Oil sketch of Rachel

This oil sketch of Rachel was painted from life in approx two hours. It was the first time Rachel had ever sat for a group and she sat incredibly still; it could not have been easy having a large group crowd around and scrutinize you (some of us through our bonoculars or monoculars). It was enjoyable to have such a lovely young model to work from, but a beautiful young face is so much harder to paint than a lived in, slightly craggy one:)

Oil sketch of George

This oil sketch of George was painted yesterday at my pal Penny's birthday bash. She decided to have us all over to her house to have our regular portrait session followed by a great lunch and some fabulous music provided by the other model, Jack who is a singer/song writer. It was one of those almost the perfect days. How lucky we are to do what we love doing:)

Demo for Wymondham art group

Earlier this week I did a still- life pastel demonstration for the Wymondham art group. Luckily this art group use a camera to project the work onto a screen so that everybody can see what is happening. I did a quick watercolour underpainting on the Erste Paper, I used as a support, and then drew a little into it before applying the pastels over the top. It was a fun evening and I hope everyone learnt something and felt encouraged to give it a go themselves.

Carafe and Camembert

I like this theme, which I suppose goes without saying:)

Painting her toes

Here is Isabel, (a model I have used a lot recently) painting her toes. I may decide to glaze some more colour into the 'greys' on the top left of the painting, but as yet I am not sure what to do for the best. I made a neutral from all the dominant colours in this piece but as they neutralise each other it comes out quite grey. Any thoughts?

Life sketch of Adam

I should have called this little study 'the thinker' or 'a penny for them', because Adam's face as he sat for the life painting session was a model of concentration. He looked as though he was mulling over some fairly weighty issues. Strange what we read into expression, he was probably just thinking is it model break yet?

A dish of Damsons

We have had an amazing crop of Damsons this year, wich we have bottled, frozen, pickled and made into chutney. I have made sure that they have also been painted.........