Thursday 9 August 2012

Suite No.2 - version 2 ...


Suite No. 2
Acrylic on canvas
29.5 x 23.5 cm
SOLD Private Collection 


The first version of this painting just didn't feel 'right' to me so I've re-worked it. The previous one was too similar in tonality and I felt the image needed more contrast. The photograph has probably heightened that and intensified the colours, but I like the effect; in real life the light and shade are more subtly balanced. The photograph also lacks a little definition. I have been experimenting with using my phone rather than a camera. The phone wins for convenience but the camera just takes better photographs... 

Wednesday 8 August 2012

Works in Progress in the studio



Here's the next stage of the final painting - on paper now, with a thick layer of gesso underneath for texture. It's a small nightscape, about 15 x 20 cm - a size I find useful when working with new subjects. I envisage the end product being a lot darker, but I wanted to suggest the buildings in the shadows underneath. This is the view from the balcony of the upstairs cafe at Tate Modern, one of my favourite London vantage points.
This is a tiny sketch from my sketch book - in preparation for the London Nightscape painting. I did it quickly in about an hour, with whatever I could grab from my pencil case. Sketches don't usually appear on here but this one got lucky.