Bath Revisited-Competition Winner, The Review and Some paintings

Last year I set up a competition on one of my posts after meeting the inspirational Peter Brown. The question to be answered was to decode the inspirational message Peter Brown wrote on his Exhibition catalogue for me. Laurie won! She decoded the message and her prize was that she would win a 6" x 8" painting of any location of her choice. She chose the Back of Pulteney Bridge at Bath and I completed the painting and she is the a proud owner it. You can click HERE for the details of the competition. Also Peter Brown is gearing up for a wonderful Solo Exhibition at the Victoria Art Gallery in April to June-It's going to one you mustn't miss, so if you are in the UK during that period, don't miss it!



Laurie, who also happens to work at the Bath Gallery where I had my Bath Marathon Solo Exhibition has done a review from the gallery's point of view. You can click HERE to read it.

Here Below are some memories of the marathon with the paintings too.





122- THE PAINTING AND THE PAINTER. Gay Street Facing up to the Circus (SOLD)






32. THE PAINTING AND THE PAINTER. Laura Place, facing Victoria Art Gallery(SOLD)






31. THE PAINTING AND THE PAINTER. Laura Place, Facing Holbourne Museum






10. THE PAINTING AND THE PAINTER. Tree Shadows, Kingsmead Square (SOLD)






101. THE PAINTING AND THE PAINTER. Afternoon Light, Broad Street from Landsdown Road (SOLD)






190. THE PAINTER AND THE PAINTING. Cleveland Bridge at Night(SOLD)

To enquire about any of the Paintings from the Bath Marathon, please contact THE BATH GALLERY

SPECIAL QUOTE
"Focus on giants-you tumble.
Focus on God-your giants tumble"
-Max Lucado author of Facing Your Giants

Sketches on the train, tube and bus in January II

These are some sketches I have done recently.

It is good to note that the best models are sleeping models. If you get the "perfect sleeper", go for it. You might even want to extend your journey to some extra stops if your model is very interesting and still sleeping!





Sketching on the train




Special Quote
"No one ever attains eminent success by simply doing what is required of him: it is the amount of excellence of what is over and above the required that determines greatness"
-Charles Kendall Adams

Sketches on the train, tube and bus in January I

More sketches of people on on public transport. Some of people I sketch always love to see what I am doing, so I show them. It is quite interesting to see their mixed reactions when they see themselves!




Special quote.
"There is a popular notion that artists are born with the ability to draw, but that isn't true. The impulse to draw is there, but no one arrives in this world with the capacity to graphically depict visual reality. I have never known a painter who was just "naturally" good at it and could do it without serious training."
-Richard Schmid author of "Alla prima, Everything I know about painting"

The Flying Moleskins-Kezia-the Spark and wonder!

This is my contribution to Sheila's Sketchbook, this is part of a world wide sketchbook exchange I am currently taking part in with 12 other artists. She asked us to put in it anything we loved besides art. My answer to that is-Children!

So I decided to draw my little girl, Kezia, who is a spark and wonder!


Kezia-the spark & wonder! 6" x 6", charcoal an graphite, 2011


When in church, I enjoy teaching children Sunday school lessons with captivating stories form the Bible and I am always delighted to see their facial expressions when they enjoy the lesson!

This drawing was done with charcoal dust and water, and graphite for the details on museum mount board.

Special Quote
"Be Like a postage stamp-stick to one thing until you get there"-Josh Billings

Adebanji featured in The Artist Magazine February 2011

Adebanji painting in acrylics pen plein air

I only knew about this yesterday by Carolann, she put a comment on one of my posts this week, that read, "Splendid as usual. I have been reading my Artist magazine - it is really nice to see you in print Adebanji"- I then gave it a good thought, because I haven't even seen the article myself. I went on The Artist Magazine website to see if I could get anything related to the article and they have put a good entry on it HERE, to see the full article you need to grab yourself a copy of the February Issue of The Artist Magazine, which is on sale now!


The Artist Magazine- FEBRUARY 2011

If you also want to enjoy the article with the full DVD, you can order your copy from Townhouse Films as they have produced a WONDERFUL FILM of how the scene in the article was painted from beginning to end. One of the great advantages of watching and reading about how other artists work, is that you can gain a full insight into what goes on in their minds and how each artist differs in making decisions that help a painting progress from the first marks to the end! Be Inspired!

Special quote
"If we hold a vision or a dream deep inside our heart and mind, it will begin to not only influence our attitudes and actions, it will reach out and influence the circumstances of our lives."
-Stephen R Covey author Living the 7 Habits

Learning by Sketching from Paintings in Galleries/Museums

In this post I would like to highlight one of the ways I like to learn by sketching from paintings I love in galleries and Museums. If you love a particular painting, especially if it is a portrait, one of the ways of understanding how the artist went about it is to sketch it. Working in this way can really help to improve your understanding of how artists edit information and concentrate on what matters most to them. I have two in this post, as seen below.

Learning from Anastasia Pollard RP
I really like the work of Anastasia Pollard. She paints very small scale sensitive portraits from life. The one I have sketched from here is not illustrated but it was a wonderful little portrait that measured 8" x 7", titled "Nick" it was exhibited at the Mall Galleries last year during the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition. I remember standing in front of this little piece for hours. I kept coming back to it. When I couldn't get my head around it I decided to sketch it, now the experience is with me for ever. Even though you can't see the painting in colour-you can tell from the sketch that it had a very solid tonal foundation and that's one of things I was trying to explore. Other things that were of interest to me were the way she handled the temperature changes. When next in a gallery or museum and you are carried away by a favourite piece-don't let the experience go by your visual response only-put it down and it would remain with you forever.




Portrait of Nick by Anastasia Pollard-added after comment by Vinayak

Learning from Velazquez
Diego Velazquez is one of my favourite painters of all time and again it is the manner in which he edits information that excites me the most. This page spread is just one of the several I did from original paintings during The Velazquez Exhibition at the National Gallery in 2006. It's good to do the sketching but also to write notes of what you think you need to remember about the way the artist distributes tone or anything you feel is worth noting for future references. Keep sketching!




Special Quote
"If work is fresh and new, you can't expect to like it straightaway, because you have nothing to compare it with.
The effort of coming to terms with things you don't understand makes them all the more valuable to you when you do grasp them.
Good art speaks for itself. That doesn't mean you have to like it.
So the next time you go to an art show, or look at anything for that matter, observe what effect it has on you and try to form your own opinion.
That way you become the critic and not a mouthpiece for someone else's opinions."
-Paul Arden author of Whatever you think, think the opposite.

2 London Scenes both 12" x 16" in Acrylic.

These are 2 other city scenes of London in acrylic. The Royal Exchange and St Paul's.




Summerlight, Royal Exchange, 12" x 16", Acrylic on Canvas, 2010- A blazing place to view and paint in the summer. The building takes on new refreshing colours and the surroundings are exciting too. I really like scenes like this because of the contrast between modern and traditional architecture, something very common in the City of London.




St Paul's at Night, 16" x 12", Acrylic on Canvas, 2010-This building has history and its always a delight to behold at night, but getting its exact and compelling grandeur and beauty is always a struggle.

SPECIAL QUOTE
"Onlookers and underachievers put a major emphasis on talent. For them talent, or the lack of it, is a great excuse to do nothing. If there is an outstanding quality to great artists, scientists, sports stars, humanitarians and business tycoons it is not their talent-it is their focus. Once you know what you want to do, get focused! You can't save the whales, heal the sick and plug the ozone layer all at the same time. Leave some chores for the rest of humanity."
-Andrew Matthews author of Follow your Heart.

2 London Scenes both 10" x 12" in acrylic and oil.

Summerlight Charing Cross Road, 10" x 12", Acrylic on Canvas, 2010

These are 2 scenes from the road I love best in London. Its's Charing Cross Road, I must have walked this road a "million times" since 1999. I'll mention a few reasons why I love it: It is home to my favourite art shop-Cass Arts, it has the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, A great Art book shop-Henry Pordes. Foyles, it used to have Borders (a great bookshop, I still miss it!) It has the lead to Denmark Street-The music Instrument world! It has the lead to Leicester Square- the Entertainment Square. It also has great scenes to paint and sketch. I never tire walking through this road-watch out this year, for more urban scenes that I'll be painting from this road!




Evening light, Leicester Square Station, 10" x 12", Oil on Canvas, 2010.



To spice up this year, I'll be sharing some of the things the keep me inspired from ALL the books I read. I'll be starting a special quote for each post this year. Something that has caught my attention and fired me up!

Special Quote for this POST
"What carries people to the top? What makes them take risks, go the extra mile, do whatever it takes to achieve their goals? It isn't talent. It's passion. Passion creates fire. It provides fuel. I have yet to meet a passionate person who lacked energy. As long as the passion is there, it doesn't matter if they fail. It doesn't matter how many times they fall down. It doesn't matter if others are against them or if people say they cannot succeed. They keep going and make the most of whatever talent they possess. They are talent-plus people and do not stop until they succeed."
-John C Maxwell, author of TALENT IS NEVER ENOUGH"