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…

Osteospermum ecklonis, 18 June 2013

This is the first sketch I’ve made in a couple of weeks. It was a trial run for a new French-style easel. The painting depicts a pretty little flower with striking yellow petals. I painted it in Winsor and Newton acrylics on Crawford & Black canvas. I tried to keep this as simple as possible…

Osteospermum ecklonis, 1 June 2013

A sunny day and a sunny flower. Today’s sketch is a coloured pencil drawing on pastel paper of an Osteospermum ecklonis. I was particularly drawn to this flower by its lovely yellow petals.

Erysimum Mutabile #1

These tiny flowers fell off an Erysimum Mutabile, bought yesterday at Norton Priory’s plant fair. They’re now living in a jam jar. I’ve never seen a plant like this before. The flowers bloom yellow and gradually turn purple over time. The combination of yellows and purples on the same plant is gorgeous. This is a…

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…