I felt last weeks’ still lifes were a bit hit and miss. I painted this on Sunday and it has survived the scraper, unlike some! That means it is a stayer and quite happy with it.

A brushy still life. One way to find out what paint does is stick to the same subject and don’t play around with composition. If limited to only brush marks for invention, then you are bound to uncover stuff you didn’t expect.
I like the big circular mark down the middle of the vase. That was the softest of brushes. It resembled a make up powder brush.
Peonies 8″x10″ oil on board
I love getting the paint on thick and quick. I’ll need to find some way to transfer this to portraits and landscapes. The peonies in the garden are not quite out yet but these beauties were spotted in the supermarket today.
An optimistic subject, just about to bloom and hopefully bring brighter days ahead.
oil on board 10″x8″
Demo for Friday group. Chrysanthemums and Camellia – 10″x8″ oil on board
10″x8″ oil on board
These flower paintings are inspired by some of my favourite painters. This one has got Stanley Bielen written all over it! I’ll now have to find a way through this likeness and explore beyond the heavy influence.
Oil on board 8″x10″
One more flower painting before I go back to portraits.
This series of still lifes is me exploring the mechanics of putting on paint. How far can I push the paint before losing the subject? How can I paint light rather than a thing?
One thing I need to drop is the reliance on the brush to make a brush mark. That might not make sense but…
I mean to paint the shape and size of a bit of the object in front of me and the chances that, in reality, it looks like a brush mark are slim. So how to paint that with a brush? That’s the thing I am struggling with. You can see the petals are too obviously brush marks with the width of a particular size of brush. Oh, the struggles!