This little 4x4" was painted alla prima, using the minimal amount of strokes to express the subject matter..

Hi guys! This little gesture was done in three hues - Ivory Black, Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna on a toned acrylic ground of Ultramarine + either Ivory Black or Raw Umber (I can't recall!)! I tried to apply each stroke deliberately and accurately, so as to ensure an expressive and confident piece, using the minimal amount of strokes to express the form..

​The original is a small study ( There are a few WIP pics at 'Ivory Gesture' ) however the best thing about having a really high res great scanner is I can scan really high resolution images of small works like this and make them available as high quality giclees in quite large sizes (Saatchi have Ivory Gesture Prints at sizes up to 34 Inches ! ).. As long as the artwork fits my little over A4 size scanner (or can be scanned in parts, and combined), I can get really superior quality images for all my art prints !.. :D

Anyways thanks for dropping by guys!
Hope you all are keeping safe and your souls fulfilled !

Hiya guys, Can't say as many of these dailies have been turning out as I'd like. Painting them each within a set limited time frame has proven challenging and these latest actually extended beyond the 1h set quite a bit.

Still I think it's really good practice to to try to quickly think of all the variables required for a good compo / painting - hues, temperature, composition, light, hard & soft edge, depth, weight and so much more.

​I see these dailies as just sorta sprints to prime my brain to think quickly through the problems that I have already practiced thinking about in longer drawn out artworks though. Done on their own, they would probably have the terrible effect of inculcating a shoddy habit of mindless quick painting.

 It's a skill to work methodically with precision while still doing so fast. Setting a time limit for a painting like this should be done purposefully as a side to the real practice of creating art where one has all the time needed to work out and ruminate on all the nuances of a piece. One naturally gets faster at it in time anyway. 

Anyways all new dailies (that have survived) are posted on Studies before anywhere else so do drop by if you are interested! :)

Ta guys!

Hiya guys! I've recently started incorporating these lil' life still life paintings in to my daily warmup sessions!..
Painted quickly alla prima, I'm hoping this will help me hone my life painting skills, especially in colour mixing and observation.
Someday's fall flat, in which case I just wipe the support clean ready for the next days daily. Luckily most days I manage to wrangle up something decent though.. at least so far.. :)

Here are the first few that I've recently made available for collection... 

Thanks for dropping by folks!

Hiya folks! Finally able to make this piece available after its final varnish. The final finish has a sort of satin matt look which I feel suits the piece best.
There are so many more light combinations to be explored with this angle, so I might even do more on this subject.
If you'd like to know more on this piece and how it was created click on the link below.. 

Thanks for dropping by!.. :)

Hiya folks!,.. It's been a while hasn't it!. I'm coming out of a difficult year after caring for my dad through his last few months and long slow deterioration. There are no words to describe how it feels to see a loved one go thus... We miss him everyday now even though he had long been a shadow of himself. 

Anyways, art has always pulled me through difficult times and I was working on this little print during his final days. I did one set with goldleaf for some artist friends (12 editions) and this set (below in only 8 editions) with silverleaf. I hadn't done any printmaking since my college days so I kept it simple.

This is the first time I've tried gilding a handpulled print and it's a bit tricky to do so, as each piece is supposed to be as identical as possible ( this is a mark of a good printmaker). To get the gilding pattern of each print as close as possible I used a stencil to apply the gilding paste and then continued with the gilding process as usual. 
I wanted the silverleaf to be protected though, so a layer of Artist Varnish was applied just to the leaf alone.

These prints have only just been made available on Artfinder so if you're interested in adding one to your collection pop on by - 'Zen Dog' Silverleaf V/E Print .
Do drop me a message if you have any questions!

​Thanks for dropping by!!

It was great fun painting this alla prima oil of a subject matter so close to my heart, my mother and little cat (at the time) Crookshanks. 
I wanted to really capture the early morning light as it shone brightly, illuminating the dark interior of my mother's bedroom. So, unlike the rest of the piece, the window area was left bare of any toned underpainting. The rest was painted with a limited palette over a toned ground of paynes grey, yellow ocher and raw umber.
Much of this toned ground is left uncovered in the final piece intentionally and background elements have been left with a rough unfinished look.

Vine charcoal was the perfect medium in helping to create this soft toned atmospheric piece.