Mists

today's miserable experiments. It was all lovely and misty in the hills, so we drove up (relatively early in the morning) and took some swirly godessy photos based on Edweard Muybridge's work of the series of the woman dancing. I was in a mood, so forgot to check the camera settings, so they pretty much all turned out over-exposed and slightly blurred. I managed to save most of them..but it was rather disappointing.

Sketchbook experiments

Sketchbook work, these are both from photos already up here :)

Punting on the River Cam

An ink and acrylic piece from the same project as the Cambridge one below :) I did this at the weekend as a present for my Granny. It's from a photo taken on the river in Cambridge and shows a a full punt in the middle of the river..although it's not very clear, and his punting pole is a tad bendy. The ink was applied with a pipett so that is pooled and had different line thickness's.

English landscapes

Acrylic paintings for a series influenced by the Impressionists and by natural lighting. The first five all look like they could have been painted from the same photoshoot, like you are on the walk with the girl moving through time. The focus was on depicting light accurately, but not including too much detail, but suggesting the landscape and trees instead. The final painting is not finished yet, but it is continuing the series, this time in the snow at sunset. They all have a figure in, which draws to light the vastness of the landscape as it envelops  the girl. Sometimes it's hard to spot her.

Summer walks

Photos from the hills in the area where I live. I was trying to capture fleeting moments in the natural lighting, which comes through rather well in the top picture I think. The shaft of light is no editing, just a flare of light on the lens, but it makes it very atmospheric and magical.

1st girl dances in lavender

girl in the lavender fields

These photographs are my response to John Singer Sargent's style of work and the other great impressionists of the time. Taken in lavender fields in Snowshill in the Cotswolds at the end of last Summer, just before it was harvested.

Cambridge street

A painting from a while back of a street between one of the colleges in Cambridge. I think this is the unfinished photo though. I used acrylic paint to do the background and then the outlines and detail of the buildings in black ink which has an interesting shiny finish.

Extreme pumpkin carving

I wasn't going to carve any pumpkins this year (technically last year..but I'm catching up) but after googling some other carvings I got inspired and went with a very complicated and time consuming dragonfly and tear drop pattern and...darth vader. Surrounding the dragonfly only the thicker skin of the pumpkin has been scratched away so that the light can glow through the flesh, this way when you cut right through in places and leave the skin in others you get lots of different identifiable areas & contrast. Anyway, darth was just a bit of fun :)

You, Rudy.

Experimenting with my budgie, he wasn't keen on having his picture taken so this was the best I could do. Poor show. I've ALSO done a painting of this but haven't got a photo yet...I'll work on this.

Two charcoal and chalk sketches of pigeons I did at the end of year 12 last summer to kick start our 'Britain Today' projects for this year.

Seagulls on the River Avon

 Seagulls I saw whilst out shopping in Stratford with a friend. I needed photos of pigeons for an art project called 'Britiain Today', bringing to mind our country's hate of those 'flying vermin', but found mainly gulls instead. These were taken by the new bridge across the canal in Bancroft Gardens, next to the RSC.

Istanbul

I went on a school art trip to Istanbul back in October and was blown away by the buildings, the culture and the atmosphere of the city. I've never been to Asia before and even though half the city is technically in Europe it's so very different from anywhere I've been in Europe before. Mosques are everywhere in the city and the spice market is incredible. I'm not such a fan of the Grand Bazar, it's less traditional than i expected, filled with more fake designer bags and sunglasses than Turkish trinkets, but it's still an experience.

Imaginary Friend

Another one from a series of photos taken for an art project exploring imaginary friends. I'm sure you've all had one at some point. This photo is meant to show the relationship between the friend and the imaginer, after all the fun and playing is done the realisation that they're not really there. The fact that the girl is in early teens enforces the idea that they might not have anyone real to play or talk with, and she's getting too old to hang on to this friend.

Misfits

One of many from a photoshoot with my sister (hence the likeness) for an art project titled 'misfits'. I have worked this up as an acrilic painting on board, I'll see if I can get a picture later :)

Down the Rabbit hole