paintings prints and stuff

Lone figure, city night sketch, December, inktense, coloured pencil and white gouache on black paper, A5 ish I've been meaning to try doing some sketches of the city at night for a long time.  I'm constantly looking at the lights vs the pools of darkness, mysterious shapes and often a feeling of loneliness and emptiness out there, as I drive. This is a first attempt.  It's not a subject I've tackled before - but it's about the same thing that normally interests me - light, lost edges, a sense of place.   It's in a Derwent black sketch pad - another item they kindly sent me :>)  Coloured pencil sinks and loses intensity on black paper - but that's just what I needed to catch the sheen of light on the road, paths and buildings. the black paper flickering through the colour, helping to create the feel of light reflections over a dark surface.  The reflected light on these surfaces is made up of multiple layers of scribbled marks in different colours of p...

Ring Around the Moon, watercolour and coloured pencil, ACEO, Vivien Blackburn I'm taking a break for a week. Will return then with paintings I hope :>) See you .

Sunset, incoming tide. Vivien Blackburn. mixed media on canvas This one is virtually finished. Some of the colours aren't showing very well, like the greenier blue on the underside of the waves. It's now hanging above the sofa so that I can decide if I'm going to do anything further to it. That's its working title, which may stick. I'd said these smaller canvasses were 30 inch squares and I've realised they are probably 24 inch squares - maths never was my thing! I do know for sure the bigger ones are 40 inch squares :) Through the Dunes Nightfall. Mixed media on 40 inch sq canvas. Vivien Blackburn This is still wet and so the light is catching the wet paint a little but I'm not planning to do much more to this. (the curved shape on the lower left hand edge is something in front of the canvas and not part of the painting) The other 40 inch canvas is also virtually finished. The disastrous one of the last post has had the sky/clouds sande...

seascapes, work in progress, mixed media on canvas 30 in square. Vivien Blackburn This is at a stage where it looks a bit rough and ready! and the colours aren't showing well. I'm not happy with it at the moment. It's coming on slowly though and when it's finished I'll photograph it outside in better light. Below is a detail: detail of distant cliff, work in progress I'm still working on the clouds in particular, to try to get that effect of the rays of light and the light peachy sky against the dark clouds. Again it needs to dry before I can glaze and scumble more colour. work in progress, 30 inch square canvas. Vivien Blackburn This one has moved on just a little but I don't plan to do very much more. The colour is a bit too warm here, it's not quite so warm IRL, there are cools there as well. work in progress 40 inch square canvas. Vivien Blackburn Sorry it is on the slant but the paint was wet and caught the light otherwise. This is one that I start...

I should be doing lots of things instead but I wanted to draw - so I did :) ... and now I have to face the dirty dishes, pile of washing and tidying up :( I did this from a combination of the sketches I did on the beach at sunset and memory. I've done a series of works from those sketches - in oil, pastel and digital images. It was interesting to see just how intense and dark it's possible to go with coloured pencils. I think they hold up well in comparison with other media. I'm speeding up with them and can now imagine sketching more with them plein air. I think they'll feature more often in my sketchbooks in the future. It was done with a mix of Polychromos, Lyra and cheapo Tescos coloured pencils and one Derwent. I like the heavier waxier Polychromos and Lyra - in future I'll know which to go for. Luckily I took the advice of expert CP users and bought quite a few polychromos - the Derwent is an old one, though it's good I don't like it...

I've made a start on two of the 40inch square canvasses. One is going to be an evening/nightfall view of the beach with the moon rising and the last light catching the pools left by the ebbing tide. One of a series of works I've done about the beach at this time - just before and just after sunset. There are more subtle colour changes and more shine on the sea than the photo shows. It has a way to go yet - this is the beginning, establishing lights and darks and the form of the pools. I sketched it in roughly in Prussian blue acrylic and then worked on with oils. Some of the acrylic will show in the finished piece. Next I decided to work on another of the 40 inch canvasses, loosely using the sketch I'd done in charcoal. I used the prussian blue again just to establish where things were, the form of the rocks and the lie of the land with the way the tree grew out of it with some of the tones roughly put in. This has a long way to go and a lot of decisions to be made. Part ...

It worked! so this show is done with photobucket, where my images are stored to go online anyway, so access is quick and easy. Anyone wanting to add a slide show to their blog, and who isn't already light years ahead of me in technology and knows already :) , can join the sites and create their own by simply clicking on the 'get your own' tab next to the images Apart from the pencil sketch these are variations on the beach at nightfall, from sketches done plein air. There's a small 12 inch square oil painting, some collagraphs and a pencil sketch of the sea defences. Collagraphs are a lovely printmaking method using mount (matt) card as a plate. It's inexpensive and I really like the marks you can achieve with it. It does need a printing press though as it's an intaglio process like etching and not a relief print like lino.

I spent the afternoon painting :) - ignoring the fact that I really should have been tidying up It's based on sketches done sitting on the beach as the sun set and night fell, and memory, it's the last of the light, just catching the sand and sea and clouds. It's only 11 inches square in a black leaved sketch book by Pink Pig, using Unison pastels (I love them best) and compressed charcoal to regain some of the blacks. Unison pastels are so luscious and don't constantly break like some pastels. I know a lot of people like Rembrandt pastels but I found they just constanly broke and shaled into little pieces and were a bit scratchy feeling to draw with. A very good pastel painter told me that Schminke white is the whitest white of all with brilliant cover so I plan to treat myself to a couple when I'm near a supplier and see how I like them. I do love working in pastel but .... oh the framing of it! it's a nightmare. I may just get my framer to do this one comple...