Escher’s Crackers: the beginning

So, this is my finale, the December painting for my calendar. I have not yet done February, and I may do another September (though still with full moon, and thank you for pointing me in that direction, those of you who did, the idea was a good one; the actual execution on my part was a bit rubbish, that’s all!). But by any sensible measure, December in a calendar may be considered something of a finale. So… what with friends moving to our little village, and other friends having 50th birthdays, work has been a little light this week. I…

The Intrepid Explorer: finished!

Fireworks!!! I have to admit I’m quite pleased with the way this one turned out, so I will let the pictures speak for themselves while I move on to the next one for the calendar. I have February and December left, plus that pesky September, which I think could be improved upon…. Here are a couple of close-up bits: the scan will show the painting in sharper detail but it will take a while until I have time to make scans of all 12 paintings. That will be a project in itself, since it will take 4 scans of each…

The Intrepid Explorer: part 2

Work continues on ‘The Intrepid Explorer’. If you missed the previous post, see that one for all my ‘shading’ work. Now on goes the colour. This is gouache, a water-based paint, and most of it I will be washing off in a minute, which is handy, as I am temporarily obliterating my careful painting, bit by bit: Usually I would fill in with the base background colour at this stage but I feel there should be an impression of fireworks in the background. I resorted to a random splattering of paint… not my usual thing, but it will probably come…

The Intrepid Explorer sets off…

…and I have reached November in the calendar paintings. Every painting is something of a journey, but perhaps never quite so risky an endeavour as this little fellow’s: I have finished the ‘blue stage’ of this painting, next for the colour. More pictures will follow… Remember, do not play with fireworks: always remember to hide inside a jam-jar to avoid nasty burns! That is all my advice for today, I have paintings to paint, and, as it happens, bonfires to light, but that’s quite unconnected.

Nacreous Fairies

I have a slight fascination with the word nacreous because to me, it never sounds like it should. It has a sinister sound to it, something repellent, there are undertones of putrefaction in there. It is something that appears to be sound, but it glistens with decay. What nacreous actually means is ‘of or pertaining to Nacre’. And Nacre is merely the scientific term for Mother of Pearl: that lovely shimmery coating inside shells. It is also what pearls are made of. It doesn’t sound right. I think it is the aural closeness the word has to necrotic, narcotic, narcosis,…

Finished painting: The Pumpkin Fairies

…and barely pausing for breath (though I did in fact pause to prune several small apple trees) I have another painting finished! Click on the image and click again and you will be able to see it in quite some detail. Here’s the whole thing: It may be the picture for October in my calendar, but it seems very appropriate for the time of year we have now. Apparently we are moving into autumn without really having paused for summer. It’s that kind of time when there are strange fruits lurking in the garden waiting to be picked. The spiders…

Pumpkin Fairies again…

I skipped life drawing today, on the basis that I was so busy that I would either like to relax (it being Saturday) or get on with some artwork that I actually had to do. Certainly not take a day off and do extra artwork… As it turned out I have been hard at work painting. Here is the painting after its turn under the shower: I have been getting on rather quickly at this point on account of using only three colours for the ‘colouring in’ stage. Now, many washes of more colour later and it looks like this:…

Pumpkin Fairies

The painting of the October picture continues…. I am tempted to paint the whole thing orange after this initial ‘shading’ work – orange pumpkin and orange fairies as if they have emerged from the substance of the pumpkin. I made the inside of the pumpkin dark so that their faces would show up looking out, rather than have the innards of the pumpkin glow as in a traditional Jack o’ Lantern, as then I would have to paint all their legs and everything standing around in the pumpkin, which didn’t seem at all the sort of way it looked in…

Cheating

Just the briefest of posts, because I am still painting for all I’m worth to get this calendar finished. When I have not been painting, we have had guests, or an exhibition on, and when there’s been no distractions, I have been painting. Hence this blog has been short on posts. However I thought I should show you the picture for April: Huge sigh of relief, after the girly ‘September’ picture, this is one I am happy with and I like the colours. I wanted to call it ‘Poker Face’ but not one of them seems to be any good…

Snakes, Ladders & Exhibitions

This weekend I have an exhibition as part of our Spring Farm Arts group, more on that can be found on the Spring Farm Arts website, and if you are passing, do come in and see me, say hello, and spend all your money 🙂 This means the calendar paintings are delayed… again… and since most people reading this are nowhere near where I live, (Somerset, UK), I thought a little light entertainment online would be in order, while you wait for the next painting. Yes, you guessed it, another niece had a birthday, and the Spelling Animals are back: