Two Portrait Commissions (S.Boys)

The Amazonian Adventure (S.Boys), 30" x 24", Oil on Canvas, 2016

These are 2 commissions that I completed recently for the lovely parents of these two boys.

I really enjoyed the whole process and I thought it would be worth sharing the finished result of both.

The Formal Sitting (S.Boys) 24" x 30", Oil on Canvas, 2016

SPECIAL QUOTE: "Portraits are very demanding and I feel it's a great adventure to get along with a client from the beginning of a commission to the end. After it all, a great affinity and relationship is formed that goes beyond the picture."-Adebanji Alade

My paintings at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Exhibition 2014

It's that time of the year again! The Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters is currently on and will run from the 10th of December to the 21st of December at the Mall Galleries, London.

This year I am really pleased to have had four paintings selected for the show.

All my paintings this year focus on the effect of light in urban spaces. I decided to explore the mystery of shadows and radiant light.

Rupert Street, Soho, 18" x 9", Oil on Board, 2014

 This is a scene from Rupert Street Soho at Night.  I was working on a commission when I got the idea for this painting. This is typical Soho at night. Rupert Street has many night clubs and the neon lights at night are just explosive. I exaggerated the colour to have a saturated warmth and included two main figures to balance the abstracted crowds in the background. I really love painting night scenes as they are mainly about tones and very little about temperature.

Summer Heat, Edinburgh, 16" x 20", Oil on canvas, 2014

This is a scene from an Edinburgh Street in the blazing afternoon in Summer. I tried my best to move totally from the normal local colours of a scene like this to a warm blazed colour scheme. I was drawn to the scene because of the reflective wall on the right. It almost seemed like a scene with in the scene. I thought it added a lot of drama to what would have been an ordinary street scene.

Morning Light, Sloane Square, 20" x 30", Oil on canvas, 2014

This is a scene from Sloane Square. For those of you conversant with my blog, you'll know I love Sloane Square! I can paint this area all year through. This time I was totally mesmerized by the powerful radiant morning light from the right side of  Sloane Square Station. It was the abstract shape and it's effect on the few figures emerging from the Station in the morning that made it irresistible for me!

Summer Shadows, Marylebone, 8" x 20", Oil on board, 2014

And the last painting I have in the show is a scene from Marylebone. The one thing that drew me in here was the back lighting! Everything was in pure silhouette apart from the sky and the effect of light on the foreground. I just love when light explodes in the background of an urban space in this fashion!

Adebanji with "Summer Heat, Edinburgh" at the ROI Annual Exhibition 2014

The whole exhibition is a visual feast! If you are in London or around London and you love oil paintings, take a trip down to the Mall Galleries for this great show, you'll enjoy it! But if you can't make it you can see some of the works online by clicking HERE.

Highlights of The Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2013 (Main Category)

The 126th Annual Exhibition was opened by The new President, Ian Cryer who succeeds Peter Wileman, who had been President since 2008. The Opening Speech and awards were given out by the eminent Historian Dr David Starkey.

Dr David Starkey speaks about the history of the ROI and some reasons why the Institute gained it's Royal status.
I am happy to say that those two paintings in the middle of Dr Starkey and The President are mine......yeah!

The Exhibition runs  till Saturday the 21st of December. If you are in London please try your best to get down to The Mall Galleries, it's a cracking show!

A cross section of the crowd at the Private View

Every year I personally highlight a few paintings that caught my eye. These are just a few paintings that interest me! Apart from sketching and painting, I like to review paintings and say what excites me about them. So relax and enjoy a few of my ramblings!

Adebanji with his painting Sloane Square, Summer Shadows

Above is one of the paintings I have in the show, It's of one of my favourite spots in London, "Sloane Square, Summer Shadows".

PETER BROWN ROI NEAC PS Hon RBA RP

Early Morning, Elephant Gate Udaipor, Peter Brown

I am always on the look out to see what Peter Brown has up his sleeves, as I am a great admirer of his work and his work ethic!

This particular painting of his above is just one of the rewards you get for waking up early and chasing the beautiful light! I can just imagine him working on this one! It has the force of a typical energetic "sketched plein  air piece".

 Everything is in the dark and mid tones apart from the source of that lovely Naples yellowy light peeping through the gate! It is not a common thing to see that he has not overstated the light but just apportioned the right amount of effect it makes on the surrounding environment!

I can almost see myself walking through that warm light into the distance!

I would like to own a piece like this because looking at it would always remind me that there's gonna be a way out of the chaos of the day, if I remained focused!

Peter Brown with his paintings in the show

DAVID CURTIS ROI RSMA

Moorings at Hayton- Chesterfield Canal, David Curtis

David Curtis, so modest, so humble but yet his paintings speak volumes! You instantly know when seeing his paintings that he is an ardent draughtsman! You couldn't get a better  silent lecture in drawing than when you look at his paintings!  I love both of them! The one above is incredible! How did he capture that light without making it look overworked or unnecessarily detailed? The effect of sunlight on the dirty water is so REAL! Yet when standing close up to the painting, you almost feel a certain measure of mystery  about the whole piece!

I'll have to attempt something like this is the new year! When I look at paintings like this I just want to paint!

Midwinter, Slaynes Lane, Misson, David Curtis

The striking thing about the snow scene above is the tree! I love trees! But David even makes me love them better! He has a deft touch.....It's a combination of loose washes with some thick and thin applications of oil strokes that just bring out the beauty and reality of those twigs and branches!

Zooming into the branches wasn't something I planned doing until I saw my fellow painting colleague-James Bland, had done so on Facebook. This is what the Zoom-in looks like below:

Detail of David Curtis' painting-Midwinter, Slaynes Lane, Misson

Michele Del Campo, Haidee-Jo Summers, David Curtis and Kieron Williamson (Mini Monet) with David's paintings in the background

DAVID PILGRIM ROI

Punt Station, Magdalen Bridge (Oxford)

David Pilgrim has developed into a very mature painter. I must say I struggled with getting a good image of his painting above because it was taken under a strong tungsten light in the gallery but all the same I think this piece blossoms well with it's very loose and impressionist handling!

I have seen the smaller version of this piece which I'm sure David blew-up on, to create this one. The thing that I noticed was that he managed to keep the same spirit and vitality in the small piece as in this larger one. This is not an easy thing for the painter to do. Many a painting is ruined while under this process of enlarging.

He uses a very complimentary shadow of purple to form an inviting abstract shape around the centre of interest where the figures are, to the left.

I just love the way he interprets shadows, he never overworks them and never paints them too dark. That's the mark of a plein air painter who is observant and keen to get his colour mixtures, spot-on!

Above all, I love the overall composition and the combination of the organic and inorganic elements in the scene!

David Pilgrim with his paintings

DAVID WALKER

White Hoarding in Morning Light, David Walker

This guy was the one who stole the show in this exhibition. A discovery!!! He mainly paints in watercolour but his transition to oils has been incredible. Let me put it as William Wray put it, "One medium will inform the other....."

I saw his work and I was shocked, I thought of Jeremy Mann and William Wray! But this is neither of them, this is David Walker who takes two awards on the day and makes my  mouth water as he explains his slick technique as a designer!

You can see this concept instantly when viewing these paintings. I can talk about what excites me here all day long. Is it the application of paint? The lost and found edges in the shadows? The overall abstract design of the piece? The balanced tonal values used or the way he handles the light in the whole scene? Well, hold your breath because this is a guy to watch!

I'll say no more!

David Walker with two of his paintings on show

DOUGLAS GRAY RSMA

Passing Gondolas, Douglas Gray

I can't remember seeing his work in the ROI exhibitions in the past but I have always been fascinated by his work in the Royal Society of Marine Artists Exhibition at the Mall Galleries.

To me he is just a great lover of light! He knows how to capture it and make you just want to walk right into his transforming scenes!

I like this one because of the atmosphere. Can atmosphere be painted? Can it be captured in paint? Well, Douglas has the answers and this piece makes you feel the heat of the light as it moves from the  horizon.  Another great feature is the warm and wonderful rippling effect of the Venice waters. It is just a delight to behold!

HAIDEE-JO SUMMERS

Sails up in Harbour, Paimpol, Haidee-Jo Summers

I had seen this piece on Facebook before seeing it in the flesh and it just made me think once again that the images we see on the computer screens never do paintings the justice they demand....you have to come up and see it live!

When I saw it live, I was able to appreciate some of the lovely use of lush colour and loose stokes which almost looks flat in the painting when viewed on-line.

The treatment given to the water in those lovely interlocking horizontal strokes are one of the main reasons why this painting is so appealing.

It also takes a vast amount of confidence to use red the way she has done here. It's the mark of a confident, hardworking and lively painter, who has won many awards and is doing a fantastic job in the plein air realm at the moment!


HASHIM AKIB

East End Market, Hashim Akib

Everyone who has seen my Rush Hour paintings knows I am a fan of crowded scenes. It is no wonder why I was drawn to this fabulous piece by Hash.

It was painted in acrylic and the colours are nothing but static! They are vivid and harmonious!

I love the way he uses the square brush stroke! It keeps the viewer well engaged and excited!

Dynamic! That's the word I was looking for and I really would love to own one of his paintings one day, he makes every stroke count!



MARYAM FOROOZANFAR

Alan, Maryam Foroozanfar

You can't walk away from this piece, it won the An Award and rightly so because it has the mark of a maturing painter who knows what to put in and what to leave out!

This is not something easy but most of the time it works out as a result of proper planning and preliminary sketches.

I've known Maryam to paint very detailed pictures but now she is opening up her free spirit and I'm just loving it!

There's just something spooky about this, a bit of mystery, the overall application compliments the mood so badly.....you just want to know what was going through his mind.

I love the static drama inherent in this piece!

A far more clearer image of this painting is seen below, as the one above was taken with the glass over, as framed in the Exhibition.

Alan, Maryam Foroozanfar

 MICHAEL TRAVIS SEYMOUR

Navel Oranges, Michael Travis Seymour

Some may look at this and say, "Just a bowl of oranges, right!"..... No, I'll say a carefully designed still life with every force and tempo that keeps me activated and involved from the first sight of it. 

The lovely treatmernt of different textures, the emergence of the light and the one orange that didn't want to be in the container, freely allows the eye to go in and out of those uneven negative spaces with such ease and flow.

One of my favorite Still Life paintings in the show!

MICHELE DEL CAMPO

Rubbish, Michele Del Campo

Michele Del Campo!!! I just love his name! Sounds like that of a movie star! I had to include the picture of Michele with his painting below so you can appreciate the size of this amazing piece!

I have seen a series of works that Michele has executed on this scale and they are all so great to behold!

This particular piece titled, "Rubbish" is  a lovely exploration of some of the things we take for granted and the beauty around them. I would never have seen this as a painting concept but Michele is a story teller, picture director and an intelligent painter!

Everything here is carefully planned and executed to precision. He uses lots of oil colour, it's thick, bold and vibrant!

I really love his attention to detail and how on the overall this piece stands out as a successful abstract explosion of colour when one looks at it with eyes almost closed!

Michele Del Campo with his painting.

STEPHEN KING

Winter Oaks 2012, Stephen King

This was chosen for my love of trees! Bare bone beauty! I love the way he takes us on a journey through the skeletal system of woods in the winter!

Again the drawing is also what I love, the attention to detail but not over-worked! He selects what he wants us to see and exaggerates the chiaroscuro on the middle tree to evoke some excitement and interest!


TIM BENSON VPROI

Waiting, Tim Benson

I am not sure whether I got the right colours on this one (photography), but this happens to be one of my best paintings in the show.

I am passionate about faces and I love the painted face. But this piece is electric! I mean, I get a buzz, a sensation, a feel for the three-dimension, it's basically SCULPTED PAINT!

I just need to be this bold in the New Year, I now regret missing his Masterclass at the Mall Galleries, I'm not missing any other one!

Tim is always working hard, he once did a striking 30 minute oil sketch of me which is not in this show but below.

While being a model and observing him paint, I must say,  he paints with a stern looking face, with movement, energy, attitude and flair!

The Sketcher- sketched in 30 minutes by Tim Benson

 


 VALERIE SMITH ROI

Rosie, Valerie Smith

This is amazing! Valerie works only from life! She told me she can't work any other way! 

I just love this piece! The mood on the ladies' face is striking! Her use of colour and brush stroke applications just lures me to want to paint right now! Look at that "chequered" dress! The handling is second to none!

There are not many portraits in the main category of the show but this is one outstanding one and ticks all my boxes for a very successful portrait!

WILLIAM CARNEY ROI RSMA

Polperro, Cornwall, William Carney

This is my best little painting in the show! Why? It's all about less is more! The limited use of colours, the way he has applied the brush strokes in the most haunting manner!

It's almost as if I should just live with this one for the rest of my life. I am sure this was not the colour of the scene-What William has done is to bring in a romance of his own and transform this scene into a mini-paradise!

THE SYMPHONY OF SUBTLE GREYS......It's the greys that make the colours sing- I once read somewhere...... and this painting sings the most harmonious rendition of a solo composition from William in his unique painterly voice!

I HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED THIS TASTER OF THE EXHIBITION, NOW GET DOWN THERE AND ENJOY UP TO 300 PAINTINGS OF SUBLIME EXCELLENCE- PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT, SHARE, LIKE, TWEET and ALL THE OTHER THINGS TO SEND THE WORD OUT THERE AND DON'T FORGET TO BUY ONE FOR A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT- you can even do that online!

Look out for another post on this exhibition which features the young artists (Under 35 category)- I have always loved this section since winning the First Prize in 2007!

The African Wrapper, 14" x 10", Oil on Canvas (The Painting Process)

This piece is one from my series which celebrates African Fashion, with the focus on the African Wrapper.

The African Wrapper I, Oil on Canvas, 1, 2013

To Purchase Painting you can click HERE


I get really inspired by the colours and designs of African Fabric and the way the garments are worn, when it comes to the wrapper, it is tied in different ways. In this particular piece the model is in the process of tying it. I decided to play the light effects to mainly reveal the textures on the material used for the wrapper.

Stage 1-Taken under tungsten light, it's a bit yellow. But it shows the beginning of the process. This is one of the paintings I approach with the Outside-In Technique. I start with broad washes of lean colour with lots of solvent. I also draw with fluid paint with lots of calligraphic strokes.

I started by working on this piece with light lean washes of oil with plenty of turps, then  towards the end, I introduced more juicy rich strokes of heavy impasto to reveal textures on the wrapper.

Stage 2- A clearer picture of it with lots of drawing and sketch marks. The drawing is corrected as the process continues. There's no real thick colour at this stage.

Stage 3- Here I begin to introduce, thicker colour, you can see the difference on the top right hand corner of where the thick is laid over the thin washes. I thought I was going to leave the washes in some areas but as the process continued, I changed my mind and decided to have it all covered. I'm not sure whether it was a good decision but I feel it was the best for me at the time.

Stage 4- At this stage I feel I have completed the process. I work on the background with thick solid strokes and I also add details to the face and more textures to the wrapper.

SPECIAL QUOTE
"The painting process goes backward and forward, cancel and counter, scrape and add, decision and indecision, sweat and blood, courage and fear.....and these things seldom show up in the completed piece...phew! -Adebanji Alade

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

Highlights from the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (Open Painting Evening) 2012

Adebanji at work

The Open painting evening at the ROI was interesting again this year, with lots of non-members turning up to paint alongside the members on a very busy evening. I was quite busy this year painting and I wasn't able to get  the names of some artists featured, so I just took random pictures during the session and rushed back to more painting. We had three models on the night. The place was packed, I just managed to feature these few artists. It's always an evening I look forward to.

Adebanji's version of the model- after I took it back to the studio to add more touches, a very tricky thing to do.

Adebanji with the model and the painting

Haidee-Jo the winner of the First Prize presented to Non-Members, She won £200 worth of Winsor & Newton Art materials- She has won so many awards this year, I think I have lost count! Congratulations Haidee!!!

Haidee at work

Bill Dean ROI at work

David Pilgrim AROI at work

David Pilgrim AROI  with his painting

David Sandell at work

Graham Webber at work

June Mendoza RP ROI- this is her painting just after 40 minutes!

June's palette- I just love her palette- I feature it every year

Nathalia Avdeeva Prov ROI at work

Nathalia Prov ROI with her painting

Roger Dellar RI PS ROI at work

Tim Benson  ROI at work- He is demonstrating tomorrow at the Mall Galleries at 2pm

Tim King at work

Tim King with his painting

Tony Merrick Prov ROI at work

Other artists at work on the night

Paul Robinson, The representative from Winsor & Newton