Monday 30 June 2014

APOLLO - A DREAM OF A GUY!

Apollo was the son of Zeus (ruler of all the Olympian gods) and Leto (one of a number of the fleeting love affairs of Zeus)Between them they produced Apollo and his twin brother.  

Apollo was the epitomy of masculine beauty.  His perfect body, longish curly hair and probably 'bedroom' eyes made him irresistable.  He also had other attributes besides the physical.  He could make beautiful music, was a master archer, never ever told even a tiny white lie.   Naturally, he was in charge of the sun and drove it daily across the sky.  His healing gifts were renowned and what more could a girl want;  his animal was the gentle , lovely Dolphin(sigh!).

He was a really catch and had numerous love affairs, all completely above board, of course.  Remember he was honesty personified!!!

Here he is, this paragon of virtue in all his glory!

                                                                   The 'wow' factor!

Now for my Apollo......I was nine or ten years old, an avid reader of the 
Children's Encyclopaedia.  No doubt I had a crush on the delectable Apollo and thus a pet slug was named after him.  Whatever entered my childish fantasies in adopting a slimy slug is incomprehensible to me today.  It was probably a moment of rebellion against my mother (who loathed slugs).  It might also have been a rescue operation when the slug was about to be fed to the neighbour's pet duck.  Whatever the reason, Apollo Slug ended up living on the top of a water drum where he dined copiously on lettuce snitched from my mother's garden.  He disappeared mysteriously a week or so later and the family dealt with my period of mourning with insincere sympathy.

                                                    He does have rather nice markings!!

TIP FOR THE DAY  Remember some of the things that made up your childhood, sad, happy, fun, adventurous, a special pet, a special person.  Sketch or paint that memory.  You might be surprised at what develops.  I was!!

Sunday 29 June 2014

BLOGGING IS FUN

I have had a lot of fun redoing my blog.  It is all part of the path of discovery - an exciting new escapade.   I certainly never expected to actually enjoy myself.  However, Google have made it so easy, even for someone who is happier with a paint brush rather than a mouse!!  

If you are reading this, I would really appreciate some feedback as to whether you like the way I have redone the title.

Tomorrow I will be chatting about the most adorable, revolting and unusual pet I have ever owned.

Tuesday 24 June 2014

VANDALISM - WHY? WHY? WHY?

I am feeling helpless and angry.  A few days ago the beautiful open air swimming bath in our village was vandalised.  Garbage was tipped from bins and thrown into the pool.  Not being satisfied with that, surrounding benches were also tossed into the water.  The baths are in a large park with beautiful old trees where folk can picnic and enjoy nature.  Many families who cannot afford to go away on holiday use the facility .  The vandals climbed over the fence at night and caused havoc making it necessary to close the baths for several days.  This happened during the school vacation.

Vandalism is defined as malicious, mindless injury to or destruction of public or private property.  

I believe there is an underlying frustration and lack of direction in the minds of these perpetrators.  Peer pressure, alcohol and boredom are probably the main culprits.

I am so grateful to be an artist where boredom is never an issue - where my frustrations can be assuaged by drawing, painting, experimenting with colour and brush strokes.  

Wouldn't it be nice to have art centres where culprits (if caught) would be sent to for a set number of hours.  Paints, brushes and paper would be available for them to vent their feelings and maybe in the end become real artists.

Bad Wörishofen






 

Saturday 21 June 2014

BIG EYED AND SPEEDY

The lovely Brown European Hare inspired me to do a little display in my journal.  I just love my journal.  It give me the chance to explore colour, ideas and do a little research now and again.  

I am angry about an act of vandalism which took place in a beautiful setting in our little town.  I am going to use my journal to vent some of the anger by painting the scene.

I would recommend keeping a Artist's Journal to all of you.  It is the place where you can conjure all sorts of ideas, memories and experiment with new mediums, new colours. 

See you when I vent!!!!!!!!

 

THE END RESULT

The end result of all those little thumbnail and tonal sketches - a painting! Yippee!  It is completed and I had a lot more confidence having worked out the composition beforehand.  So here it is.  This is a lovely area of Bavaria called the Chiemsee - a large lake which is a popular tourist attraction as it also boasts a palace on one of the islands. 

Must admit, I am not too keen on drawing or sketching another palace or Schloss as they are called here. Although I try to make my sketches loose and fun, those windows and statues need to read correctly and there are an awful lot of them.


 This was painted with Liquitex acrylics and is 42 x 25 cms.  Hope you like it.


Tuesday 17 June 2014

IS MY LATEST PAINTING GOOD OR IS THERE SOMETHING LACKING?

Today I almost finished my painting.  Just a few finishing touches - (hopefully, I won't start fiddling!  You have seen my preliminary sketches and this is the result.  I will share it with you when it is completed .  Another three days should do the trick.  

What I really wanted to say today is that it is so important to belong to a group of fellow artists, whether in a physical way or on the internet. I am rather isolated here and the only group available is very into abstract art.  I enjoy seeing what others come up with in that field particularly, my friend Howard Cowdrick.   It is worth taking a look at his videos and his work if your path lead towards the esoteric and abstract forms.   I am a guide on Wetcanvas, a very large and successful website where artists can show their work and get good feedback.

Mums, Dads, friends and family tend to rhapsodise over one's paintings.  This is all very well but unless you are one of the lucky ones, none of these are painters.  Their opinions are very subjective and sometimes not very realistic.
Of course, it is nice to get positive feedback but being part of an artists' community will help you to move along a more successful painting path. 

Get going, join a group.  Doesn't cost a cent, just a little 'bravery'.

Hugs to all those fellow artists and those beginning the adventure into the world of the artist.

Friday 13 June 2014

EBONY AND IVORY.....GETTING A VALUE SKETCH DONE

Well here I am again after having done a few composition and value sketches for my painting.  Excuse the scribbling but when I am in work-mode, my hand-writing definitely takes second place in the scheme of things. Hope you can read it! 

You will see that the process of pre-sketching really does help.  I now have an idea of how I would like my painting to sit on the canvas.  I have chosen a tall 'portrait' format which gives me a chance to make the reflections an integral part of the work and the give the whole thing more 'elegance'.






 

Wednesday 11 June 2014

PEOPLE BUY YOUR JOY

I read this quote today by Lila Rogers and it really made me think.

I have seen so many works by artists who attempt to please everyone else but themselves.  'What would my family like?'.  'What can I paint to get compliments from other artists'.  

This is stressful and removes all the pleasure in making art.  I am always in awe of many of the impressionists and expressionists who threw themselves passionately into their work.  They enjoyed the process, the challenges involved and totally forgot about their critics.  

It is time for many of us as artists, to let go, have fun, enjoy new colours or the ones you love.  Experiment with techniques you have never tried before. You might just find that this is your new love in the artistic journey.  

Have fun and see what happens.

Tuesday 10 June 2014

OFF TO THE CELLAR

It is such a hot day here in Bavaria.  My studio is in the cellar (a lot cooler there) where I intend working on a landscape using impressionistic colours and techniques. Should be fun and a challenge.  I will post a work in progress as I totter along.  I have done a few thumbnail sketches to sort out the composition.

I feel when starting any painting, pre-sketches are very important.  Have you ever started a work and discovered the darned thing doesn't fit eg.  the steeple of the church ends up a tiny stick of a thing instead of a nice tall proud pole with a weathercock or a cross on its tip.  Believe me, it is very frustrating and off putting.  

These sketches don't have to be perfect but scribbling in the areas of dark and light tones also helps a lot to give your final painting more umphh!!!

So, off to the cellar. See you.

Monday 9 June 2014



This is the lovely Schloss Linderhof in Bavaria, built in the late 1800's.  It was built for King Ludwig and was his favourite residence.  He also owned the famous Neuschwanstein Castle which you have probably seen as a symbol of Bavaria and was the inspiration for Disney's Cinderella.  I hauled out my sketchbook and had a go!!  This is the result.  Pen and wash in my Moleskin Sketchbook.


From the above sketch of the castle , you can see a golden statue in the middle of the pond.  I sketched the face and part of the body.  Covered in gold leaf, she was quite a lady!!!!

Hi from sunny Bavaria.  This is my first posting on my new blog.  This will be my latest escapade. I will share my successes (hopefully plenty), my failures (not too many - please!, please!) as well as the many aspects that contribute to my paintings and sketches.