Santapaw's Helper

Well that’s Christmas over with for another year it has been a good one, what with having to cook a full Christmas dinner for 15 people and 3 dogs. All sitting in the back garden in the sun eating to much and drinking to much a good time was had by all Ho Ho Ho.

I did Santapaw’s helper on Christmas eve.

"Santapaw's Helper"

Acrylics on canvas (20"x 24")
December 2009

Now its time to look to 2010

Fear get to us all at some time

Fear get to us all at some time I was reading Tony Moffitt's art world Blog yesterday and his post Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees, Sparked an feeling that we do let other people steal our dreams away.

Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees
Posted: 03 Jul 2009 08:18 PM PDT by Tony Moffit

What are you waiting for?For a lot of artists our chosen path means an endless set of challenges that test our confidence and resilience. But until you face each challenge and overcome the obstacles, you're going nowhere.The first person who manages to bottle 'confidence' is going to be an overnight squillionaire.But generally, it's just fear that holds us back. Fear of rejection, fear of criticism and fear of failure.They're not unique to artists... but maybe artists have to deal with these fears in greater amounts than butchers, bakers and candlestick makers.Being rejected by a gallery hurts. It's a setback. Being criticised for the quality of your art hurts a lot. Feeling like we've failed can be a pain that takes a long time to go away.But the truth is each challenge we face as artists tends to be overblown. In reality, a rejection from a gallery means what? It means that exactly one person didn't like our art enough to exhibit it.That's not the end of the world. There are thousands of galleries.It's fear that holds us back. It's fear that stops us from taking the next step, reaching the next level, becoming better at our art and our business.Break it down. Learn to see fear for what it really is. No matter what artistic setback you suffer it really doesn't mean that much. We all face the similar setbacks. You can let them cripple you... or learn to confront and overcome them.You can paralyse yourself with just two words. They can destroy your dreams. The words are, "what if...?"What if people don't like my art?What if people don't buy my paintings?What if a gallery rejects my submission?Well here's two replacement words.."So what?".It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

Tony Moffit’s Art World
http://tonymoffitt.blogspot.com/
Thanks for Helping to show us the way

Heads up

This is my latest finished head sculpture strait out of the glaze kiln this morning he is about

(10” x 8” x 8”) made of hi fire sculpture caly.

"Johnny"

(10" x 8" x8")

June 2009

Happy face

I have just finished this painting in time to get it ship down to Wellington for the end of term exhibition.

"Kenny"
Acrylics on canvas (20"x 24")

June 2009

Yellow Lillie

Well it’s Thursday again and I’m playing with my soft pastels again. This is a close crop of a yellow Lillie it is done in soft pastels on a terra cotta Mi-Teintes wrong side

"Yellow Lillie"

soft pastels on a terra cotta Mi-Teintes wrong side ( 8”x10”)

It's good

It’s just good to get up early jump in the van and go for a long drive to meet up with a group of like minded people with the same interest. Spending 4 or 5 hours with them shearing time, ideas and lunch, in the end your drive away with a buzz and your batteries recharged and a new lease of life to get on with your own projects.

A new still life pastel

It was great to find the time to get out and play with my pastels again. This still life of fruit was done on a dark green colorfix board. I was going to blend but I like the thing that was happening with the dark background showing through the broken colour so I use no blending at all.

"Two red apples and pears"

Soft pastels on A4 Green colorfix board

A Week of Life Drawing

What a great week I have just had 20th – 24th April five days of total immersion in high energy life drawing. I was lucky to take part in a block course run by TLC in Te Aroha with 13 other people, the tutor was Christina Earl a lovely lady full of beans and high energy. Over the five days we had three different models (Sally, Christine and Tina) who worked hard and injected more energy in to the mix. We were drawing from 9.30 to 4.30 each day, learning life drawing techniques i.e. left and right handed blind contour, positive and negative space block drawing, line weight drawing, weighted block drawing, drawing with other mediums and drawing, painting implements, by the end of the week there was more than a few of us that could hardly lift our arms above our heads but it was still an amazing week and I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to take part in it.

The 22nd World Wide SketchCrawl

Yesterday I took part in my first World Wide SketchCrawl. A sketch crawl is were a date is picked and on that date people all around the world set out in groups or solo and draw for the day and post the results up on the World Wide SketchCrawl website

I went to the Auckland Domain here are my pics I did.

The Dust did Fly

Just spent the weekend on a two day pastel workshop the tutor for the workshop was Lyn Diefenbach. She is a highly regarded and award winning pastel artist from Australia, and she Came to New Zealand to do a number of workshops, the main one being at the Pastel ConventionLyn is a great tutor, on the Saturday she explained the 4 thing that make up a painting plus the 10 thing you need to make a strong painting. Then she did a demo on sky’s and clouds. And then we had time to complete a painting for ourselves with her coming around and offering constructive help. Sunday Lyn started with a demo on waves and again we had time to complete a painting for ourselves. In the afternoon we had a talk and Lyn did another demo this time on trees

All in all it was a great weekend and a brilliant workshop

Here are the pastel paintings I did

Clouds soft pastels on Rose grey Colorfix board (7”x 16”)

Sea scape soft pastels on Rose grey Colorfix board (14”x 5”)

First Pastel Portrait from Life

Well it’s Thursday again and I’m playing with my soft pastels again. We had a model come in and sit for us today it’s a bit harder to work for life as you are very conscious of the time you have to work in, I must admit it was kinda fun

Soft pastel on chocolate Mi-Teintes wrong side A3

The year is on the move

Wow it April 1st, this year ha defiantly got a gallop on its just going so fast,Well today I got stuck in and finished the abstract painting I have been working on it is in the style of Ben Nicholson

Acrylics on canvas (16”x 20”)

March 2009

Practicing Portraits

Yesterday I decided to practice some portraits so got out my pastels a played and did the portrait of the young boy Vincent, and today I did the portrait of the young girl Victoria“Vincent”
Soft Pastels on light blue grey Fabriano pastel paper (8"x 10")

“Victoria”
Soft Pastels on light blue grey Fabriano pastel paper (8"x 10")

Would not dry haha

Just finished these two flow paintings the first one I tried I experimented with adding stuff to the paint to make it dry slower and flow freer you could say the I achieved my goal in as much that the acrylic paint did not dry for 4 weeks

“Reds, Green and Yellow on white”
Acrylics on canvas (16”x 20”)
March 2009
“Blue, Red, Yellow and white on Blue”
Acrylics on canvas (16”x 12”)
March 2009

Ugly Duckling Not

Thursday again goody time to play with the pastel again, I tried a different pastel paper too I think I will have to practice with it some more the pastel goes on it quite differently, so I will try it some more times before I make a decision one way or the other.

Soft Pastels on light blue grey Fabriano pastel paper (8"x 10")

Dog's Life

This is an acrylic painting i just finished it is of a golden Lab called Hannah it's from a photo ref for D/S

"Hannah the Lab"

Acrylics on canvas (16"x 20")

March 2009

First Pastel Portrait

Thursday again made time to play with pastels again it is real fun.

This is my first real try at doing a portrait in soft pastels. The likeness is there and I like it.

Soft pastel on blue Mi-Teintes wrong side (10”x8”)

A Day out of Town

Yesterday I got up early and loaded up my van with art stuff and drove south for about 2 hours to a small life style farm block in the country where a friend have her art studio which she opens up to us. A group of artist that meet up once a month to talk, catch up and do some of our art, it is a large studio in a lovely place set in the shadow of the mountain, trees and live stock running around and it has a nice tranquil feel about the place. Spent about 5 hours together had lunch, it’s was a really great time.

Soft pastel on blue Mi-Teintes wrong side (10”x8”)

Flood painting

I have been experimenting with colour and flow of paint. With the right combinations of colour they can turn out bright and fun there is a very random out come to the finished painting, but even using acrylic paint they can still take quite a wile to dry.

Flow Ab "Red, Black and white"

Acrylics on canvas (16"x12")

March 2009

Flow Ab "Red and Green, Purple and White"

Arcylics on canvas (16"x12")

March 2009

yellow lilie on blue

Well it’s Thursday again and I’m playing with my soft pastels again. I must admit I do kinda like them more the more that I play with them.

Soft pastel on blue Mi-Teintes wrong side (8”x10”)

Bush walk

It Tuesday morning and you get up tired, you have so much on the go that the thought of it all and were to start just over whelms you. So you do nothing this is not good you need to do something. So after walking around with your head no were worrying about what you are not doing you make a decision that you are going to take the time and go get some trees studies and photo reference of trees and texture so you get your digital camera and dog and off to the local bush walk. It is amazing how taking the time to look at the trees and listen to the bird song high up in the tree canopy will recharge you, so 2 hour later and about 100 ref pics later you ready to start some work.

Green apples on red

Well its beginning to look like Thursday are going to be play with pastels day and yesterday was no exception

Soft pastel on Mi-Teintes wrong side (10”x8”)

A Great Sunday Morning

Wow its March 1st this year seem to really have its skates on.

Some people don’t like big cities, but I think they do have some things going for them. Take this morning (Sunday morning) for a start were but in the city can you go into town on the motorway find parking for free, have brunch in the street in the sun, them walk in to an Art shop and browse for an hour or so, and buy your art surplice.
No! That got to be a great way to spend a nice sunny Sunday morning.

Pastel today

It’s been a good week been play with acrylic washes and acrylic flow painting lovely and messy but today I have been playing with my pastels again I seem to be enjoying them the more I play with them

Soft pastel on Mi-Teintes wrong side (10”x8”)

What a brilliant way to spend a Saturday get up late go to three different art supplies shop talking and buying art supplies come home have lunch, then spend the rest of the day sitting out in the sun in the garden play with my pastel some of the ones I got this morning, Just great

Soft pastel on blue Mi-Teintes wrong side (10”x8”)

Today I have been playing with my soft pastel, started out try different colours back grounds ended up doing this little landscape sketch.

Soft pastel on blue Mi-Teintes wrong side (8”x10”)

Wednesday afternoon are back to normal my art group has started up again. It was nice to catch up with some old faces that I have not seen since the end of last term did not get a lot of work done in the 3 hours plenty of talking. Walking around and laughing I did get to try something.

Roses are Red

Ok it February 14th time for all those chubby little babies with bows and magic arrows to be out and about looking for the unaware, Valentines day were love is in the air. Me be being a nice guy decided to do a painting for my wife, so yesterday I shut myself in my studio to get on with it, my wife worked it out that I was doing some thing for her, I have never had so many cups of tea made and brought down to my studio on the pretence of trying to see her painting.

Got to love her for trying.

Happy Valentines Day

“Roses are Red”
Acrylics on ( 8”x16”) Stretched Canvas
Feb 2009

Sand Dunes print

Oh well I suppose that now I have started this I should put some thing up now and again, over the last week or so I have been doing a lot of large nude studies in acrylic washes they have been a lot of fun.

But today I got up and felt I would like to do something different so started in to do some printmaking,

Collaghaphs
I built the plait up with texture compound on matt board
Size 51/2 “x 61/2’
W/B ink, mixed Orange and mixed Brown
Hand burnishes for both colours
200g paper


I'm not unhappy with the proof print I think it has alot going for it.

Ok it’s the 1st of the month time to start some new projects, this blog being the first so here is my first blog.

Now all I have to do is make time to try and keep it up plus make it of some interest to other who may read this.

I have a fair few goals for February that I would like to achieve so I will go and start them and keep you all posted.