Work In Progress

Rough Drawing - I can't think of a suitable title yet!

I've been so busy I have nearly forgotten about my blog! Hopefully this post will kick me into a blogging gear. As I type I am waiting for this painting to dry. I have applied a mixture of prussian blue and payne's grey on saturated paper in the hope of creating an atmospheric late evening background of fields and trees under a light dusting of snow. The finished scene will have Mole sadly recalling his old subterranean home and how he hasn't seen it for so long. The two friends are making their way back to Ratty's house, late on a winter's day, when Mole suddenly catches the scent of his home and becomes distraught. Ratty consoles Mole and quickly decides to find Mole's house in the hope of cheering him up.

I love sloshing watercolour around...

WIP 'The Last Train'

The Last Train WIP

Back to my challenging painting today. Originally I thought I would show the scene, of Toad hitchin' a ride on a steam train, under an overcast sky. For some reason I decided to attempt a cloudy sky at the end of the day, when the Sun is about to drop and blue reflected light is starting to take over just for a brief period until the Sun totally disappears below the horizon. Simple enough, until you factor in the platform lamps, which must be bright enough to stand out against the oncoming gloom but not be so powerful as to outshine the other two natural light sources.

As I said, this one is very challenging but is also an excellent opportunity to learn, which for me is the whole point. So back to it...

Good Evening M'lady WIP

I'm currently working on this painting called 'Good Evening M'lady'. A couple of likely lads trying their best to catch the flower seller's eye.

Is she stifling a smile?

You may recognise the weasel from this and the badger from 'Rag And Bone' below:

He could do with a bath.

I down tools tomorrow because I'm shooting to London to get some much needed reference photos and to meet up with an old friend who really needs to update his twitter.

Valkyrie WIP

As promised, here is another work in progress but, hang on, it's a different painting.

It's been a long time since I've used inks

Working up the badger valkyrie

I had fun with the background working wet-in-wet with watercolour and a black acrylic ink. You might be able to see I masked the badger with cellophane and magic tape so the strong cobalt blue would not contaminate the main character. I'm attempting some dramatic lighting on this painting and hoping to add shimmering stars and a smoke machine. There's still a long way to go and as they say - 'it's not over until the fat badger sings'.

Bedtime Story - Work In Progress

A quick shot of what I'm working on at the moment. I'm keeping the sepia under-painting light so as not to overpower the shadows as I feel this subject matter should be treated with a lighter touch than normal.

The Orator Work In Progress

Chris what are you working on at the moment? Why haven't you be posting regularly? Do toads drink whiskey? All these questions can be answered by the image below.