A FEW DAYS OF LIFE PAINTING – PASTEL AND GRAPHITE

Over the past three days I have been on a life drawing course with Crawfurd Adamson, a painter I have admired for a while. He employed good lighting and uses colour in an exciting and almost abstract style.

There were two models he used in a dynamic and interesting way and we started off with quick sketches trying to find a pose we could use for the next three days.

 

I then started painting with pastels, working around the models for the next few days. I was about the only one who moved, so I found myself having to squeeze in the few places left.

This was the first painting I did (above) and employs some of the scratchy application I have used in the past. Crawfurd showed me how he works with pastel and the way he applies it and in the next painting I used some of his techniques.

It was also good to see how I could further develop this as Crawfurd does work in many similar ways to me. He also has a similar approach to lighting and colour, which, though people on the course thought were theatric, suits me down to the ground.

A great way to spend a few days.

Other figurative works are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com 

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A SELECTION OF LIFE STUDIES – PASTEL PAINTINGS

This week I am going on a three day life drawing course with a guy called Crawfurd Adamson. I have seen a lot of his work at the London Art Fair over the years and you can see more on the internet.

I have been checking out some of Crawfurd’s work and trying to get into the style and here, above,  are two of them.  It is evident that Crawfurd uses good lighting,  demands interesting poses and works in a purposeful way.

I have been unhappy with the poses and lighting employed at our local sessions and am looking forward to this course.

So I thought that I would publish my latest drawings, done in the last couple of weeks and then hopefully compare them with the work I produce in the next few days.

So, as they say, watch this space and see if anything emerges.

Other life paintings for sale are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com 

PATH BETWEEN THE BARLEY – PASTEL PAINTING

Out one morning painting,  I spotted this footpath across a field that the farmer had preserved. If I had come across  it earlier I would have used that as my subject, but I had just completed two watercolours, so I took a few photos instead. On the other side of the lane I  I discovered a cherry tree and got a bagful of cherries to supplement the morello cherries on my tree at home. I made three pots of cherry jam yesterday. I love cherry jam on toast – particularly after a tough morning with the paintbrush..

Other landsscapes in pastel, watercolour and  acrylics are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com 

COCKTAIL HOUR – PASTEL PAINTING

Just wanted to try this scene in pastels. I liked the light  and the complementary green and reds to which I added to keep the rhythm going.  The figures seem a little stiff now that they are up on the screen, but I was trying  out a subject that was more than a life model pose and which contained some context. This is something I would like to explore  further.

Other pastels of figurative subjects are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

DOREEN AND JULIE – ACRYLIC SKETCHES

When I turned up for a life session yesterday I was told the model had cried off. Instead, one of the painters, Doreen, had volunteered to sit in their place. I must admit to being disappointed as I had brought paints and was going to play around incorporating some collage. However with the lighting and the way Doreen posed made it a very good study – it turned out ok in the end.

I decided to move over to doing some life studies in acrylics. The pose was quite stiff, but by getting a low viewpoint something a little more interesting was achieved.

Life painting for sale can be found on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

DROP IN THE OCEAN – ACRYLIC PAINTING

I have seen a number of poured acrylics recently and decided to have a go myself. I have always liked the effects of poured paint and experimented with it around ten years ago with oil based gloss paint and below is one of my more successful ventures, Marrakech,  which, because of the lightfastness of the gloss paint, now hangs in my conservatory.

I did not think you could get the same filigree effects with acrylics that you could get with the more viscous oil paint and so mainly used the liquid acrylics in a more dilute way such as in Dancing the Blues Away, which I posted some time ago, in 2015, on this blog.

So my prejudice has been exposed and I realise it might be worth experimenting with the liquid acrylics in a more concentrated form. I must admit my first attempt included as much manipulation as pouring as I played around with the paint with a palette knife, but the strands and swirls gave a satisfying result and looking at some of the work other people have produced,  further variations can be had with the addition of silicone oil. I will be having a few more goes.

Other acrylic paintings for sale can be found on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

 

LIFE AND PORTRAITS – ACRYLIC PAINTINGS

As well as attending life sessions I have joined a portrait group, so here are a few of my recent paintings all done on a grey undercoat in a similar style, mainly using just three colours, alizaren red, raw sienna and ultramarine blue as well as white of course.

I managed to get  the feet in on this one, which for a standing pose, for me is a minor miracle.

Below are the portraits. The first one was a bit over ambitious, trying to maximise the head on the paper and with flat lighting. I have managed to convince the guy who runs the session that he can get more sympathetic lighting on the subject. Hopefully that will show up in the ensuing weeks.

Last night’s session was a bit better, less ambitious in  size

Other life paintings and portraits are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com