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.

Quick Getaway

I have only just realised I never posted this finished painting on the blog.

  Quick Getaway

Watercolour / Gouache

24 x 31cm

This painting was partly inspired by the moonlit paintings of Atkinson Grimshaw and with any good night-time scene you have to have the moon silhouetting the branches of a gnarled tree in winter - it's the law.

The pub which the sly fox is running away from is base on the Wagon & Horses at Beckhampton which is about 7miles from where I live. It has the most fantastic thatched roof and stonework, much better than anything I could have imagined.

This painting as ties in with 'The Card Game' which I recently finished. Thankfully the fox managed to escape the nasty looking stoats at the end of their game, however you can see the chase has only just begun.

Click here to see the initial sketch  

The Card Game (Over)

As promised here is the finished artwork of 'The Card Game'.

The Card Game

Watercolour / Gouache

24 x 31cm

Recently I've been trying to separate the foreground, middleground and background into three tonal values, light, mid-tone and dark. It's proved to be very useful, however when it comes to interior scenes the three stages can become very muddled. The background comes forward and pretty much takes over the middleground which leaves me with very difficult tonal decisions to make. I decided to place a soft spotlight on the card table so the light would highlight the figures seated facing the viewer also producing the highest contrast. This also means that the rat and stoat with their back to the viewer would be in shadow as the light would be hitting their fronts (which you cannot see). All that is left to play with is the mid-tone which I placed in on background vixen and badger, also notice that I reduced contrast not only on the characters at the back but also the barrels and spirits on the shelf above, not only to fit in with the 3 tone scheme but also to suggest a smoky haze in the air which would nullify extreme darks and lights.

In summary I now have dark on light on mid-tone. I'm sure if I were able to set this scene up and photograph in reality the shadows and tonal range would be completely different but that's where artistic licence comes in to save the day.

The overall intention of 'The Card Game' was to produce an image that at first glance appeared whimsical and pleasant. It wasn't until the viewer took their time to study the scene that they could see the game of cards is about to turn very sour indeed.

The Card Game Progression 2

Started glazing local colour and bringing out the values a bit more now but it's still in the ugly stage. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow I will be over the top of the hill and beginning my descent into the finished artwork valley.

The Card Game Progress

I've been working on a sepia under-painting today. This one will have lots of warm yellows, oranges and browns in it so sepia should emerge through the glazes of watercolour very nicely indeed.

Social Me(dia)

 

Time for a blatant social media plug. I am now on facebook, please have a look.

www.facebook.com/chrisdunnillos

Also don't forget my twitter account too.

twitter.com/ChrisDunnIllos

'The Card Game' Idea

The last of my small roughs that has been approved (below). I still have a lot of working out to do (not in the gym, on my drawing board) before I even think about reaching for my brushes.

I hoping to give the viewer a bit of a shock in this one. At first glance it looks like a nice civilised game of cards in a warm pub, that is until you spot the stoats accusing look and small knife in his paw which he is about to brandish as the fox picks up is purse of winnings.

Two New Sketches

I have to wait for these drawings to be approved but hopefully I'll get the go-ahead.

The first I like to call 'Retreat From The Windmills' and it is loosely based on the exploits of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza who are represented as an old wiry lion and a plucky meerkat.

The second rough shows a father mouse reading a bedtime story, I can envisage the warm glow of the oil lamp and the big patchwork blanket lending a very soft feel to this painting.

Merry Christmas everybody!!

'Captain Seadog' Is Ship-Shape

I finished my latest animal painting last week, 'Captain Seadog'. He's now fully rigged and ready to set sail and aim cannon against 'Captain Ratbeard'.

Captain Seadog

Watercolour & Gouache

24 x 31cm

I found this piece challenging because there is not a lot of fussy detail and lots of open spaces in the composition. I kept going back to N.C Wyeth's treasure island paintings as I worked trying to grasp his wonderful sense of design and colour. It might not be up to his lofty standards but at least I successfully framed the otter's head with a light sail behind a dark hat and cast shadow over the eyes.

Open Studio This Saturday

If you are in Corsham please come in and say hello to me and Claire Baker. Apart from prints and originals I will also be dishing out slices of stollen which as the day goes on will probably get thinner and thinner as I start to run out - so come early!