An imminent house move has put a dampener on my painting activity recently but I've still been out and about with my sketchbook on the summer evenings after work. I really do enjoy drawing these days. It's like my mind is just opening up to the possibilities. I recently read the book Drawing on the Right side of the Brain (Betty Edwards) and it was extremely interesting. I now make a conscious effort to engage my right brain when drawing. I've also been fascinated by the drawings of Degas. He was inspired by Ingres and his emphasis on line. The line is so important in drawing and I'm inclined to dive into the tone too early. I love the line work of Degas pencil drawings and will try to see if I can focus on this in a similar way.

I've become a little obessed with drawing my feet! Toes are odd little things and demand a keen eye when being drawn. We think we 'know' what a toe/foot should be like but when actually drawing them they almost defy belief! I'll try and take a few shots of some of these sketches. Quick drawings are an excellent way to satisfy those daily artistic urges, explore ideas, improve technique and sharpen the artistic mind. It's becoming a daily habit I can't seem to be without and a welcome change from the rigours of painting. Picture of the Campbell poplars to follow soon!

I made a big effort to try and wrap up the paintings of Campbell Park this weekend. They've been dragging on for a long time now. One of them hasn't made it through 'quality control'. I'm just not happy with it and the more paint I seem to apply the less it seems to work. It's harsh, but sometimes you feel like you're circling the plughole with only one way to go! The other two have carried themselves through though after some hard graft indoors (well, in the garage actually) to pull them into line. The night before last I went out to a little spot near Nash in the late evening just to get some fresh air and remind myself about what it's like to connect with nature. I really enjoyed the session. Just an hour or so of rapid painting, trying to capture the unusual light of the sun glowing underneath the clouds.



A couple of short studies done down at Campbell Park are shown below. I do like the one with the water. It was done on a warm/hazy afternoon a diffuse light. Took about 2 hours to complete:




(above, first light)

The paintings of Campbell Park are proving to be quite a battle. I'm having to wrestle with them a bit more than I'd like. In terms of scale and subject, they're quite an unusual choice and this is proving to be quite a challenge. With the dominance of tree masses there's not as much to 'latch onto' in structural terms. Large areas of the canvas need to be handled with subtlety but the paint handling needs to be quite bold in order for it to register. I really don't know if they'll work out but hopefully I'll have enough time and energy to see them through to the end. With having to work full time I guess it's asking for trouble taking on large canvases and I'll bear this in mind for future projects. However, there does come a time when I feel as though I need to take on something of a challenge and even if they don't turn out to my satisfaction I'll have learnt a fair amount in the process.

As an aside, I'm still keeping up the life drawing classes and enjoy having the regular practice to awaken the right side of the brain. I'm hoping to do some more portraits in the near future and thought I'd drop in a couple of single session studies done at the open studios at Heatherleys in Chelsea. It's a great setup and the model sits for the best part of the day. The collective spririt and encouragement from the tutors is quite uplifting. I was pleased that I managed to keep the paint handling clean and fresh, taking quite a disciplined approach to observing and mixing the colour notes and keeping the brushes clean! The first one was done with a warm artificial light (the hair is darker than shown but the photo catches some reflected light). Both models had an olive complexion. See what you think.