HEAD OF A YOUNG GIRL

This little oil painting is another I am submitting to the annual ASU exhibition I loved the little girl’s downward gaze. I did some drawings first not intending to paint her, but so loved the pose that I decided to do a small painting. The painting was completed quite quickly, it’s a very simple little painting but I was pleased with the result.

Faraway

I love all of Andrew Wyeth’s work but this painting of Wyeth’s young son entitled ‘Faraway’ struck a particular chord with me and was the inspiration for the painting in the previous post. This is perhaps one of his less complex works and maybe not so well known.
Wyeth is not so lauded here in the UK and Ireland as he is in America, but I feel very drawn to his work and always inspired by it especially the Helga paintings, and his wonderful drawings. He was such an amazing draughtsman, a great observer of detail and the gift of being able to capture and recreate atmosphere.

Considering the Possibilities

Detail from a mixed media piece inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s painting of his son. I loved the self assuredness of the little sitter and the potential that ‘anything is possible’ that she seems to portray.

Merville Exhibition

I feel really lucky to have managed to get three pieces of work into the ASU (Arts Society of Ulster)  Annual Exhibition this year. The Exhibition is in Merville House in Merville Garden Village and runs until Sunday 15th April. There is such a wide variety work to see. Is really worth a visit. Below are two of my pieces ‘Ready to Go’ a portrait of my little grandson and ‘Leah’my cousin’s gorgeous daughter.
href=”http://2bhb.files.wordpresfs.com/2012/04/image.jpg”&gt;</a

Anticipation

Ethan my little grandson totally enthralled with a TV programme, so I seized the opportunity to do a few quick sketches and take a few photos while he remained still. Later at home I worked on this little portrait in acrylics. Another lucky one, I got this accepted in the Royal Ulster Academy Exhibition 2011 along with Goggled (previous post).  It sold also………… happy days!  This photo was taken through the glass of the frame and unfortunately you can see the reflections on the glass. Never remember to do the photos before I go the framers ………………. always in a rush to meet hand in dates.

Goggled

Playing around in the garden and paddling pool with my grandchildren pretending to be fish (as you do) and snapping some photos. I used the photos to inspire me for this little acrylic portrait which got into the RUA 2011 exhibition and sold, which is always a welcome bonus.

Charcoal and Pencil Portrait

This is a portrait of my grand-daughter Rebecca. This drawing was done from a photo taken in the garden one sunny afternoon in the summer. I particularly  loved the shadows her curly hair made on her shoulder.

The hair was an enjoyable challenge and was built up with layers of varying grades of pencil from 2B to 2H to give texture and shading.  I wanted the skin and shadows to be ultra smooth and soft so I used charcoal for the skin, blending it with chamois leather to get the softness and subtle shadow tones.  This shading and blending process was repeated several times.

I liked that she was looking down and the anonymity it gives to the picture, shifting the emphasis to the childlike form of the face which is  emphasised by the gentle light and the soft curls falling around it.