Four Aberdare chapels

Now nearing completion. Acrylic cut outs on acrylic on mdf. 4 foot x 2 foot. Need to touch up and apply come matt varnish to unify surface and keep the cut outs stuck down.

Aberdare Chapel

This chapel is just up the road from us on Wind Street Aberdare, this time with coloured ink, indian ink and masking fluid.

Aberdare Chapels

Carrying on with sketches ready for a possible postcard and large wall painting. Watercolour and ink with white resist. Carrying on to find a good balance or colour harmony.

Chapel frieze

St Elvan's Church, Aberdare

Sketch of St Elvan's Church which now the trees have lost thier leaves, is actually visible from the town centre. Ink wash, oil pastel and watercolour and acrylic.

Chapel painting

Still experimenting with pen and wash to complete a chapel painting for the waiting room next door. Tried this with overlapping buildings without their roofs. Lines painted with brush and overlain with ink and watercolour washes. Will go for roofs on next study with more gradation in thickness of line.

St John's Church, Aberdare

A small sketch of the church using wax resist in white and colour, pale watercolour wash, ink and liner brush, biro and acrylic and watercolour. Cropped down original image considerably so little foreground.

Aberdare War Memorial

Sketch of view towards Victoria Square, wash, then watercolour underpainting, then ink contour drawing, then darker washes for shadows and opaque white acrylic for war memorial and Black Lion Hotel, then oil pastel.

Visit to Cardiff Museum Print Room

Booked to see Piper paintings and sketches in the collection. Didn't realise before how much Piper used resists in his work especially in the period we looked at 1940's-1950's. Resists seem to be wax crayon or oil pastel, often overlain with ink wash. Also saw a couple of 30's collages which are remarkable for their simplicity of form with brief ink lines to suggest structure. The papers themselves are not brightly coloured and allow the brain to fill in the remainder. This image is a sketch of a large painting by Piper which I have made to be 3x4 foot, acrylic on paper. This has a burnt umber wash and various layers of acrylic and inkpen.

It's Piper study week!

Here attempting to copy 2 sketches by John Piper. One of Portland in the rain(1954), the other of a church(1944). Both originals about 15"x20" and watercolour/ink wash overlain with opaque gouache and indian ink. Both limited colour range, Portland is probably mainly burnt sienna and grey and white, the church probably indian red, naples yellow and grey.

Aberdare shop front

Drawing in pen and ink on watercolour paper and watercolour. Trying to find ideal size to show buildings without losing too much detail. Started with photo and then pencil drawing overlain with ink pen and filled in with colours approximating original.

Aberdare picture

Attempting an illustration to catch character of Aberdare town centre based on sketches of town centre houses with acrylic and pen on canvas. This draws on evening view of Rhondda by Zobole

Environmental art

aka goldworthy on the beach with pebbles placed with help of various children. Interesting to see the reaction of people when they came across it, unsure of whether to cross it or not. By the next day the pebbles had all been washed away. Obviously I didnt do it on my own, Lucy did lots too. At Corbletts Bay, Alderney Sept 2009

More still life practise

Picture of tea pot and bananas on primed paper in oil in one sitting in art class. Also still life of vase with apples, the first an underpainting in oil on canvas which is going on to dry and the other oil applied in one sitting with small pallette knife. Underpainting included lots of removal of layers of paint while wet to acheive shading.

Still life

Back in the studio attempting to get back into painting with an oil of some rudbeckias and monstera. Side light from window and acrylic underpainting on canvas with layers of oil paint on top.

Back again

Now for some more serious drawing and painting. This is Lucy contour style, having got the book by Nicoloides.

July news

Work is quite busy at the moment so the studio is taking a back seat . This is a copy of a Patrick Caulfield as a monochrome version.

Three churches

Lost my way somewhere with this painting so may just put these away for abit and concentrate on some more wall art/ decoration and lino cuts.

Three churches

Acrylic on canvas with drawing and printing ink. Sorry slightly blurred image of churches at Llanddew, Crambe and Bossall. All a bit green perhaps.

Latest studio works

Continuing on the theme of churches and using Lucy's background, see previous post, three churches in acrylic and graphite. From left to right, Crambe, Bossall and Llanddew. Also a re working of a previous work of chrysanths in a jug. Acrylic and paper cut outs on canvas.

Coed Dyfodol Sarnau

Trying again with the graphite sticks to represent something of what is there. This is a redundant farm viewed from Coed Dyfodol near Sarnau.

LLanddew Church

Don't know the name of this church, at Llanddew near Brecon but very chunky and old, thirteenth century according to the signs. graphite and acrylic on paper.

More sketches

This time work by Lucy who has been people spotting and experimenting with the ink wash. Lovely free lines.

The Punchbowl and The Skirrid

A larger version of the earlier Punchbowl painting. Just in case you wondered there is the pond at The Punchbowl and The Skirrid in the distance. Jet planes are flying high overhead from London to the US and the circle represents a large beech pollard which are common in this area.

Cardiff Museum and Art Gallery

Visited Cardiff Museum today and saw Sisely exhibition and the newly re organised art galleries. The Sisely stuff included some of his London paintings and his impressions of Penarth. What struck me was how some of these paintings almost looked photo realistic from the other side of the room, but were very painterly close too. The small ink and wash sketches were also very fresh.

My favourite painting in the main gallery was a tiny Graham Sutherland of a coastal view with flowers. Also more neo romantic paintings than previously with half a dozen Piper's but almost no contemporary painting, presumably because there is a new exhibition starting tomorrow with modern interpretations of the human figure. Got an old catalogue of the Williams collection which includes mainly Piper and Ceri Richards with a rather fine Ivon Hitchens Arched Trees No 12 (pictured)

The Punchbowl, Abergavenny.

Photo of the studio showing what a great space it is. The printing table is on the right and the drawing table in front of the window. Also a painting of The Punchbowl, near Abergavenny, one of the sites where I have been working at for the last five or six years.

St Elvan's church again

Trying out my new old fashioned ink pen on bristol board. Quick sketches and a more detailed drawing.

studio practise

At last we have a studio to practise in, at least for a few months. Carrying on with the church theme, this time, St Elvan's Church, Aberdare which is visible from the window. Trying 5 minute sketches and 20 minute paintings.

St John the Baptist Church Aberdare

Acrylic on board, hit a problem with the trees, but quite like it at the moment

St John the Baptist Church 2

Line drawing of the church with different backgrounds starting with blue printing ink.

trees

Sketching young trees without looking at the paper while drawing. Really like the results, don't know why!
This process called blind contour drawing and accredited to book about drawing by Kimon Nicoloides

St John's Church, Aberdare

St John's Church, Aberdare with pen and ink church superimposed on acrylic background with more pen and ink. Attempt to follow stamp designs which were probably originally printed so compromises have to be made. Need to try with other than black ink for pen and ink part to link in with surrounding colours. Will try again with more time spent on drawing.

Churches on GB stamps

This 1972 series of stamps of village churches is a style I am interested in pursuing, the images are striking but simple with solid blocks of colour. Designed by Ronald Maddox. Images copyright of the Post Office.

St Michael's Church

St Michael's Church Crambe, acrylic and charcoal on paper.

St. Martin's Church, Bulmer.

St. Martin's Church, Bulmer this time worked up with acrylic on paper.

Five Yorkshire Churches

One day in February, a visit to 5 Yorkshire churches, unfortunately fairly overcast but still able to get a feel for the architecture and heritage. Initial drawings were done on paper with stubby graphite pencils, drawing pencils and charcoal.

From the top and left to right; Bossall doorway, Crambe tower, Crambe and Bossall, Bulmer, Appleton le Street and 2 of Barton le Street.