bowls of apples don't make me feel so guilty.

Self Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 09:38:00 +0000

Self Portrait in Fading Light III

Oil on Arches paper

212x205mm

Self Portrait in Fading Light IV

Oil on paper

170x110mm

Self Portrait in Fading Light II

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 08:34:00 +0000

Self Portrait in Fading Light II

Oil on gessoed Arches paper

The light at this time of year really does fade fast in the afternoon and that is my usual painting time. Working in the half light is interesting because the distracting details get lost and you can concentrate on the forms.

Self Portrait in Fading Light

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:14:00 +0000

Self Portrait in Fading Light

Oil on gessoed Arches paper

200x165mm

Oil paint on paper has a special quality about it that I find quite sensuous. I worked with the paint very thin and used my fingers and a rag to blend the colour and reveal the texture of the paper. I wanted to try and capture the mysterious quality of the fading light and wasn't too concerned about getting proportions correct.

Anne in Chair - 2nd sitting

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:15:00 +0000

The first session with paint, just blocking in and adjusting some proportions.

A Still Life Monoprint

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:54:00 +0000

I wanted to try a monoprint using the slow dryng Open Acrylics. I used a rectangle of white perspex as my plate. Being white this made it easier to see what I was doing. I spent quite a while working on the plate, probably as long as I would on a regular painting. Regular acrylics would not allow you to do this as they dry too quickly.

Here is the image I pulled off it, printing on a small ethching press. The image is of course reversed. I wasn't too happy with it really. I thought it looked better o the perspex plate! However, regarding it as a learning process I perservered. There is usually a ghost of the image left on the plate after printing, so I reworked the image more loosely this time and produced the two further prints below. They are a bit more lively, but I still wasn't happy with them.

I was wiping the plate clean when I thought I'd give it one more chance. I like this one the best of the lot.

Anne Sat in a Chair - 1st Sitting

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Sat, 22 May 2010 11:39:00 +0000

I have made an initial start on the large portrait of Anne Sitting. As is usual when painting, your present work will spawn new ideas for further work and exploration. While I was painting Anne's portrait last year, I realised that a more complete picture with her sitting in the chair would be a truer and more compelling portrait. She habitually wears many layers of dark clothes and has these lurid orange plastic shoes. The shoes became a problem for me on the last portrait as they kept distracting my eye, and I asked her to wear different ones. It became something of a joke between us, and we both agreed that for this painting she should wear them.

I began our first sitting by making a few preliminary drawings. Drawing is always a good way to get to know a subject. It doesn't matter that they are rough or crude; they are not intended to be finished artworks. They are working drawings and you start to get a feel for where potential problems are going to be. With this painting, the multiple layers of clothing with collars and zips, and the complex folds will be challenging to paint.

I also took a few photographs. Even though I find photo's difficult to work from, I find them potentially usefull for recording different positioning and changing light effects.

Quite often in the past, I haven't bothered with drawing onto the canvas before jumping straight in with the paints. Maybe because it has been so long since I have worked on a canvas this size, but I seem to have lost confidence in that approach. So this time, I sketched in a rough drawing, using charcoal and a large brush dipped in water to correct my many mistakes.

Stretching Linen Canvas

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Fri, 14 May 2010 04:42:00 +0000

I have been stretching a large linen canvas canvas for a new painting of Anne Holiday. It's the largest canvas I've prepared for some time and I'd forgotten what a difficult and time consuming job it is! I construct my own stretcher frames using timber that I've had beveled on one side. This is necessary so that the stretcher bars will not touch and show through on the surface of the painting. I cross-brace the frame for strength, otherwise it will warp.

Stretching linen is always difficult. It's harder to stretch than cotton and in spite of what the experts say, in my experience I have found that it fluctuates more with humidty changes than cotton does. In fact you have to be very carefull not to overstretch it if it is raw unprimed canvas like I am using. Once the linen is primed with acrylic gesso it shrinks and goes tight as a drum, often distorting the frame and even tearing. I have often read that it is easier to stretch whilst wet, so this time I thought I'd try this method. I found however, that while it was indeed easier to stretch, once it had dried out it went very slack. I thought it might improve once I'd gessoed it, but it was still as limp as a flag in the breeze and useless for painting on.

There was nothing for it other than to pull the staples out and restretch it. The photo below shows how much more it stretched, the gessoed line being at the original edge of the stretcher.

Monoprints

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:57:00 +0000

Recently I was playing around with trying out some monoprinting. A monoprint or monotype is essentially a simple transfer print from glass,plastic or metal plate. The plate is painted or inked and drawn into and wiped and smudged to produce various results, and then printed onto paper. I used a small press, but it's also possible to simply rub the back of the paper with the back of a spoon,or use a print roller. The image prints in reverse and you only get one print. Hence "mono" print. However, usually there is still the ghost of the image left on the surface of the plate, and this can then be reworked to produce another print. It encourages working in series and can be quite addictive!

The use of myself as subject matter was incidental really, and I hardly even looked in the mirror. I just wanted to experiment, and the first ones above were done with etching ink and oil paint onto a copper plate. Then I tryed using acrylic paint. Because of it's fast drying time I had to work very fast and they were executed in about a minute or less. There is a new type of slow drying acrylic available - Golden's Open Acrylic - and I have just ordered some to try out. I also discovered, much to my surprise that if I drew directly into the paint with a soft graphite pencil, the marks were transferred perfectly.

I was using various small samples of fine paper and I was rather pleased with the serendipity of this one on a paper called "Husk".

Inna

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Wed, 12 May 2010 09:39:00 +0000

Recently I had the opportunity to do some painting from life. Inna is a young woman from Jeruselum, traveling New Zealand. She saw my exhibition in New Plymouth and emailed to ask if I knew of any artists requiring a professional model. It seemed too good an opportunity to miss so we ended up working together for about ten days. As well as being beautiful and charming, I found Inna very intelligent and good company and I learned a lot about Israel and the sensitive political situation there, a subject I'm all too ignorant of.

Here are a couple of oil sketchs on paper we did. I started two larger paintings, however, Inna's time in Taranaki was limited and so they remain uncompleted. I have got photographs and a few drawings, so I may be able to do some more work on them in the near future. But it's never the same for me, not having the sitter's phisical presence. I'm coming to the realisation that for me, at least, the interaction with the subject is everything and the painting is only a secondary record.

Dale Sitting on the Edge of a Bed

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Tue, 04 May 2010 05:34:00 +0000

Two Self Portraits on Gessoed Paper

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Tue, 04 May 2010 05:30:00 +0000

A couple of self portraits I did while experimenting with gessoed paper as the support. It seems to encourage a fresher and more free approach. I also like the torn edges of the paper.

Portrait of Anne (Completed version)

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Mon, 03 May 2010 08:01:00 +0000

Anne

Oil on linen on MDF

390x445mm

Finaly! This is the finished version of the portrait of Anne Holiday. It was a finalist in the 2010 Adam's Portraiture Award. A somewhat dubious honour.

Life is an Everyday Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:23:00 +0000

It was a difficult show to hang with most of the works being such small paintings and I decided to hang them in "clouds".

Exhibition Opening - Life is An Everyday thing

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 06:43:00 +0000

Here are some snaps of my exhibition opening with fellow artist Anne Holliday, at the Real Tart

Gallery, New Plymouth.

Paint Cap - Nickel Titanate Yellow

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:53:00 +0000

Paint Cap - Nickel Titanate Yellow

Oil on gessoed card

50x50mm

$80

Portrait Of Anne 8th Sitting

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:05:00 +0000

Another day and I feel like another futile attempt to achieve what I'm after. I am struggling and getting no further forward. Full of doubt and a deep-seated sense of inadequacy...

Portrait Of Anne 7th and a half Sitting

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:21:00 +0000

I wasn't very happy with the painting last session and feeling frustrated I did some work on it from memory afterwards.

Felt a bit more contented but I fear I've given poor Anne a black eye in the process..!

Postcard From MDS - Homage From PJH

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:20:00 +0000

Postcard From MDS - Homage From PJH

Oil on gessoed hardboard

210x210mm

This is a small painting I have been working on over the last few days. It is for a calendar and fundraiser auction for the Taranaki Womens Refuge. The theme was to be a Taranaki one and I felt that none of my so called "postcard" paintings - http://postcardfrompuniho.blogspot.com - were suitable. I'd been looking at this postcard reproduction of a rather famous and well known New Zealand painting by my friend and mentor Michael Smither, and I had the idea of doing a painting within a painting kind of thing. I stuck the postcard on my studio wall with bluetac, and put the old bottle with red pencil in front. I've always liked the apparently incongruous, and almost surreal bright red tactor on the skyline, that contrasts so dramaticly with the cold grey Taranaki stones in Michaels painting, and I wanted the red pencil to echo that. The little Walt Disney figurine of Pluto, has already recently found it's way into my paintings. I like the humourous aspect of it, as though he is eagerly awaiting his walk on the beach. Or perhaps it's the faithful hound waiting at his master's feet...? Also, I've always found a slight Disneyish quality in Smither's colours and distinctive hard-edged and stylised forms.

Rocks With Mountain

Michael Smither 1968

Oil on Hardboard

1219x1600mm

Michael Smither was one of the first real artists I ever met. He came to my very first exhibition I held in the Taranki Society of Arts Brougham Street Gallery in New Plymouth in 1976, and introduced himself, giving me lots of practicle advice and encouragement. For a while in the early 80's I shared studio space with him in King Street and I learned a great deal about painting from watching him working. Never having had the privilidge of going to any art school, I still regard this as the closest thing I've ever had to an art education.

Portrait Of Anne 7th Sitting

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Hutchinson) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:41:00 +0000

Another session yesterday. I started by applying some thin glazes on the left side of Anne's face trying to add a bit of depth to the shadow areas. Then I worked into that, using slightly more impasto paint. Last week I was struggling so much in bad lighting conditions that I turned on an electric light to give a bit more ambient light to her right side, and I quite like it so we've decided to keep it. I've added cadmium orange to my palette. It is a strangely cool orange that I've never been able to duplicate using cadmium yellow and red and as a tint with lots of white it makes a good colour for flesh lit by electric light. The same goes for alizarian crimson or rose madder tints. The left side of her face is picking up the natural light from the windows on that side and I'm using terre vert, raw umber, mars violet and ivory black.

I was still not happy about something and I came to the conclusion I had the eyes too close together. Much to Anne's consternation, I made the decision to scrape out her left eye and shift it over a bit. I'm still not certain it was the right thing to do - I'm not very happy with it at all. Growing pains. In fact, this morning I attempted to do some more work on it, relying simply on memory and I fear I have only succeeded in making it worse. Its very frustrating.