Spring Edition 2014
Paint My Photo
9
‘Daffodils’ - Photo by Nicola B
PACKED WITH ARTICLES YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS... Our featured painting is ‘Dreams of White Horses’ by Suzanne Wallick and takes pride of place on our front cover
Where Photographers and Artists Meet
Original reference photo, ‘Surf’s Up!’, provided by Mary Ann LeRoy
[1]
EDITOR’S WELCOME
Spring is here at last! Hurrah! At long last the weather seems to be improving and we can all venture outside again. Having said that, it hasn’t deterred our photographers and artists, and we have seem some spectacular photographs and artworks posted on PaintMyPhoto through the winter months. This year looks as if it will be an exciting one for PaintMy Photo; we are awaiting a major Ning upgrade that hopefully will enable us to enhance the way the site works and allow us to further develop the gallery, so watch this space... We will also have a fabulous music/art competition running, which is currently being organised that will be great fun and very interesting. This competition will be open all PMP members, so keep an eye out for more details.
Marbles in a Jar
Finally, we have had the pleasure of being involved in producing a charity e-book that is supporting a deer sanctuary in the UK. All royalties from the sale of the book will be going to help continue the great work of this worthy cause. Heartfelt thanks go to the artists and photographers who have made this possible. Find out more about it in this magazine. Right, enough of my waffle, go forth and enjoy...!
Ruth Archer
Fruits of the Sea
If you aren't a member of PaintMyPhoto, then please have a read of our magazine and find out more about us. Are you are a photographer who would like to contribute good quality, copyright-free reference photos for our artists to use for inspiration? Are you an artist using traditional media (a complete beginner or a professional, it really doesn't matter) who would benefit from being able to use photos without copyright worries? Perhaps, like me, you are a bit of both! Membership is free and you will find the
Royal Blue
site a very welcoming and friendly community. Everyone is welcome! Â
[2]
MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Lisa Cunnington Visit Lisa’s Gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Lisa via PaintmyPhoto
Lisa Cunnington Morning Sunrise
Delightful Landscapes and Inspirational Animal Photographs First and foremost, on behalf of all members, may we thank you for your generosity in sharing your wonderful photos! Can you tell us how you first discovered Paint My Photo? I am delighted you want to feature some of my photos, thank you. I first discovered PaintMyPhoto from a friend, who is currently a member, back in 2011. I was so delighted with this site that I simply had to join. I love the fact that not only do I love taking pictures for everybody to share, but also that I've had some brilliant pictures drawn from my photos of which some I have purchased. It truly is a delight to see your pictures drawn.
always with me, a fantastic way to look back on these special moments What type of camera and equipment do you use for the photographs that you post on Paint My Photo? I have a very well stocked room of cameras and lenses, my favourite being my Canon 50D with my favourite L series lenses. The ones I use the most are my Canon 70-200, Canon 100-400. My prime lenses, 50m and 35m, make good portrait pictures. I also use a canon bridge camera, but the lens I use the most for general picture taking is my Canon 18-200, a very good all round versatile lens - these are my main cameras and lenses I use for my photos for PMP.
What is your favourite photography subject? My favourite subjects to photograph are breathtaking scenery and action shots, and also taking pictures of animals and wildlife. I especially love the moments of capture that are purely candid. I generally love taking pictures because it's like looking back on a moment that is never forgotten in time; what I see through my lens is
What, if any, photography/image software do you use to manage your photos? The only photo image software I love using is Adobe Lightroom 5, a brilliant but very easy programme to use, although I don't always use it as I do try to take a good picture without the need to touch it up. [3]
LISA CUNNINGTON
If you had to choose just one photograph that you have posted on Paint My Photo, which one would it be and why? I would probably say that one of my favourites has got to be my picture of Mersey Island boats with its brilliant sunset colours, and it didn't get touched up on Adobe Lightroom. I was quite impressed with the way the photo just came out. Another of my favourite pictures will have to be my Norfolk hay bale - brilliant capture of light in the photo, and another of my favourites is the field scene on a frosty morning, Well, I wouldn't call my self a professional but I do try to take some nice pictures.
Seal, Waxham
Finally, we’d love to know a little more about you, do you have a personal website (or other online presence) where we can see more of your work? Unfortunately I don't have a web site, only PMP . I just love to take my camera every where I go and take as many pictures as I can. It's more a hobby to me, which I really enjoy doing. My other passion is horse riding and dog walking. I work just a normal 5-day week in a factory on a nightshift and I've been there about 14 years. I would like to think I could become more professional at my photography, but for now it's a great hobby to have, and I enjoy posting my photos on PMP and reading some of the great comments you all give me. It truly gives me pleasure posting these photos for you all to look at and paint.
Windmill, Waxham
Links to Lisa’s gallery and PMP profile can be found at the beginning of this article.
Romley, Dymchurch & Dungeness
Doggy Day Out Horsey Field
[4]
LISA CUNNINGTON
Lisa’s Choice - Mersey Island Boats Scene
Krakow, Poland
Down the Horsey Field
A Very Cold Morning
Lighthouse in Norfolk
Holiday in Norfolk
A Lovely Day in Norfolk
Lambs, Waxham
[5]
LISA CUNNINGTON
Holiday in Germany A Frosty Morning
Horsey Windmill
Abbey
Another Doggy Morning
Brightlingsea Beach
Lucy
A Winter’s Morning
[6]
RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES
Robyn Lovelock Robyn (Ro) is a very talented artist and photographer based in Australia. She is also one of PMP’s superstars, helping to keep PMP running smoothly and looking after members. You can view Ro’s gallery or contact her though PMP.
Robyn Lovelock ‘Simon’s Tassie Pic’
Robyn’s Been Busy Finding us a Fabulous Selection of Photos - Enjoy!
St Saveur by Bix
Fairy Village! by Bix
Tonkinese Cat by Charlotte Yealey
Sunsets by Carrie Layne Mashon
Raka by Marlene Maloney [7]
Jetty by Renee Roig
RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES
A Mixed Special
A Country Stream by Steve Lyddon
Left Luggage by Neil Kingsbury
Lone Cyprus 7-Mile Road by Kathy Paulus Pears by Judith Haynes
Salies des Bearn by William James Butcher
Emu Fence by Rachael Curry
[8]
RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES
A Mixed Special
Cactus Flower by Donna B Anastasi
Flowers and Door by Joy Anfous
Rick’s Photo of Canada by Robyn Lovelock
On the Farm by Freda Austin Nichols
Apex Lookout, Bright by Robyn Lovelock
Back Road to Alexandria by Robyn Lovelock
[9]
ART IN THE MAKING
Linda Franklin (LJ) Visit Linda’s Gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Linda via PaintmyPhoto
Linda Franklin (LJ) A Colourful Display-Painted from Marion Brown's photo Bodnant Gardens
Maple Leaves in Watercolour Linda Franklin (LJ) is a long-term member of PaintMyPhoto and also one of Roy’s team of volunteer administrators who so generously give their time and make PaintMyPhoto the amazing site that it is! Linda is a gifted watercolour artist and has kindly put together a demonstration of her beautiful style of painting, which I’m sure you will find inspirational.
Demonstration by Linda Franklin Reference Photo: This is the original reference photo taken by me of the Maple tree in our yard. Just beautiful!
[10]
by Linda Franklin
ART IN THE MAKING
Maple Leaves in Watercolour
First, I print off a black and white print of the photo or sketch of the photo as seen here, cropped to the composition and size I want the painting to be. This one is 10.5� x 16.5". I used a sketch for this one as all those leaves are a complicated pattern, and the sketch helped me to work out the leaf lines and distinguish one from the other.
I also have the original colour photo up on my screen.
[11]
by Linda Franklin
ART IN THE MAKING
Maple Leaves in Watercolour Here is the print-off laid on my Otto Paper Stretcher; the stretcher is a half-sheet size. I actually have two of these so that I can work on more than one painting at a time. I use Saunders Waterford 140lb cold pressed paper, which I stretch and leave to dry for a day or two. I have to stretch my paper as I paint very, very wet as you will see!!! Next I transfer all the details from the print-off onto the watercolour paper that I want to include in the painting, which won't be all of it. In this case I decide not to include every single leaf or any leaf detail itself, just the leaf shapes. I will use the paint to create all the detail I want to include.
Next I decide what colours to use. I always use a limited palette of three colours with, maybe, a fourth if necessary for a particular painting. I always go to my paints of choice, which are usually Daniel Smith. However, for this painting I decided to try my Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolors, which come in little bottles of mixed pigment and are very vibrant. The colours I chose are for this painting were Gamboge, Brilliant Cadmium Red, Indian Red and Cobalt Blue. I do not use a pre-filled palette of paints, but use fresh pigment from the tube, or in this case, bottle. Here you can see my mix of Gamboge. I have 5" square porcelain dishes that I use for mixing, one for each colour, which keeps the pigments clean and pure unless I want to mix them.
[12]
by Linda Franklin
ART IN THE MAKING
Maple Leaves in Watercolour The brushes I am going to use for this are my new favourites - Black Velvet Silver rounds, size 2,4,6,8 and 10 which are a mix of squirrel hair and synthetic fibre. They hold a lot of paint and have a lovely point. I decide which leaf to start with, which in this case was one at the very front. The pencil lines in this example have been left deliberately darker than I would normally use in the painting so that it shows up in the photo. I start by painting in very wet Gamboge.
Then I add the Cadmium Red. See how wet the paint is? This is why I paint flat!!!
[13]
by Linda Franklin
ART IN THE MAKING
Maple Leaves in Watercolour
I let the paint do its own thing. Here you can see the beautiful orange appearing as the two colours mix.
Where I have extra paint accumulating, I use a thirsty brush to lift some of it out.
[14]
by Linda Franklin
ART IN THE MAKING
Maple Leaves in Watercolour
Again, using a thirsty brush, as the paint dries I blend the red and the yellow at the edge where I want it to fade and smooth the transition. Then I let the whole leaf dry. This doesn't mean I stop painting, but move on to other leaves in different parts of the painting and do the same, varying the colours and tints used on different leaves.
Once the leaf is totally dry, I wet the whole leaf again with water. Then, as it dries, I drop in more Cadmium Red along the edges where I want a deeper red shade.
[15]
by Linda Franklin
ART IN THE MAKING
Maple Leaves in Watercolour
I let it blend and mix on the paper.
I take up any extra colour, blending the edges as before. I repeat these layers of water and paint until I am happy with the colour and intensity on each leaf.
[16]
by Linda Franklin
ART IN THE MAKING
Maple Leaves in Watercolour
Once the leaf is totally dry, I start to add the shadows using Indian Red, or a combination of Indian Red and Cadmium Red. Some leaves have Indian Red with a touch of Cobalt Blue.
Once the shadows are done, I move on to other leaves and repeat the process, moving round the painting.
[17]
by Linda Franklin
ART IN THE MAKING
Maple Leaves in Watercolour
The darker leaves at the back have less prominent yellow in them and I add more layers of glazing, varying orange and reds, to achieve the colour I want and to send them back in the painting.
I try to vary the colours with light against dark to give contrast.
[18]
by Linda Franklin
ART IN THE MAKING
Maple Leaves in Watercolour
Once I have finished all the leaves and they are totally dry, I make a strong mix of Indian Red and Cobalt Blue for the branch. I then paint in the branch using more red in places and more blue in others to add shadow.
The leaves and branch are finished, with the highlights on the branch left as pure white paper. Next for the sky. I mix a large amount of Cobalt Blue for the background, much more than I hope I will need (a whole dish full!), so that I don't run out and have to mix more and match it. I start by filling in all the small areas of sky between the leaves with my board flat. Once they are dry, I finish with the larger sky area at the bottom and for this I tilt my board so that I keep a nice bead of paint going and hopefully get the background as smooth as I can.
[19]
by Linda Franklin
ART IN THE MAKING
Maple Leaves in Watercolour
The finished painting! Only thing left for me to do is take a photo, upload it to Pixlr and add my watermark before posting to PMP and my other websites!!! I hope this gives you some insight into how I work and that you enjoyed reading about the process.
What an inspirational demonstration! If you have been inspired by Linda and decide try a painting using her demonstration as guidance, don’t forget to post your artworks for us to see on PaintMyPhoto (as long as the source reference photo is a PMP image) - we’d love to see them!
[20]
CHARITY EBOOK - BUY A BOOK & FEED A DEER!
Roy Simmons Roy is the founder/owner of PaintMyPhoto and a fantastic artist too! Contact Roy on his profile at PMP. View Roy’s paintings in his PMP Gallery.
Roy Simmons ‘Sunshine & Showers’
Celebrating Wildlife Art and Photography (and Doing our Bit)! We are delighted to announce the publication of a new e-book for Kindle and Kindle apps called “Wildlife Art and Photography”. All the proceeds (Royalties) from this book will go to help the South West Deer Rescue Centre in the UK. We think it is kind of cool to use our art and photography to support the wildlife we care about! The book is composed of work provided by our keen wildlife photographers and artists on PMP. This book is a fabulous showcase of wildlife art and photography from around the world. Not only that, the artists and photographers generously reveal their thought processes and techniques used in the creative process. As a bonus, there are also two full step-by-step watercolor painting demonstrations by artist, Maria Balcells. For artists, photographers and indeed anyone interested in wildlife, this really is a must-have publication! To preview the book and purchase it if you would like a copy, use one of the following links below: Amazon - View Wildlife Art & Photography E-book (UK readers) Amazon - View Wildlife Art & Photography E-book (USA readers) [21]
by Roy Simmons
CHARITY E-BOOK
Celebrating Wildlife Art and Photography (and Doing our Bit)! All the contributors met on PaintMyPhoto; it is heartwarming to see how so many great friendships have blossomed through PMP, and I never fail to be overwhelmed by the generosity of spirit and support of its members. It was a few online conversations that I had with Dave Webb, one of our contributors of fabulous wildlife photos, which led to the idea for this book. Having recently published my own watercolour book on the Amazon Kindle platform, I felt we could do something that would serve several objectives: To highlight our wildlife artists and photographers, and to raise some much needed funding for wildlife. At Dave’s suggestion, it has been decided that the benefiting organisation will be the South West Deer Rescue Centre, which is located in Somerset, UK.
Pink Pelicans by Cherry Aron. One of the many fantastic paintings featured in the book.
I must thank all the artists and photographers who have so generously - and without exception - donated images of their work for inclusion. However, that is not all! This is not just a book of photos of wildlife, and wildlife art, but is also a practical guide to the thought processes and techniques of these very creative people. Each person has included text explaining their art, and wait there is more (OK, I’ve seen too many TV ads)! There are also the two complete step-by-step demonstrations by artist Maria Balcells, which add even more value to this book. If you are able to, please also remember to give a review on Amazon. Spread the word! Buy a book, feed a deer!
Roy Simmons
[22]
Pelicans - the beautiful original reference photo taken by Angeline Rijkeboer.
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
Lorna Webber Lorna is a very talented artist and photographer based in the UK. View Lorna’s Gallery on PMP. You can contact Lorna by visiting her PMP profile page on PMP.
Lorna Webber ‘Angels of Avalon’
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You!
Hello again! This is the part where I try to persuade PMP artists to live dangerously! I’m not talking about free-fall parachuting, abseiling or white-water rafting. No. I am talking about using PMP photos in a more creative or inventive way than directly copying them in paint. I’ve written on this topic in the last two magazines, so if you like what you see below and want more explanation and examples, please feel free to look here :
Winter Edition 2013
Autumn Edition 2013
[23]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! These are some of the ideas you can use:
- select elements of the photo, e.g. crop, add, move or remove things; - adjust the image to suit your aims, e.g. change the colour or format; - interpret the photo in a style or with a technique that makes it special; - combine photographs to make a new image; - transform the photo, e.g. abstract, or develop ideas from the original image. For this issue, I’ve selected some especially creative paintings that have been made by artists on PMP. I hope you will enjoy seeing the fabulous results they have achieved by adding a little extra creativity to their artistic skills.
The first source photo we’ll consider is colourless and quite unexciting. Which photographer is responsible for this feeble effort? Well…. that would be me. I’m delighted to say that several PMP artists have been able to make really good paintings out of this unpromising material, by painting it in an exciting way.
Ignacio Avalos painted this with beautiful soft blends of subtle colour – so stylish!
[24]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You!
Here is my own version painted in acrylics and looking for colour ‌
Val D found even more colour in her glorious Brusho version.
Richard Long found his inspiration in art history, with a fabulous Cubist interpretation. No extra colour is needed here to make this an exciting image.
[25]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Of course, many artists are in love with colour, and a photographic image can be transformed for a painting by changing or enhancing the colour.
Nicola McLean's splendid photo of Stonehenge has inspired two artists to be daring in their creations.
Dee Saunders has achieved a wonderful otherworldly atmosphere, by using a bold, limited palette.
Yvonne Lautenschl채ger has used texture and mixed media to achieve an exciting result with a completely different mood.
[26]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! One more colour changing transformation, to show what a colour change can do: Here’s “Red Deer” by Ram.E from Gary Jones’s lovely photo.
It is very tempting to paint a photo once and then move on to something different. But as creative people, we should be able to produce more than one piece of art from a single spark of inspiration. Shouldn’t we?
Judith (Jay) Jerams has shared two paintings derived from her own photo:
[27]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Combining Photos This is an example of how the ideas and images in one photo can be enhanced and emphasised by adding elements from another – sometimes more than one other photo.
Veronica Eldayisty combined Gillian’s photo ‘Arches 1’ and Nicke Reeves’ photo ‘Chippy the Fox’ to enliven the garden scene and give a context for the fox.
[28]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You!
Lorenz had digitally altered his self portrait photo, to create an intriguing image as an invitation to artists to be inventive. Campbell Jane rose to this challenge. Her “Flutter Nutter� is a very playful interpretation of the photo, enhanced by the addition of Lea Sapsford's beautiful peacock butterfly.
[29]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Transformation This is my favourite category! In these examples, the artists have given their imaginations free rein. The resulting paintings may be strange, funny, thought provoking, but are always fascinating. These pieces of art include some kind of transformation of the original source image. Robyn (Ro) Lovelock painted this gorgeous colour-fest, based on Joanne SV’s “Still Life Reflections”. Ro has translated and abstracted the source image to produce her trademark glorious, rich, watercolour blends.
Angela’s painting “Angel of Butterflies” is informed by great images shared by Suzanne Wallick and Gary Jones, but it weaves its own magic too.
[30]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! I love this painting by Mark Peters, entitled “Picasso's temple: visitors and worshippers at the Postmodern cathedral”. Mark used Cherry Bray’s super photo of Salisbury Cathedral and transformed it in a perfect illustration of his aim for the painting. Picasso would be proud.
Here are two new images inspired by a single source, Freda Austin Nichols’s ‘I love Gieco’:
[31]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You!
Miriam Borg has drawn on Aboriginal art to create a fascinating painting called “Kissing Lizard”. I have drawn on paper (ha!) and on children’s fairy stories for my version, called “The Optimist” – just for fun. I added Robin's Garden Guardian and Jane Reade's cushion.
Finally, here is a superb painting by Juan Manuel Sandin Espada, from his own photograph. How creative is that? Amazingly creative!
[32]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Once again, I would like to thank all the terrific photographers who share their work so generously. May I take this opportunity to remind every artist to let the photographer know when you have created a painting inspired by their photo? It doesn’t happen automatically when you post a painting with a link. All it takes is a grateful comment on the photo in question, to show your appreciation. See you in the next magazine… keep those super-creative paintings coming, or else my next article will be very short indeed!
Here are some examples of Lorna’s fantastic paintings:
Mount Buffalo - Palette Knife Original reference photo taken by Robyn Lovelock
Portrait of the artist Juan Manuel Sandin Espada Original reference photo taken by Juan Manuel Sandin Espada Kruger Light original reference photo taken by ESP
[33]
ART IN THE MAKING
Ruth Archer View Ruth’s gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Ruth via PaintmyPhoto
Ruth Archer ‘Stargazer’ - reference photo by Dave Webb
And Now For Something Completely Different... As is probably evident from my eclectic mix of artwork, I don’t really have a settled style or favourite medium. I lead a very busy lifestyle and unfortunately this often means that I can’t find enough time to spend enjoying creating art. Nonetheless, I do try to squeeze something ’arty’ into my day, even it it’s just spending a few minutes reading an article about techniques in my lunch break. A while back I came across a very interesting technique that I couldn’t resist trying and wrote a blog about it on PMP. As it was such a fun technique to try, I thought I’d dust the blog off and add it into the magazine in case any of you are interested in giving it a try. This is a demonstration using a rubbing-off technique and is based on Robyn’s fabulous photo, ‘Roger’s D’s Portrait’. I loved his pensive expression and the strong contrasts in the photo. I made a drawing of the photo on cheap cartridge paper and then used trace-down to transfer it to my watercolour paper. I always use this technique, as it minimises any damage to the support surface and preserves my original drawing, which I can use again, especially if I completely mess up and have to start again (and believe me it does happen)! [34]
ART IN THE MAKING...
Demonstration by Ruth Archer
And Now For Something Completely Different... Materials Used: Hot-Press watercolour paper 300lbs weight Gouache paints: • Permanent White • Permanent Yellow Deep • Myosotis Blue • Cadmium Orange (These just happened to be a few tubes that I have had for ages that needed using - you can use any colour combination you like.) Clear gesso Acrylic gloss medium Cotton wool pads, buds and kitchen roll Stage 1 After laying in the drawing onto 300lbs hot-press watercolour paper, I coated the surface with clear gesso. Once dry, I painted Permanent Yellow Deep gouache over the entire surface. Then I wiped out the areas I wanted to keep light with cotton wool pads and kitchen roll. This first layer needs to be wiped out before the gouache is dry to minimise staining. Once this had dried I then applied a coat of acrylic gloss medium with a soft brush and allowed it to dry. Stage 2 I then applied a second coat of Cadmium Orange gouache and again wiped out the areas where I wanted the previous layer to shine through. You can allow the gouache to dry on the subsequent layers because the gloss medium enables easy removal of the gouache. Again, once dry, another coat of acrylic gloss medium was applied and allowed to dry.
[35]
ART IN THE MAKING...
Demonstration by Ruth Archer
And Now For Something Completely Different... Stage 3 This time I applied a coat of Myosotis Blue and, yes, you've guessed, rubbed out the areas I didn't want, let it dry and added another coat of gloss medium. NOTE: This particular blue bleeds very easily and requires the lightest touch.
Stage 4 I used Permanent White for my final layer, as I wanted to explore the light on dark capability of this technique. I applied a dot of light to the eye and took it off my painting board as I felt there was no more I could add to it.
This image shows the technique in more detail. This technique is great fun and minimises fiddling, as cotton wool and kitchen roll don't lend well to fine lines! Any colours can be used, but making the first one bright does add luminosity to the subsequent layers. Why not a have a go?
[36]
ART IN THE MAKING
John Palmer View John’s Gallery on PaintMyPhoto
John Palmer
Contact John via PaintMyPhoto
‘Swan & Brood - Original Reference Photo by PixelBloke’
Painting Perfect Pastels I have been asked to write a piece about the recent pastel painting I did working from Alex Lee Johnson’s wonderful reference photograph titled ‘Autumn Violin‘. I did take a few photos of this painting in the early stages with a view to working it up into a work in progress tutorial, but as usually happens with me, I got so engrossed in the piece that the time passed by and before I knew it I was at the finishing stages with no further stage photographs taken. I would estimate that from start to finish I probably spent in excess of fifty hours on this over a period of weeks. I have included the four early pictures of the piece in the hope that they may be of interest. Firstly, here is Alex’s reference photograph, which struck an immediate chord with me. I loved the atmosphere he had captured of an ethereal, misty autumnal moment within which he had placed the beautiful image of a violinist, apparently lost in her music. As much as I loved the original I didn’t just want to copy the reference per se, but instead wanted to create a painting with a different feel, and had in mind much stronger earthy colours. In doing this it enabled me to ramp up the depth of colours throughout the painting, allowing for a richer tone to the violin itself.
[37]
ART IN THE MAKING...
Demonstration by John Palmer
Painting Perfect Pastels I love musical instruments, which I look upon as works of art in their own right, particularly the stringed varieties with the wonderful colours and grains they have. I want to paint more of them in the future, having already painted a study of a cello, which has proved popular in print form. Here is a picture of the first stage. I have used my support of choice, which is Pastelmat. The size is 40cm x 30 cm and in this instance is natural sienna, as it vaguely represents the colour scheme I will be using. I haven’t cropped these photos so that you can see, as with all of my paintings, I begin by taping the support to my drawing board using 25mm wide masking tape, and fixing approx.12mm around the edge of the support and 12mm to the board. I work on a draughtstman's drawing board size AO; this is a large board and allows for plenty of room for my painting and any number of references I might use in its conception to be displayed around it. Here the basic sketch is completed using a white pastel pencil in this instance, I don’t put in too much detail into the sketch because as the work continues most of the detail will get lost in the colour layering anyway.
In the following stage I am mainly concerning myself with playing around with colour choices. It is an important stage to get right, as the whole feel of the painting begins here. So as you can see I make good use of the masking tape to try out colours next to the area I am working on.
[38]
ART IN THE MAKING...
Demonstration by John Palmer
Painting Perfect Pastels This picture shows how, having mainly worked on the background, I am now turning my attention to very coarsely picking out details around the painting and seeing how the background colours influence the colours and tones of the facial features etc. At this stage I am not attempting to achieve a likeness or adding too much detail as it would be a waste of time, that comes much later.
Here, having satisfied myself that the background colours are working for me I can proceed with confidence to start detailing the face and other areas of the painting. I should mention that when working with pastels it is best to resist the urge to concentrate on the subject matter ( which is the interesting bit which grabbed your attention to begin with ) but to start with the background and, if you are right-handed like me, commencing with the top left-hand corner and working your way diagonally down to avoid smudging. Similarly, if you are left-handed work from the righthand top corner diagonally down. Another reason to work from top to bottom is that as you work on the background, pastel dust will be generated and will find its way onto the subject which although isn’t disastrous, will mean reworking an area that you might otherwise considered finished. I lay a sheet of A4 paper over the areas below where I am working on in the later stages to prevent this and also to avoid smudging. As I work on an elevated board the potential of this being problematic is increased due the effects of gravity.
[39]
ART IN THE MAKING...
Demonstration by John Palmer
Painting Perfect Pastels Finally we move to the finished pastel. As can be appreciated from the previous stage, many hours of work have been put into this, working on colour layering and detailing, and constant adjusting and readjusting, attempting to ensure the colours and tones of the skin, fabrics, wood etc. All harmonise with the general colour scheme chosen at the early stages. Any colours used outside of the chosen palette would jar and could have the effect of making the subject, or a detail of the subject, look superimposed onto the painting.
On completion, the painting is double mounted/matted in ivory and placed into a frame the colour of which will further harmonise with and enhance the painting. A simple contemporary brown type was used in this instance.
Materials used : Pastelmat pastel paper size 40cm x 30cm - colour natural sienna Unison pastel sticks Faber Castell pitt pastel pencils Derwent pastel pencils Caran d’ache pastel pencils
[40]
ART IN THE MAKING...
Demonstration by John Palmer
Painting Perfect Pastels Why so many pastels? Each manufacturer has a different consistency and feel to the pastel stick or pencil, some soft and some harder. Overall, I like Unison pastels for they give a semi-hard feel and are extremely rich in pigment, great for the finishing flourishes! Faber Castell pitt pastel pencils are somewhat harder than most brands and are good for drawing and detailing. Derwent and Caran d’ache are softer than Faber Castell and therefore are better for blending. Having said that, it is possible to paint or draw a complete picture with all of these brands, but over time I have found that better results can be achieved using a combination of makes in the style I work. I hope you have found this article of some interest and should you wish to see more of my work, a wide variety of subjects may be found by visiting my website :
http://www.johnpalmerfineart.co.uk/ Here you can purchase fine art giclee prints and originals of my art, there is also a stage-by-stage demonstration of a tiger portrait I did, which can be found by clicking the ‘on the easel’ tab.
Kingfisher - Ref. Photo by Lynn Kelly
Self-Portrait
Derelict Friends - Ref. Photo by Steve Lyddon
[41]
FEATURED PAINTING
Suzanne Wallick View Suzanne’s gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Suzanne via PaintMyPhoto
Suzanne Wallick Our Cover-Girl! ‘Nature Boy’
An Interview with Suzanne Wallick - Her Painting Features on the Cover
‘Dreaming of White Horses’ by Suzanne Wallick [42]
COVER FEATURE
An Interview with our very own Suzanne Wallick
An Interview with Suzanne Wallick - Her Painting Features on the Cover 1. First and foremost Suzanne, may I say a HUGE thank you on behalf of all our members for the huge amount of time you and Robyn spend setting up and running the fantastic monthly challenges! Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your painting, 'Dreams of White Horses', which appeared in the January challenge? I feel honored to help with PMP, Ruth - I was thrilled when asked to handle the monthly challenges. It has been a wonderful experience in my life the past couple of years!! The wave challenge, "Surf's Up," was one that I was not sure would go over very well actually, and I had no clue what I would do for a wave painting! But as I always try to paint along with the others, I decided to look for a photo posted to PMP, that spoke to me of my long time desire to live near the ocean (being from Kansas, you have to travel a quarter width of the USA in either direction to find an ocean!!!). I had been to the Bahamas and other wonderful beaches, but I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, and having never been there, so when I saw Mary Ann LeRoy's photo of the surfer in the waves, I knew it was the one! I am also a very big fan of various Asian paintings, especially the one of Hokusai called ‘The Great Wave’. So, combining that painting style with the beautiful beaches of Hawaii, well, that sounded like the wave of my dreams!!! And that's where it started...
Modern Aboriginal Dot Painting by Suzanne Wallick
2. Can you tell us about the techniques you used? I always try to sketch things out on paper first, and many times I add things in, take things out, and move things around until I'm happy with the content and composition. I first decided, that as a painting of Hawaii, I had to have Diamond Head in the background, right? So, first I sketched it on the left, then flipped the whole volcano to the right side and then proceeded to try my hand, once again, at watercolors! (I have decided that we just do not get along!!) So, back to the drawing board. I took out Diamond Head altogether then added big fluffy clouds, but was then reminded by my good friend who is from Hawaii, that mostly when a surfer is out there in the waves all he sees is blue, blue sky. So out came the big fluffy white clouds! Finally, I got my sketch done, transferred it to canvas paper and got out my favorite paints (and we get along famously!!). [43]
COVER FEATURE
An Interview with our very own Suzanne Wallick
An Interview with Suzanne Wallick - Her Painting Features on the Cover 3. What materials did you use to create the painting? I started working in acrylics shortly after I joined PMP and this is what I used for the ‘Dreams of White Horses’ painting. So far, I don't really have a favorite brand. I feel that I'm still learning, and hopefully have time to try many different brands before I settle on one. I don't feel comfortable working on stretched canvas - I work at a reclining art table, rather than easel, so I like the flat surface of canvas paper made for acrylics. When the painting is done, I use a clear acid free sealant to adhere it to acid free foam core board to be framed. Sometimes I spray my acrylic paintings with a semi-gloss varnish, and other times with a matte varnish depending on what it is, and the sheen of the frame I want to put it in.
4. How long did this painting take to complete? Far too long!!!! But really, the final sketch took almost longer to complete the way I wanted it than the time it took to paint
New Year’s Nightmare by Suzanne Wallick
it. I am not a fast painter and I don't find time to paint every day, but I do try to get some time in every weekend. When I do, I find myself always lost in detail, and this painting was definitely no exception. I know I did several of the "curls" of the waves over again, as they each started taking on wild personalities of their own, and I felt were getting unruly, when I wanted them to be more uniform - I think the waves won that battle!!
5. Is there anything else you'd like to share with readers? The name of the painting you will think is rather odd perhaps, but there really is a reason for it. I wanted to call it something besides ‘Surf's Up’. I felt that the surfer was really not the focus of the piece, but the waves were. So, I looked up the word wave in the dictionary!! After several followups on related words, I found the term ‘white horses’, used to describe white caps that you see at the top of the wave as it breaks. Ah!! I found my title. But it didn't stop there, I found out from another member of PMP that in ancient Greek mythology, the god of the sea, Poseidon, drove chariots through the oceans pulled by ‘foam white’ horses with ‘brazen hooves and golden manes’. I liked the symbolism of that, so in my painting the surfer of this modern world is still dreaming of those ancient ‘white horses’! [44]
CELEBRATING OUR ARTISTS’ ACHIEVEMENTS
Sheila Daniells View Sheila’s gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Sheila via PaintMyPhoto
Sheila Daniells Emerging Artist! ‘Mmmmmm, lunch!’
Join Us in Celebrating Sheila’s Achievement Sheila is a highly valued member of the Berwick Artist Society in South East Melbourne (Australia). She has always had a passion for art, but due to many other commitments as a mother and a dressmaker for a dancing school (making costume’ and tutus a full time job), she never had time to pursue any other interests. On retiring, she picked up a paint brush for the first time exploring acrylic, oils, pastels and colour pencils before coming across scratchboard, which she loves. In 2009 she joined the Berwick Artists Society ( Australia ) and in 2010 became the membership secretary, which also keeps her very busy. Being a late starter in the art world, Sheila hopes to continue to develop and enhance her skills further.
Sheila’s winning painting -‘Moonlight’
Sheila received an honorable mention in the scratchboard section at the Cardinia Grand Art Exhibition (Pakenham, Victoria, Australia), and also received 2nd place for Emerging Artist. There were 775 paintings entered, with scratchboard paintings coming from USA and Canada, as well as from interstate in Australia.
[45]
Painting By Ear: The PaintMyPhoto Music Challenge Calling all PaintMyPhoto artists - something exciting and amazing is going to be happening this year! We are going to be running a fabulous art competition for all PMP members. PaintMyPhoto is delighted to be supporting The Music Man Project - a unique music service for people with a learning disability, difficulty or special educational need. We think you’ll all agree that this is going to be a fabulous, fun competition that all members can join in with and supports a very worthy cause! Composer and musician, David Stanley, will be composing music pieces specially for PMP artists, but each piece will remain anonymous. The challenge for our artists will be to listen to the music and create artwork that they feel reflects its mood, without knowing its title. David will select a winning painting for each piece of music that he feels has most aptly captures the essence of the music. Artists work may also be featured in a supporting charity E-book that will be published later in the year in support of The Music Man Project. More information will be available soon on PaintMyPhoto’s website, so watch this space...
Southend Mencap is holding a spectacular concert on 28th June 2014 at Southend Cliffs Pavilion, which will feature students, schools and colleges from the Music Man Project. If you would like to buy tickets for this fantastic event, please telephone the Cliff Pavilion’s box office on:
01702 351135 or visit their website.
Please visit David Stanley’s website to find out more about him and The Music Man Project.
[46]
Adventures with the Editor It’s been an extremely busy few months for me! Those of you that know me will be aware of my music obsession, in particular progressive rock music. My favourites include Pink Floyd (of course!), Genesis, Camel, Moody Blues, Gazpacho, Porcupine Tree, and more recently I discovered the fantastic music of a Canadian musician called Rick Miller. Rick very kindly gave an interview for us in Issue 5 of the magazine, in which he talks about what inspires his music (he is also an accomplished artist). I also enjoy writing poetry and shared some work with Rick that had been inspired by his music. To my astonishment and delight he gave me the opportunity to write a song for him, which has been released on his latest CD! He sent me a short piece of sample music that he was thinking of using and let me loose with my imagination... The song is called ‘Blood of the Rose’ and is based on the legend of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere. I’m in awe of Rick’s extraordinary ability to compose, play and produce such amazing music and cannot believe what he has created using my humble words. Heart of Darkness is a brilliant collection of songs, weaving in elements of Tennyson and Shakespeare that create a soft, dark, moody and eerie atmosphere. If you would like to have a listen, then you can hear the CD for free online by visiting Rick Miller on Bandcamp.
Well, that’s it for another edition everyone - I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the articles that have been so generously supplied by our members. Are you a member of PaintMyPhoto that would like to contribute to the magazine? If so, then contact me via my PaintMyPhoto profile for a friendly chat.
[47]