'Through the Surf'

'Through the Surf'
49" x 12"
Oil on box canvas, 2011

Due to some issues with the big Friesian painting taking forever to dry between layers I have managed to get this painting finished while waiting!

When I was visiting Saltburn beach with family last April there was a young girl and her TB enjoying a good canter up and down. I was stood on the pier looking down when I took the photos that I based this painting on and thought it would suit this long thin canvas that I have had sat prepped for ages.

The edges of the box canvas are painted, I'll try and get a photo of it on the wall when the light is a bit better.

Bit hard to see such a long thin canvas on screen so here is a close up too...

More on the big Friesian

Another update on this 35" x 35".

I had to wait nearly a week for it to dry enough to work on again, so this is just a few more hours spent applying detail in titanium white over the top. The majority of this painting will be produced using layers of white detail followed by dark glazes over the top, mainly because when I am working with just one colour I can stop and start very easily and make the most of small windows of time that I might get! I can always rely on my small children to wake up from a nap or need me for something just as I get going, so this way I can stop right away and just pick up where I left off!

All go!

For the first time so far in my 365 2011 project I painted from a photo rather than from life today, and I found it so much easier! All the more reason to carry on I think! The painting is pictured above, 14" x 10" oil on paper, sketched in 18 minutes.

Spent another hour or so roughly sketching in darks and highlights on the new big painting too today, pictured below. Productive day!

New original started.

Feels like it has been so long since I was last working on a proper original so I'm really excited to get properly started on this one. It is 35" x 35" on linen box canvas. I decided I might like the background colour to show through in the horse's coat so once the canvas was gesso'd and sanded to smoothness I put the background colour on and drew on top of that.

Today I put the first paint on the horse, just the darks sketched in really, but it is fun to see the foundations of the painting (above). Rigged up the photography required to create a time laspe video documenting it's creation so excited about that too!

Day 8...

I'm over a week into my 365-2011 painting project and so far I have managed a painting every day and enjoyed it! On a less positive note though, turns out I am RUBBISH at painting like this- fast, and from life!

Some of my efforts (actually, most) so far have been truly embarrassing but I have been true to my word and gone straight in with the paint, no drawing, and stopped when my half hour timer buzzer goes off... in some ways I am pleased I'm so dreadful as it will make the journey all the more interesting and I'm sure I must improve after a whole year of doing it? Plus, I really do think my usual work will benefit, even if I do approach it in an almost completely opposite way! The above is my third attempt at a little pony figurine I have had since my childhood. If you want a laugh just visit my 365-2011 Flickr album to see my other attempts at it, not to mention other crimes against art!

My next big original is all drawn out over a plain blue background so hoping to get that started tomorrow, can't wait!

365-2011 painting a day project

Today I made a start on my goal to paint an oil sketch every single day of 2011, to improve my observation skills, paint handling, to loosen me up a little, and to basically learn lots by pushing myself right out of my comfort zone! I usually paint carefully with tiny brushes and string out my paintings for weeks so using BIG brushes painting alla prima at speed is throwing myself right in the deep end!

The rules that I have set myself are simple:

1. Each painting may take absolutely no longer than 30 minutes.
2. 1 painting to be produced every day in 2011.
3. Paintings are to be from life wherever possible
4. The end result really doesn't matter, it's the process that matters!

Have decided that I'd rather store all the paintings online in an album rather than a blog, to make them easier to look through, so I have set up a Flickr album here. If you ever need a good giggle then by all means stop by and see how I'm doing hahaha!

Happy New Year!

2011

2010 has been a great year for me painting wise, so I am really excited about what 2011 will hold!

I have been enjoying a complete break since finishing all my commissions at the end of November but now find myself raring to go again. I have a few very large canvases prepped and ready to start (the first of which is pictured above- a bit different! 39" x 24"!), and some interesting commissions already booked in for later in the year.

My focus in 2011 will very much be on my own work, with commissions taking more of a back seat. I'd love to see some real development in my style and skill over the course of the year so I have decided to make 2011 the year to really challenge myself! First of all I am going to be doing a painting a day in half an hour or less, and posting it on here. I work in such tight detail usually, I think forcing myself to work a bit more freely, from life wherever possible, will really help me. My daily paintings will be much more about the process than the finished product but hopefully they won't ALL be total rubbish! :-D Quite a big project I guess but it's only 30 mins a day max so I'm determined to give it a bash!

In addition to my painting a day I am hoping to get a place on the Society of Equestrian Artists annual workshop which is taking place in June this year. I have been desperate to attend for a few years now but have either been too pregnant or too tied up with babies (or both!) so this will be my first opportunity!

Other than that I hope that 2011 will see me produce some successful original paintings that I can be really proud of, and hopefully release a few more prints too.

So, lots for me to look forward to!

Hope you all had a great 2010, and wish you all the best for 2011!