Less beautiful people make the best models. This week I discovered how people with more character in their faces contribute to making the most interesting paintings.
This picture is about a life model who had a very amazing head shape. In this painting, I am halfway through and hope to have finished it next Sunday.
I still have fine hair details to include and I must get the interesting skin tones and textures sorted.
Only time will tell whether I manage to do justice to this man’s interesting face. Whatever the outcome I shall post my result in a future post.
I’m creating a collection of small finely painted works that contain expressions of the alphabet.
Here are the first 10. Further blogs will have letters J through to Z.
These delightful small oblong paintings with initials might make lovely gifts for those wanting monograms in art. Or these are great for people WFH and they want their initials for their surname displayed on their bookshelf.
It was sad that Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday, last week. I didn’t realise. I was at a work party. Then, on my way home, I saw all the adverts on the bus shelter portray TFL’s tribute/ perhaps public announcement. This is because all digital posters were saying the same thing. They all said Queen Elizabeth II 1926 to 2022 on a grey background. It was not too unlike the image below. That was my first indication that something had changed. I was very surprised.
Today I have been watching her coffin leave Balmoral and travel to Edinburgh. The road from Balmoral to the East is a road I had also travelled when I lived in Aberdeen as an MSc student at the University of Aberdeen. When the BBC TV presenters were calling out the towns like Banchory and Stonehaven as well as Donatoar Castle while the beautiful helicopter camera view of the journey televised its hearse tracking, it brought back my good memories of the Scottish countryside. It also felt quite moving.
Today it felt fitting to create some etchings and quick paint sketchings and draft paintings in royal purple. These are unfinished works. Below are images using purple. I sometimes shy away from purple, but since Queen Elizabeth II’s death, I’ve seen the Empire State Building shine her image amidst purple lights. Purple is currently a big theme.
Queen Elizabeth’s coffin is due to arrive in London via Northolt Airport (not far from where I live). I remember going to Northolt airport 25 years ago to watch Diana’s coffin arrive from Paris, and I (with some friends) watched it travel down the tunnel for the A40. In fact, I’m inclined to go to the A40 on Tuesday to pay my respects to Queen Elizabeth as the hearse makes its way into central London. If I get any pictures, I will post them here. The ritual of watching dignitaries and their coffins travel by road via TV reminds me of when I watched Nelson’s Mandella televised coffin travelling to its burial site in 2013. It is amazing what TV can allow you to do nowadays.
This week I have been developing my mixed media practice by doing an intensive full 10-day course at CSM. More on that in a later post.
However, the weekend took my sister and me out to explore our local high street, introducing her to all the amazing colourful things the different shops provide.
I took her to our local cinema, an art house cinema converted into a cinema from an old library on the high street. It also has an art gallery which you can see in the featured picture, above. They do life drawing sessions there on a Wednesday.
I was one of the founding members. During covid, I donated more money than I would normally to a project or charity because I love film and I like my local high street.
The cinema developers/ organisers then rewarded us by calling us early donators, The Founder Members. And to express their appreciation, they recently put our names on a plaque in the cinema doorway.
The plaque at the doorway of Act One cinema celebrating and thanking donators
Recognition
It was a delight to see my own name on the plaque. I remember them asking how we wanted our names in an email. I can see other people who asked to express themselves, their groups, or their family. However, I am with just my name on the plaque. It is nice to get recognition and public reward for giving to the arts.
Raising funds for another screen.
The cinema has another goal to get a second screen. If you would also like to give to the arts, here is the link for their current fundraising round. https://www.spacehive.com/actonesecondscreen
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