Steel Worker - Mark 2

Though being very pleased with the painting of the Steel Worker, my eye was continually being drawn to those horrible stark white lines in the bottom right hand corner. They were caused by my extremely poor application of candle wax, which I thought would be a good way to generate some highlights for the wet factory floor. I didn't think it through properly and hadn't appreciated just how bold white highlights would look against such a dark background.

Anyway, though trying to resist the temptation to 'fiddle', and despite my wife's protestations that I would ruin the picture, I eventually gave in and tackled the problem. It took several layers of muddy watercolour applied thickly and dried with a hairdrier between coats to finally cover the wax. Then I added a little texture by use of some greys and oranges mixed with a little white gouache. Though I'm not at all pleased with that corner of the painting, it is an improvement on what was there before.

Steel Worker

Here is something radically different for me. I wanted to experiment with lights and darks, in fact, I wanted to try and create 'dazzle'. This subject fitted the bill perfectly, though I usually back away from painting people. So this one proved to be a double challenge.

I have to say that I'm quite pleased with it in general. As always, there are things that didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped, and there are things I'd do different next time. But I guess that's the nature of our art. Are we ever totally satisfied? We certainly never stop learning.

Artist Showcase

As my regular followers will know, I like to showcase artists and their work on my web site. For the first time, I've invited an artist back to do a second showcase. It is my good friend Ingrid Ormestad and I'm delighted to be displaying a new selection of her work. I find Ingrid's excellent use of wet-in-wet quite inspirational and I know of nobody who does it better. To see Ingrid's showcase, click here ... Artists Showcase

If any of my blog followers would like to be showcased, please use this contact form to get in touch.

Rose

This is something different for me, and I'm quite pleased with it.

Most of us have a favourite Rose, or a Rose that has a special meaning to us. Like many pet owners, when our beloved dogs pass on, we like to buy something for the garden as a token of remembrance. Our last pet was a brindle greyhound/sheepdog cross called Tess. Soon after she died we came across a rose at a garden centre called "Tess of the D'urbervilles" and we just had to buy it.

This Rose has no special meaning. It is just one of the Minature Rose varieties, but it's small size in no way detracts from it's beauty.

Gulf Challenge

A short while ago, Sandra included me in her Gulf Challenge. Here is my effort.

Lime Kiln - Mark 2

Well, I did the Lime Kiln in watercolour and I'm really glad I did. When I first chose this subject I had considered it to be an easy picture and when I found it more difficult than I'd expected I thought it was because of the acrylics. Having done it now in watercolour I realise that the picture was harder than it looked. I'm not sure which I prefer and there is less of a difference in them than I'd expected. The acrylic looks flatter somehow.

It's been an interesting exercise and quite eye-opening.