Interiors

Still stuck on oil pastels, and continuing with colour experimentation. Using different colours to convey light and mood. Have really enjoyed doing these, and will do more. Just having trouble with getting the colours right when adjusting the photographed images in photoshop. The image quality in these ones is quite bad, especially in the second one, and the colours aren't quite like the actual drawings. Hope I can take some better photos soon, or find a scanner big enough for A3.

interior01
oil pastel on paper, 2010

interior01
oil pastel on paper, 2010

interior03
oil pastel on paper, 2010

interior04
oil pastel on paper, 2010

I think I like the last one the best. Most of them contain raw umber, it's my favourite colour at the moment.

New portraits

Here are some more recent self portraits, working with oil pastel again. Was trying to experiment with colour and texture, and getting out of my comfort zone by using colours I would normally avoid, was fairly happy with how they went.

portrait29

oil pastel on paper, 2010

portrait28

oil pastel on paper, 2010

portrait26

oil pastel on paper, 2010

portrait25

oil pastel on paper, 2010

Nudes

I recently had an urge to unearth my oil pastels, they're so fun to use. Decided to draw some nudes, which I haven't done in a while.

nude04

oil pastel on paper, 2010

nude03

oil pastel on paper, 2010

nude01

oil pastel on paper, 2010

More yupo

More playing with yupo paper at the beginning of the year while on holiday in Victoria. Decided to paint the gum trees since we were surrounded by them. I like the second one the best as it got rained on a little, and created a lovely texture.

tree03

watercolour on yupo, 2010

tree02

watercolour on yupo, 2010

tree01

watercolour on yupo, 2010

Yupo paper experimentation

I work in an art supplies store, so I'm always busting to try the new and interesting things that my manager gets in. The yupo paper had been there for a while, but I didn't realise the potential it held for watercolour, so I gave it a go. The interesting thing about yupo paper is that it isn't paper from wood pulp, cotton or rag, but rather just sheeted plastic. Watercolour behaves differently on this surface, swimming and pooling until the water evaporates, instead of being absorbed into the paper. This makes it maintain a more liquid appearance even after it has dried. These works aren't necessarily my style, but it was fun to see what it could do. Sprinkling salt on the still wet image yielded interesting results as well.

flowers

watercolour on yupo, 2009

untitled

watercolour on yupo, 2009

untitled

watercolour on yupo, 2009

grim04

watercolour on yupo, 2009

grim girls

Returning to the girls from eyeontheprize, adding watercolour and some flies. Trying to communicate decay and vulnerability. When I have the time and means I plan to translate these into oil painting.

grim03

pen and watercolour on paper, 2009

grim02

pen and watercolour on paper, 2009

grim01

pen and watercolour on paper, 2009

fear

I did this mixed media drawing a while ago, it was going to be a starting point for a different series, but I had to abandon it due to a lack of time. Will probably expand upon this idea in the future. Focusing on fear, humanity, vulnerability and the unpredictable.

fear01

mixed media on paper, 2008