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Welcome to Nick's dining room table. (1 Viewer)

I'm glad that people are happy with the 'remixes' of the last two paintings, it was quite nervewracking doing them, as they were pictures that I liked. But now I like them a lot more.

After staying up painting and drinking till 2am, I was surprised that I managed to wake up at 7am. No hangover too! :brains:

I went for a walk up the hill on the edge of town, next to the river, reasonable woodland, a hill top fort and a dry scrubby grassland area. Here are the highlights from the sketchbook: (paint added at home - painting not practical when there's nowhere to sit)

A Middle Spotted Woodpecker and a Robin (all my robins at the moment suffer from pinhead syndrome, can't get them right try as I might)

A Red Squirrel, I took the opportunity to have a good look at this individual, as all previous attempts to draw mammals have ended up looking like fraggles.

A firecrest, oh how I love them, even if they won't keep still.

A little grebe and a kingfisher. These are two different sketches, not a composition involving the two. The grebe will be worked up into a larger painting.
 

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These are great Nick. Really strong set of sketches....Love the grebe in particular, Robin sketch is lovely too, spot on..
Looks like a productive day out!

The Egret painting is superb, love the blue tones. LRP is top notch too, really great stuff, well done...
 
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That kingfisher is a real stonker! The others are terrific too but the KF is outstanding. My hat's off to you!

Woody
 
Thanks for the comments, it was a productive day, consdiering it was just a walk on the edge of town. Let's just see if turning the sketches into paintings is just as productive!
 
Beautiful series of field drawings, Nick - I'm amazed at both your output and your consistently high standard of work - tremendous.
 
ah, output is a lot at the moment, when I'm having a good period I just bang out painting after painting,as for consistent high quality, I haven't posted the pics of the robin painting that is (unless I calm down) going in the bin or on a bonfire!
 
nickderry said:
ah, output is a lot at the moment, when I'm having a good period I just bang out painting after painting,as for consistent high quality, I haven't posted the pics of the robin painting that is (unless I calm down) going in the bin or on a bonfire!
Heh! Heh! I getcha completely! I bet my bin's fuller than yours!...

Woody
 
I feel your pain. I've got paintings that have two or three paintings under them... hahaha... here is an example of one of them (if I uploaded it correctly). I've had this painting for about a year and I am not happy with it. It may be the fourth to disappear on this board!
www.mathiosstudios.net
 

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What an excellent composition for the painting, I like it, but it's hard for other people to see and understand what akes an artist unhappy with his own work. If this were my picture, one little thing I would do is, where the mist disappears behind the outcrop, I'd have it fading into grey a bit more, as (at least on the uploaded photo, it seems to be in front of the foreground, being white). This pic is a fantastic idea and 99 % of it is a great success. You'll find the 1% of it that needs some work if you keep thinking of it.
It's about time I did some new paintings rather than returning to old ones to paint over them!
 
update time!

Here's a new installment of pictures, the robin (is not my favourite) is a brand new pic, so is the wallcreeper (back to the obsession!) the pied fly is a rework of a pic from a couple of years back, and here are the garganeys back from the framers!

I've also got my first pics accepted by a local gallery! woo hoo, they've taken the marsh tit, from this thread, an acrylic of a heron in the rapids and the 'misty' wallcreeper (the one with the dead seedheads in it). Let's just hope they sell!
 

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First things first - many congrats on the gallery placement, I'm certain your work will prove to be a huge success - you,re already a massive hit with the discerning members of BirdForum so 'the rest of the world' should be a doddle!
Another lovely group of colourwork, Nick - the Pied Flycatcher is triumph! Bravo, all round.
(The one thing which does really puzzle me, though - is how come you're only just 'galleryizing' your work - I would have thought you'd have your work placed all over the shop! - I look forward to hearing what you have to say in response.)
 
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Good question that Tim, maybe because the only other time's I've had the courage to walk into a gallery and ask about displaying my work, I've reeked of dutch courage, so I've always been told no!
I hope they prove popular, though the French are more into hunting than watching, a country where badger baiting is shown on the telly, there are no magazines about birdwatching but about 10 about woodcock hunting and things such as blackbird, spotted redshank and skylark are on the list of huntable species. If I could paint a few more woodcock I'd be made.
 
nickderry said:
Good question that Tim, maybe because the only other time's I've had the courage to walk into a gallery and ask about displaying my work, I've reeked of dutch courage, so I've always been told no!
I hope they prove popular, though the French are more into hunting than watching, a country where badger baiting is shown on the telly, there are no magazines about birdwatching but about 10 about woodcock hunting and things such as blackbird, spotted redshank and skylark are on the list of huntable species. If I could paint a few more woodcock I'd be made.


I would think you have a really bright future with regerd to galleries and hopefully further down the road, exhibitions Nick. Your work is already of the highest quality and improving steadily.
The Pied Fly is superb and a great example of your attention to habitat and the subjects relationshp to it. The Garganey/Teasel piece is again a wonderful juxaposition of bird and environment. Good luck with the gallery hangings. Bear in mind there is no reason not to cotact others in the Uk and sell your work there also. Personally I think it will only go well for you..
 
I've already commented in the gallery on the pied fly and the wallcreeper, bothe lovely. The gargany look ace in their frame, I love it when a painting comes back from the framers and you get to see the finished article for the first time.

Well done on the gallery, I must admit to being very surprised that you weren't already in any number of galleries.

Woody
 
After spending a lot of time recently painting over old pictures, today I started work on some new pieces of paper, I'd forgotten how much I hate starting a new piece, getting to sketch in the last bird, realising the composition isn't as balanced as the comp. sketch and the only thing to do is rub out and start again. I agree with, and admire all those that say rubbers are evil and should be avoided, but it certainly saves a lot of work from going in the bin!
Anyway, enough waffling, finally managed to remember how to draw (with the help of a rubber) and had a lot of fun splashing paint over wax crayons in a new version of last autumn's chaffinches and brambling pic (I like this one a lot more, the light and rhythm is more how I wanted to paint the birds originally), and a totally new pic of a lesser pecker, simply because they're one of my favourite birds and I never ever saw enough of them in Britain.

Pics that are in the pipeline (ie composition sketches made), a letterbox shape pic of 3 cirl buntings on a pile of cut sticks, some coots, a water rail (or the ripples it made) and a male sparrowhawk.
 

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