Glass Vase, 16 August 2013

The glass vase depicted here was a recent present from my Great Uncle Fred. In it are some gladioli that I sketched in an earlier post (Gladioli, 9 August 2013). I started off this sketch in gouache with the intention of possibly heightening some areas with chalk pastels. In the end a lot more pastel…

Gladioli, 9 August 2013

This is the first painting I’ve done in gouache since completing an HND Illustration course at Falmouth School of Art in 1993. I (vaguely) remember using gouache there mainly for life science work. I hadn’t thought of using gouache since then until seeing some excellent and inspiring work by a student exhibiting in the annual…

Sunflowers, 31 July 2013

I’ve not been doing much drawing or painting of late. The one painting on which I have sporadically been working (a relatively large painting of Kew Gardens from a photograph I took a few years ago) seems to be taking an eternity. When paintings take so long they tend to wear down my energy and…

Snowdrops #1

It’s a beautiful morning here in North West England – too nice to be stuck inside all day staring at a monitor. These snowdrops have been looking in fine fettle for a week or two, and I took the opportunity this fine weather offered to pop outside and do a quick drawing of them. It’s…

Daffodils #4

Most of my ‘gallery’ or commissioned paintings (as opposed to sketches) are currently produced over several sessions. Other than still life paintings, they are more often than not painted from photographic reference. During the course of their production over several weeks and months much of their initial freshness can become lost, along with some of…