Lymm in Cheshire. Pastel on Paper. (1986)

This was a painting in pastel I sold recently to an old school friend of mine who now lives in London. It was a cold, but beautifully clear Boxing day and very calm, when I decided to pack my equipment in the car and look around for something to paint. I had Lymm in mind because it is an attractive village close to home. So I didn't have far to travel. Although I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for other than to capture something of the buildings close to the Bridgewater canal. I couldn't find anywhere to position my easel without causing a problem for people shopping and of course having to paint the road with all of its traffic, which tends to be quite bad for such a small village so far from the motorway, and with only one major road running close by. Then again, it was Boxing day, and most people would be still at home. I found this spot to work, which has a broad pavement leaving plenty of room for people to pass without bumping into me. The stream over which the buildings are perched is in a gully, and because it is narrow you cannot see it from here. Nevertheless, I had a good view of the buildings if only from the back. It took me two long days to complete and is quite large for a pastel painting.

Self Portrait in Oils (1984)

This self portrait was not created on iPad. It's for real. A painting I did when in my mid-thirties, in oils. I was; and still am to a degree, influence by the impressionists. Although Cezanne made more of an impression on me than anyone at the time, hence the planes of colour on my face with which I was attempting to model my features... Or should that be modulate? I still cannot understand what he meant by that exactly, but the planes of complementary colours do appear to provide a more chiseled appearance to my face. Accentuating my cheek bones and rather large nose. Not that I could produce anything quite so exotic as Cezanne; or ever hope to match his style, but then I put this down to the fact that I was still trying to hone my technique. To produce something that was more unique to me.

Abstract Painting on iPad

I love working in the modern abstract style. Essentially for the fact that I can work with great speed on iPad, even though it takes me a good half hour or more to complete each painting. The reason for this is down to the fact that I am experimenting with fresh new ideas, and am having to feel my way along. I enjoy coming across those happy chance finds that take the work in a completely different direction every few minutes or so. The image above is a landscape with two rather exotic looking trees in it. Although it was not my initial intention to create a landscape, as I progress I sometimes begin to see shapes that have something a passing resemblance to what I have seen in nature. The following images are four more that I did today.

Video of some of my other work on iPad

 

My paintings on iPad are very experimental, and although nearly all the work you see on this video is abstract I am merely exploring what can be achieved using my app, 'ArtRage.' By playing with the tools I have learned so much, both technically and stylistically. Sufficiently enough that is, to use this knowledge to advance my studio work... The paintings I am working on in reality.

Portrait of Gandalf on iPad

I painted this after seeing a photograph of Ian McKellen dressed as Gandalf in 'The Hobbit.' However, rather than attempt to copy it from the photograph I decided to turn him around. To see him in profile.

Stage 1

The intention was to reduce the general hues and tones to a minimum without making it look too schematic. Although I began him in silhouette using the watercolour brush on ArtRage, and only in black because I find it the easiest way to capture the outline of the figure.

Stage 2

With the Eraser I then cut into this to arrive at a more satisfactory outline. Then tried to capture something of a likeness to McKellen's features, with his beard. Not that it looks anything like him but that didn't particularly concern me.

Stage 3

At this stage I decided to change the colour of the background and add a few splashes of light pink to it, to lift out the figure.

 

Stage 4

As I went to full completion I decided to throw in a few zig zag lines in black. I don't know why, but it seemed to work for some unearthly reason.

Portrait of Cate Blanchett on iPad

The problem with painting a beautiful woman from a photograph such as the one you see here of Cate Blanchett, is the same as with painting a small child. Their features often lack sufficient character; like you would see on a man or an older woman, to enable you to give their faces any depth. Although thankfully, the photographer who took the image I copied the actor's face from provided her with plenty of shadow. Sufficient that is, to highlight her high cheekbones and firm, broad nose. Both of which would have probably been lost had he flooded her face with too much light.

Stage 1

I began the portrait by blocking in the colours to establish the form of her head and position her eyes, nose, and mouth in their correct places. Her left ear on the other hand, began to look too prominent since she had lifted her hair above her head to expose her ear fully, which would have stood out even more against the white background once I had painted it in.

Stage 2

As I continued to blend the colours and fill in the details it soon became clear to me that the white background had to go: which was easy enough to change by using the paint pot and simply touching the surface of the iPad with my stylus.

 Stage 3

It was at this stage however, that I made a mistake. Just as I was eliminating the peculiar looking shapes  above her forehead; to replace them with more natural looking hair, I touched the surface with my stylus whilst still using the paint pot. Her ear, as you can see from the image below all but disappeared, and the background colour merged with the shadows on her face. This I liked, and decided to continue on rather than correct my mistake.

Stage 4

The final stage involved painting in part of her neck and softening the lines of her hair while lightening the background again, and working on the face a little more.

 

I am pleased with the result because it appears now that her face is emerging from the background. Thrusting it forwards rather than having to darken the shadows on her face merely to give her head more form. Besides which, it saved me the task of filling in all the other details, and probably overworking the image.

Portrait of a Basset Hound on iPad.

This is a portrait of a basset hound I copied from a book. A book I have, amongst several others for reference purposes. The object of the exercise in this instance, was to assess how close the pastel tool on ArtRage was to that of actual pastel. Having used this medium in the past on many a portrait. To my amazement it not only matched pastel in terms of texture, but with the aid of the palette knife it also blended with other colours in just the same way had I used my fingers.

Although you can paint with your fingers on iPad it is not touch sensitive. You have to rely on the tools available on your app to achieve what you want.

The first stage is relatively advanced because I didn't think of keeping a record during the initial development. Nevertheless I began by blocking in the colours, making sure I had the position of the eyes and general shape of the dog's jaw and teeth just right in relationship with the rest of its head.

The next stage I sharpened up the details and added a few whiskers to his nose.

In the third stage I decided to remove the rather bright yellow patch of fur from under his jaw, and added some pastel to the background.

The final stage involved adding a line of bright hairs just beneath his chin and lightening the colour of the background paper slightly.

ArtRage has a good selection of papers on it's app, along with various canvases of different texture.