tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89919329219598351292024-03-12T19:59:46.455-07:00Frank's Art RevivalUntil 2010, I had done no painting since I took a watercolour course or two at our local school in the late 1990's. In 2009, I made a New year's resolution that I would settle down and do some painting, but it never materialized. So early this year when I said to my wife that I was going to pick up my paint brushes again, she just laughed!
Well, I meant it this time, hence this blog. It's a revival of my inner most desire to paint, in fact, it's my art revival!_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-71609530315461113032019-05-09T05:57:00.000-07:002019-05-09T06:00:14.517-07:00Blue Zebra<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 16pt;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYb7xpv0I_K_LYDEPx3pTxaNwAa6xQ8gXGxR2yzzA1xLcqWEk27oLHjIOsrtXkG-T6X6HdH_ryFASGpw659y3qmXgSq2T6rj-0Fq4WyG4c2NidYork4WKJ8SIVLwv8oWCCfG65U5ex8U/s1600/IMG_0400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYb7xpv0I_K_LYDEPx3pTxaNwAa6xQ8gXGxR2yzzA1xLcqWEk27oLHjIOsrtXkG-T6X6HdH_ryFASGpw659y3qmXgSq2T6rj-0Fq4WyG4c2NidYork4WKJ8SIVLwv8oWCCfG65U5ex8U/s320/IMG_0400.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 16pt;">2/5/2019 Last month saw us taking the grandchildren to Twycross Zoo and I just loved the zebras.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 16pt;">Dusted off my box of acrylics for this one. Good start with the drawing, but gave up trying to draw the stripes - just a nightmare trying to work out what should be black and what should be white! In the end, I started painting the stripes directly from source. Haven't made up my mind about the background yet, want to keep it a bit surreal and colourful for a more contemporary look.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19.4px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 16pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wfwaKsYfTmBixKGWfCFsZ24xD7Ci6cmd-TRS9uGZFpsqbHMBOLsoUD4X4o1pCPMKKFCdR01oq5hi2T1UGCOkwPyklj3_gb8P49Xdr_hLLy82cdGa6SnHiFBX5ZjLqXfF8mtix8JC2ZY/s1600/zeb2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wfwaKsYfTmBixKGWfCFsZ24xD7Ci6cmd-TRS9uGZFpsqbHMBOLsoUD4X4o1pCPMKKFCdR01oq5hi2T1UGCOkwPyklj3_gb8P49Xdr_hLLy82cdGa6SnHiFBX5ZjLqXfF8mtix8JC2ZY/s320/zeb2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 16pt;">7/5/2019 I've learned to my sanity, painting a zebra with all those stripes is a major headache! Wish I'd have continued with drawing them, as it would have made the painting stage easier. Today's session saw all of the black stripes in place, and a lot of the whites. Thing is, it's not just black and white, and while there is always form to think about in painting, there is also anatomy with this painting - the way the stripes flow over the bones and muscles. I will need to re-iterate this more in subsequent layers</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxVOGjbAeBVNDJY8PxhZLNJkcTL6ot0g21GRQy3NdYMoh2ZaUgKp2FVDg1DRPDxGEuw9hn_F5RYeBL9-Z3JFTEAloOsYOLHOrZvuvskdP8BU0PeLR9j-y8x1dty-gjPWU5PzfpDSGGz4/s1600/zeb1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1577" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxVOGjbAeBVNDJY8PxhZLNJkcTL6ot0g21GRQy3NdYMoh2ZaUgKp2FVDg1DRPDxGEuw9hn_F5RYeBL9-Z3JFTEAloOsYOLHOrZvuvskdP8BU0PeLR9j-y8x1dty-gjPWU5PzfpDSGGz4/s320/zeb1.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> 9/5/2019 <span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 16pt;">In the end, I decided on a very muted background so that the zebra remained the point of focus in the painting.</span></span></div>
_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-25160065043794894322018-07-22T11:57:00.002-07:002018-07-22T11:57:38.148-07:00Rip Up Your LP's!<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: both; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10.66px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PyqIkVdxlNpQpNK-FiR9Ecel8fldHFLy6u2Mp4QC-tNRLJ1Ku30bjrs-dOWk8jUPG9uQQqKKLD5fRTcbr_M4aETVujq1Yp3JYeJIIu-1r1Z6N0Z_2ZVKTvOaUHKsJdPLOAoqYK50fhE/s1600/final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 16px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="600" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PyqIkVdxlNpQpNK-FiR9Ecel8fldHFLy6u2Mp4QC-tNRLJ1Ku30bjrs-dOWk8jUPG9uQQqKKLD5fRTcbr_M4aETVujq1Yp3JYeJIIu-1r1Z6N0Z_2ZVKTvOaUHKsJdPLOAoqYK50fhE/s400/final.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Back in the early
1960's, like most other teenagers, I quickly developed an interest pop music
played on the radio. I would listen to Radio Luxembourg which was one of
the few radio stations that played non-stop pop music of the day, even though
the signal would fade in and out significantly. One of the bands (we used to
call them groups back then) that I really liked was The Beatles. I was a bit
young for the very early stuff and came in on their second album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">With The Beatles</i>. At that time, I’d just
started a Saturday job in a grocery shop and saved up enough money to buy a
record player and this set me off visiting record shops in the nearby town of
Market Harborough. After buying a number of singles (first of which was Chris <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Montez’s Let’s Dance</i>) I eventually
bought my first LP, which was entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">With
The Beatles</i>. I thought then (and still do now) that this was the best band
in the world! I played the album over and over, much to the annoyance of my
parents! Some time later, I lent it to a friend, along with a couple of other
albums, which he (unknown to me) lent them on to someone else. Needless to say,
I never saw any of them again. A year or two back, the same album came out on
CD in a cardboard sleeve, which I bought and now everything is right with my
music world again!</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10.66px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My creativity
here sees me recreating that album cover using ripped and cut magazine pages
stuck onto board with PVA glue. It’s a technique I learned from Danielle Vaughn
(of Sky Portrait Artist of the Year fame) but is only the second foray into
this type of work. If any of you have looked at my website, you’ll have seen a
Common Gull, which was my first attempt.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 16px; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody style="margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGDpvWt71Ae8Eb-YG2wbdZmDu2Kn78yDiPPWIzNik_6lSFqHSwlaNyu7DshdlSTNv2fD-odbSP8eAbO0mOuokOO2ALx83smyC0KPmNdFbdMfRXoJTY3uU4bQISryyn1YJ8fkW3eJoCUw/s1600/first.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGDpvWt71Ae8Eb-YG2wbdZmDu2Kn78yDiPPWIzNik_6lSFqHSwlaNyu7DshdlSTNv2fD-odbSP8eAbO0mOuokOO2ALx83smyC0KPmNdFbdMfRXoJTY3uU4bQISryyn1YJ8fkW3eJoCUw/s1600/first.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 0px;"><i style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 0px;">fig1.</i></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10.66px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> </span>It was started in a workshop with a number of
fellow artists, in which we had less than three hours, including setting up and
clearing up afterwards. Whilst a number of our group roughly finished their work,
mine was too intricate a task to complete in this time – see <i>fig1</i>. Another
session at home saw significantly more added but nothing like a good likeness. The
final session saw improvement in the faces but still not the best likeness, and
here it will have to stop.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10.66px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As our tutor
mentioned, that with ripped paper work it’s easier to start with a large board
than fiddle around with tiny slithers of paper – this I found to my peril, it’s
nigh impossible to handle small pieces when there’s glue on them! For some very
small pieces I resorted to using scissors and tweezers, with certain facial
features built up separately, then glued to the main body of work ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">en masse</i>’.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 16px; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody style="margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<tr style="margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIDIua_cJfN7FFm0H-pqJMhHyqgNS3SywSPuxoNEaVsDjxAdRQRC8JXUlqM59VHgVk11dhL9vIpJ5GPax6ZynDbRUPoNdjSgyN88XIfEgoPZ6aHD3jc-plIw4pzbCNpTyAD12AT-PAiGI/s1600/mid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIDIua_cJfN7FFm0H-pqJMhHyqgNS3SywSPuxoNEaVsDjxAdRQRC8JXUlqM59VHgVk11dhL9vIpJ5GPax6ZynDbRUPoNdjSgyN88XIfEgoPZ6aHD3jc-plIw4pzbCNpTyAD12AT-PAiGI/s1600/mid.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 0px;"><i style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 0px;">Second stage</i></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10.66px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Creating
pictures using this medium is very addictive, and I guarantee that you will
never look at a magazine again without see colours and patterns and thinking
how gorgeous bits of this and that would look in a ripped paper picture!</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-56672015260660913222017-02-15T12:59:00.000-08:002017-02-15T12:59:50.050-08:00For The Love Of Portraiture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVRad9LylTkWXE6EWbFB9lrMLir7Y-_KqgdZlYi-WO1hSLmh9Idis78-zzTQREM8Kds18t6MimpjPlKg8wwP01Gis4uqy5gmWC9mIurfI2JzfcODACEQPTgJIL_F2lxWD0QOhuTKAYsg/s1600/lena_r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVRad9LylTkWXE6EWbFB9lrMLir7Y-_KqgdZlYi-WO1hSLmh9Idis78-zzTQREM8Kds18t6MimpjPlKg8wwP01Gis4uqy5gmWC9mIurfI2JzfcODACEQPTgJIL_F2lxWD0QOhuTKAYsg/s320/lena_r.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This is my first post for 2017, and I've started the year working (mostly) on portraits. I seem to have an endless passion and fascination in painting people. Whether it's just a head, head and shoulders, full figure or even groups of people, it gives me such a buzz working it all out.<br />Like many artists, I never quite get everything right; OK, I think I'm improving, but there is so much to think about and so so much that can go wrong. From the contours of the face to the shape of the lips, the distance between the eyes and if the eyes are looking in the right direction, the placement of the nose etc, it all needs careful attention and observation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Then there's the tonal qualities to think about and mixing the exact colour for all the different skin tones. All this has to be spot on in portraiture if we are going to get a good likeness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMUl1bAgM3H0ku53ramNLRJzM1j1HgEN9gCqL0begjNb6V3_dCbn5aaR1fPZJjgk_yCKaSKIh5bPemkCkf5BySzEX-4WqM7CM98xo5-9K3vvxcVSjcWZa4dAkUnL-SsfA_pRP6O-yUS8/s1600/IMG_0058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMUl1bAgM3H0ku53ramNLRJzM1j1HgEN9gCqL0begjNb6V3_dCbn5aaR1fPZJjgk_yCKaSKIh5bPemkCkf5BySzEX-4WqM7CM98xo5-9K3vvxcVSjcWZa4dAkUnL-SsfA_pRP6O-yUS8/s200/IMG_0058.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">With the oil painting of "Lina", I'd drawn it on the board and applied the acrylic ground (yellow ochre and burnt sienna mixed) in one evening. The following morning, I started to paint with oils and it was completed in 3-4 hours - sort of alla prima style. This was unusually fast for me. I'd been reading about how the Old Masters painted and the earthy colours that they used (often using pigments that they produced themselves) and tried to apply some of their techniques to this work with some success I think.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-87786780544091403182016-11-04T14:47:00.000-07:002016-11-04T14:49:42.439-07:00Over the Sea to the US<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJDM8MPoDRO14GC3pC1gp3pjTFhGd_3muXGiyuCKUPu2qNBaX5-IgHTBPDxyfehRp53mf01RJhzG1D-RhPkMSy4d-OpGAnTNS4erMaadznS4BNN9hppBF9-IKrSzyh2ZMrb8_dVOxhMgE/s1600/JanWithJan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJDM8MPoDRO14GC3pC1gp3pjTFhGd_3muXGiyuCKUPu2qNBaX5-IgHTBPDxyfehRp53mf01RJhzG1D-RhPkMSy4d-OpGAnTNS4erMaadznS4BNN9hppBF9-IKrSzyh2ZMrb8_dVOxhMgE/s400/JanWithJan.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One of my portrait paintings has winged it's way over the Atlantic to be with its new owner.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is the second portrait that I have done of Janna.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">She tells me that she and her family love it - so nice to have your work appreciated.</span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-37045605658175604222016-10-30T14:02:00.000-07:002016-10-31T12:37:50.007-07:00Painting the Show<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZAT1r8YyCU_WMgCPkREKVT3OKA5fRUNlZTChcJcmETsNy91YW5wyCyh60j7Xn7flBDSOoTdal1wYkrn0GoA9SQlE8GirgZHpGhxNLBoumM976gB5CM11wjOzVyl1g9g5nENqLBCmOxp8/s1600/show91.600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZAT1r8YyCU_WMgCPkREKVT3OKA5fRUNlZTChcJcmETsNy91YW5wyCyh60j7Xn7flBDSOoTdal1wYkrn0GoA9SQlE8GirgZHpGhxNLBoumM976gB5CM11wjOzVyl1g9g5nENqLBCmOxp8/s640/show91.600.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sheep Judging at the Leicester County Show - 400x300cm Oil on board</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This year saw the revival of the Leicester County Show, which was held at Airfield Farm just to the North of Market Harborough. Having spent my earlier years in farming, I really love looking round agricultural shows and this one was a cracker!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjKak-FhIwNZAvHxaqa7w9uLKX8XRFatlYzWnwK8BScI3wwLeBgt2F08bQ0XtDCbg6Rj3P36W_mDZxfy1hbYdCyl8L8wkwei3AmguTEDiGGCWOOBDQ2Lq5HOHdah3a4g5jMaxPgPZ9vvE/s1600/original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjKak-FhIwNZAvHxaqa7w9uLKX8XRFatlYzWnwK8BScI3wwLeBgt2F08bQ0XtDCbg6Rj3P36W_mDZxfy1hbYdCyl8L8wkwei3AmguTEDiGGCWOOBDQ2Lq5HOHdah3a4g5jMaxPgPZ9vvE/s320/original.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Original photo: things were moved around or left out<br />in the finished work in order to aid composition.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here I've painted a scene based on the sheep judging from my own photo, though I've moved things around to get a better composition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />Working on 6mm MDF, unusually for me, I didn't lay down a base colour over the board - just went straight in with my pencil. After spending some time on the sketch, the result looked quite complicated so I used a loose mixture of phthalo green and yellow ochre to pick out the areas of grass, which immediately made more sense of the scene.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSE8Luo4dkudYT6IxMh1aUwSV3_yl060P1SlFMkUVsKM_CzyWWasQktlUpL_dVumReDFG5T4pC0VqCkOdnwx8tMgc73RqlfTI9ij2yzyWJ0q0_oOXr9H1mtu77pI1dNVBXnHMhefMjCg/s1600/blog0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSE8Luo4dkudYT6IxMh1aUwSV3_yl060P1SlFMkUVsKM_CzyWWasQktlUpL_dVumReDFG5T4pC0VqCkOdnwx8tMgc73RqlfTI9ij2yzyWJ0q0_oOXr9H1mtu77pI1dNVBXnHMhefMjCg/s320/blog0.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here the</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> thinned</span></i> <span style="font-size: x-small;">phthalo</span> green glaze clarified the work</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Working my way around the figures and sheep, the painting started to take shape, but was slow going as I want add enough detail to make it look convincing, but not too much to make it look like a photograph. Fascinating work though.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Painting straight lines has always been a challenge for me, especially when they need to be thin! For this reason, the lines for the railings looked a bit wobbly, but does it really matter?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhimQ28XJe_Tl-T_eVF5e4c8_zcXUliOlQScNNFXoioIbTBX0p-WLIv7DhRJVbal1EG0TaOtHah5m56RmqWS-nbAEhEtConpwqpK1MjDi5QpYpcNZ7N-tFo7VRDVwGaTrifLw6kM6aSGlo/s1600/blog1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhimQ28XJe_Tl-T_eVF5e4c8_zcXUliOlQScNNFXoioIbTBX0p-WLIv7DhRJVbal1EG0TaOtHah5m56RmqWS-nbAEhEtConpwqpK1MjDi5QpYpcNZ7N-tFo7VRDVwGaTrifLw6kM6aSGlo/s320/blog1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After adding the sky and distant parts, I worked my way<br />the figures one by one.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sooner or later I knew that I would have to get around to painting the grass proper, but the thing is that painting every blade was going to take forever, so I used dry brush, wet brush, multiple colours on one brush and scratching out with a palette knife to get some variety and texture in the base green, though I don't quite know if I succeeded or not on that one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Overall, this work took around one month to complete working around two sessions a week, mostly at painting groups that I attend regularly - somewhat longer than is usually the case.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Visit me on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/frankb1062" target="_blank">frankb1062 </a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> or visit my <a href="http://frankbingley.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a></span></span></span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-89247735395728398042016-08-07T11:47:00.003-07:002016-08-07T23:15:05.356-07:00Can I Make My Own Frames?<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The high cost of getting work framed these days can push the price tag of our paintings quite high. While this may not be a problem for established artists who can command a good price for their work, it can be quite a problem for us lesser known amateurs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The last work that I had <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">professionally</span> framed, though quite a small painting, cost me more than the overall value of the price tag that I could put on the work! I mean, don't get me wrong, my current framer makes a fantastic job of framing my <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">artwork, but maybe I should look at doing some<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> t<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">h</span></span></span>ings differently<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">?</span><br />I have on occasion bought second hand frames from car boot sales and re-painted them, with some success, though to be honest, most frames at a car boot can be in a pretty rough state, and getting one the right size, often difficult.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My other line of thinking was, could I make my own frames from scratch? Whilst I am pretty handy at woodwork, this could prove quite a challenge. In fact, it really did with my first efforts!</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGqC52QG0UdN7Le5hwu_4gZvmwnTA8hnkjaaPngyCSaDbIZybd_XFIZ454G9irg_O9DQN5PBl71FUhkoePRPLByzQZEhOIuE-8yuSgFo0HbOLK_QwEbsnF4kD07joXfImaDRLOBnbgEA/s1600/fig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGqC52QG0UdN7Le5hwu_4gZvmwnTA8hnkjaaPngyCSaDbIZybd_XFIZ454G9irg_O9DQN5PBl71FUhkoePRPLByzQZEhOIuE-8yuSgFo0HbOLK_QwEbsnF4kD07joXfImaDRLOBnbgEA/s320/fig1.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fig1. Cross section of how I frame my oil paintings done on board</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The kind of frames that I thought that I <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">might be able to make myself, are the ones that house my oil paintings done on 6mm MDF board. Not sure what these type of frames are called, but they are made from simple lengths of timber with a rebate down one edge, where the bo<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ard is inserted at the front<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> My first two attempts <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to cut a rebate from a length of timber failed miserably! First using a router, <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">then using a hand rebating plane - nearly took my finger off with the router and couldn't keep a straight cut with the plane! The resultant length of timber went back in the gar<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">age and I thought that it was time to give up.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A couple of days later, <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I</span> had a brainwave! What about the wood yard just down the road - surely they have the equipment to rebate a length of PAR timber? My thinking turned out to be good, as the young lad <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in charge of the woodworking equipment was only too happy to help, and in about five minutes, had done a perfect job for me with a 3.6m leng<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">th of timber. The charge for this at the till was an amazing £<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.00! <i>Fig1.</i> shows how the softwood was cut to <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">accommodate</span> the board.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03D485OK3vT5vrGRgQ5gGGXoaT_GXQGwh5Z6GQwERV0TyQNem4gC34Q6CW192vDNRYYB0UAS1FUe41GHSpMXXRkrBmNlq1yktOmj_TMWia7W6i36c_HyL6BEt8Tc-pjcDbbxnQnuytYQ/s1600/framing.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03D485OK3vT5vrGRgQ5gGGXoaT_GXQGwh5Z6GQwERV0TyQNem4gC34Q6CW192vDNRYYB0UAS1FUe41GHSpMXXRkrBmNlq1yktOmj_TMWia7W6i36c_HyL6BEt8Tc-pjcDbbxnQnuytYQ/s320/framing.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fig2. frame pieces cut ready for assembly.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My next task was to cut the timber to the correct len<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">gths using a mitre <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">saw. Fortunately, I have both a power and a precision hand <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">mitring</span> saw</span>, though the power one didn't have a fine enough blade, so had to do <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">this</span> by hand. It took some practice to make a satisfactory cut at first, but a few lengths later I'd got it weighed up. <i>See fig2.</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With all the <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">frame pieces cut, how on earth was I going to hold all this together? I could just glue the ends together, use some sort of clamps maybe, but how strong would that <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">be? Time to look on t'<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">internet</span> I thought. After a while, it was Amazon to <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the rescue - within a couple of days, a super-dooper<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, all bells and whistles, picture framing kit landed in my front porch! What a fabulous piece of kit - within a few minutes, after making a test corner, I had the first frame made, with lovely wedges driven into the corners and glued for good measure.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8p4wttsPNTz15A12H-c0jwiF3siwW-HAHnfff3iMGUB1oGDce-hIJsM4SpysyQ013eXhn43mcc9C0tBegCQuety6UgMAVR337WIDxlxQWWqt45ShU2nbNoVRezTi6E2ZQioRVkwlVbvo/s1600/mounted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8p4wttsPNTz15A12H-c0jwiF3siwW-HAHnfff3iMGUB1oGDce-hIJsM4SpysyQ013eXhn43mcc9C0tBegCQuety6UgMAVR337WIDxlxQWWqt45ShU2nbNoVRezTi6E2ZQioRVkwlVbvo/s400/mounted.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The finished frames</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">initial rebate proved to be slightly small, but <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a</span></span> few days later, I had<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> several lengths made with a modified rebate and framed some more paintings. These frames were given two coats of gesso by brush<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, </span>follo<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">wed by a good quality<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, white spray paint.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have to say that the finished frame<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">s look super and easily good enough for exhibition purposes, so the answer to the question "Can I Make My Own Frames", is for this type of frame yes.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span><br /> </span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-72556919881105632842016-07-12T12:50:00.000-07:002016-07-30T12:45:53.491-07:00The Ewe in Oils<h2>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></h2>
<div id="image" style="float: right;">
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwAkchYPW7BDayJzjglgUM3EsTtEtFWWulSaZY85NW46xD3sJQeyQ3BzkqnYAFjZjbuD-W8PvPQP2YZ_3MQarKNeE0XUtl0PlNUS7-NDqcbm57oEuAgjAmNipM3GPSzpJC0e_vMWBkTQ/s1600/on_easel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwAkchYPW7BDayJzjglgUM3EsTtEtFWWulSaZY85NW46xD3sJQeyQ3BzkqnYAFjZjbuD-W8PvPQP2YZ_3MQarKNeE0XUtl0PlNUS7-NDqcbm57oEuAgjAmNipM3GPSzpJC0e_vMWBkTQ/s1600/on_easel.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>At the end of first stage</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> I usually complete one painting about every 1 to 2 weeks, depending on
the size of the support or type of medium used. If it's a request or
commission, maybe a a little longer.
My latest work is this painting of a ewe in a barn with straw
on the floor. Like a lot of my work, it's based on a photograph. In the
original shot is also a lamb, who apart from looking a bit sorry for himself, is
looking down and away from his mother so I decided to leave him out and
go for a straight, profile view of the ewe.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQJIO0Ac245hHlEzW6UGm-c1bI_6-jbDrgoxStzIF5tkZocRL30YY89EpYEkcvOSgHEuW6dOHOHpPU6KLvdcWI7ANFatYNoWJNBXyzAHFsZ3Cxcd74F6_Ze4vR5WlO7xMPJZ-_QpRui5k/s1600/ewe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQJIO0Ac245hHlEzW6UGm-c1bI_6-jbDrgoxStzIF5tkZocRL30YY89EpYEkcvOSgHEuW6dOHOHpPU6KLvdcWI7ANFatYNoWJNBXyzAHFsZ3Cxcd74F6_Ze4vR5WlO7xMPJZ-_QpRui5k/s400/ewe.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Ewe: Oil on board 30x30cm</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Unusually for me, I am using a black colour mixed with Purple Dioxazine
for the background and darkest parts of the sheep. In the first picture, I've sketched
the subject in pencil and used a background wash of yellow ochre mixed
with burnt sienna thinned with white spirit and dried with the hair
dryer. The background has been painted first - another anomaly with me,
and the eye carefully completed in one go. This was the most colourful
part of the work and very satisfying to do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first clumps of wool are
now in place too, after weighing up the hue of the wool - the first
assumption is that it would be generally white, but on closer
inspection, there are many variations of tone and colour in the fleece.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The finished painting reflects my current style with oils; that is to try and make every brush stroke count - not going over any painted area again if possible. This in my view, helps to keep the painting looking fresh. When we start to push paint around, this is when the colours start to look muddy. The support I use now mostly, is 6mm MDF board, which is cheap, lovely to work on and shows up brush marks beautifully, also allowing me to give form to the image.</span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-76108982310589235162015-04-02T04:26:00.000-07:002015-04-02T04:26:12.610-07:00New Paints<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1W4IRuAOHgsA0JNCD42eq1PwqDVRh-1s90niFI-Nte1LE0zNX-L8bJFHhwO8FmbuV0UI32k6WdNdtyhAv_WZhBzNFRCYSRQhvV7ZfsTA2KY5PgeDJ4sYAA3rauvau1FBqO8b2pXk2o4/s1600/Self_03_2015_release.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1W4IRuAOHgsA0JNCD42eq1PwqDVRh-1s90niFI-Nte1LE0zNX-L8bJFHhwO8FmbuV0UI32k6WdNdtyhAv_WZhBzNFRCYSRQhvV7ZfsTA2KY5PgeDJ4sYAA3rauvau1FBqO8b2pXk2o4/s1600/Self_03_2015_release.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Self 2015 Oil on canvas paper 30x40 cm.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">One year in the early 1970’s I attended an evening course
learning how to paint in oils with local tutor Edna Bull. Being in my mid-twenties
and a family man, I just did the one-off course where I produced several
paintings, most of which (bar one) have long since disappeared. Since that
time, I never looked at oils again, in fact until 2010 (except two years
learning watercolour), didn’t do hardly any painting.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Nowadays, I’ve used quite a number of different media, but
never oils until I watched Peter Barker do a demonstration with alkyd oils at
the Oadby Society of Artists one evening. Although Peter has done some fabulous
work (see his blog below), this particular seascape painting was quite simple, but he
did show us the virtues of using this type of oil paint. Winsor & Newton
Griffin Alkyd oils have a much faster drying time than
conventional oils allowing the artist to paint over work done less than an hour
earlier in the session. Another bonus is that these oils work out less
expensive than the conventional type!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Spurred on by Peter’s demo, I bought the paints and started
my first oil painting in 40 years! Not wanting to splash out too much on a
media that I might not use again, I opted for just three primary colours (cadmium
yellow light, cobalt blue, permanent rose) and Titanium white. It’s possible to
get most colours that you would need from these.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEify2fzhhAznvL9RgjtOEyvsN7dzeSIiWr26pqvs_Nc3Ej6ssBdbe5OEG2IWWQCbFaWiFiY08weyu1yyIVlcNyAI3XsItYN3hxYnzdjuaJkU40QzQO-DF-31BKwOTYPxbxlpoHnbJj_fYk/s1600/FirstSession.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEify2fzhhAznvL9RgjtOEyvsN7dzeSIiWr26pqvs_Nc3Ej6ssBdbe5OEG2IWWQCbFaWiFiY08weyu1yyIVlcNyAI3XsItYN3hxYnzdjuaJkU40QzQO-DF-31BKwOTYPxbxlpoHnbJj_fYk/s1600/FirstSession.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">After first session</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">After several months of using acrylic, these oils were a
dream to use and blended beautifully (something hard to achieve with acrylics).
My subject matter was the self-portrait shown here and the paint was touch dry
soon after each session, allowing me to transport the work home from the
painting club without fear of getting paint all over the car!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This painting took around ten days, and I did quite a detailed sketch in pencil first before laying on some of this lovely medium. It took me more time to do the shirt than it did my face! I think I am hooked on these paints now, and will probably
stick with them, for the time being anyway.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Check-out Peter’s excellent blog here: <a href="http://peter-peterbarkerpaintings.blogspot.co.uk/">http://peter-peterbarkerpaintings.blogspot.co.uk/</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-58401855519608434782015-02-24T14:17:00.000-08:002015-02-24T14:18:14.475-08:00Le Nonne<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylvLRpdpTkPdvLVtYCDMyS4-XMp_OpZ4v0oGGVqZk4zizv6R3W1jg1O1sYTmslwHICFmLwYO3ERSnmkRbPefeknNRANsPCid4B6IkElkP1ma6UpXrAXoiQ5-ds8jl5jfIteO5n_AMhCQ/s1600/il_release.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylvLRpdpTkPdvLVtYCDMyS4-XMp_OpZ4v0oGGVqZk4zizv6R3W1jg1O1sYTmslwHICFmLwYO3ERSnmkRbPefeknNRANsPCid4B6IkElkP1ma6UpXrAXoiQ5-ds8jl5jfIteO5n_AMhCQ/s1600/il_release.jpg" height="323" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Le Nonne</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The main reason I paint these days is for my own personal pleasure and not what many people like or want to buy for that matter. Come to think of if it, I haven't sold a painting since last November! It is however, nice to be able to be relaxed when painting and not worry about meeting any deadline or pleasing anybody I guess.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Although I have several different styles going at the moment, I still occasionally try something a bit different, suddenly and spontaneously changing the way I work. Often it doesn't work or I get stuck or fail to portray what is going on in my head. But just occasionally something clicks and I think "oh, that actually works" or then I think that I've done something that is obviously different and not sure if it has worked or not.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The painting "Le Nonne" is one such work, something quite different for me. Friends that have seen it say they like it, but you are never quite sure about what they are saying because a lot of folk don't want to offend you and will say something is good when they may really feel otherwise. Any way, this work is based on a black-and-white photo my daughter took when on holiday in Italy last year. As I knew nothing about what the true colours of the scene were, I decided that rather than do a black-and-white work, I could get some earthy colours going - you know something like Rembrandt would go for. The resultant limited palette turned out something like sepia tone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just on the off chance, I thought that I would submit this painting a bit further afield than our small, local events. I've done this a few times over the last year or two, but always been rejected. Imagine my amazement then, when I got an email saying my submission has been accepted! So now, from March 14th - May 4th 2015, this work will be on show at the <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424809458755_2295">Leicester and East Midlands Open Art Exhibition 2015</span> to be held at the Newarke House Museum. Wow, what a result!</span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-55635021488063935872014-08-01T13:07:00.000-07:002014-08-01T13:07:14.948-07:00We Visit the National Portrait Gallery<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDvE96PEwO1xEzm3a1SByBRoFqJhijodRH2-1MwI4WuXaxGTTAJKK_sAT9HHqPs6mJiJtxna8fHEMTdaS4SR4WNHPeY0M0zx7eM7UmfNGl4vqc5xXM6Rgh7X3EHZuOEVTt2FIOlrmWKY/s1600/London31072014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDvE96PEwO1xEzm3a1SByBRoFqJhijodRH2-1MwI4WuXaxGTTAJKK_sAT9HHqPs6mJiJtxna8fHEMTdaS4SR4WNHPeY0M0zx7eM7UmfNGl4vqc5xXM6Rgh7X3EHZuOEVTt2FIOlrmWKY/s1600/London31072014.jpg" height="400" width="397" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em><strong>People near Fountain. Pen & Wash 20x20 cm</strong></em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Members of our art club were fortunate enough to have a coach trip down to London to visit the National Portrait gallery yesterday. The BP 2014 Portrait Exhibition was the star of the show and work exhibited was just incredible to see!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I later got the chance to sit in Trafalgar Square for a while and sketch some of the people sitting amongst the fountains just soaking up the sunshine or having a packed lunch and stuff. I was a bit nervous at first with so many people around me, but I soon got lost in my work, occasionally chatting to interested people, especially two American ladies who seemed delighted to look at this and former sketches in my book.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Lovely atmosphere, lovely time.</span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com7Portrait gallery, London, UK51.509695071893653 -0.1288747787475585951.508459571893653 -0.1313962787475586 51.510930571893653 -0.12635327874755858tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-91892801335994935072014-07-24T14:44:00.001-07:002014-07-24T14:44:23.637-07:00Italian Cyclists<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzzxF-yNdJ-3uHNcxdowwFp8z6FkXtuMmTquyNs_yLFgq5Jutcvhj_zUNYvgyKbAXvCInYp38LVK2h5MOwNDZ0OMArKQDmllo49pfCfJFykhg8taRFGOUk2DYQUfEPOta7u_0iS05o7U/s1600/CyclingItaly_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzzxF-yNdJ-3uHNcxdowwFp8z6FkXtuMmTquyNs_yLFgq5Jutcvhj_zUNYvgyKbAXvCInYp38LVK2h5MOwNDZ0OMArKQDmllo49pfCfJFykhg8taRFGOUk2DYQUfEPOta7u_0iS05o7U/s1600/CyclingItaly_s.jpg" height="301" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Italian Cyclists - acrylic 30x40 cms</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Isn't it funny how you read all these articles in art magazines by </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">competent artists who give you step-by-step instructions on how to </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">create a masterpiece like theirs in several easy steps, then when </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">you try it, it turns out to be utter rubbish that goes straight in </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the bin!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjQw1HzQGTVPJMFirRWP1XcviyfbEBWmO3ljqCEoZvlFQtoHocFdOmO6GtFpwy7SabfeAoHtAq7ChR5nzlYmFThoHsoysD_FvmstYG1ETL2LQavRlvREnoH7B2all5816wY9jBSRRkb8/s1600/blog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjQw1HzQGTVPJMFirRWP1XcviyfbEBWmO3ljqCEoZvlFQtoHocFdOmO6GtFpwy7SabfeAoHtAq7ChR5nzlYmFThoHsoysD_FvmstYG1ETL2LQavRlvREnoH7B2all5816wY9jBSRRkb8/s1600/blog2.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>after 2 hours</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Well for once, I followed one such artist's advice and tried a </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">method of painting that was mostly alien to the normal way I do </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">things, and I was actually quite surprised at the results. "Italian </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Cyclists" was definitely NOT the way I usually do things and scared the </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">pants off me as it was mostly done at a painting club I belong to, </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and under much scrutiny from fellow artists.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Working from memory using a stretched canvas and acrylics, the first </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">instruction I followed was to give the canvas an under-painting of </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">red. Not sure what to do after that, I sketched the scene from a </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">photo loosely with a small brush using burnt umber. Normally I </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">would have meticulously sketched the scene in pencil first, though </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">come to think of it, the last portrait I did was done initially in </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">a similar way with a fine brush. The rest of the painting was done </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">mainly using larger brushes, applying the paint in a fairly dry </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">manner so that small areas of the under-painting showed through. I had much difficulty in stopping myself from going into more detail as I knew that I had to keep this one down to an impression.<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqnCYCAvj7qvbrG6dy1iiNfhr8m_qAdtH-fi70qAWx0hCJ2QL3b-sThQUq2F5ein2yieb5h1lPO_LMRdVZFSc519Jn1fLec1o9XxoqB-OlIgtE6xk_nzIu-wrq5Tc2cxROJ-5sIPjjsYU/s1600/blog3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqnCYCAvj7qvbrG6dy1iiNfhr8m_qAdtH-fi70qAWx0hCJ2QL3b-sThQUq2F5ein2yieb5h1lPO_LMRdVZFSc519Jn1fLec1o9XxoqB-OlIgtE6xk_nzIu-wrq5Tc2cxROJ-5sIPjjsYU/s1600/blog3.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>after 4 hours</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The painting took around three 2-hour sessions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In conclusion, the resultant work that had a continuity about it and a </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">feeling of a warm sunny day. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This has set me off on a new course in the wonderful world of </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">painting.</span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-87194028567037592672014-02-24T11:26:00.002-08:002014-02-25T08:45:22.176-08:00Great Bowden Village Boxing Day Meet<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBcBGbNPaRzxxJ0hcUM4JuMl6khSTRYwT3XsTnrMVyyDTTKZqX9-XA9n3-Za5kA8ZF_tS2dWCGC5YUeVMMfSvNxppZezurI6kBZRCTl10vo2lEdpOMeKBwMPwJosmozaxWQmkBKCwGLk/s1600/gbmeet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBcBGbNPaRzxxJ0hcUM4JuMl6khSTRYwT3XsTnrMVyyDTTKZqX9-XA9n3-Za5kA8ZF_tS2dWCGC5YUeVMMfSvNxppZezurI6kBZRCTl10vo2lEdpOMeKBwMPwJosmozaxWQmkBKCwGLk/s1600/gbmeet.jpg" height="313" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Great Bowden Boxing Day Meet</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It is a tradition that goes back many years to hold the Fernie Hunt opening Meet on the village green in Great Bowden, Leicestershire. I try to attend this yearly event whenever I can, mainly to see my favourites, which are the hounds. This must be one of the few days in the year that the hounds are treated like pets with all the patting and stroking from the onlookers and especially the children and the animals just seem to lap up all the attention!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I've used acrylic paint on 16x20 inch stretched canvas for this one, which took two months from start to finish. The video below shows how the work came to fruition with each stage of the work.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/YSbMAp3Fxw4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-30149497413153536752014-01-30T11:02:00.000-08:002014-01-30T11:02:46.768-08:00London Tourists - the finished painting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMfsM8hdpUrZ8Qr2Wf2Q_EsgeqLOpQpKv4VjEz9vXhp4htB-18BS3rttOqJc53uv8HDmv2yy5zDzMWSJUO_x3fAqR3e72hIKlGTuMbJ9vWBS2N-ML4srRSnRXEiUuHQ-g0p3WUzuQAXo/s1600/blogLonTour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMfsM8hdpUrZ8Qr2Wf2Q_EsgeqLOpQpKv4VjEz9vXhp4htB-18BS3rttOqJc53uv8HDmv2yy5zDzMWSJUO_x3fAqR3e72hIKlGTuMbJ9vWBS2N-ML4srRSnRXEiUuHQ-g0p3WUzuQAXo/s1600/blogLonTour.jpg" height="157" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
This has been the longest ever time that I've taken over a painting. It has also been on and off the shelf since its conception. I've been both tremendously excited and absolutely fed-up with it at times - a real roller-coaster of a work that well, I'm really glad but in a strange way sad that it's finished. All of the young people in this painting are strangers to me, but having painstakingly painted each of their faces, jackets and jumpers, crinkly jeans and assortment of footwear, I almost feel that I know each and every one of them in a strange way like a friend.<br />
_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-71713093128755561602014-01-23T12:30:00.001-08:002014-01-23T12:30:17.647-08:00Lino Printing - Simple, or is it?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQSE_jbHqw797HJ221_8OV2GFCrJX_2_Gya7mVRnpr_gSHfgF5yFcwcgdzQoR8TU0jPapE0tPxwRTq4f94hQdChfaXCHz7CMT3ZcjPHx-bvSwk7AY2DwEt9cEjaZ6y3g9CKvhj88yTCM/s1600/DoneSledging2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQSE_jbHqw797HJ221_8OV2GFCrJX_2_Gya7mVRnpr_gSHfgF5yFcwcgdzQoR8TU0jPapE0tPxwRTq4f94hQdChfaXCHz7CMT3ZcjPHx-bvSwk7AY2DwEt9cEjaZ6y3g9CKvhj88yTCM/s1600/DoneSledging2.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Done Sledging</strong></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">t's been almost a year since I posted anything on here despite so much that has happened in that time. 2013 has been a good year for me, sold a number of paintings and greetings cards, the proceeds of which have disappeared down that empty hole of investment in painting kit and material costs. That said, I am under no illusion of making it as a half decent artist, but those sales have given me confidence and a little support in the last chance attempt in making a go at a painting career in my twilight years!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My work in acrylics has been dominant in the last half of last year and I've been moving towards bigger and more detailed, though not necessarily better work! I'm always keen to try out new things, and this has resulted in a new medium for me - linocut prints. Did you used to do that at school? I know I did, must have been in junior school in the 1950's - crickey, that seems an awful long time ago!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The first two goes that I had at lino printing were abysmal. Chunky, stark looking images with little detail made me give up in disgust for a couple of months. Then I came across one or two linocut images on the internet which looked amazing. What was I doing wrong then? Like the proverbial poor workman who blames his tools, I put it down to cheap shoddy tools and incorrect ink. So I bought a selection of acrylic printing inks, synthetic lino and a set of better quality tools and with the help of a marvellous book that I put on my Christmas list (never expecting to actually get it), I set about the task with renewed enthusiasm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The new kit worked!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I decided to go the whole hog and do a three colour 'reduction' or 'suicide' print - well if you are going to do something, might as well think big, or that's what I thought.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh017mldSsRCfhfdzwoy6N3kWC-qp_GKJogGWKUyMf8YWXqWRDmXATpkTEbZPG4TctFJ_kJb6JisHV278iwrDBs2MgIS5eF4OEODSOH7egDOmJsBGlaCb7bYJMqLu0fb8AUjMPcd2hAHk/s1600/print2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh017mldSsRCfhfdzwoy6N3kWC-qp_GKJogGWKUyMf8YWXqWRDmXATpkTEbZPG4TctFJ_kJb6JisHV278iwrDBs2MgIS5eF4OEODSOH7egDOmJsBGlaCb7bYJMqLu0fb8AUjMPcd2hAHk/s1600/print2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>fig.2 second print run</strong></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">For those who aren't familiar with reduction techniques, this means first cutting away anything that is white or the paper colour, then running off as many prints as you need in your underlying colour, then working through this technique for each subsequent colour, cutting away at the lino as you go, though in practice, it isn't quite as simple as that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The picture above has sort of given me a crash course in lino cutting! For a start, the new lino that came turned out to be dark grey. This meant that after carefully drawing the image on paper, transferring it to the lino by tracing became impracticable - couldn't see my lines, and carbon paper didn't leave a mark on it. I ended up chalking the back of the paper, then tracing it that way, which was extremely messy but gave me enough of an image to use a white acrylic pen to draw over the fast smudging lines!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The next problem was that I didn't have a light enough blue for my needs, so ended up adding some normal titanium white acrylic paint to my blue ink and mixing it in - bad decision, as this altered the viscosity of the ink which was difficult to roll out smoothly and dried very quick, but I didn't want to wait another week for more ink to come through the post or the expense of it, so ploughed on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNuRvu2tPKXlGgUogGssFmJ3_TovjsKTP8ISIw8Kmhi0Ss0OjZjSX5oAQjhk-CFgOr1gynnfWMF75BPBKKRcZUAgZ_MMaMn3ZIhR6A9qxmMvhmNhmPDZKfOLTsIQpGy7e8xLs3XZRy-w/s1600/lino3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNuRvu2tPKXlGgUogGssFmJ3_TovjsKTP8ISIw8Kmhi0Ss0OjZjSX5oAQjhk-CFgOr1gynnfWMF75BPBKKRcZUAgZ_MMaMn3ZIhR6A9qxmMvhmNhmPDZKfOLTsIQpGy7e8xLs3XZRy-w/s1600/lino3.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>fig.1 lino after 2nd cut</strong></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">With six sheets of the first colour printed, I set about cutting away areas where I wanted the second colour. It's not easy trying to work it all out, but interesting non the less. When it came to printing the second colour with normal blue ink (fig2), the resultant image started to look much more like a picture, but at this point it became clear that the first paler blue was really a bit too dark; also in my eagerness I managed to cut away the boy's right glove ! Couldn't do anything about that now, on with cutting again to leave just the parts I wanted black. After this printing, the image was almost complete, just left the man's cuffs and sled to add by brush in yellow and red.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">My first real foray into lino printing produced a few mistakes but was in the main enjoyable and really interesting. Registering the colours during each stage of the printing was no where near as hard as I thought it was going to be, thanks to the book. There are endless possibilities and techniques to explore for future works, so this is going to be an interesting little project between paintings. So a promising start to 2014 it is!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-4196785443042099832013-03-10T11:55:00.002-07:002013-03-10T12:51:47.346-07:00A Change of Direction?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJvV8uscqBpRC10IV_sv5ONe5dFMcgnlsDY2h7IQfJEgfdIlhCaVWnt-xSHGSVFVroXYR6lVtqYMfRUk9Ag2L_5Sw5KHwmN_gkzn5Mb-XNrEPb-TBHLoC0gsJsOTf9r7tuacYgjh4XJc/s1600/I4534blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJvV8uscqBpRC10IV_sv5ONe5dFMcgnlsDY2h7IQfJEgfdIlhCaVWnt-xSHGSVFVroXYR6lVtqYMfRUk9Ag2L_5Sw5KHwmN_gkzn5Mb-XNrEPb-TBHLoC0gsJsOTf9r7tuacYgjh4XJc/s400/I4534blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the Storm Over Rape Field. 305 x 210 mm watercolour and pen.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>A Change of Direction?</b><br />This is my first foray into cubism. I've never really liked Picasso’s cubism works or cubism in general, until I came across Barry Coombs. It is his watercolour works that inspired me to paint this landscape, which is something of a departure for me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This painting may look familiar, as I've done this scene before as a normal watercolour (see picture below), but this time I wanted to keep it very simple and colourful and have tried to introduce some cubism element to the work. I think you’ll agree this version is a complete transformation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've used three primary colours (French ultramarine blue, cadmium red and cadmium yellow) with a little cerulean blue added, mixing large amounts of each and adding as much pigment as possible. Just seeing those three gorgeous colours in my palette dish in all their bright splendour was a real turn on and it felt so exciting to lay them down and drop them into each other on the paper!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm already hooked on this style of painting, and I think I may have to change the name of this blog from Frank’s Watercolour Revival to Frank’s Watercolour Discovery, as I seem to be finding out new ways of doing things all the time!</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinCb07G8he1QQ2DUU-Y7qKt5QB4gqPrsFNh2lyrQ4YP7hb5NVGIzI_t3dKAIbE6AWjBJbItNqkvJTUWw1uRpqxOcS8HjhsqqSfE5q7eNdKIUZlgi07z7lkApfUs2Qua4uuLr_4NH3lct0/s1600/IMG_3538edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinCb07G8he1QQ2DUU-Y7qKt5QB4gqPrsFNh2lyrQ4YP7hb5NVGIzI_t3dKAIbE6AWjBJbItNqkvJTUWw1uRpqxOcS8HjhsqqSfE5q7eNdKIUZlgi07z7lkApfUs2Qua4uuLr_4NH3lct0/s320/IMG_3538edit.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My original version</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">30 Tourists Part 2</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Work on my current acrylic project is slow, and going to be a lot harder than I first thought. The faces are turning out to be more time consuming than I really wanted, and for some reason, skin tones are proving unusually difficult. Never mind, I will work it out!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This time I gave the whole canvas a light wash of burnt sienna, taking care not to hide the pencil work too much and to stop those annoying white bits showing through my work. This also makes it easier when adding whitish highlights. The way I like to work is to treat each small area of the work one piece at a time, then move on, gradually building up to the finished painting. The layering that a lot of artists do, I'll leave for my watercolour work.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT6sRWsI8G95Y8ClV5sJvHBYXDoQe27zww0xp1jOIo2KKcHiZBzKwRHgu2A1Fe6yKO6-mET6KKnVE0HsiK8G70Rq3pAMlvOU2hnq5HgSfIEyqSei1IXacZTMb7kvNSzlujDPJ4PLMUO_o/s1600/30tourists02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT6sRWsI8G95Y8ClV5sJvHBYXDoQe27zww0xp1jOIo2KKcHiZBzKwRHgu2A1Fe6yKO6-mET6KKnVE0HsiK8G70Rq3pAMlvOU2hnq5HgSfIEyqSei1IXacZTMb7kvNSzlujDPJ4PLMUO_o/s320/30tourists02.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>30 Tourists - Part 2. Acrylic on stretched canvas.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-30122491645397413542013-02-27T11:45:00.000-08:002013-02-27T11:51:33.627-08:00What Happens When I Die?<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">30 Tourists - Part one</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_82a3uZdXz7mLewS5KDW108dqo4WmNjUuivayypdPYtptMU6pIqtIPcRumo5gwXtSqHiW1MbUnG8rcw3I0jWia0DoPsB70ZgVCuepoDzHXNHd_cZl0kgp_WLz0DhPkXDOEOMumfKc_s/s1600/30tourists01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img alt="30 Tourists" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_82a3uZdXz7mLewS5KDW108dqo4WmNjUuivayypdPYtptMU6pIqtIPcRumo5gwXtSqHiW1MbUnG8rcw3I0jWia0DoPsB70ZgVCuepoDzHXNHd_cZl0kgp_WLz0DhPkXDOEOMumfKc_s/s400/30tourists01.jpg" title="30 Tourists" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>30 Tourists. Drawing on Canvas for Acrylic Paint (20x50cm).</i></b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week at the South Leicestershire Art Group (SLAGs), I started a new project. After doing three lengthy architectural works, I decided a change of subject would give me more of a challenge and stop me from getting into a rut doing the same old thing, and boy what a challenge this one is turning out to be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After picking up this long canvas for a bargain price at Dunelm Mill, I wondered a little about what to do with it. I had one or two photos in mind and ended up choosing a cropped photo of a crowd scene outside the gates into Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall, London. It was eventually a toss-up between this and a thin wide view of the buildings from the parade ground. All of these young tourists were busy taking photos of the guards in their bright red coats guarding the venue. It must have seemed quite strange therefore to them that I was only interested in taking a photo of them. But you see, being an artist, I have constant subconscious thoughts of what would be a good subject for my next painting project!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well, getting back to SLAGs, the reaction from fellow members on seeing my photo and blank canvas was to laugh, and quips like "You've got your work cut out there" and "You are a gluten for punishment"! Well maybe I have and I am, but one thing's for sure, I'm going to have a great time working it all out and getting to know all the little quirkiness of the characters on the canvas as I paint them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As well as painting, our weekly meetings consist of a fair amount of chatter, and as most of us are getting on a bit, it wasn't surprising that the subject of death came up and what we thought about it! It mostly centred around what happens to us when we die and where our ashes are to be scattered. It was most amusing when one lady said that she kept changing her mind, and her son who was a farmer said to her "Oh don't worry, when you're gone, I'll put your ashes in the muck-spreader and spread you onto the fields"!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The preliminary sketch above, may seem rather detailed for an acrylic painting, but it gives me precise details to work to, which has come in handy for my recent architectural studies. Here I've used the 'squaring-up' method to enlarge the photo to the scale of the canvas, (the corresponding squares on the photo obviously being much smaller). I usually leave unwanted features out or move them around slightly, but this one remains pretty true to the source photo. This sketch still remained tricky, taking me around four hours to complete.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now for the paint!</span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-70002056596775054322013-02-12T12:45:00.000-08:002013-03-08T09:49:04.907-08:00Old Grammar School, Market Harborough<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8d_wxUlHRLst8Su2lDb4Rxsl6DcK0kx_zK6YlSLUgqwcX9XM5EgRL60rjrM2a5Jigvb0P-Pjew3vfhOVd3MfuU3HPdSR944CR90eZrTYd8lPhROtfXM-nIxFkREd9vVTka02cZXZhAs4/s1600/OGSblog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8d_wxUlHRLst8Su2lDb4Rxsl6DcK0kx_zK6YlSLUgqwcX9XM5EgRL60rjrM2a5Jigvb0P-Pjew3vfhOVd3MfuU3HPdSR944CR90eZrTYd8lPhROtfXM-nIxFkREd9vVTka02cZXZhAs4/s320/OGSblog2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've lived in the busy town of Market Harborough for many years now and spent a lot of my working hours pounding the streets delivering milk, not just in the town, but surrounding villages as well. Despite this familiarity with my environment, I never cease to be amazed at the diversity and detail of the architecture of our older buildings. The one I've photographed and painted here is the Old Grammar School, <span style="background-color: white;">which was founded by Robert Smyth in 1614. It has </span><span style="background-color: white;">the unusual feature of standing on huge oak legs, the ground floor section was apparently the home of a butter market in years gone by. It has seen a few cosmetic changes over recent years, but except for the addition of a brick staircase in 1868, the building remains a quaint and beautiful focus for the town centre.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Painting it has raised a few challenges for me and taken quite some time to complete. The size of the painting (40x30cm) is a fair bit larger than my source photo and has been painted with acrylics. It remains true to detail other than a tree in the foreground which spoilt the composition so I left it out! Also, the sky in my photograph was very grey after the rain shower that got me wet before I took it. This I changed using an earlier photo of a more blusterous sky taken at another location last year. I find it helps to take photographs wherever I go, whenever I can, as this gives me a constant supply of things I can use in subsequent paintings even though I may only use small parts of the image. The picture below shows the work at it's varying stages.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Last Autumn I joined the South Leicestershire Art Group (SLAGs), which is a small, informal group that meets every Tuesday morning to have a chat and paint together for a couple of hours in a church centre. Having this small point in time each week set aside for painting has been a fantastic boost to my work, both in terms of quantity and quality, and is something I constantly look forward to. Long live SLAGs!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_DQD_xA8wNfCkeIZNeDwKMqhrmxjRahIzi61S336vjMFRGIRkVKuiniZ448IONwpJodjrkH-o8MCiEXdTHB8-yQYez6COYIxPkuvhKZy6-JMbNriQ-T297kMemoaQBPwcqipukQA-w8/s1600/ogsWIP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_DQD_xA8wNfCkeIZNeDwKMqhrmxjRahIzi61S336vjMFRGIRkVKuiniZ448IONwpJodjrkH-o8MCiEXdTHB8-yQYez6COYIxPkuvhKZy6-JMbNriQ-T297kMemoaQBPwcqipukQA-w8/s320/ogsWIP.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>This shows the work at various stages.</b></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-31977905362449530852012-12-20T09:12:00.001-08:002012-12-20T09:12:08.194-08:00A New Venture<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMil0assPGcfe1XZgo7wxcBssKLWVm_GuKLTTZn3aVdM9cbXyY3xs5CpZ4cUqHc9Jg3gZNlbaQHX-_PlltZOL-Y4UiOYYSo2w4P_zGF1fnGaNRapyE8PVfbzd355v5puoi0szA68HFSI/s1600/SpeckledHen1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMil0assPGcfe1XZgo7wxcBssKLWVm_GuKLTTZn3aVdM9cbXyY3xs5CpZ4cUqHc9Jg3gZNlbaQHX-_PlltZOL-Y4UiOYYSo2w4P_zGF1fnGaNRapyE8PVfbzd355v5puoi0szA68HFSI/s320/SpeckledHen1a.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Speckled Hen. Acrylic 20 x 20cms on stretched canvas<br />box frame £30</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While looking through my photos for some inspiration for a painting recently, I came across a few shots of some bantams that I had taken at Coton Manor in Northamptonshire. Although the speckled hen here took up only a very small part of the photo, I was able to examine the bird in more detail using the computer to zoom in on a potential image.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The result was this acrylic painting of this fine specimen of a Belgium Bantam hen. She was running loose with a few other hens, as well as a cock bird, in lovely long grass filled with bluebells and cowslips - a very English background indeed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now the reason for this painting appearing in this post when the title is "A New Venture", is because I have set myself up with an online art shop, and this painting is the first item I added for sale. Although I've only been up and running for a few days, I've managed to list a few of my recent paintings and greetings cards that I have had professionally printed from these, as well as an old chair that I brought back to life. Hopefully the shop will grow,especially as I have more time for painting now, and I will sell lots of paintings and live happily ever after! Hmmmm, maybe that will be wishful thinking, but I did mention on Facebook that my new shop was open for business, and promptly made a sale - the morning sunrise painting I showed you in my last blog! It is now winging its way to the USA</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For those interested to see what I am selling, here's the link:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">http://folksy.com/shops/franksartshop</span><br />
<br />_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-18782028588782710212012-12-15T11:04:00.000-08:002012-12-15T11:04:00.540-08:00The View from my Back Door<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Since I've been retired, I am at home and have time to just look out of the kitchen window a lot. For a few mornings now, while gazing up at the sky I have noticed some lovely cloud formations at daybreak. Reaching for my trusty camera and taking a step outside the back door, I take a photograph, then the next day another and so forth. It is a natural progression to translate these photos into paintings, and here is one I did later!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-9-EIKmFsQz5TJGZrM7tEH8euFw3ZOoXX75a_n-QN6dCJO198D9UeHhYX2w9c5Mwnz7A-wcBB6CbMESYGhB-gXAFyM6LNMOT59Gg4_PN5C32a6RcsYye2vcZ6t4wPOt6KMRHIr1_gkI/s1600/MPsize2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-9-EIKmFsQz5TJGZrM7tEH8euFw3ZOoXX75a_n-QN6dCJO198D9UeHhYX2w9c5Mwnz7A-wcBB6CbMESYGhB-gXAFyM6LNMOT59Gg4_PN5C32a6RcsYye2vcZ6t4wPOt6KMRHIr1_gkI/s400/MPsize2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Morning Promise: watercolour on 300gsm 140lb Bokingford paper</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having done quite a few acrylic paintings lately, my wife asked me to do something wet-in-wet, and what better subject for this technique than clouds? A simple subject like this is so easy to do, and took me around 30 minutes - a welcome break from intricate detailed studies that I've been working on of late.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPanC_ya5UiYF_MdNgyeZbEoQWfgSD9TqH9KCicE-xRqE_lC5tX1Tf4NodB0KhfF6KoD1cS7AIgH02tngB9YaoD4WfP_w4o4aLJnhu61xSQd0M_ShdBPNimbKV7gmyTwkkCo_AxJLJ5xo/s1600/sky1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPanC_ya5UiYF_MdNgyeZbEoQWfgSD9TqH9KCicE-xRqE_lC5tX1Tf4NodB0KhfF6KoD1cS7AIgH02tngB9YaoD4WfP_w4o4aLJnhu61xSQd0M_ShdBPNimbKV7gmyTwkkCo_AxJLJ5xo/s320/sky1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BQfEXvi2w0e7N-JS_vkEH6ze52wOWnLhxGCJScLwoUYNJu7PNMEoQ9o7sRf3oljB0sKDnE-AyTKv2M_PwlKVoBWRHvl4D_gVwYOeh7LYq9KToN_ESBJ2ToJdLOgPC3ACeFODWWxRJ6Q/s1600/sky2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BQfEXvi2w0e7N-JS_vkEH6ze52wOWnLhxGCJScLwoUYNJu7PNMEoQ9o7sRf3oljB0sKDnE-AyTKv2M_PwlKVoBWRHvl4D_gVwYOeh7LYq9KToN_ESBJ2ToJdLOgPC3ACeFODWWxRJ6Q/s320/sky2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-fQQhsxSYtpG5N5e7ZwTdLnNG8g9WH7NnhJy02EdNLydxMuwnLdWrBRsucmwmX2_w2VaLsp7Zn8YaPqcOkN0sDjFd0B8t4kNBag61Nsn2M7yn1etoEhuFXFzfA3Sz-3iLCiOMC8AsTkc/s1600/sky3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-fQQhsxSYtpG5N5e7ZwTdLnNG8g9WH7NnhJy02EdNLydxMuwnLdWrBRsucmwmX2_w2VaLsp7Zn8YaPqcOkN0sDjFd0B8t4kNBag61Nsn2M7yn1etoEhuFXFzfA3Sz-3iLCiOMC8AsTkc/s320/sky3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-42622042656768289402012-11-07T13:51:00.002-08:002012-11-07T13:54:47.205-08:00Lengthy Paintings<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRhtDzAP9r6ywxTuXUT7lGLSb0Lkfx4bK5dILQ0a8_32Fp-Upa76X6R9kitYQfbZyAOXEu9bl88tV5GE8gb1XbP8CK1dDcJxdNBMGFTlmbJz4mPpyOCEdM9ywpTHQ8ZHZbx0gLuTt4AlA/s1600/palace99.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRhtDzAP9r6ywxTuXUT7lGLSb0Lkfx4bK5dILQ0a8_32Fp-Upa76X6R9kitYQfbZyAOXEu9bl88tV5GE8gb1XbP8CK1dDcJxdNBMGFTlmbJz4mPpyOCEdM9ywpTHQ8ZHZbx0gLuTt4AlA/s400/palace99.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Acrylic on stretched canvas frame</i></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I know I've said in the past that 2-3 hours spent on a painting is as much as I can bear, and this is especially true with watercolour work, but things have been changing around here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago I joined a group of people who love to paint, and meet once a week, hiring out a room and spending a couple of hours or so just painting and chatting to each other. There is no tutor, so the cost is minimal, there's a very relaxed atmosphere and it's great to have a look at what each other is doing with their artwork.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the same time, I've strayed further away from watercolour in favour of acrylics. My subject matter is also more elaborate, requiring much more thought and time getting it down on canvas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The painting here done at the group meetings has taken me around one month to complete. Well, I say complete, but when is a painting ever finished? There is still more that I can do to it, and unlike watercolour, it doesn't go muddy on you if you start fiddling! But, there comes a point when we have to stop and say "That's enough".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The building is Old Place Yard, London, England, and is worked 'eye to hand' from a photograph I took on a visit last October. I'm not sure what the building is used for but think that it is something to do with parliament, as it stands on Abingdon Street, with the Houses of Parliament standing just across the road from it. To the rear, is the Jewel Tower.</span><br />
<br />
<i>Pictures below show WIP.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTnfZh-oV4aIsfnRfVimLoahC253C9qbbC61dXPY-4rnIpFJi8t_60NfpDEm5pRZxr2hq4ShuFneIbTudwxn797BpDNf1sme8RRg9cgUu_lNvqgRCAh0IdznDjB2EHmwEtpq4zlS8CZQ/s1600/palace1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTnfZh-oV4aIsfnRfVimLoahC253C9qbbC61dXPY-4rnIpFJi8t_60NfpDEm5pRZxr2hq4ShuFneIbTudwxn797BpDNf1sme8RRg9cgUu_lNvqgRCAh0IdznDjB2EHmwEtpq4zlS8CZQ/s320/palace1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UImNJmGuUUBh_tiKhOyr0NB80cDK-srST8gPHAMBdIaw_cHrO_5oc3tuQoLfoNzGKMp9rsj8psx__QW1J3IjxVHRD3ohh47EUBIZXltwbOn3nk7LbuIwCEbAP0lbViEQGDlb5zibM_c/s1600/palace3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UImNJmGuUUBh_tiKhOyr0NB80cDK-srST8gPHAMBdIaw_cHrO_5oc3tuQoLfoNzGKMp9rsj8psx__QW1J3IjxVHRD3ohh47EUBIZXltwbOn3nk7LbuIwCEbAP0lbViEQGDlb5zibM_c/s320/palace3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_9IsULGxrmgz0VJyyxAS0oUrZQD-xNEPRk1vpwkjvqUdjTDWMubRDGpjr7XlBgEPOoPrmrpx0Q-VhP1FMVVWuOL8oJLjdv-yJ_2TJO0pnyUU2tMGxqKRHReLJP6ieNe2G7btX_uP6FA/s1600/palace7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_9IsULGxrmgz0VJyyxAS0oUrZQD-xNEPRk1vpwkjvqUdjTDWMubRDGpjr7XlBgEPOoPrmrpx0Q-VhP1FMVVWuOL8oJLjdv-yJ_2TJO0pnyUU2tMGxqKRHReLJP6ieNe2G7btX_uP6FA/s320/palace7.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-71684518855945244722012-10-09T11:36:00.000-07:002012-10-09T11:36:58.452-07:00Birthday Cards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MFohrFwm8mogWEoJOG3qp2nn_gYlua2UVfrw-Ewn_qZvC6O_f1nrtLF15_lV2hBcSZK6qW8NTxrESU7-UbQZy30qeTeAQPPFxDpKri6SJxEPtBkwa2FfO1DBdlKnURDMKxEfnhgvYgc/s1600/Thomas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MFohrFwm8mogWEoJOG3qp2nn_gYlua2UVfrw-Ewn_qZvC6O_f1nrtLF15_lV2hBcSZK6qW8NTxrESU7-UbQZy30qeTeAQPPFxDpKri6SJxEPtBkwa2FfO1DBdlKnURDMKxEfnhgvYgc/s320/Thomas.jpg" width="221" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Despite my more-than-usual busy life at the moment, I did take time to paint a couple of birthday cards. This one was for my daughter-in-law, of our lovely grandson Thomas. I don't always get a good likeness, but this one turned out fairly good. I think she really liked it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Painting someone a card is very rewarding, doesn't take long at this size (C5), and I think that being a piece of original artwork, gives the receiver an incentive to keep it rather than discard the card in the recycling box a couple of days after the event. I would dearly loved to have kept this one, but I know it will be looked after by it's owner, and whenever I've visited since, the card is still on display. How nice is that?</span><br />
<br />_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-22393869458030872812012-10-08T12:39:00.000-07:002012-10-08T12:41:45.249-07:00Retired, but will I have more time for art?<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago, I hung up my milk carrier for good!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You would think that retirement is a time for relaxation, a time to take things easy and potter about in the garden etc., but I seem to be busier than ever. What with a huge decorating project (I am talking about re-plastering, plumbing and electrics as well as paintwork), walking, cycling and swimming (I am now up to 20 lengths at a time and counting!), I am beginning to wonder how I ever had time to work for a living!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Earlier in the year, I got bestowed with the task of Exhibition Secretary for our local art club, as well as maintaining the website I built for us last year. This has meant that the last two or three months has got busier building up to our exhibition later this month, especially as I have been updating existing documents, and helping to bring about a new image to our club.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All this has meant that my artwork has been pushed to the back of everything, and I've had precious little time for painting. But the good news is that, hopefully, I will get back to painting fairly soon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIt_TIRBFJG9nNom8mYpU3IT7k9hf5dGDQe3vtJxzexD_HLJ3bxwsAV7Mp3eZJmdi2kSnF1E1pQdTGtRRnzY4VB2hNEkQMV2OrUqACoQvjcn950edPtDLRBQGQoYnKA2Xbj__B2rVua0/s1600/faces.tif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIt_TIRBFJG9nNom8mYpU3IT7k9hf5dGDQe3vtJxzexD_HLJ3bxwsAV7Mp3eZJmdi2kSnF1E1pQdTGtRRnzY4VB2hNEkQMV2OrUqACoQvjcn950edPtDLRBQGQoYnKA2Xbj__B2rVua0/s320/faces.tif" width="160" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the meantime, if anyone local is interested, here are details of our forthcoming exhibition:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">Market Harborough Art Club presents our Annual</span><br />
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
<span class="style4 style15" style="color: red; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">ART EXHIBITION</span><br />
to be held at<br />
<span class="style16" style="color: #333333; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Harborough Theatre</span><br />
Church Square<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Market Harborough</span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
October 18-20 2012, 10.00am - 5.00pm<br />
(Sat 10.00am - 4.30pm)<br />
Free admission<br />
Refreshments</div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; text-align: left;">
http://www.marketharboroughartclub.co.uk</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-2590562502816202072012-05-30T11:34:00.000-07:002012-05-30T11:34:06.464-07:00Stay-wet Palette<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmawPiRDiLYj6CJLfTpedMMNjmNLYDJJL9zAzIaZ3yKjRU4PbnwrlIR2fZc8oSAoyF_NSKGbin0IBncT90YAPX5-NH6MCQIk7QQVTwPpqSc-DSuy06DV3xhYarNQOY9UDbv1OBONXpIM4/s1600/7244648914_b549d457d4_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmawPiRDiLYj6CJLfTpedMMNjmNLYDJJL9zAzIaZ3yKjRU4PbnwrlIR2fZc8oSAoyF_NSKGbin0IBncT90YAPX5-NH6MCQIk7QQVTwPpqSc-DSuy06DV3xhYarNQOY9UDbv1OBONXpIM4/s400/7244648914_b549d457d4_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Well, it's been a while since I posted anything here I know, so here's one of my later paintings. Continuing my foray into acrylics, this one is larger than anything I've done in this medium - 14"x10". The one thing that has given me confidence for a larger size is my discovery of the "stay-wet palette". What I can tell you now, is that this is the best piece of kit that I've bought in ages. No more does the paint dry on the palette before I have chance to get it on the canvas, or the necessity to use 'flow improver' (which I've not found that satisfactory).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The thing works by a process called osmosis, consisting of a plastic tray in which a sheet of water holding paper (like blotting paper) is placed, then thoroughly wet with water, followed by a sheet of semi-permeable paper (like tracing paper) placed on the top. When acrylic paint is put on this palette, it keeps moist for days or weeks - perfect for Mr Slow Painter like me! It comes with a lid to retain moisture between sessions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFdCFWpWZo08X_gfRpHEHIfDNT8XNugTzzfjkK9uLeZhBaaigRUfTdqPX9uaJCuYfy6gsTWFxKsdatczvuWpwt0Cq1zsii5zwdQmUwUJ4B6RljZVQBLW4Rd4nFNz6q1bCQmaLeS4moUo/s1600/venice_wip2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFdCFWpWZo08X_gfRpHEHIfDNT8XNugTzzfjkK9uLeZhBaaigRUfTdqPX9uaJCuYfy6gsTWFxKsdatczvuWpwt0Cq1zsii5zwdQmUwUJ4B6RljZVQBLW4Rd4nFNz6q1bCQmaLeS4moUo/s320/venice_wip2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The kit is not cheap at £17.00, but my friend, being a somewhat thrifty person, has made his own makeshift affair by purchasing a 'lock and lock' plastic box just big enough to take the paper packs to fit in it. His cost him £3.50 for the box and £4.00 pound odd for the paper pack - quite a saving in all. The only drawback with his home-made one is that it is a little deep to dip your brushes in, which he admits to, but I suppose I can't knock it having not tried it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The painting is obviously Venice - a quite back water more typical than the usual views you will find on glossy brochures or travel programmes on TV. This took me about a week, with five sessions to complete it. The paint stayed lovely and moist using the new palette, and just needed a little water adding before each session to stop evaporation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The WIP shows that after the drawing came initial thin washes of colour before going into any detail with the paint.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At our art club last week, I took this painting along for an evaluation by Tim Fisher, a well know local artist, whose comments were fairly favourable, but pointed out one or two things that would improve the work, which I had missed or not thought about, like more emphasis on light source and direction and more fading needed into the distance. His points were duly observed and born in mind for the next one, as I haven't the heart or willpower to go changing things now!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrQNUJVG9LexDyh2zHgPoKLNbmGJX2xhPk4bsCf7j1Eloebd9Y6Ho4coRLXrcuYbqXqJvQ6cxINixhHWm0FMWFqxwgz6ocwtSVU0DN4A5Ikd6abwkYG6z87O4TqZD5TUZy-VvoaKMlQs/s1600/Staywetpal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrQNUJVG9LexDyh2zHgPoKLNbmGJX2xhPk4bsCf7j1Eloebd9Y6Ho4coRLXrcuYbqXqJvQ6cxINixhHWm0FMWFqxwgz6ocwtSVU0DN4A5Ikd6abwkYG6z87O4TqZD5TUZy-VvoaKMlQs/s320/Staywetpal.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-32180910506611720852012-03-31T07:06:00.000-07:002012-03-31T07:06:46.484-07:00More Miniatures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/7023615205_a340720802_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/7023615205_a340720802_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Tina</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">T I N A</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">While watching one of those many Antiques programs on TV the other day, I saw a young lady who spent a lot of her time painting miniature portraits. She was very good, and it got me wondering if I could do something like that.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You may remember my last foray into the world of miniature a while back with a watercolour painting of a terrace in Bath, England. Well, just for a little diversity, I thought I'd have a go in acrylics this time. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The painting of Tina here is 5"x5" and is the smallest painting that I have done to date. Even so, I did spend quite some time on it, as I am still learning with this medium - but I think at last that I am getting somewhere with it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYC1q8Y0veA4dEjJ_S6pDy1QciEmD8grK0gTbvYEraiDVjIsl0vPhoRSLPNcdMBBYOfFN6_must13hyphenhyphen-lGvooEeH4PcfmBaZsJbrFddV56E_VvaclEsXPLxK5YV4-rska9N-SgQZRc6s/s1600/tina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYC1q8Y0veA4dEjJ_S6pDy1QciEmD8grK0gTbvYEraiDVjIsl0vPhoRSLPNcdMBBYOfFN6_must13hyphenhyphen-lGvooEeH4PcfmBaZsJbrFddV56E_VvaclEsXPLxK5YV4-rska9N-SgQZRc6s/s1600/tina.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>source photo</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have no idea how to use acrylics properly (if there is a proper way). As most of the work on this has been done with small brushes, I've found myself using the current brush to mix the colours rather than the palette knife, pulling in different colours as needed. In the larger areas, I've used the paint well watered down to start with, then adding layers of thicker paint for detail.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNxoDrnIZyrWfX_WamSOEreDrio_G1jnEBYp3GZMjZnPxsNefePmoyFPQKh2jjbklT2nVGKI-wfJ5L_9HszxNE8vEJDQdAM0_RtKjmYKF-xfWpExK5XzL12sD-5FTjYS52Yu_N0GkoVjc/s1600/wip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNxoDrnIZyrWfX_WamSOEreDrio_G1jnEBYp3GZMjZnPxsNefePmoyFPQKh2jjbklT2nVGKI-wfJ5L_9HszxNE8vEJDQdAM0_RtKjmYKF-xfWpExK5XzL12sD-5FTjYS52Yu_N0GkoVjc/s320/wip.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The young here has lovely soft skin, so I've found myself adding water and flow improver to blend the subtle skin colours together rather than leaving hard edges to the brush strokes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This painting has now been framed, and is in a small exhibition at the Market Harborough Building Society. This is an excellent initiative by this company to host works of local artists for free, giving us much needed publicity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<br />_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991932921959835129.post-12902453370059597772012-02-19T11:56:00.000-08:002012-02-19T12:01:06.470-08:00Acrylic Painting Scares Me!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UnyXzlcrTnongSSxqWpiG1DfV886U1pMbwrZEXcYPr9s3y_NOWDScXNs_btUBvbV7SSPAU6fuz_L8bTCyjOJ0A7K6DFY7hSQE962IwmbgTVi27dlpkDi_IVEUrgl5b6qFBO3ORi3nYs/s400/Cecca.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="272" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cecca</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UnyXzlcrTnongSSxqWpiG1DfV886U1pMbwrZEXcYPr9s3y_NOWDScXNs_btUBvbV7SSPAU6fuz_L8bTCyjOJ0A7K6DFY7hSQE962IwmbgTVi27dlpkDi_IVEUrgl5b6qFBO3ORi3nYs/s1600/Cecca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In my office/spare room sits a box of acrylic paints gathering dust. Often when I go in there, I glance across and think to myself "you haven't done a painting in acrylic for some time". In fact, the acrylic works that I have done can be counted on one hand. It's just as if I'm scared to get them out because a: I don't know what I'm doing with them and b: I can spend hours on a painting with them and the whole thing turns into one sticky mess!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXklyO0QQARseOvj0wAFzEMm64oZacXV2AuOEJ1pEwm-wR8FygG-KbL5o9Jk9T3wMst0zJrUQ31aWpptr7v0cD5ij6psV44-P2va1p5tO5hBc7Kgj6dtIio-52A-xHqUcbwba3WgxVR0/s1600/fig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXklyO0QQARseOvj0wAFzEMm64oZacXV2AuOEJ1pEwm-wR8FygG-KbL5o9Jk9T3wMst0zJrUQ31aWpptr7v0cD5ij6psV44-P2va1p5tO5hBc7Kgj6dtIio-52A-xHqUcbwba3WgxVR0/s320/fig1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>fig.1</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A few days ago, I decided to grab the bull by the horns and have another go. Running around my mind are great ideas for a painting in this medium, but on a large scale, and in the loft I know I have some fairly large canvasses on frames, which I would just love to have a go on, but I just don't have the confidence to start on such a large work. So, I got to thinking that I would start with a small work and see how I get on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The work above is my attempt on a 10x7 inch textured paper. At our art club, I've watched speakers do demonstrations and have taken mental notes on how they go about a painting, and have brought this into play here. I started by giving the paper a thin wash with burnt sienna to avoid having any white parts showing through in the finished work. Next I roughly sketched out Cecca's profile with a brush and darker tone and waited a short while for it to dry off (fig1). With portraiture, you have to keep checking measurements all the time if you are going to get a good likeness, so next came the first round of corrections, shortening the nose and moving the mouth (fig.2).</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtCbu0tyInaiqZ7UJz9t6dwloDG02LS9cHW1Lxr9YoVD2P65XCyJzmfqcyGNs4qIHX2w2XTU9sud4YeUMArcEhKf9MV8Z2JjxawJ-V1WeZXBm2v2CyvIbl6vUTJKFyQ_RIMtxImQ7YyA/s1600/fig2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtCbu0tyInaiqZ7UJz9t6dwloDG02LS9cHW1Lxr9YoVD2P65XCyJzmfqcyGNs4qIHX2w2XTU9sud4YeUMArcEhKf9MV8Z2JjxawJ-V1WeZXBm2v2CyvIbl6vUTJKFyQ_RIMtxImQ7YyA/s320/fig2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>fig.2</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">By the end of the first session, I had got to (fig.3). The mouth was still not right here, nor the nose and her hair largely undefined. At this stage, things were getting really sticky, including the palette!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Another afternoon saw the next session, where I completed the work, adding more definition to the nose and moving the mouth a little. This time I used an acrylic flow improver to give me more time before the paint dried out on me. This helped with the work on her jewellery and lace-work on the ruff. I could have worked more on the detail, but there comes a point when I think you have to say enough is enough, so I've called this one 'finished'!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwDTXstr8UsxHHz40UzzPdJ7sI6Q0VWWjY4Xup-P3_Kf8rkkTJN-_8EZhZjYYKxXD3_HFesFyQwAoNGsXL_x0c8Vi0rC0Vk2WoupPvErrip3T4nJyC5ShytE2wRz5UPAqQxK2PY6JIwM/s1600/fig3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwDTXstr8UsxHHz40UzzPdJ7sI6Q0VWWjY4Xup-P3_Kf8rkkTJN-_8EZhZjYYKxXD3_HFesFyQwAoNGsXL_x0c8Vi0rC0Vk2WoupPvErrip3T4nJyC5ShytE2wRz5UPAqQxK2PY6JIwM/s320/fig3.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>fig.3</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Last night I watched a program on TV about Lucien Freud - quite an amazing artist who's work is so dramatic but really rather vulgar I feel - nevertheless, incredible work. One of his quotes I found particularly true in my case - "<i>the promise of happiness is felt in the act of creation but disappears towards the completion of the work</i>". </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The source photo below is only of Cecca's head and shoulders from a larger picture, where this talented girl has made a complete outfit depicting Queen Elizabeth I. My intention, if ever I get round to it is to do the full painting of her in all her regalia of robes, crown and jewellery on one of my large canvasses. But first, I have to be sure that I am good enough for the attempt!</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaR1ALZkgcwwewVIWvs2SdL1Cb2n5jteV4CN0zEA-7AhYiX9mGgwRhye85V7MpJlBEdShsIYZQLTsDdmNEcgztSeXQpzKLnR9jKo9Ou25xIYPAY8_9I71-D03twHVFjaMbuVDKEhWCfs4/s1600/source.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaR1ALZkgcwwewVIWvs2SdL1Cb2n5jteV4CN0zEA-7AhYiX9mGgwRhye85V7MpJlBEdShsIYZQLTsDdmNEcgztSeXQpzKLnR9jKo9Ou25xIYPAY8_9I71-D03twHVFjaMbuVDKEhWCfs4/s1600/source.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>source photo</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></div>_Frankb10http://www.blogger.com/profile/18151551321981740679noreply@blogger.com10