New, new, new!

A good way to start a new year? Well, I think to get some new business cards designed and printed is a fab way to start. I had ran out after I showed my work at the Espacio Gallery's Natural Selection exhibition last year, and so it was most definitely time to order some more. I am glad I waited until 2014 though - it seems fitting to do something like this early on in the year. I am very lucky because my step dad is a designer - and a jolly good one he is too (even if I do say so myself) - so he can help me with this sort of thing. He designed my website. So anyway, with a bit of luck, and hoping that the Royal Mail isn't suffering too much with these floods, I might be getting a nice little parcel in the post this week! 

The design for the back of the card using the colours from my website

Other news? Well I have started my new painting of a rather bonkers lettuce. I am not sure which variety it is and need to write to Sainsbury's again for my usual rather ridiculous email. I am sure they think I am just as bonkers as the lettuce. They get a lot of emails from me asking about this sort of thing. If only they labelled them all, then it wouldn't be an issue. Sadly, bonkers lettuce came unwrapped and free (he cannot be controlled - he is a wild lettuce!!!) and in turn was unlabelled.

Cos meet Anon, Anon meet Cos... (Sorry for poor quality image, it was late at night)

So it appears that I am on a lettuce rampage. If I carry on, and don't get sick of them, I might even end up with a series. Now there's a first!

New Palatte!! I love it when this happens - no fluff in my paint yet.

This one is currently looking rather white at the moment! Don't you think paintings look dreadful when they first get going? Well yours might not, but mine most certainly do. All those weak washes and all that paper and nasty bits of pencil coming through. Ergh! This one is, quite frankly, a pain. Being so tricky and complicated structurally, my best bet was to get as much plotted out in the way of a line drawings as I could, but this has meant there is more pencil hanging about than I like to see, especially on something that is actually quite a lurid and bright green. So I am very much armed with a putty rubber as I put in the first washes. 

Anon. When working I try to do a bit at the top, a bit at the bottom, then a bit on the far right and a bit on the far left, so I get a sense of size and proportion.

I am not sure if you have noticed my painting style, but as with the coffee and Cos, I start with the darkest bits first, as this helps to define certain areas and gives me a reference point as to how dark 'is dark' (if you get my drift). It also means I can work out which greens are working and which are not as there is more room for error when you are painting with so much depth. Being a sketchbookaphobe, this is a rather important step in the process. My colour swatches are hidden in the dark bits and are left in my mind and on the edges of the palette. 

Close up on a section. This looks bluer than it actually is due to silly lens in night time conditions.

One other thing I like about working in this way is that by marking the paper very prominently in this way allows me to take a risk early on, which subsequently frees me up. I feel more confident after creating assertive, solid, dark patches and this helps me complete the rest of the piece. I hate that feeling when one has done a really lovely painting using light washes and the thought of making bits darker feels oneself with dread. 'What if I drop my brush?!' is the usual question of foreboding. Or there's the worry that, as I sometimes did, of making it too dark or using the wrong colour. It's not a great feeling, nor is it great when it actually happens. I get a bit 'precious' about my painting when I do the dark bits at the end, which is how I felt with Sally the Savoy and the Grapes.

So for now mon amigos, I am afraid for now I have turned to the dark side... 

Painting re-starts Monday!!!