Artist- stereotype

'Measuring up', gouache on cartridge paper, 6 by 8 ins.  A stereotype of an  'artist'. 

Interesting to continue feeling my way into gouache paintings. I think they will be more versatile once I have experimented with them for a while.  I have been using them fairly thick like oils but possibly using them more like watercolours would be interesting to try.

Oystercatcher at Kawakawa Bay

'Oyster catcher at Kawakawa Bay', acrylics on cartridge paper, 8 by 12 ins approx.  An abstract for a project on wetcanvas.  We are looking at the work of Helen Frankenthaler.  I have only seen her work on the web...not in person. 

I painted this abstract thinking of Sundays spent watching oyster catcher birds as they walked along the seashore or waited for the tide to come in to go fishing.  The pink bird shape at the bottom/middle of the artwork reminds me of the oyster catchers.

Renaissance fashions?

'Lady with a bird',  gouache on cartridge paper, 8 by 12 ins approx.  I was thinking of a Charles Dickens TV adaptaton when I painted this, but I think it has turned out rather Renaissance in style...albeit in a kind of primitive way. 

I love combining people and animals in paintings.  This started out as a doodle/scribble...I  like the images from scribbles, perhaps because they are 'naive' rather than naturalistically drawn.

After 'Bosch'...figure in garden

After Hieronymus Bosch, Garden of earthly delights, centre panel of triptych.  A small study, 4 ins square, of one of the figures in Bosch's entertaining painting...for a project on wetcanvas.  This is in gouache over pencil on cartridge paper.  Looks like a fellow offering a crow a juicy apple.

My print in an art book of the Bosch work is very small, I'd like to see a large print of this work.  I think I'll see if I can find the painting on the web that allows zooming to see bits of it in more detail.

Sunflower picker

'Sunflower picker', gouache, 8 by 12 ins., cartridge paper.

Lady in red

'Lady in red', gouache on cartridge paper, 6 by 8 ins., approx.

This started life as a left-handed, eyes closed,  squiggle/doodle drawing this morning.  The figures appeared in the lines and I decided to paint the doodle couple.

Painted version of girl with her dog

'Girl with her chihuahua', acrylics, 8 by 10 ins, paper.  Tried an impressionist method for a colour version of girl and her little dog.  I was pleased with the soft fur of the dog and his happy grin in this version.  He also looks more like a long-haired chihuahua than in the drawing.

Its a pose that might be rather good done in an oil painting- in a grisaille underpainting technique- sometime.