Brooklyn blues, new mixed media painting

Happy 2013!

I'm back from a bit of a Blogger break, can't believe its been so long since my last post.

Anyway here is the finished mixed media painting that my last post showed the start of:

Brooklyn Blues

Mixed Media on canvas

80x60cm

There was a fair bit of collage and layering of textures to get to this point.  There's lots of subtle relevant inclusions as well that hopefully will mean there's a lot of looking longevity!  My research on New York style building made me realise I'd picked architecture with LOTS of windows, phew!

 This painting now has a new home in my brother's music room and thankfully he was really happy with the way it turned out

Ryan

A little bird told me

A little bird told me

Mixed media on canvas
8x8 inches

Another small painting, inspired by the noisy bird in the garden! It was so loud and once you'd picked up on the sound it got in your head and couldn't shut it out!

I used personal collage elements as the base of the painting and then embellished with acrylics, inks and texture gels. In this one I added a printed element also.

Hope you like it


Also I became a member of the Pastel Guild of Europe this week. This group's aim is to promote the use and interest of pastel painting as a fine art media. I regularly use pastels for my life drawing/painting group as its ideal for quickly getting an image and colour down on paper- this is really essential when working directly from life as even the best model will move. I'll certainly be doing more pastels as a result, and hopefully pushing myself to do other things like landscapes (I've not done a pure landscape in ages!). I'll try to keep updates coming!

Ryan


Ryan

Reserved for you

Reserved for you

Mixed media

15x15 inches

Last term at Leith School of Art we used a good variety of media and worked hard at loosening up style and application. I've been inspired to try to develop my style a little away from purely representational work. This has been inspired from Henry Moore's drawings and sculptures and a Scottish artist I like called Jonathan Hood.

I'm hoping to use the semi-abstract and mixed media approach to my Landscape painting as I'd become a bit frustrated with the genre.

Happy Birthday Rabbie Burns

250 years old- and still looking pretty good!

Hears a drawing I did while digesting my haggis, neeps and tatties. It was Burn's night, celebrating the 250th birthday of Scotlands National bard. Caught up in the spirit of the year of homecoming and a' that, I raised a wee dram for Robert Burns.

Auld acquaintance

Pen and ink on paper

8x10 inches

The drawing is obviously based on the famous Alexander Nasmyth’s portrait of Robert Burns that hangs in Edinburgh's Scottish National Portrait gallery

http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/online_az/4:322/result/0/1962?initial=N&artistId=3547&artistName=Alexander%20Nasmyth&submit=1

Ryan

First post of the 2007!

First post of the 2007!

It's a New Year so I'm starting a new sketch book. I try to carry one around as much as I can, capturing scenes figures that catch my eye. I though I'd start the year by posting some of the sketches I did last year that haven't made it to the gallery yet, though a couple shown here have been used for other studio paintings.

All are drawn with Staedler pigment liners of various thickness. I try to not only get a fairly accurate sketch down, but also try to indicate tones and textures and sometime add written notes to remind of colours time of day, weather etc. This information is very useful in allowing me to work up ideas into paintings and are often more insightful than photographic reference notes because they are my take of the scene as it was when I experienced it. These (particularly the figures) are all captured very quickly plein air, as conditions and people don't sit totally still for long unless you pay them!

At last the days will be getting longer and means I can get more sunlight and painting done fantastic.

I have also enrolled in a series of Life Drawing/Painting workshops and night classes so I can brush up on my figurative work

Ryan