Mike's conservatory (3 Viewers)

I can only agree with Tim's words. This is delightful.

Yesterday's 'daily' got put off 'til today, so here it is, a lapwing on a dew soaked morning. I can feel myself getting more controlled with the brush, perhaps I'm moving back to detail even in these more sponteneous works? Is it possible that I'll hit upon a middle ground somewhere between the very tight detail and the very loose style that will gradually take over? Who knows, I'm enjoying doing these things whatever and I don't think I'll stop just yet.


Mike

Oooh I love it, I love it! This must be my fave of these quick paintings, the dew on the grass, the change of shades in the grass, the wonderful lapwingy, did I say already that I love it? Please do keep on doing these daily paintings, they're such a joy to look at.

Elina

yep, i think yer just getting betterer and betterer, and all here seem to agree that your doing somthing right, and that youve already found the level of detail that you need to add.
Daily Lose rules....oops sorry that sound like a medical complaint|8.|

Another cracker Mike - smashing bird in verdant luxury! - Great.

Woody said:

Yesterday's 'daily' got put off 'til today, so here it is, a lapwing on a dew soaked morning. I can feel myself getting more controlled with the brush, perhaps I'm moving back to detail even in these more sponteneous works? Is it possible that I'll hit upon a middle ground somewhere between the very tight detail and the very loose style that will gradually take over? Who knows, I'm enjoying doing these things whatever and I don't think I'll stop just yet.


Mike

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It looks really good- and congratulations on the freely scattered dew spots! You must have been very tempted to carefully place them on the blades of grass...

ed keeble said:

It looks really good- and congratulations on the freely scattered dew spots! You must have been very tempted to carefully place them on the blades of grass...

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Thanks Ed, it was tempting, and a few of them were placed, but most were the result of the good old toothbrush from two feet away!

I layed out all five in sequence yesterday and this last is undoubtedly more detailed and controlled than the first. I can't help thinking it's strayed too far from loose and not close enough to detailed and has ended up as niether fish nor fowl, (no pun intended). Like a painting by someone who wants to paint in a detailed style but can't quite get there.

I also initiated a discussion with my mother-in-law, whom I consider to be a pretty good representation of the type of person that would buy the majority of my work. The conclusion was interesting in that it seems the more detailed, and possibly the more 'controlled', a piece is, the more likely it is to be considered as a potential purchase. These 'daily' paintings are about me having a bit of fun and experimenting with different ways of working, but, I would also like to make a living from my art, sooner rather than later, so the opinions of the market have to be taken into account. It's a subject I've been thinking about a lot lately and it's complicated!

Mike

That damned market, always stopping us from doing what we want to be doing! The lapwing is a beauty, and I wouldn't worry about whether a picture ends up detailed or loose, it's about the process, and the fact you enjoy it, when it's reached a logical conclusion, stop. I couldn't agree more though about how wanting to make a living from art gets in the way of creating the art in the first place - hence my signature! (Also a line from this song 'it's no secret that ambition bites the nails of success').

It's an absolute b*gger, to be honest. I mean - I try to make a living from painting, but fall well short of that target. Without contract work and illustration, I'd have starved years ago. If 'we' wanted to make a living from 'art' no doubt the way to go is photo-realism. The majority of people will always be impressed by amazing detail and fantastic technique (and they will, some of them, wish to own such items) - BUT (and a quick Google will prove this) how does one attain any level of distinctiveness? I mean, if the painting looks like a photograph (usually because it has been derived from one), surely someone else with a similar technique will end up at exactly the same point. I'm afraid - (and as we have a musical theme running here, I'll paraphrase the Levellers) there is only one way, and that's your own! Be unique, distinctive, creative and happy - the bills probably won't get paid too often (without the crutch of other income) but when you DO make it, it will all have been worth it.

Thanks for the considered replies guys, it's good to talk!

The little series of 'dailies' are for me. I'm doing them purely because I want to and I'm enjoying doing them. I'm also liking the results pretty much, (my favourite is probably the sparrow). I'm going to carry on for a bit and see where it goes. If I can sell them then that's a bonus but it's not the primary objective.

I think I would like the life of a freelance illustrator/artist, I've had ambitions in that direction since before I chose my 'A' levels, and that was a long time ago I can tell you! Before then I had wanted to fly in the RAF either as a fighter pilot or a navigator. Then I realised that bad guys might try to kill me if I did that and it put me off somewhat! I then wanted to be a 'marine biologist' but I think that was because I thought 'marine biologists' spent their whole time swimming with dolphins off the coasts of tropical islands. But I digress...

The fact is that I'm fed up to the point of despair with the crappy job I'm stuck in and the grass is always greener and all that. The problem is trying to find an acceptable and viable alternative, and that means finding, and catering to, a market.

I know that the general advice is 'do what you do and the rest will fall into place', but I think that's only true if the thing that you do is yours and yours alone. I often feel that my detailed stuff is not distinctive enough to stand out from the crowd and when I do the loose stuff it often looks to me like a half finished detail piece rather than a finished article accomplished with seeming ease by the hand of someone with more talent than I can dream of. (And you two guys are up the top of that list.)

Well, it's late and I've had a little too much Pacheran which is making me ramble, I'm off the the land of nod, g'nite!

Mike

That lappy is superb Mike

Woody said:

Yesterday's 'daily' got put off 'til today, so here it is, a lapwing on a dew soaked morning. I can feel myself getting more controlled with the brush, perhaps I'm moving back to detail even in these more sponteneous works? Is it possible that I'll hit upon a middle ground somewhere between the very tight detail and the very loose style that will gradually take over? Who knows, I'm enjoying doing these things whatever and I don't think I'll stop just yet.


Mike

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Love the painting I could feel my ankles getting wet as I thought about walking throught the grass!
Greg

Well here's one to scare the kids with! Nick set the challenge and it seemed like a good idea at the time, so here's my self portrait.

I've called it; "Portrait of the artist as an axe murderer in ten years' time."

I'm not really that scary, honest! This is why I'm not a portrait painter!

So come on guys and gals, get your brushes or crayons or bits of torn up tissue paper or whatever out and join in the fun! Just don't let me down or I'll send this guy round to break your fingers!...

Mike

It's a very good painting, Mike - like it a lot. Is it from life (ie mirror) or a piccie?

Normal service is resumed...

Saturday was summer! Wall to wall sunshine. Had to hang around at home all day but thought I'd make the most of the weather and the activities of the juvenile starlings that are currently filling the garden and eating us out of house and home from the feeders. I filled some sketchbook pages with quick scribbles of anything and everything that wandered in. The goldfinches seem to have finally decided that it's OK to come to my feeders and they are very welcome (at last!). Arthur; I didn't sketch the eagle owl or the flamingo and my emu photo was so poor it got consigned to the cutting room floor.

Sunday was more of the same weather, a miracle! Could it be summer at last? A slow drive out enabled us to find the snipe again and to watch a delightful family of swans, their cygnets not yet out of the, 'Ahhh look at demmm!' stage. Swallows have been noticable by their absence so it was lovely to see that the toilet family have five well grown and utterly adorable chicks, I'm sorry I slipped into Kate Humble there for a bit, (ooh er missus!). The box behind the toilet block was once again occupied by a barn owl who stayed long enough for a quick sketch before he gave me an indignant glance down the barrel of the scope and disappeared inside. I wonder, do the birds we look at see a huge eyeball staring at them when they look down the scope back at us? We wandered out to the hide and the sounds of summer accompanied us. Skylarks sang and cornbuntings jangled, mipits squeeked and redshanks whistled while, in the sky high above, the swifts screamed. A female pheasant watched over her family by the side of the path, she didn't seem to be bothered by us at all. She simply continued preenng and watching her young until she was ready to lead them into the grass and let us pass. Perhaps she shouldn't be so laid back, there were three or four marsh harriers quartering in the distance. The water vole was on one of his usual feeding platforms, we could hear him munching and wearing down his little red teeth. Avocets still dominate on the scrape. Their numbers were down on last week although there were still plenty of chicks about. I left Andy to sketch them and concentrated instead on a pair of ringed plovers lounging about in the warm sun.

My daughter asked if I would take her to riverside reserve in the afternoon and since it was fathers' day who was I to disappoint her! She got to see a lifer when I pointed out the whitethroat singing from his perch high in a bush and she was fascinated by a songthrush smashing open a snail on the path. We even waited patiently to get a glimpse of the fledgling wrens that were calling from a dense patch of nettles. Love it or loathe it, springwatch certainly does its job as far as I'm concerned.

Mike

timwootton said:

It's a very good painting, Mike - like it a lot. Is it from life (ie mirror) or a piccie?

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Mirror Tim, I've been looking at portrait painters too, I really do get terribly bored at 'work' at the moment.

Mike

Just some more...

And from Elmley...

Excellent Mike, both "big brother" and the character Starlings.

Absolutely terrific starling drawings, Mike - totally wonderful (I fail to get them right, but you've certainly caught them spot on - wonderful). The whitethroat and r-ps are excellent also. All in all a superb set!