Oil Painting

Small study.
Not quite right, but, I'm reasonably happy with this one.

Oil on cotton panel. 12 x 16 in.

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'Italian Masterpieces' at NGV

It was a beautiful late autumn day in Melbourne.
What's the best way to spend a day like this? Surely, going to NGV!
As usual, I joined a volunteer guided tour, and she was absolutely fabulous.

This is a great exhibition of 'old masters' paintings from Spain’s Royal Court, Museo Del Prado.

Among big names like, Titian or Raphael, my favourite painting in this exhibition is this one.
'The Blind Sculptor: Allegory of Touch' by Jusepe de Ribera.

I've never heard of this artist before. Apparently he's a follower of Caravaggio.

A blind man is holding a sculpture. Is that his work?
And there's a painting on a table.
He can still 'see' the head cast, but, for him, the painting is no longer of any use.
This is a very interesting allegory of the difference between these two medium.

And, it's superbly rendered with strong chiaroscuro and naturalism.

What's he thinking? Is he reflecting on his life?
You can ask so many questions.
That's a definition of great art.

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On my easel

Small study.

Work in progress.

Oil on cotton panel. 12 x 16 in.

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'The Royal Academy of Arts, London' exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery

It's been a long time since I took a trip to this beautiful town.

My appreciation for those 'academy' paintings has changed tremendously since I started to go to Gregory's lesson.

It's a very tricky business to define what the quality of paintings mean. These days, I do see the beauty of these paintings and rock-solid foundations of skill that underlie.

Just studying the colours and tonal balance alone leaves me in awe.

Turner, Constable, John Singer Sargent, John Waterhouse.... These big names along with artists I've never heard of. This exhibition is a great opportunity for us to reassess enduring beauty of academic paintings.

I also thought it's very clever to display Australian artists who were involved in Royal Academy, like, Tom Roberts and Rupert Bunny.

It's a great pleasure to see these works from London in this regional gallery.

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On my easel

Small study with Raw Umber and Ivory Black.

Work in progress. 

Oil on cotton panel. 11 x 14 in.

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Oil Painting lesson with Gregory Smith - Day 6

Today, I started to paint a table on which a cast stands, and darkened a background a bit.
Also, I changed an angle of its base. It looked leaning too much forward, so I changed an angle of its base line. I looks more stable now.

Greg did a demo on this one, showing us how to build a shape in the face.
He covered its right side with a big brush stroke using dark tones. And then, put light tones on where needed, keeping it loose and bold.

Can you see small highlights he left on its forehead? By doing so, he can compare the tone of other areas to these lightest tones. Very clever.

It's amazing to watch how the shape starts to emerge without any details.
Rather than focusing just on its obvious features, like eyes or nose, he said it's also very important to see the area in-between.

Then, I messed its top right corner where his hair is supposed to be.
He reminded me of the process, where we put dark first and then lighter tones, not the other way around. That's I was doing on this area. It now looks like he's got hones sticking out, and shaved undercut!
So, I wiped it off.

He said, next week I will start to give it more definite shape by sculpting with tones and the direction of brush strokes.
I'm very excited.

Work in progress. 16 x 20 in.

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HBIA Australian Hairdressing Championships 2014

"Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul,
and then walks grinning in the funeral."

It requires an enormous amount of courage, passion and energy to do competition on stage.
Congratulations to those who took part in the biggest hairdressing event of the year in Melbourne.

Here are some participants from Zucci Hairdressing.

All photos are shot by me.

I put together a slideshow.

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On my easel

Work in progress. 11 x 14 in.

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Oil Painting

Small study.

Oil on cotton panel. 11 x 14 in.

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On my easel

Small study.

Work in progress. 11 x 14 in.

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Oil Painting lesson with Gregory Smith - Day 5

This is the first day for this painting.
I decided to challenge myself to try a cast. I also asked Greg to teach me how to do a drapery.

As usual, I first covered a whole panel with Raw Umber, and started to put highlights using a rag.
Initially, I was again doing a drawing, and he told me to be more brave and get a big shape first.

I've found it requires a lot of courage to do that, but, in the end, it makes a lot of sense.

Then I started to do more details, particularly his eyes, and he told me not to do that.
Instead, he suggested that I should move on to do background.

I'm reasonably happy with this initial block-in.

Work in progress. 16 x 20 in.

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Oil Painting

Oil on cotton panel. 14 x 18 in.

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Oil Painting

Small study.

Oil on cotton panel. 11 x 14 in.

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Oil Painting lesson with Gregory Smith - Day 4

I did some more details on all the subjects.
I changed the top section of a pumpkin, slightly changed the curvature of a porcelain on the left, etc.

Greg told me that the surface of the table was too flat, so I tried to change its tone a bit in order to create its spacial depth. He also suggested that I should make the base of a plate a bit longer, which again would help creating visual space.
And, he put a strong bright red on a pomegranate on the left, he said that it would also help that purpose, because it would come forward.
I all makes sense.

Finally, I did background to finish it off. It still needs more polish, I guess.
However, I'm reasonably happy with this one.

He said that it's all done for now.
I'm looking forward to a new painting next week.

I'm learning a lot.

Oil on panel. 16 x 20 in.

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Oil Painting

Oil on cotton panel. 14 x 16 in.

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Life Drawing

Trying not to draw lines.
First, I covered a paper with a charcoal, and using eraser, I rubbed it out to search for highlights.
I'd like to pursue this technique.

Margie

20 min. 60 x 80 cm.

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On my easel

Initial block-in with Raw Umber.

Work in progress. 11 x 14 in.

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Oil Painting

Revision of a previously terrible painting.

Oil on cotton panel. 14 x 16 in.

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Oil Painting

Small study.
Just realised that the area below her right eye should be darker.

Oil on cotton panel. 11 x 14 in.

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Oil Painting lesson with Gregory Smith - Day 3

This is the second session on this one.

First, I lifted the horizon a bit higher to give it a recessive space, and made a blue bottle skinnier.
Then, I did some more details on each objects.

Two bottles and a porcelain are on my own, but, I really struggled with a pumpkin.

Pomegranates (I finally got their names) were ok, but, Greg put deep cooler red at the bottom, and it really made a difference.
With a pumpkin, he first laid warm Red and Yellow in the middle, and cooler ones towards its top.
And then, strong mixture of Burnt Sienna, Yellow and a bit of White, always keeping in mind that it's a round object.
Boom! it's getting there, although its top area should be going down. It's a bit pointy at the moment.

"What is colour?", he asks.
"Colour is a temperature of light."

This simple but elegant understanding of the nature of colour, therefore, light, is really a key to painting.

"Which is warmer or cooler?"
"Which is lighter or darker?"
"What is the biggest difference?"

Painting is really a conversation with our inner self.

Work in progress. 16 x 20 in.

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Life Drawing

I went back to charcoal.

Maria

20 min. 60 x 80 cm

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Oil Painting

Terrible.

Work in progress. 14x 16 in.

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