NEW TOYS

Posted on June 27, 2010 by splashingpaint

I’m a sucker for an Art Supply Shop. I just can’t walk past them. While we were in Hong Kong an assortment of pastel pencils, water soluble crayons and colored inks became absolute necessities. Things that I couldn’t leave the shop without!

I have drawers full of such items. Essential in the excitement of the moment, but once in the studio and tested, they become just another unnecessary distraction. Fortunately, this bout of impulse buying resulted in some really useful new toys.

The inks are Winsor and Newton Calligraphy inks – Brilliant primary colors

The pastel pencils are a Dutch brand I have not tried before – Bruynzeel. Fine textured and good colors.

I have used the Caran d’Ache water soluble crayons before, but fell for a pile of new colors.

Red Shoes – Sketched with a charcoal pencil then colored with a red, orange and pink crayon. After the crayon was applied, a wet 1/2″ brush was used to dissolve and blend the colors. Finally a few red ink lines were drawn on and sprayed with a mist of water.

These Lemons were painted with a mixture of crayon ink and pastel pencil. A gesso wash was scrubbed over the foreground before the final yellow crayon marks were applied. Before the Gesso had dried the lemon was carefully sliced and dropped into a Gin and tonic.

WALLS AND DOORS

Posted on June 25, 2010 by splashingpaint

It’s good to be back in the studio again after our Italian workshop break. Over the next few months I will be kept busy working on an Exhibition for late October. These first few paintings of architectural subjects will probably find their way into the exhibition. They will also be used in an article on The Illusion of Accuracy for International Artist Magazine.

“Notes on a Door” – Watercolor, Ink and Gesso on Arches 300gsm paper

“Medievalness” Watercolor and Ink on 300gsm Arches paper

“Village with lake and Olive Trees” mixed media on 300gsm Blue Lake Paper

TAORMINA WALLS

Posted on June 19, 2010 by splashingpaint

Arriving home means sifting through thousands of photos. Some are rubbish and should be discarded, but rarely are, others are really interesting.

While wandering around the streets of Taormina I couldn’t help photographing some of the incredible old stone work. Not scenic and spectacular, but amazing just the same. I didn’t notice when I took the photographs, just how interesting and varied the walls were.

Looking at them, one after another, on a computer screen shows just how unique the stone work is. Layers of broken roof tiles and terracotta paving blocks are woven between the large pale stones which are occasionally punctuated by black lava rocks from Mt Etna.

The ancient binary data hidden in the layers of this wall is surely the basis for a best selling novel. Possibly called “The Sicilian Code”.

AIRPLANE SKETCHES

Posted on June 16, 2010 by splashingpaint

How do you kill 30 odd hours strapped into the seat of an airplane? Movies on a tiny screen with the background drone of jet engines are OK for a while, reading is fine for a couple of hours, but scribbling in a little sketch book eats up the hours and is a lot of fun.

To keep things simple I use a tube of black and a tube of white gouache, a small brush with a built in water reservoir, a charcoal pencil, glue stick, fine line black pen and a liner brush cut in half.

I once tried a uni posca white paint pen, but the change in atmospheric pressure at 30,000 feet caused it to empty half a cup of white paint all over my sketch book on the first stroke. The Uni Posca is only used at ground level now.

All stored in a ziplock plastic bag. Cut down rigger – still in the seat pocket of a Jumbo Jet somewhere?

VIA HONG KONG

Posted on June 9, 2010 by splashingpaint

After the busy pace of the workshop, we figured a week relaxing in Hong Kong would be a good idea. The idea of relaxing in a city that only seems to run at full speed, was probably misguided. So, rather than relax, we went for the full on shopping, galleries, bars, tours type of recreation.

Hong Kong seems to run full paced 24 hours a day.

The Harbour is spectacular, serving as a transport route and recreation area at the same time.

The citys heart is buzzing with lights and color, while above street level is the patchwork of balconys, windows and washing that make up the high rise appartments of the inner city dwellers.

The shops are interesting but some of the names don’t translate too well to English.

Across the boarder into Shenzhen, pressure from street vendors increases as does the number of taxis waiting at the local rank.

The Rickshaw may have disappeared, but the chicken delivery cycle has sure taken off.

The humble push bike in China has resisted the temptation to switch to light weight aluminium and carbon fibre construction. Instead, preferring the solid reliability of braced and reinforced steel.

For me, the most fascinating area of the city is the food markets, which in the Mon Kok district seem to blend with the bird, goldfish and pet markets. These live sea snakes fall into the food category.

This bag of tasty live toads are also classed as food (and delicious according to the store owner).

These weird, distorted goldfish are from the pet market…

…as is this strange little kitten.

Strangely distorted rabbits are also available from the pet market

At the bird markets you can pick up birds from all over the world. There are bags of live grass hoppers and packets of writhing grubs available to keep your bird in top condition.

The food markets not only sell live produce, but will chop up almost anything for you to take home and barbecue.

Store holders engaged in a game of some kind of checkers.

This man, sitting on a tiny stool with a handful of tools, will fix up your worn out shoes in next to no time for a couple of dollars.

In the half light through our hotel window, primitive bamboo scaffolding contrasts starkly with the modern high rise construction. It seems to sum up the strange, diverse character of Hong Kong.

WORKSHOP SNAPS

Posted on June 9, 2010 by splashingpaint

The two weeks of our workshop in Southern Italy and Sicily seemed to fly by so quickly, but looking back to painting on the beach in Sorrento, or the spectacular views in Taormina, it all seems so long ago.

Here are a few photos taken during the workshop.

It is always sad at the end of a workshop – everyone says goodbye and and heads off to different parts of the world.

Thanks to our fantastic guides Amanda and Gordon, and the enthusiasm and good nature of all involved, we all leave with lots of great memories, new friends and a collection of paintings that will trigger thoughts of Sicily and Italy for years to come.

STREETS OF PALERMO

Posted on June 6, 2010 by splashingpaint

We had planned a day painting in Palermo, so after some questioning, decided the Plaza Marina was the place to go. After a long stop start procession through the town our bus driver stopped by a small park surrounded by dilapidated buildings. We couldn’t work out why and, after some head scratching, discovered it was a “photo stop” – the only problem being there was nothing worth photographing!

After a traffic snarled circuit of the waterfront we decided to head out to Mondello to paint. That was our introduction to Palermo which tainted our enthusiasm to stay there before flying back to Rome. However, intriged by the infamous mafia history, we stayed a day to have a look around.

We were told that, around the time two high profile, anti mafia judges were killed, there was a 12 month period in Polermo that saw almost 1000 murders! This grisly fact also influenced our perception of the city.