Welcome to Nick's dining room table. (3 Viewers)

[Woody]

I knew the hoodie and magpies would be a winner, and I wasn't wrong! All terrific of course, but I think you truly excel with pieces that show interaction between individuals or species.

Gotta love those coypu, just like huge guinea pigs. Glad you found the time to get out and get some sketching done. Just lately I've not managed anything because Elmley has been swathed in fog thick enough to cut!

Good luck with the move and we'll see you on the other side.

Mike

 

[nickderry]

I knew the hoodie and magpies would be a winner, and I wasn't wrong! All terrific of course, but I think you truly excel with pieces that show interaction between individuals or species.

Gotta love those coypu, just like huge guinea pigs. Glad you found the time to get out and get some sketching done. Just lately I've not managed anything because Elmley has been swathed in fog thick enough to cut!

Good luck with the move and we'll see you on the other side.

Mike

Huge guinea pigs - that's what I call them!:-O

 

[EliS]

Yup, fabulous sketches once more.

Elina

 

[nickderry]

Nearly a whole month without a post, hopefully I'll never neglect my thread for so long again - internet should be back up and running in the new flat on Monday, yeah right! While I'm online with my computer for the moment, here are a few things that I've knocked out recently - we've got 4 from my favourite new patch, Osselle, Shovelers, Little Stint, Tree Sparrow and some Garganey, then we've got the Purple Sandpaper I promised, can't believe how much paint the stuff soaks up!

 

[Andrew H]

Ha, welcome back Nick, Been tooo long, Shovellers for me out of this little selection......

 

[ste]

All 5 are up to your usual excellent standard Nick but the purple sand and the garganey are outstanding,
Steve

 

[mark richards]

purple sands for me to nick.

 

[Woody]

About time too! I was hoping there'd be some great work in the pipeline and this little lot has been worth the wait.

Don't know if you're feeling particularly good about something at the moment but all five pics seem to have some feel of optimism about them, perhaps it's the sparkling colours. Whatever, they're all five terrific, I love them all. The purple sandpaper is utterly brilliant but I bet it played havoc with your brushes!

Mike

 

[EliS]

Ooooh brilliant! Purple sandpaper is definitely a special one, pretty bird ant the texture of the sandpaper gives a new dimension to the painting. The garganey and the tree sparow are beautifully delicate, and I really enjoy the clear forms shovelers and the mallard+sting+sand. Inspired once again by your diverse style!

Elina

 

[buzzard12]

Bloody hell Nick....(**¨**!)

Brilliant batch of paintings. The colour use in these is just outstanding, terrific. Love it all, though the cerulean Garganey females are wonderful, light is handled incredibly well in a painting I would of carried on with and overpainted, it's superb Nick. The stint is a gem too, in fact it's all diamonds. Lost for meaningful words to praise with so I will shut up and revert to cursing at my monitor....

 

[desgreene]

I wouldn't like to pick a favourite out of these. All wonderful!

 

[Strandman]

How very nice to have you back- those sculpted jowly Shovelers and the stint n sandpiper pic- intriguing having just seen a strongly lit Threlfall Green Sandpiper up at the Birdscapes Gallery which is bright alright, but just doesn't have the fluid lines and shapes that we get to see (lucky us) on this thread.

 

[timwootton]

Glad to see all that removing didn't get in the way of the real things that matter. Delicious quintet with some remarkable images and, as we have become used to here, an ingenious use of materials and diversity of approach. The mallard image is thoroughly beguiling - one that I really wish I could see in the flesh, but the stand-out piece for me has to be the garganeys. There's such a tangible sense of calm and 'everything being alright in the world', with this painting. The light floods the scene and the tiny, scratchy relief marks add a subtle vibrancy which resonates across the paper. The whole thing is capped with two beautifully observed portraits. A real thing of beauty.

 

[peter mathios]

Love 'em all! Glad to see you back on your thread.

 

[jomo]

I was beginning to go into Derry withdrawal, nice to see some work up here again! Fabulous bunch, but the shovelers especially, ooh!

Oh, and I hope you don't mind Nick ... but I set up an RSS feed to keep tabs on your blog (since Surfbirds apparently doesn't provide them, what's up with that??). For those of you who (like me) prefer to use a feed aggregator like Bloglines to subscribe to your favourite blogs, here's the url:

http://feed43.com/4825821753110761.xml

 

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

This is super work Nick

 

[nickderry]

Internet is finally back on in the flat, hooray! Garden list is going nicely with Black Woodpecker and Short-toed Treecreeper the best so far.

Here are a few more things from recently, a sketch of a kestrel (go to my blog if you want to see how badly I draw certain wild pigs!) and a bit of fiddling with some older pictures, my first ever wallcreeper finally got 'corrected' as did a firecrest on canvas. Also welcome to the studio! What a mess already, and that brush with its head in the water must have been there all week, eek!

Opening my exhibition this afternoon, shouldn't have had so much to drink last night, oh well, live and learn, then do it again anyway. Certainly will tonight anyway!

Jomo, I have no idea what RSS food and blog tabs:cat: are but you seem to know about it, in any case there's no problem, whatever it is. :t:

 

[Andrew H]

Love the little Firecrest Nick, Thanx for the advice, managed to get loads of photos of Pied wagtails really close shots, so will concentrate on the drawing side of things today.....Good to see the 'table' is back in position and groaning under the gear, ready to launch you into somthing......

 

[timwootton]

Studio looks great Nick. Is this still a dinijng room table? If so, surely there's room along one wall to put a more permanent workspace? (Or do you enjoy the domestic upheaval of art/food/art?)
The firecrest is a beauty and the kestrel drawing ought to provide inspiration for something quite special.
Finally - Good luck at the opening - I just wish I could be there.

 

[Woody]

Looks just the way a proper studio should. Mind you, if you're still using it as a dining room table I'll expect some keeblesque output from you soon!

Kestrel blackie looks like a winner. Good luck with the exhibition.

Mike