Out of its element

Colored chalk on canson 42x30 cm

Today I thought I might try my hand again at chalk pastels. Its been a while, 

but some time back, for ten years or so I used nothing else but dry media.

It was good to feel the chalks in my hand again and it came easy.

I have neglected them for too long in favor of the more forgiving oils.

Perhaps I will do more in the future.

Thanks for looking :)

Some more sketches from the ruined mill

Returning today I had once again a chance to study some different areas around the ruin..

The first being another roofless building deeper into the trees

 Charcoal and white chalk on canson 40 x 30cm

Charcoal and white chalk on canson 40 x 30cm

The second was a study of one of the now overgrown canals 

used to manage the waters for powering the mill system.. it was 

really enjoyable and quite peaceful.. I must return with oil 

paints as the weather gets cooler.

Thanks for looking :)

Shoreline impression.

Oil on Foamex 25cm x 20cm

Recently I was lucky enough to spend some time on an Atlantic island called Illauntannig

off the coast of Kerry. Four days were spent in the company of 12 other artists on this otherwise deserted outcrop of sand and rock drawing, painting and generally enjoying the beauty 

of it's bleakness.The work above is an impression of the waves as 

they break on its western shore.

Thanks for looking :)

Old Tim fixing the weather vane

oil on Foamex 34 x 27cm

An oil painting of my friend and neighbor Tim as he fixes his weather vane above the chicken coop.

A task for which I was volunteered to help with and payment received by Tim modeling momentarily

on the ladder while I did the sketch. The painting was completed later from reference and memory.

Thanks for looking :)

Guests in my attic.

Recently I have had two pairs of sparrows take residence in my attic, These non paying guests are making quite a fuss in settling into the nests they have built between the ceiling and roof. I can hear them flapping and chirping while I work and every so often I can see their cheeky presence just outside my skylight windows. They make fine drawing models. I thought I might post a speedy pastel process for quickly getting them down on paper.

The first task is to draw the little guy, they are fast movers but sometimes tend to sit and doze on a branch when the sun comes out. So taking advantage of this I quickly work up a charcoal sketch of the bird just focusing on the values and proportions. When I have it down I  spray it with a little artists varnish as I dont really want the charcoal to mix with the upper layers of pastel I will be using later. This short wait for the fixitive to dry is useful too, as it gives me time to start another sketch.

 My next step is to lay in the basic colors, I am using a mix of pastels here and I am just getting an average of the color. As my model has since woken and flown, I am making my color notes each time he passes and lands outside my studio window.

 Once I have made a simple color fill I must then become concerned with detail, for this I am more inclined to use pastel pencils as they are easier control and they work well on top of the colors already laid in. I can take my time at this point as between my models and some photo reference, I'm pretty sure I can get the important details down. 

Finally then I have my finished drawing, I have used some very soft pastels on the top layer.

This has been a pretty fast sketch overall, just for fun.

Thanks for looking :)

Life drawing at the Fourth Floor Studios.

Some more life drawing today at the Fourth Floor Studios.. Sometimes it just does not work, today it just seemed to be stuck, no likeness, proportions out of whack, just about everything wrong. I guess my muse had the weekend off or found something more interesting somewhere else. Whatever it was I was on my own :) So after a few hours frustration and in desperation, I switched to red conte on tinted sheets, rather than my trusty old pencils on bare white cartridge. All of a sudden things started flowing again. I suppose then, it's true, one small change is often all it takes.

Thanks for looking :)

Sketching with the Cork sketch group..

disposable pen on recycled paper 30 x 20 cm

A quick sketch I did from the Cork sketch group event "Drink & Draw 

last thursday 24th of April. Once again I have used the incredible records of

Edward S Curtis as an inspiration.

Thanks for looking :)

Portrait under strong light,

Charcoal and colored chalk 30 x 24 cm

The other evening while the web cam was on I leaned in toward the computer screen.

At the same time I had the fluorescent light I use at the desk for sketching switched on. 

The lamps I use are old salvaged medical spotlights similar to the lights you would find in a dental surgery. Very bright.The dark light contrast I saw in the cam display was far too tempting not to draw so I completed this little work with dry pastels based on it. While I'm not too sure about the likeness as a self portrait, not being quite as lean faced as the work appears, I still felt happy enough to post it.

Thanks for looking :)

Trees in Spring

Oil on canvas 40 x 30cm

A quick oil painting of trees in the spring light.

Thanks for looking :)

Two trees Gougane Barra

oil on canvas  36 x 26 cm

I wanted to do a painting of Gougane Barra that might describe 

the wildness of the place so I followed the stream that eventually

becomes the Lee river up in to the wooded hills until I found an 

area which I felt had just the right look to it.

Thanks for looking :)

Sea cliffs on the south coast

oil on foamx 27 x 20 cm

 A quick study of some sea cliffs on the coast of Cork.

Thanks for looking :)

Colors of Winter

Oil on foamx 24 x 24 cm

Another heavily laden oil work I have just finished.

Once again I have used foamx as a base. The painted

image is one from the Gearagh in Cork. It's an area of 

such scenic quality that I think it would be easy to find

 a thousand paintings in just one visit.

Thanks for looking :)

Study of a Velazquez self portrait in ballpoint pen, sandpaper & Bleach

Ballpoint pen, sandpaper & bleach on recycled card  30 x 20cm

Here is a study from a self portrait by Velazquez. For this piece I first scribbled

out the main portrait with my ink pen, I then sanded the whole piece with a medium grade

emery cloth and used a hard eraser to knock back the lighter tones. After some adjustments

with the pen I then proceded to brush with household bleach the areas where I wanted to get 

the highlights. It's a messy approach but I thought it would be worth a try and for the materials

I used it seemed to come out ok. The whole work is done on a piece of recycled white card used
for packaging which I found much easier to sand than the normal A4 cartridge sheets I use from
time to time. Of course this is not the first piece of artwork I have created from mediums which
are all  destined to become rubbish :)

Thanks for looking :)

Quick scribble of a woodland scene

ballpoint pen on cartridge  30 x 20cm

 Here's another quick sketch done with ballpoint pen at the cork sketch group

Drink & Draw event. I heard someone say recently that the ballpoint pen is the 

pencil of the 21st century.. I guess that could be true really as even the cheapest

mass produced pen can still offer up a satisfactory drawing result. I find for speed

and tone and a fine line, a ball point pen can be second to none when you are in a

hurry. I also like to use sandpaper with these scribbles, drawing the ink across the 

page in a semblance of a wash, making for a nice finish. Of course with the pen, 

there's no turning back, once you put down that line it's there to stay, but I like to 

think that's an advantage to as it forces you to make better decisions knowing in 

advance that you will not be able to undo any strokes. I have been using ballpoint

pens now for many years and I find that each time I return to graphite or oil pitt I

 do less corrections as a result of using this medium.

Thanks for looking :)

Two Little Pigs

oil on canvas 30 x 20

A quick oil sketch of two little pigs from the heritage farm at Killarney Co.Kerry.

Thanks for looking :)

Re-entry

oil on masonite 20 x 15cm

A quick oil sketch of an astronaut on re-entry just for fun

Thanks for looking :)

Abandoned

Disposable pen on recycled paper 30 x 20

My entry for day six of the July drawing challenge.

Thanks for looking :)

Old Crow

Disposable ink pen on recycled paper 30 x 20 cm

For the month of July I have joined a drawing challenge started by the Galway Pub Scrawl. 

A drawing group based in Galway. The challenge is to draw something each day for the

month, based on a list. One drawing per day each day. All the drawings done by those in 

the event can be seen here. The above is my entry for day three " your spirit animal "

Thanks for looking :)

Study of Caravaggio's "Doubting Thomas" with disposable pen

  Ball point pen on recycled paper 12 x 8

I started this the other night while with the Cork sketch group at their drink and draw event

 and finished it on returning to the studio. I felt attempting a Caravaggio study would have

 been a bit of a challenge with the,"ten for a penny" ink pens I am using at the moment but 

they seem to be more than able. Any reluctance on my part to do this was based on the fact 

that there is no adjustment allowed so I would have to look at my own mistakes when finished. 

But that's all part of the process and I think I got away with it, for the most part. I do like the 

results though, because the finished scribble gives me a good understanding of where I
might have made better decisions with my pen strokes and it also teaches me to accept the
limits of my ability with the media.

Thanks for looking :)

Sailboats sheltering in the early morning in Drake's pool

Oil on masonite 31 x 27 cm

For this piece I tried to concentrate only on the color shapes in the scene.
Rather than attempt to paint boats in the water I placed on the  masonite
as accurately as possible, a description of the shapes I could see and the
colors they assumed without regarding them as components of the real
world but instead just considering them as a collection of abstract
color shapes.

Thanks for looking :)