Pen Drawing Of Marlborough Town Hall

I shall be getting married in the above building this summer and this drawing will be featuring on the front of the invitations. I was attempting to channel Franklin Booth as I hatched away.

Selected For RWS And Bath Society Of Artists Open

'Cracked Matador'

 'It's Raining, It's Pouring'

Who'd 'av thunk it!? (yes that's thunk with a U). Both 'Cracked Matador' and 'It's Raining, It's Pouring' have been selected for the Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Competition. The exhibition of all finalists will be held at the Bankside Gallery from 24th February - 14th March. You can get a sneaky preview of all the selected artists by visiting the RWS website and downloading their PDF list.

I'm especially pleased that 'It's Raining, It's Pouring' was accepted as it didn't make the cut for the RWA last Autumn.

*Added 27/03/12
Both the above paintings have also been selected to be exhibited at the Bath Artists Society Open Exhibition 2012 .

Levi Art Order Challenge Pt 3

The sketch deadline for the ArtOrder Levi Challenge is today! Above is my entry. If you've been following my recent posts you've seen how the composition and anatomy of the figures has developed. If you haven't click here for part 1 and part 2.

Another recommendation I picked up from Andrew Loomis in 'Figure Drawing For All It's Worth', was to sketch with a soft pencil, using the point for line work and the flat of the lead for tone. I tried it out with the above sketch and I'll be sticking with 3B pencils for now on. Using a softer pencil gives me a broader range in tone and speeds up drawing no end!

Levi Art Order Challenge Pt 2

Above you can see some recent studies I sketched for the Levi Challenge over at ArtOrder. Both sketches I fleshed out using an incredibly useful figure drawing book and no photo reference. 'What is this book?' I hear you cry. It's 'Figure Drawing For All It's Worth' by Andrew Loomis. Originally published in the U.S 1946 and aimed at commercial artists who wanted to draw the figure quickly and convincingly with little or no reference. The book was a huge success and seems to have been devoured by just about every representational illustrator and comic artist working in the U.S today. I've noted lots of references online over the years by artists quoting the 'Loomis way' and calling for his instructional books to be re-printed. Titan Books have listened to these requests and acted on them. All I can say is I wish it was printed while I was still in University.

The above studies have helped me to establish the correct perspective and horizon line (just above the knee) I am going to use in the final pencil work for the Levi Challenge. I'm hoping to have the sketch finished before Friday.

John Atkinson Grimshaw At The Guildhall Art Gallery

Happy New Year!

I must apologise for my absence but I'm sure you won't begrudge it giving the time of year?

Let me kick off 2011 a quick highlight on the Atkinson Grimshaw 'Painter Of Moonlight' exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery in London.

Fortunately last week I spotted a preview of the exhibition on Charley Parker's excellent blog 'Lines And Colors' which I urge you to visit. Seen as I had to be in London yesterday to pick up some artwork I took advantage of my situation and hot footed it to the Guildhall.

The Victorian oil painter Grimshaw was believed to be self taught and I agree. His colour control was masterful and he seemed to have developed a muted colour formula for his ever popular nocturnes but his drawing skills were perhaps a tad wobbly. This would explain his reliance on photographs for reference which didn't go down well with his contemporaries. However painting at night in the 21st century is a challenge so it must have been a ridiculous task in the 19th century (no head torch back then).

I don't think Grimshaw tried to hide his use of photographs which I'm sure other Victorian artists did. In fact in one painting at the exhibition it appears he has painted directly on top of a sepia photograph then added the odd figure from imagination but only halfheartedly as if to say 'this bit is mine and this bit... is a photograph'. 

The exhibition finishes on the 15th but will then be travelling to Harrogate for a long stint at the Mercer Art Gallery. It's well worth a visit with the added benefit of being close to Leeds so you can see how the streets in Grimshaw's paintings have changed.

As for the Guildhall gallery's permanent collection, it is a quality collection of Victorian painters. Alma Tadema, Rossetti, Tissot, Frederick Leighton and Millais all make stellar appearances and if that wasn't a good enough reason to visit there are the remains of a Roman Ampitheatre in the cellar.

Next Time...

I'll try to post some artwork but it could prove difficult because my current projects have to be kept under wraps.

Progress on ArtOrder and RWS Call For Entries

Below you can see my latest revised rough for the ArtOrder Levi Challenge. I keep uploading different versions to WipNation in the hope other users will comment, critque and generally steer me towards a better image. So far it seems to be working.

I have to stress these sketches are done quickly and without figure reference. When I'm happy with the composition I shall photograph myself in these poses to guide me for the final pencil work.

In other news the RWS (Royal Watercolour Society) has released a Call For Entries for it's Open Contemporary Watercolour Competition 2012. The deadline is 11th January, I think I can feel a portfolio raid coming on!

Levi Art Order Challenge

There's an interesting Art Order Challenge on at the moment especially if you like medieval gravediggers and walking skeletons.

You can track my progress here. There are still lots of things I need to address in my initial sketches and I'm sure more will become apparent as people comment. However for now I'll post my current version below.

Editorial Illustration for 'Britains Most Admired Companies' Pt 2

Below you can see the finished illustrations. I was very pleased with the end result and once again the concentrated watercolour inks played a significant role in Tony Pidgley's suit. I was able to lay down the tones in his jacket without overly worrying about maintaining soft edges because I knew the second layer of inks would blend the folds and creases together nicely. The pinstripes and highlights were then suggested with pencil crayon.

Tony Pidgley Portrait for Management Today Magazine

'Most Admired British Companies' cityscape for 

Management Today Magazine

The illustrations seemed to print quite dark in the magazine and I'm not too sure why. Next time I'll have to lighten everything a tad in Photoshop.

For more about the process involved to create these illustrations view my previous post here

Editorial Illustration for 'Britains Most Admired Companies'

Last month I was given the opportunity to work on one of Management Today's most important annual features, their top 10 of the most admired British companies. Put simply, you don't turn these jobs down.

I only had a fortnight to work on two finished illustrations however in reality I had much less because I have to spend three days a week away from my studio. Thankfully the concept was already in place before I started work on the roughs freeing up more time for the final pieces.

The first illustration was to be a portrait of Tony Pidgley, Chairman of the Berkeley Group and winner of this year's 'MT Most Admired'. The brief was to picture him in a cheerful mood with a recent Berkeley Group building development across the Thames in the background. Below you can see the pencil work and the following stage which was an acrylic burnt sienna lay-in. Acrylic under-paintings are starting to become a regular first stage for my watercolour illustrations, especially if they need to be completed speedily. The acrylic stops the pencil work dissolving in wash after wash of watercolour and also pushes through colours laid on top, giving interesting effects such as warm edges to cool colours.

These progress photos are a bit dark, the burnt sienna was more orange brown than dark brown.

The other illustration was a double page spread of an imaginary cityscape (based on Canary Wharf) in which all the top ten companies were represented by individual skyscrapers. The blank boards on each will have the company logo added digitally. The final pencil work was given the same acrylic treatment as the portrait illos but also with a hint of shadow being cast along the bottom of the buildings. Is it sunrise or sunset? I'm not sure but it certainly makes the painting more dramatic. The river in both paintings ties the images together.

In my next post I shall reveal the finished illustrations and how they looked in the magazine which arrived in the post yesterday morning.

F-Block Portrait - TICK!

Regular readers will know this piece has been on the back-burner for much too long. Thankfully the gentleman who commissioned it has bags of patience which can be very rare these days. I eventually completed his son's portrait yesterday with my increasingly invaluable 'Dr P.H Martin Radiant Concentrated Watercolour Inks'. 

Before you ask, no I haven't signed a sponsorship deal with the manufacturers, however they are incredible. If you like strong watercolours buy some now. I glazed the blue shirt in one application and even then it was heavily diluted. The same goes for the mixing desk (bottom right). There is so much potential for wet in wet techniques I'm uncontrollably itching to experiment.

Another revelation yesterday was white graphite paper. I picked up a sheet from work (I moonlight in an art shop but it's only open during the day so I suppose I'm daylighting?) to see if I could transfer white text onto the finished blue shirt. See below for the results.

The transfer was quite strong so I putty rubbered (erased) the text ever so slightly so they blended in better with the lighting and folds of cloth. Another hurdle overcome, the next time I require reams of text on a dark surface I know just the trick.