The Lazy Artist

Pretty black dog

2012-02-06T08:54:00.001-08:00

I'm sorry for the lack of posts - I have actually been painting more or less every day - I'm slowly picking up speed I think, and oil painting is gradually getting easier... I think I'm getting there slowly! I got this picture off a website called Paint My Photo . I fell in love with this little dog while I was painting her (I'm sure she's a she!) This painting is 12" x 10" oil on linen canvas. The photo is not a very good representation as my camera isn't that great.

Cat in Sunshine

2011-12-09T02:27:00.001-08:00

I'm experimenting with ways to depict fur, which can be a bit tricky on cats. I'm not sure whether this works or not. This is oil on linen canvas, 10 x 8 inches.

Zipper

2011-12-01T08:33:00.001-08:00

I found this photo of Zipper the dog on a great website called Paint my Photo Painting the water was a challenge. Oil on linen canvas 8" x 6".

Morning at Atbara

2011-11-04T04:21:00.000-07:00

This is a painting I did of my husband Art, in our old house. Art died 5 years ago yesterday. I'm very lucky to have found a lovely new man, but I still think about Art every day and talk about him all the time, always with a smile and a laugh. The only thing that makes me sad is thinking about him when he was ill and in pain. He was a mad character and had a habit of collecting silly items, some of which are shown in this pic. On the table is a dog which sings and dances 'New York New York' and hanging up is a wire model of a man riding a 3 wheeled bike. On the table is his 'smoking box' full of his smoking paraphernalia. Heaven help me if I ever tried to tidy any of these things away! I was very lucky to have spent 21 years sharing my life with this man, 21 years full of laughs - he was very funny. I still see him in my dreams sometimes - I look forward to that.

Cards on Table

2011-11-02T03:14:00.001-07:00

New Heater

2011-10-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

We bought this cheap little heater for the boat now the cold weather has arrived, but it uses so much electricity we hardly dare use it!

Mutley

2011-10-13T08:12:00.001-07:00

I've just finished this portrait of Mutley, who belongs to some friends of ours who recently got married. It was meant to be a surprise wedding present, but I didn't finish it in time so will be presenting it to them tomorrow.

Molly and cushions

2011-10-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

Pretty cat

2011-10-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

I've been doing quite a lot of oil painting recently and really enjoying it. However I still take a long time to do each one, and that explains the infrequency of my posts lately. (It doesn't seem to matter how small I do them!) This one is of a cat I found on the internet, 6x6 inches.

Cows

2011-08-19T03:40:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start doing a series of small paintings and hopefully get at least one done a week. This is my first one. It was done from a photo taken when we took our boat up the Oxford canal a couple of years ago and some cows were grazing peacefully in a nearby field. it's oil on canvas, 7" x 5".

Mutley

2011-07-07T06:41:00.001-07:00

We are babysitting this adorable Westie called Mutley for our friends who have gone on holiday. He follows me everywhere, even waits for me outside the bathroom!
The weather has been pants here in West London today. I can't believe I'm still wearing a jumper and raincoat in midsummer! I hope it improves by the weekend as we are planning to take the boat up to Brentford to go to Teddington.
D is decorating a friend's house today. I am just about to start my new oil painting of a cat.

Chester and the Sea

2011-07-05T07:12:00.001-07:00

I've just finished this painting of my lovely dog Chester, who died this time last year. The seaside was his favourite place.
It's watercolour and pastels on Wallis paper.

Lucky

2011-04-08T09:19:00.001-07:00

How lucky am I to have this as a garden? We are in beautiful Pangbourne at the moment, making our way back down to the Teddington area.

Cat Portrait

2011-04-05T08:03:00.001-07:00

Pastel on Daler Murano paper 18" x 15"

Feet up

2011-03-16T09:36:00.001-07:00

Noodlers Ink and book

2011-03-10T07:07:00.000-08:00

Chinese sauces

2011-03-09T07:54:00.000-08:00

We've been having a lot of stir-fries lately, and bought all these delicious sauces from a Chinese supermarket in Oxford.

Boat Interior

2011-03-08T08:43:00.001-08:00

German Shepherd

2011-02-07T06:33:00.000-08:00

I've been working on this beautiful dog for a couple of weeks and just finished him. He's in pastel on Daler Murano paper.

Strange and wonderful world

2011-02-02T08:05:00.001-08:00

It's always a challenge doing a self portrait using a mirror. As usual this has gone a bit wrong. I'm not entirely disappointed with it though. There was a programme on TV the other night called 'The Strange and Wonderful World of the Self Portrait', about self portrait painting through the ages, how artists have used it to present themselves and their ideas in different ways. Well I can assure you that this is not really how I want people to see me - I always draw myself 'warts and all', and concentrating on ones own fizzog for any length of time can be quite disconcerting when one gets to a certain age! But I just love drawing faces, and I'm the cheapest model I can get, so I will keep persevering!

My office

2011-01-31T07:25:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd show a pic of the tiny space I call my office. The pastels and pencils sit ready waiting for me to get a gap in my work so I can do some more on my animal portraits.

Horse

2011-01-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

I've spent the last few weeks working on this portrait of a horse for my pet portrait course. It's painted in oil on gessoed hardboard 15x12 inches. I'm a bit fed up with oil painting now - it seems to take so long! (but that's just me!). Anyway the next one I do will be in good old pastel.

Tackley

2010-12-07T08:30:00.001-08:00

Although the weather has been very cold it has been beautiful here - a bit like Narnia with frost staying on the trees and plants all day. On Sunday the sun came out for a while and we went for a drive to Banbury. All the way up on the Banbury Road I was going 'Wow!' - the countryside is breathtaking in Oxfordshire. I hadn't realised how beautiful this county is. And still very unspoilt (long may that continue). On the way back we decided to go to a little village called Tackley, as we'd heard it was nice. It was like going back in time about 100 years - a proper old-fashioned village with a few children playing on the pretty village green, a Christmas tree with lights waiting for a switching on ceremony that night. It was like a Midsomer Murders village without the murders! We went into the village's only pub, The Gardiner Arms and as we walked through the door we could hear the gentle bubble of conversation - no music or sport noise going on in the background. And to top it all the people in there were so nice and friendly. We whiled away an enjoyable couple of hours there and will definitely be returning!

A Winter Home

2010-12-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

We decided to take a winter mooring quite on impulse. We only became continuous cruisers this August and had planned to carry on moving around the canals, stopping for two weeks at a time, throughout the winter. The biggest worry about the decision to move to Oxford was whether I'd be able to work. My Vodafone dongle works fine in most locations on the Thames, but I had heard the Oxford canal was not the best place for a good signal. However we now know we made the right choice. It's quite a novelty having a new area to explore - we enjoy driving around Oxfordshire - there are some beautiful villages. My dongle decided to co-operate, I have a signal with one bar, but it works fine and I haven't had a problem so far. We miss friends and mail is a bit of a problem - we have to go back to Teddington to pick it up. But we aren't too far away and have been back to see people. We're so glad that we decided to stay put for the winter - especially with the weather as it is now. We've got all the facilities we need nearby and two good pubs to boot!

Icy

2010-12-01T02:57:00.001-08:00

Although we haven't had much snow here in Oxford, the weather is icy cold and the canal is frozen over. However so far we've managed to keep toasty warm on the boat with our coal fire and paraffin heater. We've learnt a new trick - if we leave the kettle on top of the fire during the day it almost boils and so I can have multiple cups of tea without using too much gas!

Molly

2010-11-29T07:23:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't blogged for ages. We are now settled at our mooring near Oxford, and getting to know the area gradually. I've been working on this painting of Molly, and have just finished it. As she's a chinese dog I put her on a background of a Tibetan rug. It's in oil on canvas - I'm slowly getting more used to painting in oils. I'm going to try painting on hardboard next.

Maidenhead

2010-10-15T06:44:00.001-07:00

We're making our way up the Thames to Oxford, where we have winter moorings for five months. Today we stopped in Maidenhead so i could do some work. I hope the Vodafone dongle holds up when we get to more rural parts!

Self portrait

2010-10-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

Trainers, bag and newspaper

2010-10-06T01:36:00.000-07:00

I did this while listening to 'The Quiet Man', one of my late husband's favourite films.

Teddington view and letter

2010-10-04T07:36:00.000-07:00

We are at Teddington Lock again, and the letter is our licence application to go onto the canal, where we're going to spend the winter months (it's much safer on the canal for narrowboats).

Molly's toy collection

2010-10-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

Sleeping

2010-10-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

Back again

2010-09-30T04:25:00.000-07:00

We're back at Hampton Court again and this is the view from the hatch of Hampton Court bridge.

Hampton Court

2010-09-29T08:00:00.001-07:00

This is a sketch of the view from the mooring at Hampton Court. It was done on a lovely tranquil sunny evening, I don't think we're going to get many more of those now!

Chores

2010-09-20T06:43:00.001-07:00

Living on the boat means now weekends are full of boat-related chores. Yesterday we had to go to the laundrette, collect our mail from friends, get the weeks' shopping, take the boat up to and through Molesey lock to fill up with water and empty the toilets, bring it back though the lock again and then hastily try and find somewhere to moor before it got too dark.

Molly

2010-09-17T04:31:00.001-07:00

Kingston Bridge

2010-09-16T04:20:00.000-07:00

A quick sketch of Kingston Bridge while we're moored beside it.

A Corner of the boat

2010-09-14T03:10:00.001-07:00

Sunbury

2010-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in Sunbury, near the weir, catching up with some friends at The Phoenix pub.

Manor Park

2010-09-10T05:42:00.001-07:00

We are at this lovely mooring by the side of Manor Park, in Shepperton. It is very tranquil and beautiful. We would like to stay longer but we're moving to Sunbury this evening.

Door

2010-09-09T03:40:00.000-07:00

A view from the front door at our mooring near Chertsey. The flowers were sent to me by my brother and his wife because of Chester.

Kitten

2010-09-08T02:30:00.000-07:00

I've just finished this pic of a kitten for part of my pet portrait course. It's in coloured pencil on Wallis paper.

Flowers

2010-09-07T03:57:00.001-07:00

Flowers by the window.

Tonal drawing

2010-09-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

Maidenhair fern near the window. I think I should practice my tonal drawings a bit more - I tend to draw in line most of the time.
We are now at a mooring near Dumsey Meadows in Chertsey. Apparently this is the only meadow remaining of it's type by the Thames now. A herd of cows are left to graze the meadow without it being interfered with in any way. This means certain wildflowers are able grow here that are not found anywhere else.

Walton

2010-09-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

Last night we had trouble finding a place to moor. We wanted to stay in Shepperton but all the moorings were full as there is a festival on at the weekend. In the end we stayed at Walton on Thames, outside two nice pubs. This is the garden of The Swan.

View

2010-09-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

Another view at Shepperton from the hatch.

Shepperton

2010-09-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

This is the view from the boat window today. We are in Shepperton, on the Thames, opposite Pharoah Island. It's very quiet and peaceful here, but we've slightly outstayed our welcome, as it's only a 24 hour mooring, so tomorrow we have to move on.

A New Start

2010-09-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

My life seems to consist of lots of little new starts, times whem I feel inspired again. This one's quite a biggy though. I haven't blogged or sketched or painted for at least two months - I kept saying to myself 'I'll do it when we move to the boat'. Lots of things have been happening, sad things like the loss of my lovely Chester dog, who died four weeks ago aged 14, and having to take the little rabbit Binky to a rescue centre, big things like emptying my house completely, decluttering to the max, putting stuff in storage and fitting all the necessary stuff on the boat. Now we have handed the keys to the house over - we have no mooring - we are rootless for the first time - total water-gypsies! This is the start of our new life as continuous cruisers, and hopefully the start of a lot more sketching! The one above was of the view from our boat moored at Weybridge visitor moorings.

Chester asleep on a binbag

2010-06-11T03:09:00.000-07:00

More unintelligible clutter

2010-06-10T08:25:00.001-07:00

Clutter in the studio

2010-06-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

Plant by the window

2010-05-24T03:47:00.001-07:00

Sunshine

2010-05-21T03:47:00.000-07:00

It's such a lovely day today. Here's a quick sketch of Molly enjoying the sun.

Unfinished

2010-05-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

A shirt on the back of a chair.

Chester and Binks

2010-05-19T02:15:00.001-07:00

They love each other.

Reading

2010-05-18T04:36:00.001-07:00

Drawing

2010-05-16T06:58:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to get back into drawing and sketching again. I've been thinking a lot about it but not doing it! I thought it might be a good idea to start occasionally drawing things that I don't really want to draw, partly because I find them hard to do. This is an example.

Distracted

2010-04-14T03:16:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd show this sweet pic of my three little friends - this is how they were sleeping last night.

I'm sorry I havent posted for so long - it's due to the major distraction of having to pack up a house to fit into a boat. We are moving back to our narrowboat in August and having accumulated stuff from my late parents, husband, his parents and some great aunts, It's a huge job to try and sort it all out. Being of a sentimental nature doesn't help either!
As a result I haven't done any drawing or painting recently - but I'm looking forward to resuming it when this is all done!

Self Portrait

2010-02-11T04:02:00.001-08:00

I used Fisher 400 paper for this 14 x 10 inch self portrait. I started off with a watercolour underpainting, and used all sorts of pastels, pastel pencils, hard and soft pastels. Unison are my favourite soft pastels - they are so buttery and the colours so vivid.

Keeping it loose

2010-02-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

For sketching I get inspired by Martin and
Ira

Portrait of a little dog

2010-02-05T03:39:00.000-08:00

I've just completed this portrait as part of my 'Pet Portraits' course. It's from a photo I found online. I used Wallis paper and started off with an underpainting. I have to say, Wallis paper is so brilliant - it's definitely my favourite, which is unfortunate because you can't get it in the UK any more. You can get it shipped from the USA, but it's quite expensive.

Darks

2010-01-28T07:11:00.000-08:00

Also trying to get my darks a lot darker... my drawings are usually too light and delicate.

Slowly

2010-01-27T06:09:00.001-08:00

I'm slowly getting the hang of this new 'looser' style....

Loose

2010-01-25T06:29:00.000-08:00

I've been looking at some other sketchers and have decided to experiment with a looser style, which involves holding the pencil further back from the point. I'm not sure if this is the way to achieve it.

Good company

2010-01-22T04:12:00.000-08:00

When I'm working in my office I'm always kept company by my three friends, Chester, Molly and Binky the rabbit. If I go downstairs to eat something, they come down as well.

Molly on her cushion

2010-01-17T07:44:00.001-08:00

Second stage of kitten

2010-01-15T07:14:00.001-08:00

This is the kitten after the second layer of oil paint has been applied. When this is dry I will probably add whiskers and stuff. I was thinking of doing little paintings (6 x 6) of cats to sell but if they all take this ridiculously long time to do I won't be making any money!
I havent really got the hang of oil paints yet, especially how to get a piece of work to a very detailed stage... I'll just have to keep practising I guess.

Happy 2010

2010-01-10T07:16:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010 to the lovely people that visit my blog. I hope you all had great holidays!
It's nice to get back in the swing of things. I have been doing some drawing but have unfortunately done nothing that I wanted to show anybody - I'm not sure why it's like that at the moment. That's why posts have been a bit thin on the ground lately! However, I'm continuing with my animal portraits and have started this 6 x 6 inch painting of a cat. This is the painting as it stands at the moment - I have painted the first layer. I'm fairly new to the concept of 'layering' in oils so am not sure how this will eventually turn out. I'm waiting for this layer to dry and then will continue with the painting. I have an idea that this is the best the painting is going to look but will have to wait and see!
By the way, regular readers of the blog will have noticed that I'm not actually living on a narrowboat any more and I was trying to sell it, but now I'm thinking about moving back onto it in the not so distant future! It's an addictive way of life!

Daler Murano paper

2009-12-16T03:49:00.001-08:00

I'm continuing to compare pastel papers. For this portrait I've used Daler Murano paper and the dog is from a photo I found on the internet and his name is apparently 'Buddy'. At first, compared to the Fisher 400 paper, I found this paper a bit flimsy and insubstantial, and nearly gave up. But I persevered, and found that I actually really like it. I used a mixture of hard and soft pastels and pastel pencils. I recently bought about 40 new colours - mostly greys and browns, from the Derwent range of pastel pencils, and they certainly came in very handy for this portrait.

Practice work

2009-12-07T05:14:00.001-08:00

I got this pic of a beautiful dog off the internet. I did it with pastels on Fisher 400 paper. I'm just practicing at the moment with pastels and different papers. I like Fisher 400 - it's very forgiving and seems to allow an unlimited number of layers to be added. I'm not sure if this is a good thing - I think one should still try to complete the work in a small number of layers as otherwise the colours can get a bit muddy. I'm not sure if this pastel work is detailed enough. I've seen other work on the internet where every hair seems to have been drawn and the fur doesnt look coarse like it does here. It' a mystery I've yet to solve!

Chester again

2009-11-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

Chestie

2009-11-22T08:39:00.001-08:00

A quick sketch of Chester.

I've got an award!

2009-11-20T07:10:00.000-08:00

I've got an award from Captain Elaine - thank you Captain Elaine! It's very kind of you. I tried to copy and paste it into this post but it didn't work! Never mind, I'll still answer all these questions in one word and then give 5 links to people I like...

1. Where is your cell phone?... Dunno
2. Your hair? ...Long
3. Your mother?... gone
4. Your father? ...also
5. Your favourite food? ...cake
6. Your dream last night? ...school
7. Your favourite drink? ...wine
8. Your dream/goal? ...artist
9. What room are you in? ...office
10. Your hobby? ...drawing
11. Your fear? ...moths
12 Where do you want to be in 6 years? ...country
13. Where were you last night? ...here
14. Something that you aren't? ...tough
15. Muffins?...yes
16. Wish list item?...books
17. Where did you grow up? ...London
18. Last thing you did? ...work
19. What are you wearing? ...jeans
20. Your TV? ... old
21. Your pets? ...three
22. Friends ...odd
23. Your life? ...lovely
24. Your mood? ...happy
25. Missing someone? ...many
26. Vehicle? ...Ford
27. Something you're not wearing? ...makeup
28. Your favourite store? ...artshop
29. Your favourite colour? bluegreen
30. When was the last time you laughed?...lunchtime
31. Last time you cried? ...2008
31. Your best friend?...Heather
33. One place that I go to over and over? ...park
34. Facebook? no
35. Favourite place to eat? Indian

I would like to pass this award to five of my favourite blogs:
Sheila a very talented painter
Sara another one
Martin a fantastic sketcher
Gwen quirky and brilliant animal portraits
Jennifer colourful, whimsical sketches of her travels

Labrador

2009-11-20T03:37:00.000-08:00

At last I have finished my drawing of a dog, which is an exercise on the Pet Portrait course I am doing. I'm just about to send these last 3 drawings to my tutor to be critiqued.

Kitchenalia

2009-11-05T07:10:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a while because I've been concentrating on these drawings for my Pet Portrait course (which is run by London Art College if anyone is interested). They do take a long time to do. Next I have to draw a dog. Hooray!

Plant

2009-10-20T08:47:00.001-07:00

I've just started this course in 'Pet Portraits' and this is one of the first exercises I had to do. It took ages!
Sorry about the darkness of the image but my scanner is not currently working and I can't seem to get a good photo of a pencil drawing.
I've just realised how odd it sounds that the exercise I had to do for my pet portrait course was to draw a plant! It's just drawing practice really.

Rusky

2009-10-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

I know I've been remiss in not posting this week but I haven't been lazy! I've been painting this lovely fellow, and just finished him today. He is a little dog called Rusky that we met in Crete, who happens to live with D's sister there. He really belongs to the Greek man that they are renting from, and when they arrived there he was sleeping in a leaky oildrum. Les made him a lovely little kennel, with blankets inside, and he's a very happy boy now. He is a wonderful little character.
I've been painting him because I'm trying to get back into doing what I used to do for a while, animal portraits. I need a bit of practice before I get going again.

Twilight View

2009-09-24T02:26:00.000-07:00

I did this from a sketch I did of the view out of my office window at night. I'm not sure if it works - I didn't enjoy painting it that much - maybe because of the dark colours.

Pleasant view

2009-09-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

The view from my office/studio window.

Morning light

2009-09-18T01:29:00.000-07:00

It's just about impossible to paint this sort of light effect from life and photos dont' work so I did a quick tonal sketch as preparation for this one. I've got a value measurement thingy that I made as a result of reading 'Color' by Betty Edwards and used that to measure the tones. My colour and value wheels are a huge help when painting.

Chinese Bowl with oranges

2009-09-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

I've been doing this 8x6 still life for a few days now, but have to stop today as the oranges are just 'on the turn'.

Maria

2009-09-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

I saw an advert for a life drawing session in my local artshop. It turned out to be an artist who lives in the next road to me, who wants people to join him and share the cost of the model. He was starting the weekly sessions today so I went there and really enjoyed it. It's nice to draw with like-minded people who want to do long poses rather than 5 or 10 minute ones. We did two one and a half hour drawings - my first was rubbish because I was a bit nervous. This one was better as I had warmed up a bit.

Frosty Morning

2009-09-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

I did this today from a photo taken earlier this year. It's 8 x 6 - obviously a small scale - I had no idea how it would turn out. I wanted it to look a bit painterly and I'm fairly pleased with it as a step towards learning more about oil painting. I know I've got a long way to go - and I've got to get the hang of photographing paintings as well!

Gerberas

2009-09-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

This was done as an exercise from the 'Color' book by Betty Edwards. I'm going to try and do a lot more oil painting now I've got my new 'studio'.

Molly again

2009-09-01T07:38:00.001-07:00

I just love drawing Molly!

Molly in her basket

2009-08-28T06:58:00.001-07:00

D has made me a fantastic study in our house, where I've got space to work and also paint and draw when I'm not busy. Molly has become my little companion in there, sleeping in her basket next to my desk while I'm working.

Molly curled up

2009-08-27T08:39:00.001-07:00

Working Boots

2009-08-26T02:39:00.000-07:00

These are D's old boots, which he is wearing all the time at the moment as he is just about rebuilding the house!

Hot day

2009-08-23T05:27:00.001-07:00

It's a very hot day today, and pleasant with a nice breeze, but the heat wears the dogs out.

Asleep under the table

2009-08-19T08:19:00.001-07:00

Still asleep (on the same carpet)

2009-08-18T09:24:00.001-07:00

Various objects on the table

2009-08-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Asleep on a crumpled carpet

2009-08-14T05:20:00.000-07:00

This old fellow might look very innocent but he's caused me a headache this morning when first of all I looked around in the park and he was nowhere to be seen. I looked everywhere for him, couldnt call him because he's deaf - then finally found him in the children's playground eating someone's left over burger. Then on the way home some workmen had just put wet cement in a hole in the road and he fell into it, so had cement covered legs all the way home.

washing

2009-08-13T03:15:00.000-07:00

I know this drawing is confusing (it was confusing doing it) but it is a clothes horse with clothes on it and a view out of the window to a very messy garden.

Sketching in the sun

2009-08-12T01:55:00.000-07:00

Watching 'Bang goes the theory'

2009-08-11T03:37:00.000-07:00

Relaxing

2009-08-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

D relaxing in the garden after work.

Back online again

2009-08-07T05:55:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted for so long. I have been moving from the boat to a house and have only just got my broadband sorted out. The mess on this table is typical of the whole house at the moment.

Sunny afternoon

2009-06-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

I've been very lucky today. It was super-hot (very unusual in an English summer) and I spent the afternoon sitting in the sunshine drawing this of all the boats on our mooring, with Chester in the foreground. I love my new Copic pens in different shades of grey, very good for tonal drawing.

Reading in the garden

2009-06-29T09:57:00.000-07:00