August 11, 2024
My summer course is going well and is amazingly inspiring. I work with Will Kemp from the United Kingdom, an award-winning professional artist and teacher. We chose a project that is technically complex and we are almost done… Below is a fragment of the study that features sunbeams inside a room…
Airbrush
For this particular study I am using a miniature airbrush. It is a fun new tool and it can help create super transparant paint layers to create a certain atmosphere.
In the meantime I have celebrated my 64th birthday a few days ago and we decided to do so visiting the London Art Museum. There is a large portraiture section that I was interested in seeing. The Museum is free, which was a nice surprise, and the paintings on display right now were right up my alley. There is a whole section dedicated to Paul Peel (7 November 1860 – 3 October 1892), a Canadian painter who died at the very young age of 31. Looking at his body of work, one can wonder what he would have created if he had had the luxury of a longer life…
I loved the above work, not just because the human figure is represented so realistically. But the way the light hits the painter and the character of his face are especially beautiful to me. It’s a theme in my current studies and there always is so much to learn from other artworks. The painter in this artwork actually reminds me of one of my own: the Shepherd!
Another (fairly small) work I was really drawn to was this one by Florence Carlyle, Mere Adele, oil on canvas, 1897.
It is the kind of direction I wanna go to as well, with my paintings of the human figure and the general atmosphere. It breathes character without too much details in the actual figure. I once created a small panel where I was aiming for the same thing. I love to do stuff like this!
What’s next?
I will be working on a second study, once the first is completed. And it is very different from my usual theme, as it is a city scene with buildings. In order to get better at painting, I want to step out of my comfort zone and try new things and that is what this summer course is helping me with. Stay tuned for more…