Best in Show.......

"Best in Show"

I was both shocked and elated recently when I was asked to go to attend a presentation and meeting, as one of my paintings, "Make a Wish", had won Best in Show at the Redbridge Arts Association summer exhibition. 

Make a Wish

 This is a first for me at an exhibition so it still hasn't sunk in and i'm so very proud.. To cap it all off I was also awarded with this beautiful fine wooden box of 120 Derwent Colour Pencils, kindly donated by the Derwent Cumberland Pencil Company, thank you so so much to Derwent for your generosity. 

Redbridge Arts Association consists of six groups: 

Ilford Art Society
The photographers 
U3A Art group at St. Theresa’s 
U3A Fullwell Cross Art Group
Redbridge Marquetry Group
The Redbridge Art Group. 

Each year with the hard work, planning and dedication, and of one particular lady, Nora, and the generosity of Redbridge Council kindly allowing us the use of the wonderful listed building, we are able to put on a Summer Exhibition in the old Dovecote in Valentines park, Redbridge. As we didn't have so much space this year in the Dovecote, the art was displayed over three months in total, with each two groups showing their work for one month. As a member of the Ilford Art Society, I was part of the exhibition showing in July. Visitors to the exhibition each got the chance to vote for their favourite  painting if they wished to do so. Apparently because of length of time and the numbers who voted it has taken this long to sort out the winner. My thanks again to Nora for all her hard work, it's very much appreciated. 

This is a wonderful building and location to hold an exhibition and I hope to be part of it again and for some years to come. I will post the dates later in 2013 for the next one and hope you may be able to join us there. 

Special thanks to Steve Evans for the use of his photo as ref to the painting.

The Portrait Journey

The eyes shown in this post are from new collection of watercolour portraits I've been working on.

The eyes are almost always the first part I paint in any portrait. They are the soul of each person and the life of a painting, if I don't capture the feelings behind them, then I don't carry on with the painting, I start a fresh.

Whilst working on this new collection I knew I needed to push myself to achieve that extra something i'm always looking for each time I pick up my brush. This is part of the inspiration that keeps me painting.

As artists we need to grow continuously and we can only do this by experimenting and practice. It doesn't always result in a beautifully executed paintings, but that's the way we learn, and it all becomes part of the journey. No painting is ever a waste of time, quite the opposite, as we often learn more from our so called mistakes.  

For a long while I painted a variety of subjects, very often avoiding portraits, with an impression they were much to difficult for me, although I tried the occasional sketch from time to time.  It was mainly after the birth of my first  grandchild that I had the real desire to paint them. As artists we often change direction on our journey, enjoying various subjects along the way. Somewhere along that road most of us get drawn to a particular subject, one we really enjoy painting more than any other, one we feel more passionate about and become more inspired by, for me that subject is portraits.

As I have never had any formal training and am entirely self taught when it comes to portraits, it really has been down to lots of practice and experimenting, and most importantly the desire to paint them. I have however watched the endless free videos on Youtube that are so generously given by artists of all levels and will always be grateful for those who share them.

I would say the biggest help to me has been the studying of features done mostly by pencil artists.I can't stress enough how drawing skills comes in to play.  Becoming more comfortable with the understanding of a feature such as the eyes, along with being able to draw them reasonably well each time, leaves your mind free to paint and bring them to life. 

Practice painting just the features on scrap paper until you become more familiar with them, you'll be surprised the benefit of this when it comes to painting a complete portrait. Draw daily, even 5 min sketches and doodles, it all helps. I know I have a long way to go still and probably always will, but whenever possible I practice daily, even if only a quick sketch, and I can't tell you how much this has helped me. ....

I've written this partly as i've been asked many times how I got started in portraits, along with hearing so many other artists say, as I once did, how scared they were to attempt them and how difficult they are. They are no different to any other subject. All you need is the desire to paint them along with the discipline to practice. I don't think there is any subject more rewarding than this to paint.

Make a Wish....Video...

Make a Wish

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It is a long time coming and took quite a long time to edit as well. I didn't realise how hard it would be to video myself. Quite nerve racking at times, but at the same time so enjoyable. 

(Special Thanks to babasteve for generously sharing his photos)

I have made this in response to lots of requests from friends wishing to see how I work, especially painting portraits. Special friends that have supported me in my journey, this is for you with my thanks.

Make a Wish Video 

I've tried to share some of how I work in this video. Unfortunately because of the way I work there isn't any time to stop and change the angle of the video camera, or zoom in at various times. I also found once played back that I need to work on better lighting. it was quite a dark day, raining most of the time, which didn't help. It has left the painting a bit washed out, but i've shown photos of it at the end of the video which is nearer to the original. the other thing I found difficult was to talk as well, hence the music. Something else to work on for the next one.

*****

I work in various ways depending on mood and subject, this is one of the ways. Although you obviously need to learn techniques, I do believe a lot of it comes from how you feel. You need to feel what you are painting, which is what adds that something extra to it. 

I know this not a professional masterpiece, but I do hope you enjoy watching this and that it helps even a little on your journey in watercolours.

*****

I welcome you to join me on my Art Page on Facebook.