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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

MY PAINTING DVD is now out! (Behind the scenes shots)



The DVD is now out! Its ready and you can now place your orders with Town House Films. I have watched it and it's gonna be great for anyone who'll like see what goes through my mind when I paint and how I have used 4 different techniques to start 4 different paintings all done on the spot at Cromer!



Here are loads of pictures behind the scenes, enjoy!

















In my next post, I'll be giving you an update on my exhibition with the lessons I have learnt from the 3rd and 4th Marathon! The works are already being bought even before the Private View! Now you tell I'm really happy!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Bath Marathon 4 PART 5 (ALL SET FOR THE SOLO EXHIBITION)

All Glory be to God! All is set with 212 completed 6" x 8" Boards from July to October!!! The scary thing is I still have 288 to go!!!!I'll have to give that a second thought....but I haven't painted Bath in the snow! I hope it snows soon, I'll be rushing down like a mad cat! Lets see, meanwhile, enjoy the last 12 pieces which had 4 doubles and 4 singles! Most which are of Alexander Park or views from it. THE EXHIBITION starts on the 4th of December at The Bath Gallery. Nearer the time all works will be available to see on the site. I'll keep you updated!


201, 202-CITY LANDSCAPE VIEW FROM ALEXANDER PARK




203-AUTUMN EFFECT, ALEXANDER PARK II


Adebanji before 204, 205


204, 205-CITY PANORAMIC VIEW, FROM ALEXANDER PARK




206-ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST CHURCH AT NIGHT, SOUTH PARADE




207-QUIET STREET NIGHT, WITHOUT THE FIGURES



Adebanji before 208,209


208,209-CITY AND LANDSCAPE VIEW FROM ALEXANDER PARK



210, 211-HORSE FIELDS, ALEXANDER PARK


212-THE CANAL AROUND THE BUS STATION, EVENING LIGHT REFLECTIONS

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Bath Marathon 4 PART 4 (The First 200 paintings)

It was on this part that I met a nice lady who asked me whether I had been to Alexandra Park. I had never been there. I ended up going there for the last painting on this post but in part 5 it took me over!


188-HOLBOURNE MUSEUM UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT DUSK- It was while doing this painting I met Jane, she said I have to paint at Alexandra Park, I promised I would! Also, while painting this, one of the residents on Great Pulteney Street agreed to buy this very piece, her reason-Because I saw you do it right in front of my house!



189-CANAL AT NIGHT FROM CLEVELAND BRIDGE- This is where I almost took my passion to the limit, it was 2 degrees on a cold night on Cleveland Bridge, I was returning from a walk in the dark, all the way from Great Pulteney Road, when I saw a full blast moon on Cleveland Bridge-I COULDN'T RESIST! Passion took over my Perception! My fingers basically went numb- I was scared stiff! But I survived!




190 CLEVELAND BRIDGE AT NIGHT- After enduring the cold, I seemed to get used to it or maybe the temperature went a bit higher! I enjoyed this piece because I couldn't really tell the colour mixtures but I made sure I followed Marc Hanson's rule of keeping the value scheme effective when painting night scenes.



191 LONDON ROAD TOWARDS CLEVELAND AT NIGHT- I love this scene so much, Peter Brown did it and so has David Pilgrim, but not at night, so I decided to give it a go at night!



192-WALCOT METHODIST CHURCH AT NIGHT- I painted this place during the day earlier in my marathon race, I decided to another one this time at night!



193,194 THE CANAL FROM SAINSBURY'S AT GREEN PARK-It was a dull day and rainy too, in a bid to keep going, I looked for a place of refuge and there was a lovely bridge with nice protection, I just sat under it and made use of the space available.



195 HIGH STREET FROM THE PODIUM- It was raining here too, so under the Podium entrance, I managed to squeeze in this one among the pedestrians and several onlookers.



196 NEW BOND STREET FROM THE PODIUM- I have done this place during the night, so I decided to do a dusk scene.



197 THE PORCHES AT THE PODIUM- This was an experiment to work on drawing pillars. It kind of worked out in the end!



198 THE PUMP HOUSE PORCHES AT NIGHT- I have done this scene from outside the Abbey Grounds, so I decided to do it from inside the Abbey Grounds this time! It's an exciting scene when it rains at night, the reflections make it come alive!



199, 200-AUTUMN EFFECT, ALEXANDRA PARK- This was it, the taxi man dropped me and said is this where you asked to be dropped, I just said-YES!!! I just took two steps outside his car and set up my pochade box, this place is a paradise for painters! I WAS SO GLAD HERE BECAUSE I HIT THE 200 MARK!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Bath Marathon 4 PART 3

Here are more from the Bath Marathon!


177-THE LITTLE HUT AT VICTORIA PARK- The light sparkled through the trees here producing little pockets of light on the shaded grass in the foreground. This was a delight to paint!



178 THE LITTLE POND AT VICTORIA PARK- Sometimes you just discover places by pure serendipity, I was trying to avoid the upcoming rain and racing out of Victoria Park when this scene caught my attention! There was simply no time to waste. Wish I had a bigger surface for this one!



179 GREAT BEDFORD STREET, OFF ST JAMES SQUARE- This area in Bath is very quiet and I just finished having my lunch, I sat down and kept this interesting street, simple. It looked far more complicated than this!



180 PARK STREET OFF ST JAMES SQUARE- This is one my favourites, it was here I noticed I suddenly developed a short-hand for knocking off buildings quickly. I needed to get the light hitting the buildings quickly because it kept changing. So, with my 1"- inch, flat nylon brush, I just swiped in the big shapes and that marked the end of my fussy, niggling problems when faced with Bath buildings!



181, 182 THE TULIP TREE IN ST JAMES SQUARE- I had no idea what this tree was called until one of the residents passed by and gave me a brief lecture on the tree This was one painting where I had to double it because the tree kept expanding with the development and progress. One panel wouldn't do it justice!



183 CITY VIEW FROM GOLF COURSE- The night was fast approaching and I didn't want to give up too soon, so I knocked this one in with a bit of speed before it went all dark! No smiles, because I was FREEZING!


184 OLD ORCHARD STREET, RAKING LIGHT-If there was ever a day where I was in full control of my materials and the light stood still in profound co-operation, it was while painting this little piece. These are the ones painters keep for themselves!



185- Thinking of this painting and in fact all these pochade paintings just makes me stand in gratitude for a guy named TREVOR CHAMBERLAIN ROI, RSMA- He wrote a book I discovered way back in Nigeria called, "Oil Painting: Pure and Simple"- It was only available in the library of my college, Yaba College of Technology, so I had to keep going there to read it, the book couldn't be borrowed as it was in the reference section. I read that book was so much intensity, it made me love landscape painting. One of the chapters in the book was dedicated wholly to the POCHADE BOX- I remember Trevor saying something like, "The Pochade Box can open to any painter a whole new world of possibilities" I tried it and it's been a blessing to me. I would love to keep sharing this message-IF YOU REALLY WANT TO GET OUT OF A ROUTINE OF NOT PAINTING TODAY AND THEN PAINTING TOMORROW-JUST GET YOURSELF A POCHADE BOX AND SET YOURSELF A TIME FRAME, AND USE IT! IT'S WHAT CONSTABLE DID AND IF HE DID IT, WE CAN TOO!!! I'll explain more in detail on this after my posts on the 4th Marathon when I highlight, Lessons Learnt from Bath Marathon 3 and 4.



186 THE HALCYON, SOUTH PARADE- Doing the tree in front of this building reminded me of Fred Cuming RA. I just love the way he treats bare trees in his snowscapes, and even though it wasn't snowing here. I could just think of how he would handle this. This is what happens when I paint, I bring to life many effects and influences of paintings and painters I admire but the difference is, it all ends up fused into my system and then it becomes my "personal brush writing and marks". This is one of the delights of painting!


187 SOUTH PARADE, VIEW FROM DUKE STREET- It was a calm evening and the sun was gradually going down! I set my sails to coast on this before it vanished.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Coastal Adventures in Acrylic (DVD) The trailer is here!

This is it! The trailer is just to wet your appetite! If you love plein air work, direct painting, painting with passion, or you love acrylics and would love to explore some possibilities with it outdoors- you'll ENJOY Coastal Adventures in Acrylic. It was an adventure for me and I strongly feel the only thing that takes that "spirit of adventure" we all had when we were younger out of us, is the fear or failure and sometimes rejection. But getting it back can be intoxicating and inspiring! I have always been inspired by the impressionists, they took a bold step at a time when the public was used to seeing something comfortable, something they were used too, something all too common and then came these guys in Paris with a new way of seeing! They painted the effect of light on their subjects with freedom and expression in bold vibrant colours. That movement changed a lot in art and here we are today still affected by their adventure!



This has been part of what keeps me sketching and painting. I have been affected by the freedom of the impressionists and I put all passion and energy into what I do, it's that childlike adventure bursting out in me again! THAT'S WHAT I SHARE IN THIS DVD! Hope you enjoy it, when it is finally released on the 29th of November, 2010 by TownHouse Films.

The DVD has 4 paintings I did, all using different techniques to start. I am also very pleased to let you know that the first painting I completed in the DVD has been accepted in the prestigious Annual Exhibition of the ROYAL INSTITUTE OF OIL PAINTERS. If you are in London at The Mall Galleries between the 8th and 19th of December, don't miss it. You'll be able to see the works of some of the Countries top painters in Oil and some upcoming young painters in the Under 35 category! It's always a great to see Oil used in diverse ways and also acrylic. Some may ask, why acrylic, when it's an Oil exhibition? Well, the organizers have always accepted acrylic if it is used and the work produced framed like an oil painting.

I'll keep you updated with more on the DVD, when the release day is near, meanwhile, watch out for my Bath Marathon 4 PART 3, tomorrow!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Bath Marathon 4 PART 2

The Bath Marathon continues and these are more shots of me at it! I tried in most of these to keep out of sight, so you can see the paintings without my distracting face but I ended up sneaking in again!


166-Road Beside the Royal Crescent, from Upper Church Street- The light was brilliant lighting the figures and trees, this was real fun!



167-Far End of Royal Crescent, Sun Bathed- This was a great place to capture as the sun was blazing over the grass and almost blazed the whole end of the building!



168-Up Chapel Row towards Queen's Square- I had just finished doing some sketching at Chapel Row Gallery as they were celebrating drawing for the whole day and after that I just popped out and painted this scene. I loved the light across the buildings.



169-Chapel Row, down to Green Park-This was a typical urban scene in Bath and it had all the traffic and figures down Chapel Row.



170,171- The Last golden Tones around the Royal Crescent-This is a double, it was a great scene around the Royal Crescent and the sun was cutting through the fields. The night came upon me too soon but I worked really fast to keep up with the fading light.



172-John Street at Night- Great little Street, while painting this, I met the owners of a building called Doric House, I painted it in my 3rd Marathon. They inquired about the painting and are keen to buy it! They said they saw me painting it in the cold!



173-Milsom Street at Night From Jack Wills- Jack Wills is a great spot to take bearing from at night. You won't need a night lamp because the light from Jack Wills is perfect and almost daylight in intensity!




174-NO 1 ROYAL CRESCENT WITHOUT THE CARS-This was another piece I decided to do without the cars because I wanted it to have a nice historical feel to it.




175, 176-The fields in front of Royal Crescent- I never planned to paint this as a double, but when I completed the first piece, it just didn't look right without a second, I hit full form while knocking this one off, I was dancing with the light.


More Info on My New Painting DVD.

Watch out for the post tomorrow, as I am going to be posting the 2 minute trailer of the DVD, so you can have a preview of what it is going to be like. I'm sure you'll love it!