Suffering

Today it felt like I was suffering for my art. For the self portrait painting I have adopted a pose where I am kneeling on the floor and my knees are now sore. I have to hold my head still whilst holding the pose which is a challenge as I reach up to the canvas to paint in the face. My neck is feeling the tension.

However, I am pleased with how the painting is developing so far. I hope to have it finished in the next 10 days.

The above photo shows the paints, palette, and brushes on the floor next to me.

Break

This week I started a self-portrait on a 5' tall canvas.

The aim is to have this finished in the next fortnight.

It is always interesting trying to hold a pose while painting my reflection in the mirror.

I rather enjoy the discipline of being both artist and model.

The photo is one I snapped in the studio mirror while I was taking a brief break.

Back At The Beach

I've been away from this blog for some time now because I've been unwell.

I'm now on the road to recovery, and a major milestone for me was getting out on to the beach at Ringstead last week.

There wasn't too much wind that day, although it was still quite cold. As I feel quite 'rusty' it was good to have conditions which weren't too harsh for late January.

The painting above was the start of a seascape with figures on the beach. Sadly I couldn't continue with it the following day as the weather had changed, and the shingle had moved significantly overnight.

I still find it amazing that no matter how well I know the beach the power of the waves and tide is such that the changes to the landscape mean I am not able to place my exact spot just a few afters afterwards.

It really was wonderful to be back outside, painting, again. I know I'm healthy when I'm painting outside.