Day 3 and we're painting with friends

Day 3 of our portraiture lessons was so fulfilling to each and every student. These faces are coming alive before our eyes as some finer details are being added. It's been an amazing process. From the end of day one all the paintings looked finished - in a sepia/monochromatic way. From the end of day 2, once the basic skin tones and the eyes were completed - again we seemed to have finished paintings. Today we have been 'pushing and pulling'. That's Valerie's way of describing the enhancement of highlights and shadows. Eyelashes are going in, freckles are being added, the second stage to the background areas are being adjusted, stripes to shirts (well done Marion). All beautiful - really beautiful. If I had a pound (that's a quid to you, Valerie) every time I heard the words 'she's amazing', I'd be taking a sackfull to the bank. It's been an absolute privilege watching this very talented lady at work with her endless supply of positive energy. Many of us have learned plenty already from Valerie's DVD's but we have learned volumes from the extensive visual and verbal demos that are continually being illustrated throughout the last 3 days. With one more day to go we prepare once again to paint with our new friends. For more class photos CLICK HERE.

Jimmy Carr

On Friday I had 2 very important places to visit in town. Firstly I had an appointment with my hairdresser, Jim. His wit and banter is cheeky and it's always a good tonic to pay him a visit. My second appointment was to deliver something to another Jim who is equally well known for his wit & cheeky (!!) banter. Remember a while ago I made this oil portrait ......... ? Well, I need to deliver it to the theatre as my gift to one of the funniest comedians I've ever watched. I really hope he enjoys it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Moment of truth....

If you've been followings Sue's News you'll know I've been working away on an oil painting commission of little Harry. Student's who have visited my house have been watching his progress too and he's become quite a talking point. I've been emailing the various stages to his mum, Lou, who has given me positive feedback at every stage. A few weeks ago I decided to call by Lou's and show her the real thing. I feel the softness and textures are just not being picked up enough in the photos PLUS I wanted to read her face when she saw it as the initial reaction would tell me if I was doing a good, fair or poor job. It was important for me to do this before completing the final stages on the portrait. We settled down with a coffee and a chat before I unveiled the portrait. As I set up the canvas in the best possible light I turned around to see tears in Lou's eyes. 'I have goosebumps too, the hairs on my arms are standing on end', she said. Now THAT'S a reaction, a very fulfilling one too. I'm chuffed. 'It's just like looking at him and his lips are so realistic I could kiss them.......................' she went on. And that's pretty much what my students say about him too. I'm going to have to meet this adorable little chap one day.

Not long now - ----

It's exciting times for me as communications with Valerie Stewart, our renowned guest tutor from the States, increases. The Valerie Stewart Portrait seminar, which will be taking place in Capel St Mary early June this year will soon be underway. Details can be found HERE. Valerie wishes to make you all fully aware the seminar carries a 100% satisfaction guarantee - or your money back. For those of you who have expressed an interest in this exciting 4 day workshop but not yet paid your deposits, please make sure these are sent off in the next few days to guarantee your place. Just a quick re-cap - over the course of the 4 days you will paint 2 portraits (or 2 heads on one portrait). The subject is your choice and can be a family/friend or a celebrity. For those of you who have booked and paid, you'll probably want to be thinking about who you'd like to paint and making sure you have crisp and clear photographs of your chosen subjects. It's not long now, is it?

Eye Eye !!!!

This week I hope to refine quite a few more of Harry's details. His skin tones were laid in a while back and his lights and darks were softly added. I find I'm watching Valerie's DVD's less and less as I'm getting quite familiar with the technique now. As I paint I know she'd accuse me of fiddling - which I do a lot. In fact, before I started work on Harry's face I decided to give him a complete glaze of soft colour to tone down some of the flesh tints, making for a lighter and brighter skin tone. I worked on the teeth and mouth area. I've been sculpting the nose shape and adding the apples to Harry's cheeks. I'm just taking a break and thought it might be a nice stage to share with you. Here you can see one eye done and the other eye is yet to be refined. Just a few shadows and softening really makes all the difference, don't you think?

Get outta the kitchen

I decided to spend a lot less time in the kitchen. Regular readers will know I often have up to 4 hour sessions at a time, creating all sorts of tasty things with my increasing supply of free range eggs. Despite the reduced hours my productivity has increased - and it's thanks to a long awaited piece of equipment. Last week I decided to treat myself to a food processor, which has cut my manual time by loads. In no time at all I've whisked up a family sized quiche, a chicken and vegetable pie, half a gallon of vegetable soup, 2 dozen buns, 2 fruit cakes, 2 trays of fruit, coconut and choc-chip flapjacks. This means my cake tins, fridge and the freezer are quite full. Plus, there's quite a few attachments I still haven't used yet. I can remember well over 35 years ago my mum getting the state of the art Kenwood Chef. It had so many attachments and accessories and we enjoyed her weekend home baking sessions. She was much more adventurous than me (but my eggs are better).

Portrait commission - gulp

Last Autumn I enjoyed catching up with a work colleague I hadn't seen in about 8 years. We had so much news to share and our lives (and careers) had taken on very different angles since our Tesco's days. Lou saw some of my oil portraits and mentioned about perhaps painting her children. I didn't feel ready for anything like that as I still felt I had so much to learn. Today though, it's another matter. Last night I put my Jimmy Carr portrait on facebook with a comment 'Who shall I paint next.....' Lou promptly answered, reminding me of her sons. Consequently I arranged to call at her house later in the week to pick up some photos. But I actually couldn't wait that long, so, with a spare couple of hours, I lifted some images from her facebook profile and made a start. I've emailed her the early stages and I'm delighted to receive the reply 'Oh my God, that's brill'. Let's hope I can keep up the standard.

Even more portrait painting - and lovin' it

Firstly, a very happy Valentine's Day to all you romantics out there. I hope you are getting suitably spoiled with flowers and chocolates. My Valentine's treat was a Peter Gabriel concert on DVD. I have the gig on video - but haven't had a video player in the house for ages now. We enjoyed watching the show last night (with chocolate) and I'm very much looking forward to seeing him in the flesh next month. As long as he plays 'In Your Eyes' and 'Biko' I'll be a happy bunny. Alan and Tris have been busy in the garden, with Tris cutting my trees back to a more manageable height and Alan burning the cuttings and other garden rubbish. I've been working some more on our comedian friend in the warm. It's getting pretty near completion now with just a few tickles here and there. Finally, his teeth and tongue are in.

More portrait painting

We've suffered 3 days of snow and ice but this morning the last traces of it have gone. It's been very hairy walking across my patio to the studio and storage areas at times. But, if nothing else, I've been enjoying picking away at my portrait project in the warm whenever I can. I've been getting a lot of feedback on the work as Alan, both daughters and their boyfriends' have seen this take shape from blank canvas stage. I've had Valerie Stewart to keep me company as I paint, to remind me of a few things. But.......I do find I'm watching less and less of her DVD now. I hope that means I've followed it enough to just get on with it. Later today I will be working the mouth, tongue and teeth area and I will have to pull out Valerie's DVD that specifically covers that area. If you'd like to paint along with a virtual Valerie, you'll find her DVD's HERE, starting at just £16 delivered to your door. She shows how to mix the various paint colours and how to create portraits using just 5 brushes. These products can be found HERE, starting at just £17.50 for a complete brush set. And of course, if you'd like to paint along with Valerie in person, she'll be teaching a seminar in Capel St Mary in June. Details of the workshops can be found HERE