Showing posts with label tree. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tree. Show all posts

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Getting to Grips


Amazed to find myself painting for the second time in one week - this is beginning to become a habit! Its so nice to wake up in the morning and find myself really looking forward to working on something.

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.”

Old Chinese Proverb

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Trees and Garden



Today was another study day - studying trees and trying to work out how to paint trees so that they look natural but painterly.
I am struggling with trees. I'm not sure what the answer is but I feel it lies in brushwork and controlling the paint. The learning process goes on.


This morning the sun was shining through under the trees and over our garden wall, highlighting one side of the guardhouse at the front gate. The chairs are where our armed guards sit and have their tea on sunny days. The 18" metal spikes that surround the property are a constant reminder of the security threat, along with the double layer of metal bars on every window

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Revisiting Missouri


I came back to this reference today to put into practice some things that I have been reading about. Slightly different crop this time. I'm much happier with this version and feel that I am beginning to make a breakthrough with bringing my foregrounds forward and pushing back the background. The tree also seems to have more substance and I feel a lot happier about its structure. Sketching priorities for the next few days is to do some work on trees. I am also very happy that there is a feeling of early evening to this piece. I do need to work on my brushstrokes more, looking at other artist's work I'm aware of what a difference the use of different strokes makes to a piece.

I've been trying to find a picture by Sargent that I had seen a while back (dining table with silver dishes on it) - if anyone knows the one I mean I would be very grateful if you could give me a URL. Its been driving me crazy not being able to find it!

New Year's Resolution 8 - Practice techniques.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Lake Sinclair


A couple of sketches from Georgia.
New Year's resolution No 1 - Do some art every day - even if only a sketch.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Crazy Mix



Nothing like painting ice-cream to make you paint fast!! I think someone on the outside looking in would have been rather amused by my running up and down stairs with a choc-ice. I painted a bit then took it back down to the freezer while I worked a bit more on building up the painting, then running back downstairs to pick up my model and work for another few minutes before having to return it to the freezer. I gave up after the third time and just ate the it!

A quick pastel - its hard to do anything outside because of the security situation here. But the golden light on the changing leaves just wouldn't be ignored. I'm really not at ease doing anything like this so it took a concentrated effort to try and pull this together.

I've been looking at the Fauvist group of artists in my research on use of colour and have found a lot of what Michael Newberry had talked to me about - using cool colours for distant objects to push them back. So for example - a red object in the distance to use magentas and more blue reds. Matisse is a master of colour and uses its hue to move objects in space as does Derain. I was delighted to find that Dufy, who is a favourite of mine (such happy, cheerful paintings!, was also a fauvist. What a great art movement.

Deborah Ross kindly commented on my blog and so I went to take a look at hers and she was talking about a poem she had read but then couldn't find. I thought I would have a look and see if I could find it and came across this - not sure if it was what she was looking for but it realy spoke to me..... I also found through Deborah's blog the Sketchbook Project which has wonderful things going on. I wish I had found this sooner as I would love to have taken part in the latest project but with mailing times to and from here it would leave me less than a month to fill up and entire sketchbook and I am not sure I could do that! Going to keep an eye on this and maybe join in something else.

"From the start, From my Heart, That's really art!"
Randy Vanlandingham
all artwork is copyright of Anita Murphy 2006/2007/2008/2009