The Notan principle

After the rain
Acrylics 10" x 12"

I just wanted to let you know of a new article that I've written for The Artist magazine. It's all about designing your paintings using the notan principle or quite simply, shapes of dark and light. This isn't necessarily a tonal value study, but a way of creating a pleasing composition or backbone for your painting and then keeping that all the way through the painting process so that the work ends up with a clear strong design.

If you'd like to get a copy for yourself it's in the March issue of the magazine which is out in UK stores now, and is full of lots of other interesting features as always.

I've been getting some very nice feedback from people who have found the article helpful.

My 2014 review April to June

Early summer at Porthcurnick beach
Oils 14" x 18" £995

Welcome to the second part of my 2014 annual review. This blog post begins with lots of colour and sunshine, and ends in a flurry of prizes and exclamation marks! I'm going to be showing you some of my favourite paintings from this second quarter of the year. Now the weather was by and large spectacular throughout this whole time.

In April it was back to Cornwall and this time the weather was like summer, so plenty of plein air painting was achieved, and galleries re-stocked! Then it was a week in France with the family for Easter, where the sun continued to shine.

Here I am painting at St Mawes - what a place and what dazzling light on the water.

Sparkling light at St Mawes
Private Collection

On the slipway, Sennen
Oils 12" x 16" £850

St Michael's Mount
Private Collection

In May I discovered the gorgeous gardens at National Trust property Gunby Hall in Lincolnshire, and fell in love with the pond there. I must get back there this year in May, and perhaps take a model or two with me. (Would a parasol or a bonnet be out of order?)

This favourite below made it to the cover of my 2014 calendar. It was a new enterprise for me and I'm very pleased that the calendars have been so popular. I had 100 printed and I've sold every one apart from the one I kept for myself! So I'll be keeping my eye open for new images for my 2016 calendar next.

Carp pond at Gunby Hall
Oils 12" x 16" £850

Reverie
Private Collection

Crabbing at Brancaster Staithe

St Clements Studio
Private Collection

In June things became even busier because June always starts with the big Patchings Festival. Including the setting up day it's a pretty tiring but busy and fun five days! It's always great to see so many friends there, from all over the country. This year as well as exhibiting in the painters marquee where I painted a portrait demo and painting plein air demos in the courtyard I also did a still life demo in the big St Cuthbert's marquee. 

I went down to London for a day to see the Society of Women Artists exhibition in June, where I had two paintings selected and exhibited.

Flaming June
Private Collection

Demo at Patchings

At the end of June it was up to North Yorkshire to teach a long weekend at the Staithes art school, staying in beautiful cottages by the sea, painting in the day and feasting in the evening with fantastic like minded company. 

By the way we're back on for next year too so if you might like to join us have a look at Staithes Art Gallery and better be quick to book as it's a very popular weekend!

View from Cowbar
Private Collection

And now for a painting you will definitely recognise if you've been following my blog for a while or read The Artist magazine...

Sails up in harbour
24" x 30"
Collection of The Artist Publishing Company

ONE painting with a generously sized red sail and a dash of magic...

FOUR prizes in a matter of days!!!!

First this painting won the Pro Arte Award at The Artist magazine's annual selected exhibition, which was a generous £250 worth of Pro Arte brushes.

Secondly it was selected for The Artist exhibition award which means I am one of ten winning artists to take part in a group exhibition at Patchings art centre in 2015.

Thirdly... drum roll... Ken Howard RA OBE selected it as his favourite piece in the whole exhibition therefore I won The Artist Purchase Prize of £1800 and my painting now goes to hang in the offices at The Artist and Leisure Painter magazines alongside previous winners of this prestigious prize.

Fourthly it then won the 'best water' category in the summer Plein Air Salon, an online painting competition run by the brilliant US Plein Air magazine. Another big surprise!

Think I need to go and lie down in a darkened room after reliving all that excitement again... be back soon with the third instalment, July to September...

Pep talk!

September issue The Artist magazine

I forgot to tell you about a little article I'd written for The Artist magazine about 'Staying motivated'. I think we all need a little pep talk from time to time don't we? Sometimes you might get despondent about not being selected for an exhibition or disappointing sales or turnout but I urge you not to stay in that frame of mind for long, but believe in yourself and let it spur you on to achieve greater things! These things are just a test of your determination and strength so you know what the song says ... when the going gets tough the tough get going!

This is in the September issue which is also the magazine that features my 'Sails up' on the cover - woohoo! It's pretty much impossible to find in shops now because they've sold out, but you can still buy a copy if you'd like one by clicking here.

In the October issue (which magazine subscribers will be receiving any day now and will be in UK shops soon) I have an article giving a little advice about working from photographs. It talks about pitfalls to look out for, planning for success and my methods for combing the use of photographs together with plein air studies to produce new work in the studio.

October issue The Artist magazine

Painting from photographs

OH MY GOODNESS

With my prize winning painting!

Everything got more and more amazing today... my red sail painting really wanted to go out with a bang!

It's now received three prizes in as many days... I know! You're thinking 'how'?! Well today Ken Howard RA came to Patchings to help choose ten exhibitors in The Artist exhibition for the 'exhibitors award' which means they will have a group exhibition at Patchings at some point next year... and I'm one of them!

Then Ken has to choose his favourite piece in the exhibition for The Artist purchase award and... yes!! Indeed I was as surprised as you are believe me! This means that The Artist magazine will purchase my painting and it will hang in their gallery with all the previous winners of this award. For ever. :-)

So yes, I have been a bit giddy and excited today!

Putting figures in your paintings

The Artist May 2014

The new (May) issue of The Artist magazine is available in shops in the UK right now.  My latest article to be published is about putting figures into your paintings - why I think it's worthwhile, some things to think about when you're including figures in your work and exercises to try. I hope you enjoy it :-)

As always there is lots more inspiration packed between the pages featuring artists such as Lucy Willis, Geoff Hunt, Ian Sidaway, Ian Cryer, Chris Forsey, Ann Blockley, and Hashim Akib amongst others.

I have been told that in the US you can also buy this inspirational magazine in Barnes and Noble stores. If you can't easily get hold of a copy where you live did you know that you can subscribe and have every issue posted out to you? Read more about that here.

Smooth, creamy and delicious

The Artist March 2014

Smooth, creamy and delicious but not chocolate, whatever could it be? Oh yes, it's my thoughts on painting with gouache paints, gathered together in this month's The Artist magazine which is available to buy in shops in the UK now. Apparently you can also find it in the USA in Barnes book stores, that's groovy!

There are so many reasons to love gouache and here's a few -

No using solvents or mediums, just good old water.

You can re-use dried up paint on the palette, by wetting it again.

You can add highlights later, no need to plan ahead in the same way you have to with watercolours.

You can easily combine with other media, for example watercolours and drawing media.

They dry with that soft matt finish.

They make ideal, forgiving, paints for beginners.

You don't need much in the way of equipment.

They don't kill your brushes.*

Here's another gouache painting exploiting the gouache at a fluid creamy consistency and laying down adjacent areas of flat colour. This one sold at my exhibition last month. It was one of only two glazed (framed under glass) pieces in the whole exhibition!

Crab hut at Brancaster Staithe
SOLD

* Never killed any of mine with gouache anyway, you may know different!

Lively still life article

The January issue of The Artist magazine should be out and about in shops in the UK anytime now. In it I have this article about painting vibrant still lifes using acrylics as an underpainting and oils to finish off. Both of these paintings will be framed up for my exhibition in Nottingham in January. 

It's going to be a busy and fun week this week, I have two days in London at the Mall Galleries for the Royal Institute of Oil painters exhibition. Tuesday is the private view and on Wednesday I'm taking part in a figure painting workshop there which will be fun!

I can't wait to see my three paintings hanging, I wonder if they will be next to each other. It's especially exciting that one of them has already sold so I shall see a red dot there! I will also meet up with so many artist friends and it will be great to see everyone. I'll have a better chance to see the paintings in the exhibition when I go back again next week, because on private view day the gallery will be packed.

Peonies and hen

Fast, loose and alla prima!

The Artist August issue

The August issue of The Artist magazine (in the UK) is now out in shops, and in it I have an article on painting faster and looser with oils - alla prima or all in one sitting. Actually I say 'sitting' as a figure of speech, because I strongly recommend standing to paint!

You may recognise some of those paintings in the feature! Did you know that you can subscribe to this brilliant magazine even if you live outside of the UK and can't buy it in your shops? I have another article in the September issue on painting seascapes and plenty of others in the pipeline but of course it's not just me, the magazine is packed with artistic inspiration every month.

Take a look at the website for subscriber info by clicking here :-)

One of the other articles I did this year was on 'Finding your own style' and if you didn't have a chance to see it before you can read the whole thing online right here!

That's all for now, I'll be back to you soon to talk about studio paintings, and my part in a huge London event this week. Have a great day :-)

Lily's gift

I've a few bits and bobs for you today. I've had a really good day getting on with some of the work I've fallen behind with due to my snow obsession! I've also been taking photos of my snow paintings so I'll be able to show you better images of those.

Yesterday I went out with the intention of painting but only managed this drawing of a horse beside it's ramshackle stable and I just love the snowman. He looks as though he is surrendering! I've always wanted to paint snowmen.

Anyway, I've started a large-ish studio painting on the basis of this sketch which I'm quite excited about at the moment. The tricky thing will be keeping up the momentum, as you know I really need to get outside to paint from life, it's my passion.

I'd like to try more studio work based on my plein air studies, it's an avenue I want to explore. I really like this quote from Kevin Macpherson - "Indoor and outdoor painting are complementary experiences. As memories of nature breathe life into your studio work, the disciplined approaches and principles you practice indoors will enable you to attack the canvas outdoors in new ways"

This is the lovely photo of Ken Howard that I took at his exhibition last week. As I was sitting talking to him a lady came along and pulled out a painting from her bag wrapped in a little bubble wrap. It was a self portrait that he'd painted when he was 22 years old! It had obviously been in the lady's family for a very long time and was wonderful to see. Ken is hoping to exhibit it at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition alongside a current self portrait, aged 80.

I had a very nice surprise in the post yesterday! My youngest blog subscriber is Lily, a little girl who lives in Normandy in France and she has made me this wonderful keyring! Isn't that just so adorable and kind? 

Merci beaucoup Lily! Ça me plaît énormément! Gros bisous à toi :-)

Today I discovered that my painting (Ice cream shed) is on the front cover of the next issue of The Artist magazine, and my article on how to find your own style is now featured online on the website www.painters-online.co.uk so you can have a sneak peek before the magazine hits the shops!

Finally, I spotted this snow family in my village! Please email me a picture if you've spotted any fun snowman or snowlady- I never tire of seeing them!

Late summer, North heath lane

Late summer, north heath lane
Oil on panel 24 x 30cms

I can't remember the last time I had a day at home in my studio - and enjoyed it as much as I have today!
With a lot of patient consideration (something I'm working on because it doesn't come naturally!) I finished this one that I painted in the lane on Friday. I'm afraid this photo lets it down because it's played down the warmth - the field on the right is much more of a warm gold than the yellow it looks here. I'm pretty pleased with how it's turned out and I don't think I've spoiled it with the extra twiddling!
I've also done some radical work on a commission so I'm in a kind of scary 'it will look a lot worse before it gets better' kind of scenario! And I'm still workshop planning. This Wednesday's drawing workshop will be exciting!
Also I received such a lovely letter from Newark Art Club to thank me for my demonstration last week. It made my day! :-)
Thought you might like to see these too...

The SAA Paint magazine's latest edition with my Oilbar article

Little piece about my Pro Arte award in September's The Artist magazine.
I haven't ordered any of my new brushes yet!
Looking forward to it!

Happy day at Patchings festival!

Painting from the model

You may be wondering 'why is Haidee showing us this painting again?', because after all I did show you it when I painted it on February 28th. Then I showed you it framed last week heading off to Patchings for The Artist exhibition. Today I show you it again because it has won me a prize!!!
I'm so happy about it I just can't tell you how happy I am!
I've been awarded the Pro Arte prize of £250 worth of brushes!
I cannot believe my lucky stars at the moment!

I've just discovered that you can see the whole exhibition, and the Leisure Painter exhibition, online!
The work in both exhibitions is fantastic so it is really well worth you having a look. The website is very clear and informative and easy to navigate too. There is also a list of all the prize winners from both exhibitions on there.
You can view the exhibition here :-)

Apart from that excitement I have had a fantastic day chatting with visitors non-stop and the other artists! It's so amazing, I've met artist friends from blogging, Facebook and twitter all for the first time in real life and let me tell you they're all gorgeous happy lovely people! There's so much fine talent in our marquee and nearly all of the artists are demonstrating on their stands so if you can possibly make it along to the festival you really must. You won't regret it :-)

Aah, I'm going to be dreaming of fists full of shiny new brushes tonight... I can just tell...