NUDES GALORE

Hi.  I've joined a life drawing group.  What a challenge!  Actually it is a theatrical life drawing group. Well I'm not that good at drawing the body so I practiced like mad before I went. Cramming and more cramming.  Here's some of my practises, some of the life drawing class and some brusho fun because I got bogged down with all the practising.  I feel the cramming paid off.  Pity I didn't do it more when I was at school!

It's a new challenge and I'm loving it. There's always something new to try.  Isn't being an artist a wonderful world to belong to?

Have a lovely week, see you soon.

SWITZERLAND & WOBBLY TRAINS!!!

I have been trying to spend less time on the internet and my blog is one of the things I have been neglecting.  I can't believe how long it is since I last did a post.  Sorry, because that also means I have been neglecting my blog friends.

Recently spend 2 weeks by trains visiting mainly Switzerland.  So long on the train I did some painting and sketching.  Not easy.  It is amazing how wobbly train journeys are when you are trying to paint some detail.

Here is some of the work done on the journey and that one at the end done from a photograph since we came home.

  Stresa on Lake Maggiore, some wobbly people cos of the train!

On the Bernini Express on the way to Turano

Painted from a pic in magazine.  Mint ice cream cake. 

From a magazine

Again, from a magazine

From the Bernini Express brochure  The red is the train

For sale on the Glacier Express this little mountain goat

Painted since our return.  This was the view from our hotel.  One of those 'special' memories that I just had to capture

EASTER CHALLENGE - THE END

Here are the last paintings (bar one which I cannot publish yet) of my Easter Challenge, where I asked you bloggers and fb friends to give me subjects to paint over the Easter Holiday.

Anenome - Ruth H Harris (nervous doing this as she is a beautiful flower painter)

A neighbour asked me to paint her house Carol Hodge, this picture was taken when we had such a long cold white winter

Albert Dock, Liverpooo - Val Downie - She suggested somewhere locally.  I took this picture in the summer. It is right near the Beatles Story exhibition, and the band were singing Beatles songs.  I cropped the painting so the conentration was on the father and son Liverpool Football Club supporters

Lupins - Judith Farnworth - very kind of her seeing as I don't like painting flowers!

Neglected corner - Joanne Boon Thomas - Brush and bleach.  Spot the Easter interlopers

Self Portrait - Laura Moore - rather flattering I think!

Sloth - actually two and the picture is from PMP Clare Smith.  Found this looks rather stripey, perhaps a new rare species of lesser striped sloth.

Thank you all for commenting and following my Challenge.

Now then, have a wonderful weekend (early wishes) but won't be posting for a while as I am burned out painting.

EASTER CHALLENGE PART 2

I'm doing an Easter Challenge..... I asked people to take me out of my comfort zone and suggest subjects for me to paint over the Easter Holidays, as I am not doing anything else.  Here is my next batch

Chicken - Debbie Nolan.  Guess what kind of egg I was eating.  Just for research you understand, for this painting.

Easter Bunny - Ngaire Magalotti - an Aussie friend on facebook.  Actually the orange in reality is really bright.  Transparent Orange

Farm Equipment - Pamela Williamson.  Far too tight painting this, wasn't happy with it at all

Gold Hill, Shaftesbury and the photograph is by Theresa Jones on PMP. - Idea from Sue Caton.    Supposed to be a drizzling and misty day. I am having trouble linking this to the photographer so apologise to her and will get it sorted as soon as I can.

Hat and gloves of the old fashioned Easter kind.  - Celeste Bergin.  Thanks for bringing back memories

Chicken - Dana Mallon.  A chicken mad lady suggested this one.  It is done in Brusho!

I do hope you are having a brilliant weekend and are not feeling too sick with eating loads of chocolate.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Here I am back on terra firma.  Two weeks on the high seas for Christmas and New Year.  I am not a good sailor so it was a big risk at this time of year.  The Bay of Biscay was NOT kind to us.  Average of Gale Force 9!  Spectacular to watch the waves though.  For once I wasn't seasick.  Had some new pills recommended, but took further precautions and wore wrist bands and ate crystalised ginger too.

Great fun really seeing people upright and the ships floor at an angle, everybody left and then everybody right.  Like doing a drunken sailor dance.  Tottering on heels when 'poshed up', when I don't usually wear heels.  Hanging on to the shower room door handle while sat on the loo.  Bracing yourself in bed by firmly planting your feet apart, so that you don't fall out of bed! A drawer opening and shutting with the motion of the ship. So nice to sleep back in my own still, calm, unmoving bed.  Yahey.

We had a wonderful time though.  So many little children on board, and the excitement when Santa appeared down the funnel!  Christmas at sea and he even came to me, he kindly brought me the gift of a cold!

Highlight of the Ports of Call was Amsterdam and a visit to the Van Gogh Museum, and I want to share some of the paintings we saw when I down load them.  One's that you don't normally see in the main books.

In the meantime I wish you a Wonderful Healthy and Happy New Year full of special things.  Everything you wish for yourself and loved ones.  If you paint I hope you find lots of inspiration and not a lot of frustration.  And I thank you for your visits to my blog. 

I send you a card (last year's I admit, not time this year to paint one).

And here is me having a great time on New Year's Eve.

Luv' from Polly xx 

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

I'd had this painting in mind for a long time.  I wanted to know what Southport (a Victorian seaside resort on the north west coat of England) looked like in Edwardian days. (early 1900's).  So I did some research, which I promptly didn't really follow!! Typical of me.  Here is the progress

Already I didn't think it was going well, wobbly window syndrome! But persisted in a 'gung ho' fashion! And the attitude, it's only a piece of paper

Hubby didn't like the woman in the foreground and I agreed.  I put the pic out on my facebook page for instant advice.  Wasn't as bad as I thought. But the woman certainly was not right, facing in the wrong direction, too prominent and the wheelie bin in front of her not a good idea (was in fact a pram in case you were wondering)

Well here is the revised version.  Lady now leading you into the picture. I  tried to wash her out but wouldn't work completely, so went over her with an opaque colour, cobalt. Used some white guache to try and straighten some of the windows, and added some more cobalt in the sky to balance the picture, also to the lady linking arms. Can't do anything about the wobbly red writing, but hey it's only a piece of paper.

Hope you get a flavour of what this lovely main street looked like years ago.  To finish here is a pic of what it looks like now.

It's a wide tree lined street, with these distinctive verandahs, it's about a mile long with outside cafes, very contintental and looks lovely on a warm sunny day.  On the right is the Town Hall and Art Centre, a bandstand, small green areas an outdoor cafe and fountains.  Very pleasant place to sit awhile or stroll along.

Have a wonderful weekend. Keep snug and warm

LAKE GARDA & VERONA VIGNETTES (THE END)

Finally, here are the end of my memories of the art holiday with Hazel Soan to Italy. A peek into my personal sketches done at night using my camera as reference and sometimes from life.  When I go on these courses it is like someone switches me on, and I go crazy, painting every hour I can, then when I get home I am drained! Not even attempted a watercolour since I came home.  It's as if I burnt my watercolour self out!!!

Thank you for following my progress and for commenting too.  It has been quite an experience sharing this special holiday with you.  Has brought back recent memories and made me assess the work I have done. Here goes.  I am opening  my khadi pad (8" square) so you can peek inside ............................

Great care was taken in the making of this Ice Cream, it looked like a rose when it was finished. Bought in the market square in Verona, and very delicious it was too.

My little room in Lake Garda was a bit run down, which included this dirty light switch area.  They had even put a plastic panel around the switch but there were many old dirty marks underneath.  You might see this better if you enlarge the photograph. We christened the hotel, Hotel Faded Elegance (Hotel Laurin). While the main rooms were really elegant and stunning, most of our rooms were passed their sell by date!

Saw this bike in Verona with a polythene bag on the seat, to protect it from the rain.  Well it was red, so out came the pyrrol scarlet. However, this bike has ended up with square wheels, not a very comfortable ride!

View from my window in Verona, I just had to paint the terracotta pipe things and the old carvings under the gutter. Hotel Palazzo was a fabulous hotel inside, old building but modern furnishings and unusual works of art.

The painting I am most pleased with from the whole holiday.   I thought this metal key fob for my room in  Verona was so lovely that I felt compelled to get it down in paint.

And not to leave out the hotel in Lake Garda, decided to paint that key fob too.  This one weighed a ton!



Thank you again for bearing with me and taking the time to come on holiday with me, I hope you enjoyed my journey.

Now I will have to get back to painting with my watercolours before the inspiration disappears.

LAKE GARDA PAINTINGS AND SKETCHES

Here's Polly again, with more memories of her painting holiday, with Hazel Soan, to Italy.  Lake Garda was the second part of the holiday (went to Verona first) and challenging it certainly was, what with heavy rain, damp and cloud, it was a grey few days. It was also very cold and I had to buy another thick top. One day I had 5 layers on. Anyway, after the morning demo with Hazel, we went off and did our own thing in the afternoon, sometimes meeting up with other painters, especially when it rained, we would all have found some place to shelter. Beware there are NINE! So have patience if you want to read to the end.

Quickly dashed out of the hotel to paint this bounganvillia (can't spell it) at the side of the hotel.  Bit of a mess really but I just had to paint it.

This couple were sat in front of me for ages, so painted them but the rest of the painting is made up.

Here I was sheltered under some arches. This is the main square in Salo.  There was no-one about. Teaming with rain and windy.  How do I remember that?  Because I was sketching and I remember the sounds, the loneliness, oh everything.  A photograph would have just shown a wet day.

This is another view of the main square and the Lake was behind me.  I was sat on the war memorial steps and we were waiting to catch the ferry.  Hazel Soan is the one in black with a camera in her hand. I sketched this while I was waiting and then went back on a fine afternoon and painted it. So it's a painting in two halves!!!

The doorway to the Duomo, last afternoon, and cruelly the sun was trying to break through the clouds!  People were buying ice creams from a little shop in the square, but I did NOT succumb!

Final sketch of the holiday, by now the sun was shining albeit watery.  Used my water soluble pen and water brush for speed. 

We took a ferry to this little place, the rain was torrential by the time I painted this.  Hazel had done a demo of orange trees so I incorporated that idea in my painting. 

Was looking for a place to paint (This was the ferry destination place called Geronimo or something similar) when it started to rain.  Four of us ended up sketching in this little place where we had a quick lunch and Prosecco.  This poor man you will notice is tall with a decidedly dodgey skinny knee.  In actual fact he was rather on the short side! So you can see that I am not very accurate! Especially when I have had a glass of wine.

This was literally a 10 min sketch done when we stopped at San Sirmione on the way to our second destination, using my Elegant Finewriter water soluble pen.  Too many angles.  Nightmare.  Stupid to attempt when 10 mins was all I had to spare.

Well here endeth my on the spot paintings. My next post will be the fun personal paintings I did in my room at night.  

END OF HOUSE TOUR

Well I have been painting 'something from each room in the house'.  We are upstairs now.  The back bedroom, where my hubs keeps his gym gear and his golf clubs etc. He usually sits in the room watching my husband clean his shoes, dry his clubs, but  when I go away on my art courses, I leave a note with this little fellow, telling him to look after my hubby.  I sit him on our bed so that when he gets home from taking me to the airport, he will find it.  I also usually write a stupid poem too.  So he is a special little bear.

Now come with me across the landing to the spare room, office,  art materials room.  With boxes, cupboards, drawers, all bursting with paintings, frames, paper,  mounts, bubble wrap, pastels, oils, acrylics etc. etc. etc.  This is a small selection of what makes this room the untidiest in the house!

Thank you for walking around the downstairs, and climbing the stairs to have a nosey upstairs.  I  hope you enjoyed joining me. Here's your coat.  You can leave now.  Come again sometime.