Monday 30 August 2010

Fennel /latest commission

A bit behind on the blog again, but I have been busy working on commissions, I have finished two Christmas portraits, but unfortunately they cannot be shown yet.
and another commission just finished, this one is a beautiful Bengal cat (a real treat for me as I just love drawing/painting orientals) called Fennel, she is worked in pastels with pastel pencil details on Pastemat paper size 30 x 40cms. I have one more cat to do and then I will be concentrating on my college projects ready to go back in a couple of weeks.

Thursday 12 August 2010

Oskar, finished painting

Just a quick post, Oskar is now finished. Stretched canvas 12 x12'.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

experiment

Thought I would just add this little piece, I had quite a bit of paint left on my palette when clearing up after finishing Oskar this afternoon, so not wanting to waste it I had the idea of mixing  it altogether very roughly, painting it onto a page of my water colour   journal ( used for experiment/colour testing) and seeing if I could see anything in the resulting paint! Using a few colour pencils this is what I came up with. A very quick (about 30 mins) drawing.......... but it has given me more ideas for my project....watch this space!

Tuesday 10 August 2010

more acrylic and another artist.

I am staying with the acrylics for the time being, I am also working on a commission in pastel, but cannot show that until completion, so in the meantime here is a portrait of my JRT 'Oskar' that I am currently working on. So far I am pleased with his progress, and I am beginning to feel a little more confident with the paint. The biggest problem I have found with this one is getting the colours right, he has several different shades of brown in his coat varying from light yellow tan to a dark red brown! As I normally work in pastels I have not really had to mix colour as such, so this is a new experience, luckily I have lots of photos of 'Oskie' as well as the real thing, so reference material for practice will not be a problem. This also has a less traditional feel than my pastel work, and will be a slightly more contemporary option for my pet portraits.  Here is where I am at the moment



Still thinking about my college project I am adding this picture painted by another of my favorite artists Victoria Crowe,  she is the second of four artists that I have chosen for my brief. I love the atmosphere of her art, and again symbolism is a major factor in my attraction to her  work as well as the
multi layering/elements. My ideas are still very loosely formed at this stage, but will be  a continuation of my previous work. I am still thinking about the circle of life, the inevitability of decay and death, but also rebirth in particular as viewed by varied indigenous peoples and religions. The superstitions and myth surrounding certain animals and birds will play a major role and I am  interested in  the part played by
animals and animal spirits,  Shamanism in particular.




This is 'Winter Icon' water colour and mixed media (2009)

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Acrylic swan finished?

Well the swan is complete, but I am not sure the water is, so will leave it on the easel for a couple of days and see. Tomorrow I am going to start a new painting, not sure if it will be acrylic yet. I also have a pastel commission on the go, so that should keep me out of trouble for a few days at least.





Monday 2 August 2010

Thinking ahead to my college project for September

 I have been thinking about my inspirations and why it is I am drawn to animals and nature, I am not religious in the conventual sense, but perhaps a little spiritual. I look for magic, I love the beauty in nature, and am in awe of reproduction and the whole circle of life and death. I see beauty in decay and fragility and I think these are areas I will explore further, I have touched on this in my studies so far, in my textiles and ceramic work, but I want to bring these ideas in to my mainstream 2d work. I am required to find 4 major artists that I can identify with and research with the aim of creating a brief for my project, the problem for me is not finding 4 but eliminating the others.



Susan Seddon Boulet

Sunday 1 August 2010

new blog and swan update.

I have now added a blog to the website, so although I will continue to update here  for a while more in depth content will now be on the new blog
at        http://www.geraldineboley.com/page8.htm  you can subscribe to the blog via the RSS feed (button on the linked page)
The swan is coming along slowly, after a bit of a hiccup, (on the new blog) and I am hoping to finish it in the next day or so.