Birthday Card. Acrylic and pencils. A4 ish.
Fun to make. The original sketch was made while wine tasting. I then moved the image about in sketches until I’d worked in a cat or two. Then I chucked a lot of paint a some quality paper and worked it into the image you see now. You can see the love in the work.
The three stages of painting, Barbara wanted to be in the image, so I added her.
The original sketches.
Last Friday I attended a radio 3 recording session at Maida Vale, London.
The sound and sights of a full orchestra in full flow was overwhelming at times.
I quietly sketched the scene from my seat in the balcony.
No rubbing out, no real plan, just drawing from the piano outwards. The set up changed with the music played, I just kept it all in.
Look Left Lines. Oil and pencil on board. 50 x 40cm.
There is only two colours on a yellow ochre chipboard ground. The oil paint colours are Lamp black and Unbleached Titanium White, a little like a Grisaille. The mixture of the two makes a very cool blue grey. The board was previously used for cutting paper with a scalpel, hence the lines. As usual, I like to keep the workings (the under sketching etc) in view. Why hide the process? The viewer knows it is an artwork, made up of marks one on top of the other.
Above. The work without frame. Details and a sketch of the full figure.
Look Away Now. Oil on canvas board. 40x 50cm.
The life drawing session (on Friday night with the great John Close) consisted of two poses going back and forth between the two at 15 minute intervals. The figure on the right, while not badly painted, didn’t suit the composition and so was sanded down, then painted over, though some marks show through. There’s other paintings underneath this one. Recycling is good, it’s a challenge to make the new work better than the last. I’m going through a deep blue background period as it sets off the figure well. The paint was thickly applied with three different brushes.
A small sketch of the second figure, The work after 1 hour, the work after 2 hours and the finished artwork.
Some details, showing the paint marks.
The Character Actor. Oil on canvas.
Many paintings have been made of Robin over the years. Enough for an exhibition! For this portrait there was an effort to try and capture the actor’s many moods. He is a dream to paint being a lovely guy with a sweet nature who can look as sinister, proud, silly, or anything else you’d want. Oil paint was laid on thickly over a wet background of cyan coloured grey. Over 2 hours of frenetic activity the work came together. Looking at it in daylight, the paint had seeped into the background colour somewhat and needed enlivening.
A gallery showing the stages the painting went through. Mainly adding warmth and making the background deeper.
Made at John Close’s Friday Night Life drawing.
A small sample of the many times I’ve painted and drawn the great Robin.
Sculpture heads. These range from a human size skull, sculpted then I was 17, to more recent ones made around 5 years ago. They are made from clay, plaster and wax. The large one has had many layers of paint on it over the years. They’ve been used as props in paintings.
Now, I have done a lot of portraits over the years.
These are just a few I though were good enough to show.
Self-portrait. 1989? Pastels. A2-ish.
This is sooo teenage! It’s purposely distorted, that was my thing at the time, more of those later. I like the greys, really neutral.
Varied portraits, 1990-2016.
The first two works had very fancy frames made of wire and foam board.
Sexy Red Couch. Gouache? Just over A4. 1993?
Lots of fun symbols. Interesting using the texture of the thick cartridge paper.
The DJ Sucks. Gouache on paper. Just over A4. 1993?
A sort of ‘Smashy from Smashy ‘n’ Nicey’. The title comes from KRS1 on an REM record. The mix of type and image is a trick I still use.
Francis Bacon. Gouache on paper on foam board. 30 x 30cm. 1993?
The background was so exciting that everything flowed from it. Francis Bacon has a fascinating face which is easy to riff on. The frame within a frame idea might be taken from Howard Hodgkin.
It’s not exactly tortured, is it? That isn’t me, I’m too lucky / happy.
I’ve had to look through all my old work recently. There’s a lot of it. I thought I’d show some of the best stuff from the years before blogging was a word. These posts will be loosely grouped in themes.
WHO abstract. Gouache on A4 cardboard. Around 1991.
I’ve always really liked this, it has a friendly positive feel and is dynamic. The inspiration was a photo of the group.
Manic Street Preachers Motown Junk Artwork. 12″ square. Around 1992.
This nearly happened, one of those missed chances. I got in contact with the manager of the band, he liked the idea, but they were changing record companies and it was never seen. A bit literal but just right for their early aesthetic.
• Two more Pop art abstractions, companion pieces to to the WHO work.
• A typographical abstract made of paint that didn’t stop smelling of ages. Lot of texture.
• A type work.
The Circular Light. Oil on black board. 50 x 35cm
I’m enjoying oil paint at the moment, the texture, the blending and strength of colours. No titanium whites at the moment. I’m not painting true colours apart from the skin. A bit of drama with a strong circular light.
6 oil sketches in sequence, most of them in an A5 cartridge pad, the last being the hour pose.
Rembrandt Sketches. Pencils and pens. All in an A4 sketchbook.
These are fun. I like how the original work (which is up the road from me) mutates into different people. I have the image on my phone screen, it’s relaxing to fill a few minutes, looking at a picture I love.
I didn’t mind if Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn starts looking a little like Boris Johnson or Charles Laughton playing Rembrandt. It shows how much is within that gaze…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenwood/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Portrait_with_Two_Circles
Figure in the round. Oil on canvas. 40cm diameter. 30 minutes. Two brushes.
Painting in a circle always makes for a dynamic composition. The palette had two browns, two blues, Naples yellow and white. The blue sheet was really purple, the background red. Choices are made.
Some fairly quick studies in pastel and oil paint. The last one took 20 minutes. The rest were around 15 minutes.
Confidence. Acrylic and pencil on card. 50 x 30cm. 30 minutes.
This was the first week back. A new term at with John Close (@johnclosearts on Instagram). This week the model was the famous Adrian (#ModBodAdrian on Instagram) who’s been painted at least 3000 times. This week in the rush to get to the session the paintbrushes were left… I found an old rag and then used my fingers. A little pencil was used to finish it off. The pose was confidence personified, which I tried to reflect with the strong mark making.
Above: Confidence in another frame. Confidence unframed. Salutation a 20 minute pencil sketch. St. Andrew a 30 minute pose. 3 poses in an A4 sketchbook.
There is one precious space on the course and 11 weeks to go! If you want to be the lucky one contact @johnclosearts on Instagram.
Midnight Profile. Oil on board. A4. An hour. Two brushes – a large filbert and a very knackered fan brush.
The painting started by covering an old work in blue. Every colour is relative to it. The real light on the model was a normal yellow bulb and the background was bright red.Making this choice gave the painting real drama and a sense of romance. The paint was applied fairly thickly in a quick manner. The ruined fan brush brought the thin lined quality to the paint, especially on the shoulder. The finished work is hard to photograph, being very reflective. It reminds me of the portraits of T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). A pained Stoic looking back…
Eclipse Nude. Oil on board. Smaller than A4. An hour. Two brushes – a large filbert and a very knackered fan brush.
After finishing the profile, I still had an hour and was feeling full of fire. I’d taken with me a small piece of cardboard so started on this work. I didn’t mind about distortion, Again, it was painted over another work, a quick oil sketch of the whole scene. This on was still wet, so was incorporated in the new work blending in the new colour with the old. The white circle was kept from the earlier sketch.
I’m interested in Chaim Soutine at the moment so was trying to get a bit of his energy but without his arm of hopelessness as that is not me.
I’m really pleased with these two paintings. They have an atmosphere, capture something of the sitter, each mark is interesting and don’t owe too much to any other artist.
Title. Acrylic and pencil on board. Size.
Still Life: Esssentials. Acrylic and pencil on prepared wooden board. 50 x 40cm
The title came about by the objects chosen in the painting. Some fruit, wine, water, paper, plants, a book and a coin, allow a wooden table. This was painted in one long session this week, when a friend came round for some ‘art therapy’. Very pleasant, listen to classical music, mumbling to each other and stopping for a cheese based lunch. The result is quite severe, with some glazing medium on the glass objects. I wonder would it have been better in oils?
Below are some details and the unframed version.
A sequence of photos taken while making the work. The background colour was a deep blue-green. Four brushes were used and the palette was fairly restricted. It was painted sitting down which was unusual for me (my head moves around too much, compared to standing).
Jagger. Pencil and a little paint. A4.
These photos by Jagger are really interesting. Getting Mick to be the Stones logo that was based on his own mouth… with the age of the man and thoughts of Francis Bacon loving the open mouth… I wanted the drawing to reflect what I saw in the image.
Oppenheimer x2 (the real man and the actor Cillian Murphy). Pens, pencil and paint. Two A4 pages.
The real man was drawn over someone’s maths homework. The second page was drawn when watching the movie.
James Taylor. Pen. A5.
Drawn while watching with my father a live show of James Taylor on the BBC in 1973. Charisma and a certain carelessness about his looks…
Have I Got News For You. Pen and a little paint. A4.
Drawn while watching on a Friday night after getting in from Life Drawing.
Jagger. with the photo it’s taken from in the Wall Street Journal magazine.
Photography by Juergen Teller for WSJ. Magazine | Styling by Ira M. Hammons-Glass. Sept. 26, 2023
Profile on red then blue. Oil paint on old canvas. 30cm x 20cm.
This looks like part of a larger classical work. Fun textures on the heavy canvas. A light, positive feeling
The painting at the end the life session, a coarse old canvas which has been painted on at least twice by me. The base was a peachy colour before painting. the old paint was put on with a large filbert brush. The edge of a form and the light and colour differences have been interesting me since the summer holiday to Spain.
The other three are frenetic short studies with pencil and charcoal.
Tension. Acrylic and pencil on black card. Around 50 minutes.
In my estimation this is the best painting I’ve made for a while. It has dynamism, interesting colour, the marks have a range of sizes and speeds over the surface, the composition is interesting, the expression is intriguing and the atmosphere is charged with… tension. The model looked that direction for less than a minute. The black card has made the acrylics sink in giving the colours a cohesive dullness.
Details.
Marianne seated. Acrylic and pencil on white card. 30 minutes.
There’s a symbol of Frenchness that is in every town hall in France. The colour range in the fabric reminded me of her, hence the title. This is the other side of the main painting. A furious half an hour.
Glowing smartphone and twisted pose. Acrylic and pencil on paper. Two poses, 20 minutes each.
The first two poses in the evening.
Tutor: John Close https://www.instagram.com/johnclosearts/?hl=en-gb
The couple. Black and grey acrylic and Chinagraph pencils on hardboard.
The female in the picture is a mannequin. I’m experimenting with off-kilter compositions.
Three studies. 1. The Dynamic Couple. 2. Straight up. 3. Blue ribbon event.
Paper on paper, then pencils. It is good to work against something. eEvery subject is too complicated to replicate on paper. All you can do is try, using what is to hand, until the time is up.
Strength. Collage and pencil.
A frenetic 40 minutes.
Trevor Mill Graphic Designer Ltd 