Blueberry Muffin

This cake needed to be disturbed for a more interesting picture. It was still delicious, even after a couple of hours of sitting in its broken state.

Palette: Pyrrole Red, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Phthalo Blue and two flavours of Titanium (White and Buff).

Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 20 cm

Porthtowan (WIP) on Tuesday: the village starts to appear

I'm continuing work on the really big canvas of Porthtowan (80 x 200 cm). The static image, above, shows its current state, while the animation below shows a series of stages.

Today, I livened up the sea a bit and started adding the buildings of the village.

Previous post: Friday

Subsequent posts: Wednesday, Thursday

September in the Abstract

Two abstracts-in-progress (both 20 x 20 cm) from yesterday.

My 8-year-old daughter tested out my dribbly acrylic technique;
I tested out the idea of 'tutoring' (and had another go at the dribbly acrylic thing).
I'm not sure, but I think I may have learnt more than she did... except what I learnt wasn't about how to *do* art.

Last September, I posted my first consciously abstract painting, along with an analogy between music and visual art.

This September, I posted my biggest abstract painting to date (I don't make much abstract art), done using a technique that I hadn't tried before.

And... all of a sudden, I have suddenly started noticing abstracts dotted around the online galleries that I frequent when I'm not blogging, painting or otherwise engaged. Is it the time of year?

Porthtowan, Work in Progress: Beginnings, edges, and how it looks this Friday evening

There's still a fair bit to do, but this is the current state of my really big painting of Porthtowan. I'm working my way down towards the village, which will be a challenge. Godrevy lighthouse is there - just - and I haven't forgotten that there is a chimney on the skyline.

Porthtowan is a large subject, and I'm remarkably fortunate that my client wanted it on a large canvas. His deposit paid for the 80 x 200 cm stretched canvas to be made. I got it delivered direct to my studio as it's too big to fit in my car (and definitely too big to carry on my bicycle!).

Giger Counter (Abstract)

The title came to me early in the process of painting this; it's a dreadful pun conflating the name of the Swiss surrealist (who died this May) and the instrument used to measure ionizing radiation levels (spelt 'Geiger' and named after the German physicist). The texture of my picture reminded me of that of some of H. R. Giger's work. The painting was based on the leftover dribbly acrylic from painting the edges of my Really Big Canvas. I liked the effect of the dribbly underpainting on that work, and decided to make a painting that was just about that.

Web Site

Some of my regular readers may already know this, but it seems that I have neglected to mention on this blog that I have expanded my Web presence slightly to include a "proper" Web site.

I even got myself a fancy address:

www.amandabatesart.co.uk

And if you click this blog's Home button, that is where it will take you.

The new site is a bit spare at the moment (although it does have a "shop" under the SALES tab, just supposing you wanted to buy something) and this blog isn't going anywhere - it's still my main art showcase.

I'd love it if you have any constructive comments on the new site. Anything that doesn't look right, anything that might be A Good Idea... actually, what do you think of an "on the easel" page?

Porthtowan: Work in Progress and Sketches

 

This is the (rather bright) acrylic underpainting for a large commission that I started work on today.

It is based on photographs and sketches of the Cornish village of Porthtowan, looking down from East Cliff.

Watercolour done from footpath

Line and wash done from photomontage

Pen sketch done on-site