Sunday 15 April 2018

Coloured Glass Challenge

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

For this week's challenge. I love coloured glass, the way the light shines through it and you get a combination of reflections and highlights. I realised as I was painting that you can see the lightbulb's shadow through the lightbulb itself!


This is still drying; I'm uploading it now (11 April) so I can submit it to the challenge but please bear in mind it will need additional drying time before it can be shipped.

Saturday 14 April 2018

Gospel Oak

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

I'm finally starting to feel up to painting city scenes again! I went through a bit of a block for a while, and they just weren't working out - but I'm hoping that's clearing up now. The other night I was feeling brave and decided to do a painting from a photo taken in London last summer. The composition made me a little nervous - the railings, the placement of bridges - I was worried they'd confuse the focus. But I stuck with my instincts and painted the scene anyway, and I'm actually really pleased with how it came out!


Friday 13 April 2018

Hello Avocado

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

...I haven't tried painting you before! In fact, I'm managing quite a few painting 'firsts' lately, which is fun. I went for a much cooler colour palette here, to contrast all the reds and warm purples I've been doing lately, but I tried to keep things bright and cheerful; I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. 


Thursday 12 April 2018

Beetroot and Blood Orange

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

It's not often I get to do it, but I love using all three secondary colours in a painting! But on this occasion, I had just the subject matter; the blood orange, which I was eager to paint again, and beetroot. The leaves were an interesting challenge; I found myself treating them in an almost abstract way while blocking in the lighter and darker areas.


Wednesday 11 April 2018

Red: The Sequel

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40 Available here

I had so much fun with my first 'Red' painting I did another! This one might be even more vivid- the pops of green help. I was excited to paint all of these elements; the blood orange, which I'd never tried before, was great fun. The deep, mottled colour is so striking! The kiwi is a rematch - I'd tried painting one before and it came out terribly, but I think I've conquered it this time! Chilli peppers are always fun to paint, though I tend to handle them very gingerly. I am not a fan of spicy things personally! I just love the shape and colour. And cherry tomatoes, my old friends, I'll never desert you...


As with the previous works, this artwork is still a little wet at time of posting (11th April) and may need additional time to dry before being shipped.

Tuesday 10 April 2018

Limited Colour: Red

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

How about this for a splash of colour! Red is one of my favourites, but I don't actually use it lots in painting - mostly in little accents here and there. So I was a bit uncertain about how a big swathe of it would work out... But I love it! It's so powerful and bold; the small size of the canvas board stops it from being too completely overwhelming, I think. I was planning to add small touch of a contrasting colour, but once I'd settled on the arrangement, I actually felt it would look better without.Please note that at the time of posting (6th April) this painting is still wet; I would not be comfortable shipping it for a week or two, until I'm happy it's completely dry. However I'm putting it up early so I can submit it to the Weekly Challenge page.

Limited Colour: Turquoise

6x6" oil on canvas board, $40. Available here

A more on-theme submission for the weekly challenge- this time using one of my favourite colours to paint with! I didn't have too many items this colour- I used a sketchbook and a shirt for backdrop, a translucent plastic plate to sit the jug on (the jug was bought in a charity shop purely for painting, and I love the shape of it!) and a spool of embroidery thread.I threw in the orange scissors as my one small thing that's a different colour, and I am really pleased I did; they balance the cool colours out. Please note that at the time of posting (6th April) this painting is still wet; I would not be comfortable shipping it for a week or two, until I'm happy it's completely dry. However I'm putting it up early so I can submit it to the Weekly Challenge page.

Red Onions Aren't Actually Red

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here

I loved this week's challenge, all about using limited colours in a composition. I really wanted to do a painting based around the colour of a red onion, which is not red at all, but a dark purple-brown. I decided to introduce the little green Haworthia plant as my 'one small thing' that isn't. The colours got a little bit more varied than I intended as I worked on it, and then I added a green marble, so it got away from the theme a bit - but I'm still happy with it. Please note that at the time of posting (6th April) this painting is still wet; I would not be comfortable shipping it for a week or two, until I'm happy it's completely dry. However I'm putting it up early so I can submit it to the Weekly Challenge page.

Saturday 7 April 2018

Bluebells

5x7" watercolour on paper. $40, Available here

This was painted from photos of a trip to Hitch Wood last year. In spring, the woods all around us brighten with a carpet of bluebells. The resulting views are stunning, and I wanted to create a little tribute to the atmosphere you get when walking through them - almost mystical!

Friday 6 April 2018

Back To My Roots

6x6" oil on canvas board. $40. Available here 

I like painting root vegetables! For my first college painting assignment, my composition was a still life including two onions - one brown, one red. They're always fun, trying to capture their shine and the way their skin peels off in layers. This was my first time painting a parsnip, though!


Thursday 5 April 2018

Lemon and Cherries

5x7" oil on canvas board. $40, Available here

I was in the mood to do something kind of traditional to get myself back into using oils - I'd been having a bit of a block. I decided to try doing a simple still life against a dark background, and found that I loved how luminous it made the lemon look! I had fun trying to suggest the texture of the lemon's skin with careful brushmarks.

Wednesday 4 April 2018

Old St Lawrence Church, Ayot

6x6" acrylic on canvas board. $40. Available here

Here's a painting of an old church on the Ayot Estate. We were taking a walk past, and luckily I got a chance to stop and do some sketches. It was a very atmospheric location! I also took some photos, knowing I'd want to paint it, and I did! It was very interesting to try and convey the texture of the stone.



Among the Greenery

6x6" watercolour on paper. $40. Available here 

This is a little local scene. There are lots of houses tucked in among the trees and shrubs at the edges of country lanes; the white and green make for a really nice contrast. I love painting architecture like this in watercolour- and I had fun with all of the leafiness too!

Edge of the Lake

4x10" watercolour on paper. $45 Available here 

I really like this type of 'panoramic' landscape format. I had a lot of fun painting the pine trees in this! They have such great silhouettes, I always enjoy when they pop up in a composition.