A satisfying day tidying up the garden yesterday, as its winter hiatus draws to a merciful close, threw up some unexpected delights in the shape of a handful of Chinese Lantern (Physalis alkekengi) husks. I find this plant and its flowers magical and have returned to draw and paint it at regular intervals over recent…
Author: simonbirtall
I am an artist and art tutor based in Merseyside, UK. I paint in an Impressionist-influenced technique in oils or acrylics on canvas and make drawings in pencil, pen, pastels and more.
Scruffy Man Paints Himself
This self portrait was made a couple of weeks ago, on 29th January 2015. Painted in acrylics on the back of some mount board, it (perhaps unsurprisingly) depicts myself. When wanting to make a figure study from life the self offers a certain convenience. Keen-eyed observers will note that I made little effort to ‘brush…
Thinking Outside the Recycling Box
I have recently started recycling materials – mainly cardboard packaging – as alternative surfaces to canvas or paper. This move probably has its origins in the production of Keep an Eye on the Amaryllis #5, which was painted in acrylics on cardboard, and a self portrait painted on the back of some mount board. However,…
Keep an Eye on the Amaryllis #5
Probably my final go this year at capturing the lifespan of an amaryllis plant, this is the fifth in a series of sketches, made 12 days after the previous attempt (Keep an Eye on the Amaryllis #4), on 28th January this year. By now the poor amaryllis was well past its best – its flowers…
Keep an Eye on the Amaryllis #4
This study is a follow-up to previous sketches of the same amaryllis plant, and was painted 5 days after the last post (see Keep an Eye on the Amaryllis #3), on 16 January 2015. At this point the amaryllis was in full flower, looking at its blooming best. The 16 January painting, pictured here, was…
Drawing Upon Life 