Fire and water captures the the moment when I decided to do a painting rather than sketching. The first life painting I’ve done  is on canvas and the sitter is a lovely mum who is soft and gentle. The background colours are representative and reflective of my view of her nature.

A great pose, with a bit of a Bacon approach (Francis that is) to the styling of the tones which I then softened. A real exercise in learning how to interpret the colours in the skin. Enjoyed it and happy with the resulting picture and feedback regarding shaping with colour. Work-in progress title was spring chicken, reflecting conversations. In the end this 40 x 50 cm acrylic painting on canvas has been called “Channelling Freud eating Bacon”.

Another life painting that I’ve worked on, and the first male, who was an amazing flamenco dancer.David was able to shape his body into incredible curves. On a long pose though it was easier to take a seated approach.  Persistence and listening to feedback from a group of great artists has been wonderful.

The background was inspired by the fire of autumn, and Fletcher Sibthorp flamenco dancer paintings …  a nod to the sitter’s passion for dance and warm Spanish origins. Ended up calling the 40 x 50 cm acrylic painting on canvas  “Autumn Fall”

A break of over two weeks, due to me missing a session and the sitter injuring himself, did put me in a bit of a spin. It’s very difficult to set up in exactly the same place again for the painter and the sitter. I will do a little more to soften the left shoulder, and the face, but am overall very pleased with progress. Roll on next week for a bigger canvas and a bit of abstraction I think.