Sketches on the bus, train and tube in December IV

These are last of the sketches for 2010. I hope to be inspired by more wonderful looking people on the tube, train and bus. London is a place where you can see almost every type of face from all over the world from all works of life! The opportunity to sketch from life is amazing and by God's grace, I hope to keep this going in 2011!
Enjoy!

MAKING A MARK AWARDS-Adebanji wins The Painting Plein Air Plus Award 2010

Painting in the cold snow around Chelsea- painting in progress, notice the bits with sketchy marks-once I got the sketch right, I just painted shape by shape till I covered the whole piece. I'll be posting the full details of this piece in the New Year.

I'm so happy to end the year with an Award that I really cherish. Earlier this year I won the Chelsea Riverside Competition, organised by Heatherley's School of Fine Art, Chelsea and The Cheyne walk Trust- The whole exhibition was put in place to raise funds for the Schools Bursary Award Scheme. I also won the prize for the Best London Scene at the Chelsea Art Society's 100th Annual exhibition- This Award is donated annually and it's called The Agnes Reeve Memorial for a painting of London. To end the year I got an Award called The Painting Plein Air Plus Award- by MAKING A MARK-This award is for excellence in plein air painting plus a strong commitment to sharing information. I was nominated for this award by Sheona Hamilton Grant, who said, "I would like to recommend Adebanji Alade for the Painting Plein Air Plus Award. His talent, enthusiasm and sustained sharing are brilliant. For these reasons, I really do believe he merits winning this award with flying colours."- You can read the full article on the award by clicking HERE


It's been a wonderful year for me indeed and my heart goes up in praise and thanks to God for keeping me HEALTHY all year through- no one can buy that with money!



Adebanji painting No 97.-Rainy Day, London Road, Reflections from Grosvenor Place




No 97.-Rainy Day, London Road, Reflections from Grosvenor Place



Evening Light, From Battersea Bridge, 24" x 30", Oil on Board, 2010- Won the Chelsea Riverside Competition.




Evening Light, Charing Cross Road, Watercolour with hints of mixed media, 2009-Won the Agnes Reeve Memorial Award for a Painting of London.

3 London Scenes, Oil on Board, 6" x 8", 2010

These are 3 small oil paintings I did in October this year.


Raking Light, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy(SOLD), 6" x 8", Oil on board, 2010
Beautiful light in a very busy street in Mayfair London.


Rain Effect Towards Trafalgar Square (SOLD),8" x 6", Oil on board, 2010
Sensational grey day reflections!


Rain Effect, Charing Cross Station, 6" x 8", Oil on Board, 2010
Red bus reflections on a rainy day, typical London!

Sketches on the bus, train and tube in December III

Sketches of people, people I may never see again, the documentation is a lifetime exercise. The people are passing by, they leave their mark on my pad and my mind. In one of the sketches a woman is asleep, yet she smiles as if the tube is her beloved bed, in another I'm sketching myself, now, why do I look so intense? There's another lady, her hair covers half of her face with her hands on her head-is this a headache, pain or just a massage-the line captures them all in a direct manner not minding the fellow onlooking passengers who can't bear their shock at me sketching in such crowded circumstances. Lol! This is it! The passion lives on!

Highlights from the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Open Painting Evening

It was another great evening with members painting along side non-members. As usual we had three models to paint and the whole scenario was electric!


This is the finished version of the model I painted on the night.


Because of the weather this year we had to leave 40 minutes before the usual time, but that was no hindrance as the works produced were all great, with each having an individual touch in flowing alla prima!



This is my palette set up for the painting above while in progress. I finished the rest at home from a photo.


These are few pictures taken on the night, I couldn't take as much as I used to, as time was against us.


DAVID CURTIS


David's palette!


David's final stage of the model- I'm sure he'll finish up later on, like I did.

DAVID PILGRIM


David with his winning piece for the night!! It won him £150 worth of Art materials from Winsor & Newton. Congratulations David!! This is another award well deserved!



David receives his prize from Peter Wileman PROI



LUCY McKIE


This is how it looked after 30 minutes, I love her gradual build up!


BILL DEAN


This is a smashing piece of 99 year old Chelsea Pensioner, Joe Britain by Bill.



DAVID NEWENS


David's set up.



David at work. He is a perfectionist, even when working from life!



ROGER DELLAR



Roger at work


Roger knocked this off, only after 30 minutes!!!!!


LUIS MORRIS


Luis working on his self Portrait-It was used for a demo earlier on the day.



Luis Palette-note the number of colours- not so many, but he always produces loads of mixtures from this simple palette!


Luis at work!


Luis' painting on the night-I love the sense of space!


TITUS AGBARA


Titus with his painting


This is Titus' painting box- look out for those alkyd oil paints- he uses the fast drying colours- NB-He paints only with various palette knives.



Titus' painting at the end of the session.

3 London Scenes, Oil on board, 8" x 10", 2010

Still playing catch up, these are 3 oils I did in October.


Summerlight National Portrait Gallery (SOLD), 8" x 10", oil on board, 2010

My favourite gallery in London- if you love portraits- you could go in here and study all day long, they've got improved software to understand and have full knowledge about all the portraits in their collection.



Summerlight St Martins in the Field (SOLD), 8" x 10", oil on board, 2010

This is a spot I always love to peep through, because of the lovely shadows the trees and buildings cast on the ground on a hot summers day!


3 Black Cabs Upper Martins Lane(SOLD), 8" x 10", oil on board, 2010

This street always has Black Cabs going up and down, just like the typical West End Streets.

Sketches on the train, tube and bus in December II

These are more from my catch up, from sketching on public transport- The thing about these exercises is it really helps increase one's skill in being able to record fleeting moments in a short space of time, something really essential for the plein air painter too. It is a skill and can be acquired with constant good practice. But it does take time to develop over the years. I started doing this in 2004 and looking back, and covering hundreds of sketchbook pages, it has the profound ability to improve one's eye and hand co-ordination-something essential for all representational artists today! That's the whole essence of the popularity of Life Drawing, whether from long or short poses.

Sketches on the bus, train and tube in December I

This is will forever be a constant practice for me. People on public transport! Draw, sketch, draw, sketch.......never stop, never give up!