Mike's conservatory (2 Viewers)

Thanks Nick. I do like this one really, just not quite so sure of it as I was the rlp.

Here's how the spuggie happened:

Mike

Woody said:

Thanks Nick. I do like this one really, just not quite so sure of it as I was the rlp.

Here's how the spuggie happened:

Mike

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Hello there- these two daily doings look really fine..that rich colour gives them real substance. What sort of size are they?

Hi Ed, both on 10"x8" canvas board. I can get small canvas board for small money at Cass Arts in town so I bought a load to experiment on.

Mike

Just popping in to say I adore the partridge and the sparrow - wow!

Yes, Mike - I'm already looking forward to the next one . . .

Agree with the above .super pic's. looking forward to more

I think youve hit on a new style, first there was detail, then there was 'loose' detail, now this.......All above seem to agree that it works well.....What next, and more to the point, best i extract my digit and get working (is that a pencil i smell burning behind my ear.?)



www.holedstonepictures.webeden.co.uk

No daily painting today, not enough time this morning but I'll do my best to get one done tomorrow.

What is it about sundays? Saturday was a fabulous day but sunday morning was once again grey and overcast. Andy had to get back early so time at elmley was also very limited.

Snipe were vocal and we watched them displaying in the air overhead but on the ground they remained invisible. The drive out was disappointingly quiet with only a few yellow wags and some corn buntings to really brighten my mood. A wren was singing from the ridgetiles of one of the car park barns he and stayed just long enough for a little scribble. From one of the nestboxes behind the toilets a barn owl glanced at me straight down the barrel of the scope before vanishing as soon as the sketchbook reached my hand.
Due to time restrictions we decided that the best use of what time we did have would be to take the short walk out to the old schoolhouse in search of a hobby or two. Sure enough we could hear youngsters in the trees but, despite our best efforts, we didn't see them until they flew off to perch along the fenceline where they can often be found. I made a couple of quick sketches and hoped to see the parent birds but there was no sign of them until a brief flyover wafter we'd returned to the car park.

I got dropped off at Queendown warren reserve on the way home as I fancied a bit of a wander about and didn't need to rush home, besides, I knew the couple of miles walk back would be good for me. Even the warren was quiet and although I glimpsed quite a few species including some beautiful bullfinches, nothing was really showing too well. Swallows seem scarcer this year but there are still a fair few about and I love the fact that they perch in such exposed places sometimes! I found the remains of both a male and a female stag beetle and since the opportunity to see these magnificent creatures doesn't come along too often I popped the male into a pocket to draw in comfort when I got home. All that remained of the female was the head so I left her where she was. When I got home I settled in with coffee at hand and put the beetle onto my sketch pad for drawing. As I drew eight tiny mites surfaced and crawled over the body and my page, fascinating little specks that had obviously made their home on the gargantuan beetle. Our resident blackbird put in an appearance and got sketched some more before I finished up for the day and got on with the usual weekend chores.

Oh well I'd better get on with the day job, I've got seven weeks' timesheets to make up, sorry, record my time accurately on...

Mike

And the rest...

Even with (or because of) limited time, you've still produced some beautiful and fruitful fieldwork. A couple of the preening swallow sketches and, of course, the blackie are top class!

I agree with Tim, some splendid work, the wren is vociferous to say the least. I've yet to have the pleasure of sketching a perched hobby - they always get off too quickly. The stag beetle remains are wonderful!

Besides actually doing scetching, the second best thing is coming here and looking at what others have done. Wonderful scetches, especially like the B3 (Black Bird's Back)!

Knock-knock, Woody

and nice to see you, this is my first visit to your thread.From the biginning, I've kept smiling.The owl, and your exchanges.You have a bunch of nice friends...The thread knitted among you is long and too long to through it in a day for me (I'm reading your exchanges by dictionary), I will haul them in a line taking me a month or more.

As for me, spent all day yesterday enjoying galleries of photo and art, time flew by while I was viewing them.Your owl has captured me in the same manner, I enjoied your each samnails.Thank you for sharing it.

Yuko

Woody said:

Well everyone else has got a thread of their own so I thought I'd start one for 2008. I'll incorporate my sketchbook here too.

So the first painting of the year has been started from sketches made in the dying days of 2007. This snoozing owl was too good to resist. I've flipped him and I wanted to change the lighting to something more special than the grey overcast day when I sketched him. I've gone for the low light of morning just before the rain starts, as I watched peregrines in that sort of light just a little while ago. After all what use is being an artist if you don't change things a little sometimes to suit yourself!

Mike

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timwootton said:

Even with (or because of) limited time...

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I hear you loud and clear Tim. I was whinging about my sketches on sunday morning and it wasn't till the swallows that I stopped trying so hard, let it go again and got something worthwhile. I should take my own advice, relax and go with the flow a bit more because that's when it works best. So thanks for the words of wisdom. B :t:

Mike

Thanks Elina, I feel the same way about others' sketches.

Thanks Yuko, glad you found us. Your English is a million times better than my Japanese, (I speak not one word!), and I'm sure you'll work your way through all the artists' threads eventually, so enjoy them!

Mike

I said I'd do another quickie today so here it is. I was aiming for a bit of sparkle with the colours so I used a fair bit of lilac alongside of the yellows which should intensify them. This is a continuation of the theme from my painting last summer of the yellow wag pair, just exploring the colours further this time with a bit more freedom. More about the colour than the bird really. (Having looked at the scan as it appears here I've got to say that the colour of the original is quite a bit more 'ballsy'.)

Mike

wonderful indeed - I'm in the middle of a headache with some serins and the same sort of colours, you've achieved what I'm finding impossible at the moment. Really excellent pic.

This little series of quicker stuff is paying dividends. Not only is your mark-making vital, it appears your birds are springing up to join in the fun. Perhaps, because you know you will be painting quickly, you are maybe making more measured decisions about colour and theme - so when it's time to 'do it' all you need concern yourself with is the actual process of painting? Lovely - the nicest one yet, I feel.

yep, i like this style of fast daily painting

Loved your new painting Mike, ive just saw you in members gallery, left a comment to.....