It’s been difficult to fit in much painting of late for one reason and another (workshops, admin, art group shenanigans), but I was determined to fit in one today in order to dedicate it to my wife’s Oma, whose birthday it is. Something told me last week when I bought these flowers that I should…
Category: Oils
In Praise of Alkyds
These days I like to vary the media with which I paint, in turn embracing the unique qualities of oils, acrylics and alkyds respectively. I’ve been working with Winsor & Newton alkyd paints for over 20 years; most of my pre-2010 work (and around half subsequently) labelled ‘oils on canvas’ on my website (www.birtall.co.uk) was…
All Teeth and No Trousers
I have recently been doing some research into the working methods of John Constable in preparation for a forthcoming painting workshop, Big Skies, paying particular attention to his oil studies on paper and board. Inspired to give working in oils on paper a go, this oil sketch, made yesterday, is the first result. The paper…
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…
A Poinsettia isn’t Just for Christmas
With a few hours to spare today I thought I’d attempt the production of a semi-festive, seasonal painting. I don’t know why poinsettias are so closely related to Christmas (perhaps some research might have been in order here) but accepting that they are, I felt they’d make a good subject for a quickie. The most…
Drawing Upon Life 