RWA Pencils

The Royal West Of England Academy will be holding it's 159th Autumn Open Exhibition in November and December. I was lucky enough to visit last year's and the standard was very high, there was a wide range of styles and media which I surmised was typical of a good open exhibition.

For my entry this year I decided to start a theme of maybe not serious but slightly more 'grown-up' versions of English nursery rhymes. The first rhyme I selected was:

It's raining, it's pouring

The old man is snoring

He went to bed and he bumped his head

And he couldn't get up in the morning  

 I began working up some quick thumbnails (see below)

Then I picked the thumbnail which was working for me, in this case the bottom right-hand sketch. I took the basic idea and worked out a larger sketch without reference. Sometimes it's a good idea to work a composition without reference so you are not overly restricted by the position of a model or prop (see below).

The finished sketch helped me decide most of the details in the room so I was then able to start researching suitable furniture that would suit the atmosphere of the painting which then meant the details in the finished pencil (below) were correct. I also took photos of myself posing in bed (it's a hard life) so that all the creases and folds would look natural. 

All I have to do now is decide on a colour scheme, maybe something cool in hue. Painting starts today so I'd better make up my mind!