I recently attended a weekend workshop at the National Portrait Gallery on painting a portrait in egg tempera run by Antony Williams. This year he won third prize in the BP Portrait competition. I knew little of how to paint in egg tempera, other than you probably have to crack a lot of eggs. But Read the full article…
Two years on and another painting holiday in Italy with Arte Umbria. This time the course was run by the artist Caroline Bays. Arte Umbria is located in the mountains of Perugia not far from the village of Montegabbione. Sarah and David Moody make their guests very welcome, the food is fabulous, as only Italian Read the full article…
Nice Shoes, my drawing of an old friend David, was selected from 1,973 artists from across Europe and the UK and was hung in the 2016 Columbia Threadneedle Prize: Figurative Art Today. The drawing was inspired by a painting by Philip Hale that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. David sat for me in my Read the full article…
My drawing of Omar was accepted for hanging at the Royal Academy West Open Exhibition 2015. So I’m feeling pretty pleased as it’s the first time I’ve had a picture accepted for an major Open Exhibition. The Royal West of England Academy is the only regional Royal Academy in the UK and this year saw Read the full article…
Arriving from a wet August London to the clear blue skies of Perugia in Umbria was just great. But then I always feel very happy in Italy. I’ve never been on a painting holiday before, so the week was going to be something of an adventure.At the airport the three others and I on the Read the full article…
I’ve always liked Tim Benson’s portraits and this expressive brushwork and colours. I initially saw his work at an exhibition by a group 6 portrait painters, that included Adele Wagstaff and Jonathan Yeo, at the gallery at St Paul’s School in Barnes. I really admired the portrait of his grandmother. So when I heard that Read the full article…
On Tuesday 23rd September 13 artists from Kingston Open Arts Studios (KOAS) fly to Oldenburg in north Germany for a group exhibition titled – Art In Transit. Kingston and Oldenburg are twinned and the two local councils have organised the shows. There will be a reciprocal exhibition in Kingston in December. The exhibition will be Read the full article…
Rodin’s The Age of Bronze was the inspiration for my entry into this year’s V&A Inspired By.. competition. Last November I visited the sculpture gallery in the V&A and sketched Rodin’s masterpiece over a number of days. Some time later I discovered that the V&A ran an annual competition to create an artwork inspired by Read the full article…
It’s surprising what you learn… Towards the end of last year I visited the V&A sculpture gallery to do a figure drawing from a sculpture. (The advantages are that I don’t have to pay for the model and they don’t move.) There’s some fabulous work at the V&A and I finally decided on a Rodin, Read the full article…
Painting friends is fraught with danger, perhaps the equivalent of the actors’ adage ‘never work with children or animals’. However, painting Nicky and Paul proved irresistible. I’ve known them a long time – Nicky’s a family counselor and Paul was in marketing and now writes. Relationships are fascinating and a painting of two people has Read the full article…