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Last week I attended my second painting workshop with Chris Forsey RI. The first one was watercolour and the most recent, attempting the subject of dramatic coastlines in acrylic and mixed media. This is unknown territory for me, having done little work with acrylic, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Chris, like the other professional RI painters I've met at workshops, is an excellent tutor, instilling energy and confidence in all the attendees. Looking forward to more. This morning I recieved a parcel containing a selection of Stillman and Birn sketchbooks, samples to try sent by a generous individual. These sketchbooks are top quality, and my experience with then has been excellent. Strong, resiliant paper (check the specs here) which gives confidence to tha artist when using washes, inks, pens and anything else you might want to apply to it. I like these books very much, and the new soft cover makes a perfect lighter weight travel companion (travel being whenever I leave the house). I'll be posting images of my progress through these books, both here and on my Twitter and Instagram accounts, so keep watching. After a busy but relaxing and enjoyable Christmas holiday, I'm back in the studio. My plan is to develop a certain atmosphere in the paintings, something which appeared by accident in a couple I painted last year; the effect which occurs when a hard light shines through mist or cloud, it's getting there but still requires work, and more painting ... and even more painting. Here are a couple of examples, based on the Calais Tracks series I painted last year. I employ a hard top light - an unapolegetic cinematic favourite used bt Ken Adam to create a sense of vast size - and high contrast. The subject matter is also changing to something a little less bucolic. I shan't overthink this, better to just get stuck into the painting. Clapham Tracks v3. 22"x15" Clapham Tracks v4 Note use of asking fluid to define tracks and signal lamps. London Tracks. Same technique as above.
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