Nocturnes, Night Plein Air painting in London (No 2)

This is another nocturne plein air I have done in London. This particular one was done on 2, 10" x 8" boards. I started off the first one then I thought it didn't justify the scene, so I decided to add another 10" x 8" board to it.

Trafalgar Square at Night, 20" x 8", Oil on board

 These are some other shots of the painting session in progress.

The First session in progress.

As I must have mentioned before, painting at night is a brilliant exercise, the light remains constant and if you've got great surrounding light around from street lamps and possibly a head lamp- the job at hand would be made much easier!

At this point I had added the second board.

Some people have often asked how I get my pictures taken. Well, while painting in London, so many people stand and watch for hours while the painting is in progress, a lot of people love to take pictures too, especially tourists. It's from these folk that I politely ask for them to take me a picture too. I show them exactly what I want and they are always more than willing to help. When I don't see these guys, I basically keep asking until someone agrees. I have also devised a plan of taking myself, I used this technique while Painting in Bath but they normally make me look a bit foreshortened. But they are better than not having a picture at all.

This is the finished piece with the scene

The Pochade box I am using was made by Guerilla Painter, this particular one is the 6" x 8" Thumbox. It has some extensions that make it also useful for 8" x 10" work.

SPECIAL QUOTE

"Areas of light can occur as pinpoints in a night scene, such as streetlights or car headlights, or as a broad pane of light in the window of a house, so it is necessary to carefully compose using them. It is easy to end up with a piece that looks spotty, with points of light scattered in a disjointed way all over the painting. Design with the thought of how the viewer’s eye will move through the piece.

Remember that the area where the lightest light and the darkest dark come closest together will draw the eye first and become the focal point of the piece. Sometimes in a dark painting the largest area of light will become the focal point, such as a large window where the light pours out. Be sure that in either of these cases that the visual pathway formed by any other points of light compliments and reinforces this focal point, rather than drawing the eye away.

Light areas in a night painting are the perfect place to use exciting colors, such as the sulphur yellow and lime green of the lighted square in Van Gogh’s painting. The contrast of dark surrounding the light accentuates it, making it a special feature of your painting. Different kinds of bulbs cast light of varying hues. Incandescent bulbs are warm and yellowish, fluorescent light is generally cool and neon light is intense.

All bright lights at night have a slight halo, a softening of the edges where the light seems to hang in the air. The night air is somewhat moist and this vapor holds the light inside it. The larger the light and the wetter the night, the bigger the halo tends to be. Technically you can achieve this effect by saving an area in the dark plane where the light will be, then laying in a medium color, perhaps a red, and blending it slightly into the surrounding darkness. Then add a layer of a medium-light color, depending on the color of the light itself, and allow the color beneath to show at the edges. A final touch of the lightest color in the center, usually very light yellow or white, simulates the brilliance of the light shining in the darkness."- From an Article on Night Painting (source not mentioned) (c) Deborah Christensen Secor

Elected as An Associate Member of The Royal Institute of Oil Painters (The Journey)

My journey and passion with Oil colour started while I was at Yaba College of Technology between 1992-1997. It was where I discovered this wonderful medium, up till then I had only painted in water based media.

ROI 2007- The painting Rush Hour III won the First Prize in the Winsor & Newton Under 35 Category. 

I can't remember the exact year but something tells me it was in 1993! I heard a lot about the prolific painters in the Higher National Diploma classes while I was doing my National Diploma in General Art, from other art students in my class. They told me to ask politely to get a chance to watch them paint! I tried peeping through the windows first, but the windows were too high up! One day, a day that would be the day I got "trapped" in this medium was an afternoon when so many of these guys were painting pictorial compositions directly from sketches they had composed from life and imagination in their sketchbooks. They had massive palettes all placed out with juicy blobs of oil colour pressed out on them in a very orderly manner. Some of them had also mixed all the tones of each of the colours they were going to use to paint! The smell in the room was terrific! Turps and Linseed reeked in the whole place! I saw these guys absorbed completely in their paintings with various sized hog brushes bashing against their large canvases, the least sized canvas in the studio was a 24" by 36". These guys were bold with colour!! I was allowed to sit at the back and watch for a while, until I couldn't hold it again! I just shouted, "SEE COLOUR!!!"- which was a Nigerian way of saying, LOOK AT THOSE WONDERFUL COLOURS!!! That was it! From then, they would nickname me, "See Colour". That was the day I would decide to specialize in Painting! That was the day I got hooked on Oil Colour!

It's 20 years since I got introduced to the medium and I remember doing my first Oil painting in 1994 or there about. I accepted a commission to do 3 Oil paintings and I had never used the medium. I took up the challenge, gave it my best shot and my friend who commissioned me to do the work, paid me N800. That would be about £8.00 in today's Pound Sterling! But N800 was a great bonus for me and I went on to sell more work and win major art competitions where I was awarded N15,000(£100) in 1996! So I was thrilled with my improvement!

ROI 2008- Felt really great, My painting Rush Hour IV was hung in the main gallery next to Past President- Dennis Syrett's painting!!

Then in 1999 I came back to London, where I was born, to continue my life and see if I could further my career.  But when I came over it was a total shock! The culture shock was too much for me to handle! I went to the job centre in search of something I could do and it was a great disappointment!  I couldn't get to do anything but menial jobs, so while doing menial jobs-I decided never to stop sketching even if I couldn't get back to painting.  I later volunteered to share my art skills with homeless people at St Mungos in 1999 and I did that for 6 months after which I got a temporary job there.  I later got a permanent job working with homeless people from 2001-2008. I would one day become full time painter in 2008, till date!

 When I got enough money to buy my first set of oil colours in the UK, I was so pleased, that would have been around 2000 or 2001. Then the magic started again! I started painting portraits and I started getting commissions too, in oil!

In 2003 I decided to do a Diploma in Portraiture at the Heatherley's School of Fine Art in Chelsea. There, the tutors enlightened me greatly on how to mix and use oil colour properly, more than I had ever known before. Alongside this, I would buy loads of instructional books on Oil painting- The Best being Alla Prima, everything I know about Oil Painting by Richard Schmid. It was an Artist called Z. S. Liang that recommended the book to me after contacting him for advice on how to kick start my Oil painting on another level and I must say, this book completely gave me everything I needed to know about the usage of this medium. I don't know how many times I have read it, I still read it every now and then, it is a book one can refer to in a life time. The only thing I am yet to do in it, is the almighty colour charts, which my painter friend David Pilgrim cracked and he is now a Full Member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. 

ROI 2009- Great feeling again as my Painting , "Summer Light, Clapham Common wins The Artist Magazine Award!

Immediately I left Heatherley's I decided to take up entering into competitions and open exhibitions at the Mall Galleries. The first society that I got my work into was the Pastel Society, in 2006! Then I got into the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and the Royal Society of British Artists! I was so pleased that I finally tried the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 2006. I was encouraged to take part because in 2005, one of the students from my Portrait class at Heatherley's won the 2nd or 3rd Prize in the Under 35 category. So I put in 2 works but none got in! I wasn't discouraged because one of them had a D, which means it was judged and then rejudged before it didn't make it into the final selection.



So I thought if I could get a D in my first attempt, I'll do much better work and see what would happen. In 2007, I entered 2 paintings: one of a Homeless guy and one of my Rush Hour Paintings. The Homeless Painting was Rejected BUT The RUSH HOUR painting was accepted and won the First Prize in the Under 35 category! I was over the moon! That was the first time I would get  a painting into the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Exhibition and the last time I would be able to compete in the Under 35 category. It was a great boost for me to win and ever since then up till 2012, I have exhibiting regularly with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.

ROI 2010- My painting at Norfolk was one of the paintings I did in my First Instructional DVD! You can get a copy of it with Town House Films.

In 2009 I was made a Provisional member and then in 2012 at the Annual General Meeeting after the December show I was elected an Associate Member! The journey has been long since I first discovered the medium and I am so glad to be associated with such a prestigious society!

ROI 2011-Great feeling again as my painting of "The Face of Homelessness, Kings Road" is one of the first to sell, even before the Private View starts!

I am also thrilled to be taking part in my first exhibition as an Associate member in April this year, at the A K Wilson Gallery. I'll update you with the details when the time is near.

ROI 2012- Great feeling as my painting "The Face of Homelessness, Earls Court" gets hung in the main gallery alongside Roger Dellar, A prolific painter and member of the RI and PS.

SPECIAL QUOTE
"Never ever give up! You might be down today, feeling low, but don't let that feeling affect your tomorrow!"-Adebanji Alade

Nocturnes, Night plein air painting in London (No 1)

The next few posts will highlight a few plein air paintings I have done in London (mainly the Chelsea area, around my studio) and also interjected with a few day time ones and my post on being selected as an Associate Member of the ROI and also being featured in the METRO Newspaper on the 22nd of January with an article on Pintar Rapido.

It's been a great year so far!!

Night Reflections under Albert Bridge, 10" x 8", Oil on Board

TO BUY THIS PAINTING PLEASE CLICK HERE

This one in particular was painted near Albert Bridge. Albert Bridge is has a great view at night, but in this piece I really wanted to concentrate on the still reflections at night.

Adebanji painting at night, Albert Bridge

This piece was done over two sittings. Working at night is quite tricky. But it helps when one has all the right equipment, like an good head lamp or torch, tilted at the right angle and also working under a street lamp. Sufficient light is very important.

This was how it looked after the first sitting. I stopped when the lights on Albert Bridge went out, it came rather as a shock, as I didn't know the lights went out!

It is also necessary to have a good understanding of values. I think more in terms of values, as temperature and hues can be very deceiving in the dark. There's always an element of surprise when one gets back to studio but I enjoy that bit, you never know what to expect! It definitely looks different under studio lighting!

Completed piece after the second sitting

SPECIAL QUOTE
"I often think the the night is more and more richly coloured than the day."-Vincent Van Gogh

The Face of Homelessness Sloane Square

This is a another guy in my series of the "Face of Homelessness"- meeting Steve and getting to know his story of how he was homeless and has now been able to get accommodation is a very uplifting one!
He sells the Big Issue at Sloane Square and I have sketched him on a number of occasions.

In this painting, I wanted to capture to look in his eyes. It's the main thing that brings out his character as a very genuine chap.  As with the other posts in this series, I have worked with The Zorn Palette-which consists of Titanium White, Yellow Orche, Cadmium Red and Ivory Black.

I have worked on this piece in one sitting in Alla Prima and I took some stage shots during the process. These stage shots are definitely not a step by step process but they are just stages at which the painting developed.

It was hard getting the right colours of this painting with my camera and if I am able to get a better picture a later date, I will surely adjust the one below.

The Face of Homelessness Sloane Square, Oil on board, 12" x 16", 2012

Sketch of Steve

Adebanji sketching Steve

Steve with the sketch

Stage 1- Here I have toned the canvas with a light mixture of yellow orche and black, and I do a bit of plotting lines to help with the positioning of the portrait. The canvas has been divided into four parts with diagonals in each rectangle.

Stage 2- I start the sketch with the swift use of a mongoose brush dipped into paint and Liquin to help it dry fast.  All those sketchy arrows just show the direction I'll be painting the background strokes in, to lead the viewers eye into the centre of interest-"his eyes"

Stage 3- Here I start using the shape by shape method of "inside out"-starting from one place inside the face and gradually moving out.

Stage 4- The face was almost complete at this stage and I began to have a sense of the whole piece at this stage

Stage 5- With the face completed, I gradually move to the background  to see how it works with the face and I'm quite pleased.

Stage 6-I continue with the background on the left following the directions,  I had plotted earlier in the preliminary sketch

Stage 7- This is the final stage where I take stock, I think  I got a bit of the anatomy wrong on the right side of his cheek, but after a few struggles which remained unresolved, I had to leave it to a later date.

 SPECIAL QUOTE
"Very early in life, I fell in love with the landscape of the human face, where all the emotional states of life are to be found, and that affair has not faltered"-Burton Silverman

The Face of Homelessness, London Bridge

This is another guy I encountered at London Bridge. He was actually begging inside London Bridge Station and this isn't allowed. Sometimes the homeless get away with it. So I didn't have much time to stay with him before he was moved on by the Travel Police.

The Face of Homelessness, London Bridge, 12" x 12", Oil on Board, 2012

 He had the kind of face that I always love to paint and explore. I started this by doing 3 studies from random close shots I took from different angles, to see which one I would love to expand on.

3 studies for the Face of Homelessness, London Bridge,- I just decided to play around with shapes, temperature, drawing and a bit of colour planning. This was purely an experiment and the freedom here helped me to get fired up for the main piece. In some ways I enjoyed  the fluidity here than the way I approached the main piece.

Once I finished these studies, I was able to make up my mind on which one to work on.

These are a few stage shots. The photos are not that clear but at least shows a bit of my procedure here.

Stage 1- I started this piece very tentatively, I wasn't really sure on what method to use in my approach.  So  I started playing around with values, as if I working with pastel. In fact, I would have just stopped here, because I really liked the statement of his face. I think everything I needed to say had been said here! But I couldn't resist completing it, probably to the death of the piece......Sometimes I guess it just right to know when to stop!

Stage 2- Here, things begin to make more sense. I seem to have resolved the face and I'm tempted to leave the under-painting as the face average tone. I think it works so well with the rest of the applications. Up till now, because I am still trying to work things out, I don't use thick paint as usual but thinned paint.

Stage 3- This is the final stage- I  switch from thin to thick  here and  I  paint shape by shape-until the whole surface is covered with thick paint. I work in some calligraphic strokes into the background -these strokes have words on homelessness worked into the background.

I am using the Zorn Palette here, which consists of Titanium White, Yellow Orche, Cadmium Red and Ivory Black. I am working on a Masonite board toned with a warm orange tint.

SPECIAL QUOTE
"I cannot  stress enough that the answer to life's problems is in peoples faces. Try putting your IPhones  down once in a while, and look in people's faces. Peoples faces will tell you amazing things. Like if they are angry, nauseous or asleep."-Amy Poehler

The Face of Homelessness Kings Road II

 To start off this post, I  have some good news I can't keep to myself, even though I'm going to do a separate post on this later, but I'm pleased to announce that I was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters!!  It was an early Christmas present-as I got a phone call from The President on Sunday the 23rd of December, last year (I just had to chip this in)....;0) and received a confirmation letter this week from the Secretary!

The Face of Homelessness Kings Road II, Oil on Board, 2012

I'm continuing this year with my project on the Face of Homelessness Series that I started last year. I still have a few more to post. In these pieces, I normally show my painting process and this particular painting has a slightly different approach. I am used to painting  with the "inside-out" method, in which I just start from a particular point inside the painting and then spread out. But in this painting, I adopted the "outside-in" method, I have started from the outside areas and then I have finished off, inside. This method is a more Traditional way of approaching Oil painting. In which one starts with Lean colour (Oil colour  mixed with more mineral spirits or turps and less Linseed Oil) and then gradually finishing off with Fat colour(Oil Colour mixed with more Linseed Oil or just pure Oil Colour straight from the Tube and less Turps or mineral spirits).

Richard with the Sketch I did of him, in Oil Base Pencil

I have painted this guy before, click HERE to see. This is my second attempt. Above, is a picture of Richard with the sketch I did in Oil Base Pencil.

Stage 1-without any definite drawing, I go straight into this head with  paint and turps, the paint is almost watercolour like. The ability to sketch freely helps here, as all the proportions and measurements are quickly assumed while painting.  I start with light values and increase them as I go along. This method reveals a lot about the versatility of oil. If I wasn't planning to take this further, I would have loved to just stop here! I love the bleeding and dripping and lean oil application. Everything is attacked. In other words, the full painting is seen almost right from the start. It's a good method to use but I really enjoy painting shape by shape more, as it makes me full of anticipation of how it will all come out to be. 

Stage 2- this is the stage where I switch from lean to fat. you can see the difference in application around the eye and cheek areas. I already have a base to work on, so it's easier to pull the strokes on the solid underpainting done below.

Stage 3-Here I attack his hair, it's the most precious part of the painting. His hair is what drew me to him in the first place and I really pound on pure oil with vigorous strokes here. Each stroke is placed with keen observation and also with a flair of emotion, I always like the interesting parts, like his hair, to tell a story. So, I forget I'm painting hair and just feel I'm painting rugged branches on an old tree. It takes me away from thinking normal!

Stage 4-With the hair completed, I take on a bit of the background with  strokes to echo  a bit of the texture in his hair.  I could have stopped here too, but I couldn't resist working on his beard with thick colour too!

Stage 5- Finally I complete the background with some words and calligraphy  embedded into the  background . These words are positive words to overcome homelessness. Lest I forget. The whole painting was done with the Zorn Palette-(Titanium White, Yellow Orche, Cadmium Red and Ivory Black)

This is a picture of the painting in progress with the palette and  mixtures.

SPECIAL QUOTE
"You get motivated by doing things, not thinking about them. Action gets you excited and action reveals opportunity. Take the plunge".- Andrew Matthews

MAKING A MARK AWARDS- Adebanji wins The Travel with a Sketchbook Trophy 2012

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 1

It's a great way to start the year and I see this year as a fresh sketchbook page spread- ready to be filled up with abundant creativity! There's really nothing as great as looking at the pages of a brand new sketchbook! When I see a fresh page, it makes me tick, and I just feel like filling it up! It's a great feeling! Looking back at my old sketchbooks, brings back all the experiences of each sketch made, what attracted me to do the sketch and it helps to track my own personal development. Moreover, filled, in my mind, is an inventory of thousands of faces, I've sketched in the year 2012!

Making a Mark has always given out awards to bloggers in the Art field and I really cherish this particular Award because it's what I do everyday! You can  read all about it in the post by clicking HERE.

The Award was given with this statement, "This year I'm going to award this prize to somebody who routinely carries his sketchbook with him and sketches while travelling to work and his studio in Chelsea on the other side of..... London.  So no overseas trips - but lots of sketching!..... For those who have never tried drawing on public transport before, I have to tell you that form of sketching is a challenge! Bear in mind the transport does not provide for a smooth journey and you never ever know when your subject is going to get up and leave!"

Also  I am going to use this opportunity to introduce you to another blog I'll be running alongside this one this year! It is going to focus on tips, videos, demonstrations, my techniques, sketches for sale and everything that would basically inspire you to GET OUT AND DO SOME SKETCHING YOURSELF! It's called-Inspired to Sketch with- Adebanji Alade. It isn't launched yet, but it will go live on Saturday the 12th of January-So get ready by clicking HERE and subscribe!

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 2

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 3

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 4

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 5

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 6

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 7

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 8

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 9

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 10

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 11

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 12

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 13

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 14

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 15

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 16

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 17

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 18

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 19

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 20

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 21

SPECIAL QUOTE.
"Great drawings are the result of risk-taking. They come not from copying or from verbal or intellectual idea about the subject, but from a visual idea....An artist in any field perceives the importance of the whole. He notes significant information and makes order from chaos. Such a mind appreciates elegance, simplicity, design and restraint."- Sherrie McGraw