more oils

The blocking in stage.. loose and rough but I like it.
this took three days. Had a terrible time with the face but persevered and am fairly pleased with it.
I've been using a pallet knife for some of the areas, robe and purple drapery.... It scared me, I don't have control of which way the paint goes which for me is annoying but, gives a completely different feel.
and the last pic. I could spend a lot longer refining the image ut have decided that I wouldn't learn anymore about the paint that way. So have moved on to another picture, this time just the head.

I'm aiming on pushing myself out of the comfort zone to do a picture with just the knife.
lets see how I feel.
I'm really enjoying painting with oils and want to do more.

nude- oils

The first one of a series.... also the largest.

As I said, I got the back view... but really enjoyed finding the colour.

The last one and because I'd seen an Alison Watt exhibition in Edinburgh, I went for the cloths, although the figure plays an integral part due to the reflections and warm/cool tones.
An experience that I learnt loads from.
Soon to be repeated, in fact, next week as we have a female model and 3 more weeks.
JOY!
Love life drawing and loving painting.

I've started the new block and tis painting... oils to be precise.
So, we had the talk and it was interesting, absorbing some info and writing notes.
Then... drawing the model.
I have a back view but because of the cloths lying around there is quite a bit of colour reflected onto his back.
We learnt to make a stretcher for canvas... what a brilliant day! I can now make my own.
Primed and ready to go.
The painting has been blocked in and now I'm starting to refine the colours and shapes.
Photo will be appearing, forgot to take pictures of the stages which is a pity but I'll remember next time.
Really enjoying it.

soapstone

This is now part of a small exhibition at uni.
In its display case, it looks like something you'd see in a museum... feels very good.

A close-up. I tried to make it look good from all different angles and I think I managed although given a little more time I would have sanded away a few filing marks.
For a second piece, I'm more than happy but now want to do more.
In a way, I think doing the next one will be difficult because this one turned out so well. Also I didn't have to pay for the stone, that would definately put more pressure on me. A piece of stone the size I began with would possibly cost £50..... A fair amount.
I haven't named it yet as nothing springs to mind, a bit of thought required.

sculpture photos

Here it is finally finished and displayed in a wee exhibition at uni.
This is the small soapstone carving I did to as an experiment.

The reverse of above.

Next post has pictures of the large soapstone carving. Due to demonstrating my understanding of carving and that I worked safely, I was allowed a large piece of soapstone.

more sculpture

Sorry folks but forgot to take a photo of my stone sculpture, got too involved in making it.
Tomorrow I will be taking a few shots.
After finishing the plaster figure in a hoop, I was allowed to choose a piece of soapstone.
It's a lovely stone to carve being on the softer side than most.
The finishing touches are done with small files.
New tools are 'rifflers' which are files to use with plaster and stone. Ah yes, a photo would help here.

These are fabulous for gettin those lovely curves.
My carving is now at the stage for sanding, using wet & dry sandpaper.
Very messy but leaves a smooth, tactile surface.
Elbow grease and perseverance is a must.

the sculpture is coming on... this is almost there but needs smoothing out and making some areas more distinctive.



I've mostly enjoyed making this, but have had time when I just wasn't sure where to go and what exactly needed fixing to make it look right. Perseverence, some help from the tutor and lots of messy plaster and it now is getting to fine details. The waiting around for the plaster to be at the correct consistency is slightly irritating but gives plenty time for inspection of where to put the stuff.
Looking forward to tomorrow and more refining.