Oil Painting Sketch with Pochade Box

After late lunch, we decided to paint this charming building near Fitzroy Gardens. 

While we were painting this one, sitting on a folding chair, a security guard from a hospital came to us. 

He asked us what we were doing!#%

Can't you see?

Well, artists painting en plein air are regarded as potential terrorists these days. 

We spent about 1 1/2 hours. 

It was a great day. 

Oil on panel. 7 x 9 1/2 in

 

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Oil Painting Sketch with Pochade Box

We've just come back from Fitzroy Gardens. 

This beautiful building will be redeveloped and a new 'luxurious' apartment will be built. Such is a scale of gentrification of Melbourne!

We spent about 1 1/2 hours. It's a very complicated subject, and was a big challenge. 

Oil on panel. 7 x 9 1/2 in. 

 

 

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Oil Painting at Last Peek Studio

After two month break, we went back to our favourite studio this afternoon. 

We had Chloe today. She is 8 months pregnant and has a wonderful personality. 

We loved painting her. 

I struggled a lot today. Still having a problem with skin tone. Hand and face....

I don't think I did a great job. 

However, it was great to have such a lovely model, and see very familiar faces in the studio. 

Unfinished. 16 x 20 in. 

 

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Plein Air Oil Painting

After the exhibition, we drove up to an Old Gaol, and set up our easels there. 

We painted at this spot last winter with Greg, so I was very interested how different it looks under summer sunshine. 

I'm reasonably happy with this one. I stood closer to the building, and chose a portrait framework. 

We spent 3 hours there. Kate seemed a bit frustrated by her work...

I think these things happen from time to time. It's an act of doing that's precious and worthwhile. It's a very noble thing to do, spending some time painting outdoor. 

We both love it. 

It was a gorgeous day. 

Oil on panel. 16 x 20 in. 

 

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Ben Quilty - 'After Afghanistan' exhibition

We went to Castlemaine Gallery this morning. 

This is a collection of very moving paintings. I consider him as the leading Australian artist. 

My respect for him, not only as an artist but also as a human being was formed after watching Australian Story by ABC. 

In the first room, there are some great paintings by tonal painters. Meldrum, Clarice Beckett, Percy Leason.... Also, superb works by Hugh Ramsay. 

I love this gallery.  

 

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Painting Summer School with Gregory Smith

We went to Greenvale Reservoir, about 30 min drive north-west Melbourne. 

Today is the last class of Greg's summer school. 

It went reasonably well at the beginning, but, I started to have a big problem seeing subtle tonal difference of trees and water, and it ended up too oily. 

Greg did a great demo again, a beautiful painting. 

We really enjoyed this outdoor painting lessons with Greg. 

It's been a great privilege to have his as a teacher. His passion for painting always inspires us. 

We can't wait to go back to his studio. 

Unfinished. 16 x 20 in. 

 

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Supper Market at Abbotsford Convent

We're here at Abbotsford Convent right now. 

There's an evening market with music on Fridays in summer. 

I do think Convent epitomises everything good in Melbourne. Art, music, relaxed  atmosphere, free spirit, grunge, dreadlocks, bicycles....

 

Today's guest musician is 'Rachel by the stream'. Very lyrical techno duo. We like them a lot. 

 

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'A Week At The Airport' by Alain De Botton

Melbourne Library Service has an extensive collection of not only physical books, music and DVDs, but also a plethora of digital contents. 

I picked up this audiobook. Downloaded app called 'Borrow Box' from App Store. And here it is, start listening on my iPhone. It's that simple!

The book is very short, and that suits my impatient brain. 

I like his writing style a lot. 

It's also well narrated by Nicholas Bell. 

The quality of narrators makes or breaks our listening experience. I think he succeeds in this one. 

 

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John Singer Sargent at State Library

What a relief! 

The temprature dropped to 19 °C today, and raining. 

So, I decided again to confine myself in the library. 

Richard Ormind and Elaine Kilmurray have been engaged in this monumental project, to catalogue every single one of Sargent's painting. 

This one, Volume VIII, published by Yale University Press, is the only one the library possesses, unfortunately. 

 

The book is just gorgeous. There are far more watercolours than oils, understandable considering the fact that  this is a period when Sargent travelled extensively. 

There are some complaints from reviewers (oil painters) in Amazon about this, but, it didn't bother me at all. I loved immediacy of his rendering landscape in watercolours. I can see his creative process more vividly. 

I also like the book's format, whereby each painting and text are laid out in a simple way, quite often in a same page, so that I don't have to turn pages back and forwards. 

Of course, as a result of this, painting are a bit small, but, it doesn't bother me at all. 

With tons of historical information and relevant photographs, this is one of the best books on Sargent I've ever come across. Gigantic stimulus to visual sensation. 

I love to have a look at other volumes as well. 

 

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NGV talk

In the evening, I went to NGV, Federation Square first, then St Kilda. 

There was a lecture by Laurice Benson about a newly aquired painting by German Exptessionist, Erich Heckel. 

It was a very informative talk. 

 

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'Painting As A Pastime' by Winston Churchill

With a temperature predicted to soar 41°C today, I've decided to cloister myself in State Library, where I'm writing now. 

I've no idea why the library keeps a room temperature this low. It's freezing here. 

I had reserved this small book by Churchill, which also shows some of his oil paintings. 

I loved his thoughts on painting. It's great to hear from this giant of politics, also a great writer, a very passionate account of what painting means to him. 

It's very amusing that he can't help but compare painting to winning a battle. 

I also found his painting very charming. 

"Painting is a companion

with whom one may hope

to walk a great part of

life's journey"

 

 

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Plein Air Oil Painting

Never to be satisfied, I went back to Williamstown, the same spot as the last Summer School with Greg. 

I slightly changed the angle of the view. 

I really struggled today. I had thought it would be easier due to familiarity of the subject. 

It was very windy, and I had to keep holding the panel while painting. 

A nightmare again. When I finished and started to pack up, the easel collapsed. 

The painting picked up lots of dirt! 

I still seem to be unable to get a distance right. I also forgot to put an antenna on the roof. 

Oil on panel. 16 x 20 in. 

 

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Self-portrait of an artist

I tried to do something different this afternoon. 

I spent about 3 hours. I'm reasonably happy with this one. 

Oil on Panel. 16 x 20 in. 

 

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Plein Air Oil Painting

We drove to Daylesford this morning. 

There was a lovely Sunday Market, and we found some antique stuff. 

After lunch, we set up our easels near the lake. 

It was very busy with people swimming in it!

We miscalculated the movement of the sun, and had to keep moving easels to avoid direct sunlight. 

I'm reasonably happy with this one. 

It was a glorious day

Oil on panel. 12 x 16 in. 

 

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Oil Painting Summer School with Gregory Smith

We went to Williamstown this afternoon. 

Although it was cloudy and a bit cold, we started to see beautiful blue sky soon. 

I painted from this spot before, as part of Paint Out Day without Greg's tuition, and it was a complete failure. 

So, I was determined to do it better than that. 

With his timely suggestion, I think I did ok today. 

Water is always a great challenge, but, I'm reasonably happy with city lines beyond water, although it still looks a lot closer. 

Later on, he did a great demo painting church, trees and roundabout. 

It was a beautiful time with fellow artists. 

I learned a lot. 

Unfinished. 16 x 20 in. 

 

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Oil Painting, Self-Portrait

This is another attempt to capture the essence of, well, myself. 

It took me about 3 hours this afternoon. 

Again, painted on painted-over panel. 

I didn't have any problem. I think I can reuse the panel at least once. 

Not quite right, but, better. 

Oil on panel. 16 x 20 in. 

 

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South Melbourne Night Market

In the evening, we went to Sth Melbourne Market. 

They have music and lots of food stuff on Thursdays until March. 

Because I usually work on Thursday, this was our first time, and we loved it. 

It was great atmosphere and food was delicious!

We might come back next week. 

 

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Oil Painting, Self-Portrait

After lunch with my friend in city, I confined myself in our 'studio', and tried another self-portrait. 

I had painted white over previously unsuccessful painting. This time, the panel worked well, somehow. It didn't get too oily. I really don't know. 

This is a better one than before. Mouth is still not quite right, though. 

I'm using Burnt Umber for initial wash, and found it keeps warmth better than Raw Umber. Also I've noticed that for a portrait, hog hair brushes works better than nylon ones. 

I spent about 2.5 hours. Again, it's a process of learning. 

Oil on panel. 16 x 20 in. 

 

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Robert Hughes at State Library

I went to State Library this morning. 

This is another great stuff by him. It's very sad that there aren't many writers who can write with such a gusto as he did. 

Christopher Hitchens quickly came to my mind. I do miss their polemics. 

 

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Oil Painting, Self-Portrait

After a long walk in the morning, I spent about 3 hours painting this one in our 'studio'. 

It's very challenging to keep still while painting myself in a mirror, especially when facing not straight. 

The canvas is oil-primed on linen, which I had bought at half price for an experiment. 

I found it's a bit slippery compared to panels we usually use, but I like its smoothness once I get used to it. 

I'm not happy with this one. There are so many obvious errors. 

However, it was a good lesson. 

Oil on canvas. 12 x 16 in. 

 

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Plein Air Oil Painting

After lunch, I walked to Fitzroy Gardens. 

I spent about 1.5 hour painting this fountain. I've painted it before, I think this is the better one. 

Oil on canvas. 10 x 12 in. 

 

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Max Meldrum at State Library

It's really a shame that this very important book by Meldrum, 'The Science of Apperances', is impossible to get. 

There's no way of borrowing one from local libraries, either. 

So, here I am. Delightful morning. 

 

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Plein Air Oil Painting

We went back to Alphington Wetlands this afternoon.  

While we were painting last week, I had a walk around the river, then found this beautiful spot. 

It's completely hidden from a walking track. Unlike the spot we painted last time, this place offers unhindered view of water, trees and sky. 

After watching Greg's demo yesterday, I was wondering if it's easier to paint trees with flat brushes. 

I saw Greg doing gum trees beautifully with just a few strokes of brushwork. 

I have some Rosemary's Ivory series from England, but haven't used them for a long time. 

So, I had a go at it again today. 

I'm reasonably happy with this one, particularly tree trunks. 

Forms of trees and their tones are a bit shaky, but I think I managed to capture the effect of light. 

Well, I've got three big mosquito bites!

Apart from that, it was a great day. 

Oil on panel. 12 x 16 in. 

 

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Painting Summer School with Gregory Smith

Today is the second lesson, we drove to Arundel Bridge, Maribyrnong River, about 30 min drive west of Melbourne. 

It was going well at the beginning, I thought, but, it got very windy and I had a big trouble holding a panel as I painted. 

I put too much medium, the painting got very oily, as a result of that, I had difficulty of controlling the paints. 

Then, a nightmare, my easel was blown away by a gusty wind and collapsed on a ground. 

To my horror, my painting got lots of dirt all over the place! 

Never to give up, I decided to carry on. 

I put a panel on a ground and did more work. I don't think it was a good idea, but I didn't want to stop. 

Well, I ended up this mixed media painting, titled "Bridge over troubled water". This is really bad. 

Greg did a fantastic demo again. I learned a lot. 

Unfinished. 16 x 20 in. 

 

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Friday nights at NGV

We went to see 'Andy Warhol, Ai Weiwei' exhibition this evening. 

I'm not a big fan of Warhol, but there are some interesting installations by Weiwei. 

I liked this idea of opening the gallery late on Fridays with guest musicians playing at the gallery hall. 

Today's artist was The Apartments. I've never heard of them, but we both loved their songs. It was great atmosphere.  

 

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Plein Air Oil Painting

We drove to Toorourrong Riservoir in Whittlesea, about an hour drive north-east of Melbourne. 

I tried to do a study of trees and its greens. Not sure if it's that successful. 

Oil on panel. 12 x 16 in. 

 
 

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