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Some recent paintings - which really started whilst I was whiling away some time and trying to copy, in watercolour, a photograph of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. A voice nearby said - 'That's amazing!' After I realised she was talking about my work, and I got off from the floor....(only joking!) - we agreed that I should do a portrait of her granddaughter, and luckily there was a good photo on a mobile phone....
See opposite for the portrait that I did in acrylics on canvas, which was well received....
My next foray into the world of doing portraits for people was after taking a photograph of Wendy, a very community minded person in the Stonehouse area of Plymouth. I wanted to get the light coming in from the left, as is the case in many traditional portraits, so I took photos near the door, but the contrast was perhaps a bit too much, and that brought some challenges. Also, Wendy turned out to be a fan of the painter Gustav Klimt, and so I tried to get some gold effects in the painting, as well as trying to symbolise something of her personality....
My next portrait took some to finish as there seemed to be a lot going on for me at the time. Although Paula had a lot of images on Facebook, I also took some photos from when she sang and played guitar to a small audience at the Clipper, on Union Street, Plymouth. Of those, only a few showed her in between playing, and I thought one of these, with her in a contemplative/quiet mood, was a good one to work from. I've accumulated quite a few things that can be glued onto a painting, and these together with a representation of the earth in the sky, make for some symbolism. See if you can work out what that is, and what kind of person she is!
Something I have done recently is to try to copy an old watercolour entitled 'The Pilot' by William Wainwright and painted in 1884.
I think it's quite good, but I think the amazing thing is the quality of the watercolour - which looks like it was done in oils. I am convinced that the watercolourists of old had techniques and skills that it's very difficult to reproduce nowadays.
A recent painting was to express thanks to a woman who had helped me a lot in the Vashti Vincent project and who liked to have paintings and other items that were dedicated to hippopotamuses. This watercolour is named 'Hippopotamus in love'.
Recently, I was asked if I could produce a very large portrait of Bob Marley for a local café owner. I found a very dramatic image on the web, and had a grey and white copy printed onto a large piece of canvas, so that I could paint over the top. I added colours that related to Rastafarianism, and gold paint in his hair. It can be seen in a restaurant on the Octagon on Union St, in Plymouth.
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