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

nickderry

C'est pas ma faute, je suis anglais.
I've decided that I'm going to start a thread allowing people into my dining room/studio, rather than hijack Tim's thread by clogging it up with my pictures!

So here's a photo of my 'creative space' and some pics of the Marsh Tit that I've finally started to paint after so long, am enjoying a Sunday of painting and loud music instead of preparing my lessons for tomorrow.

Pic1, the 'studio' (I wish it was!)
Pic2, first layer of white paint
Pic3, adding a bit of yellow ochre and more white.

Am still very much playing with ideas in my head for this picture, have never been organised enough to know what I want it to look like until it's too late.
 

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Stopped for dinner, this is how far I've got. Getting distracted already, very short attention span today. Need to feed some contrasting tones into it, the Marsh Tit's cap was a very glossy blue/purple, I'm considering making it the only part of the picture with this colour, but then again it might make it look like the bird's head is floating off, if there's no other similar colours in the picture to keep it 'anchored'.
 

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waiting for it to dry (not long fortunately as it's on cardboard - not the most patient artist me!)

I've added the cap, I think I'll keep it as distinct as it is, also washed a lot of lemon yellow around to add that springtime feel. Needs a few more branches though!

Back to work, maybe I'll get a beer out now. B :)

(last coment added as an excuse to use this fabulous smiley)
 

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Ha! ha! - Tremendous title for your thread, Nick - I've a feeling this particular table will become an extremely popular and well-visited one! (but please keep posting to my studio as often as poss.). I've always been fascinated by how you manage to get the liveliness and freedom in your work, - and now it seems i'm about too find out . . . .l
Love the way the piece is looking (I'll move from my studio for an hour and join you in a lager at your place - cheers.)
 
into the fiddling stages now, some burnt umber scrubbed into the foreground, a hint of brambles put amongst the fallen leaves and some branch shapes added to the right, just got the finishing touches to do now.
 

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Bored now, so it's finished. Not the result that I'd planned but nice enough anyway, wish I knew how to do woodcuts becuse I can imagine this idea working well.
 

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Welcome aboard Nick! Great to see you start this thread, will be popping by to look over your shoulder on a regular basis...
Like your work a lot, really quick fluid work, which appeals to me. The Marsh Tit piece is no exception, keep em coming!
 
Pheew! - I'm knackered just reading it! - I'm full of admiration for you - you never take the 'obvious' option with your birds, or your compositions (I'd never depict a MT as you have - so I've obvious;y a lot to glean from your approach) - love the 'real bottle' of lager - just got a can myself (after the rugby - silly shaped ball, but good game).
Au revoir.
 
I wouldn't have painted a Marsh Tit like that either normally, but this is more or less exactly as I saw it, I like it when the birds do all the hard work for me!
 
I have gleaned so much from you and Tim with your progression photos.
I love the simplicity and the brushstrokes. And the color of canvas is really great.
 
I've always wondered how you produce that very distinctive style of yours, Nick, and this progression is quite revealing. You've got an interesting technique, sort of 'restoring' the white of the page as a first step (I'm accustomed to having white be the last colour I lay on -- wait, white in a watercolourist's palette? Blasphemy! ;)).
 
Not only white, but also black! Shock horror. Once I managed to accidentally discourage some people from buying a painting by telling them it was painted on the back of a cornflakes packet, this piece of cardboard here was once an envelope for a calendar and if you look in the first picture on this thread you can see the embossed 'recyclable' showing through!

Putting the white on first is usually what I do when I'm painting on brown card, of course, I'd be daft to do that on white paper! Though it could create some interesting differences in texture (have now decided that daft idea is not at all daft and have resolved to try it).
 
Hey Nick, another lovely subtle painting and great to see your working methods. True recycling too!

Woody
 
The table's fine, though earlier this week I had to wash a big blob of honey off a piece of paper, just glad it wasn't butter.
 
Afetr I'd said I was going to paint this afternoon, I got distracted by people coming along for tea and ended up slaving in the kitchen, not all bad, got to find a use for the rest of the bottle of the wine after putting some of it in the sauce. Maybe I'll paint tonight, or maybe I'll sleep it off!

Never work in France, it starts too early in the morning!
 
ps, have changed my avatar, can anyone guess what species it is? Would post it in the bird id q&a but a) some of them get very serious, and b) I'd be quite upset if somebody identified it as a sparrow. :)
 
Noticed the change of avatar and I really like it (although the raven was lovely too). Hope you don't get offended - so here's my suggestion . . .
Upright, reedy-stance - suggestion of streaking on uppersides, tonal blush on chest and upper breast - longish, very slightly uppish dark bill, eyestripe and suggestion of supercillium and rank herb/reedy habitat - gotta be a honey buzzard!!!!! - only jesting - sedge warbler? How long do we have to wait for the answer????
Glad the vino wasn't wasted - cheers.
Won at pool tonight - hurrah! and other celebratory noises.
 
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