Coastal Sunset

 

Sunsets are difficult to paint from life but the Facebook group, Artists free Reference photos has some good ones. The photograph by Wendy Parkyn inspired my small painting.

“Coastal Sunset”

18x13cm, Cobral oil on canvas

La falaise à Dieppe, d’après Monet

Monet's cliffs are so extraordinary — you just want to go to the Normandy coast and apply paint the way he did back in 1882. The original Monet is 65x82cm while mine is much smaller.

“La falaise a Dieppe” d'après Claude Monet
22x27cm, Cobra oil on canvas

Happy Thanksgiving!

This one is based on a photo by Gaynor Lewis in the EARL Facebook Group (Every Artists Reference Library).

“Pardon me?”
15x15cm, Cobra oil on canvas panel

Tonalism

“Setting the tone”
14x24cm, Cobra oil on linen canvas

 

A Photogenic Chicken

I never knew there were so many different varieties of chicken. This one is from a photograph on the Artists Free Reference Photos group on Facebook. The photographer, Pam Fretwell, noted that it is a Black Rhode, a cross between a Rhode Island Red and a Plymouth Rock. In any case, the breed is very paintable. 

"A Photogenic Chicken" 

10x15cm, Cobra oil on gessoed cardboard

(private collection, Woluwe Saint Lambert) 

Quatre Vaches

 

The Internet has become a huge reservoir of reference material for artists. On Facebook there are now several groups where photographers post their photographs for artists to use as inspiration for their work.  This is handy during the pandemic when you don't want to spend too much time on the street. The above oil sketch is based on a photograph by Carol Shockett. I read in the group's rules that it's not obligatory to mention the photographer unless you are posting to the group but I like to credit the source. 

I'm trying out Cobra paints, a water-based oil paint by Talens. You dont need to use turpentine so that makes them ideal for indoor work.

"Quatre vaches"
10x15 cm, Cobra oil on canvas panel

Three pears

Now that a new "partial lockdown" has started in Belgium, I'm working from Internet images again and using water-soluble oil paints. I've discovered several Facebook groups offering free reference photos for artists. Rachel Marks took the photograph that inspired my small painting above.

"Three pears"
13x18cm, Cobra oil on canvas
(private collection, Gooik)

Autumn challenge

 

Inktober is finished (see my Flickr album), so it's time to paint in color again now. There's a "Tonalism" group on Facebook that I just discovered. Their "autumn challenge" looks like a great way to get started. Here's my first take on this (trying out water-soluble oil paints). The reference photo is by Autonu Hanjang.

"Sketchy Sunset"
10x15cm, Cobra oil on gessoed cardboard

Inktober 2020

 

Inktober was useful this year to keep us all busy during the pandemic. I decided to try out the sumi ink I had in my closet. I'd found it second hand in Les Petits Riens in Bruxelles.

There are many good u-tube explanations of the technique. Here's one I consulted by Henri-Li: how to paint goldfish

I also found some internet sites that translated english to chinese later in the month so that my characters were less like complete jibberish. 

 More resources:  https://www.comuseum.com/

The result is in my Flickr album.

"Hydrangea or Hortensia"

 

I always knew them as "les hortensias" -- the shrubs full of flowers by the steps leading up to my grandfather's house -- but maybe they are more often referred to as "hydrangeas" in English. In any case, these pink flowers that veer towards brown as they age are fun to paint.

  

"Hydrangea or Hortensia"

27x22cm, oil on canvas