Sketches on the Bus, Train and Tube in November I

These are more of the sketches I do on a regular basis on public transport. I love this exercise and I think it is something anyone who embarks on long journeys around London should try and do at one time or the other. There are so many interesting faces on the bus, train and tube!

The human face remains to me a thing a wonder...I am on the train, I have just finished sketching an old man, then he gets off at London Bridge and sitting by his side is a lady, she's on the phone, her face is well treated, a sight that would hold any guy for a second or two-I hold my breath and sketch for 20 or so minutes...it's the life of an urban sketcher-this is the page spread....shame I had to change at Woolwich Arsenal...

I hope I can cover all that I have to post before the year runs out. I thought I'd be able to do lots of back-dated posts but I couldn't. But I'm back on them now and I am happy to get back to blogging again!!!

As usual, these are all done onh the train, in full blooded speed, with everyone packed and watching! It's a great experience and sketching doesn't get any better than this when one is fully out there, armed with a sketchbook, Bic ball point pen and a Number 75Tom Bow Dual Wash pen.

These two sketches were done on the bus, I was on the Bus 11, facing the front window and right opposite me was this lady biting her nails. I sketched her from Kings Road to Buckingham Palace Road.

It's one of those days, I haven't sketched all day! I hate those days......I have been in the studio painting my life out....then I lean back on my chair in the studio and I catch a glimpse of my face in the mirror behind me! I'm a bit alarmed but all the the same-It's time to pull out my sketchbook! I sketch my face with a few items in the background to hold the composition together. 

I love sketching random heads on a page! This one makes me tick! These are all sketched from London Bridge to Abbey Wood. A journey that lasts up to 25 minutes!

These are more random heads on buses this time. Bus 11 and Bus 53!

Some of these heads are just glimpses I manage to catch on journeys-The old man was a good shot, I sketched him from Charing Cross to London Bridge. The profile of the lady on the right was sketched on Bus 37 on the way to Clapham Juction.

Here, I am on bus 11 and I sketch this lady's profile from Buckingham palace Rd to Victoria Street. I make 4 attempts as she keeps on moving, each time she moves, I start again. It's all about pure observation, no room to measure but its about imaginary plumbing and angles relating to others, Plotting's are essential. The guy sleeping on the right was comfortable in his world, nothing seemed to bother him. He was just content and relaxed until he got to his stop. People are experts at these short naps and if you think they are really sleeping, you'll be shocked that immediately they get to their stops they spring to life! I sketched him from Greenwich to London Bridge-a journey that lasts 8 mins.

I made 2 attempts to sketch the guy on the left, from Charing Cross to London Bridge, this journey lasts approximately 7 mins. I just love this man's features and hair, it's hard to resist. His features were outstanding. Then a man with a cap on the right was just pure delight! I just love faces like this, full of character! I make a more detailed study of him from London Bridge to Abbey Wood, a journey which lasts 27 minutes.

Special Quote
"You can't do sketches enough. Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh"-John Singer Sargent 

The Story Behind 40 works that changed my career 33, 34 & 35

NUMBER 33- AROUND THE ROYAL THEATRE BEFORE THE RAIN

Around the Royal Theatre Before The Rain, Acrylic on Board, 40cm x 20cm, 2009

The painting won the Plein Air Plus prize at The Bath Prize in 2009


Now, if there's been any single painting that has opened up so many opportunities for me during my career so far, it is this little one! It was the year 2009 and things were starting to go from bad to worse. I kept on wondering how I'll be able to pick up the magic that the year started with, but everything seemed bleak. I remember walking into Borders Bookshop on Charing Cross Road and I didn't even have enough money to buy an art magazine, I decided to sit there and read it through. While checking through this art magazine, I saw an advert on The 2009 Bath Prize. There were a couple of Prizes at stake and one of them was The Plein Air Prize worth £1,000 cash for the best plein air painting that depicts life in Bath. I thought to myself, " I think I can do this!" We were to travel down to Bath and get a random location picked for us. I was allocated a place called The Theatre Royal. It was my first time in Bath and I didn't even know how to get there. I asked directions from the gallery people who were organizing the competition and they gave me directions and I finally got there. But unfortunately it started get all dull and grey and I almost regretted going. But I had to encourage myself to just paint it as it was. I was using acrylics to do my plein air paintings at the time and because I had to avoid the rain, I pitched under a shelter and painted with all my heart, an unpretentious view of The Theatre Royal just before the rain.

I submitted the work with 2 other paintings I did from pictures. But when the competition results came out it was this little painting that won the prize! I won £1,000 cash! It meant the world to me! Not only that-A lady walked up to me during the exhibition and asked me to explain my painting process of the scene. I did that with the most vivid illustrations and enthusiasm. At the end she decided she was going to buy the painting for £750! Now that was it! I also sold one of the other paintings I put in for £1,375 ! It all happened so fast that I had to keep pace with the sudden breakthrough. This led me to sell many more paintings in Bath. It helped me get so much publicity in the papers and the local magazines! I ended up being a judge for the next competition and I had a solo exhibition with 212, 6" x 8" plein paintings all of Bath-and most recently selling my works in an auction in Bath! It's been an incredible love affair and ever since going to Bath in 2009, I always long to get there again and do more paintings of the glorious world heritage city! The story won't be complete without mentioning Mr Mike Porter, a man who simply believed in me and encouraged me to keep at it! I haven't looked back since then and it has been a wonderful experience all because of an opportunity that opened up and the willingness to take it at the time it opened. I am saying this because many artists are out there working so hard but never seem get recognition. It can be that way sometimes, but the key is never to give up or stop practicing because one day that preparation and hard work is going to meet an opportunity that has been waiting for the right moment and that will only happen to those who have keep going and keep believing!!!







NUMBER 34- RUSH HOUR VIII

Rush Hour VIII, Oil on Canvas,24" x 20", 2011

This is one of my Rush Hour paintings. It's not so crowded but it shows the movement, depression and utter frustration of being in these situations. I snapped this scene with my camera on one of the days I was on the escalator on the Jubilee line at London Bridge. I decided to paint it as part of my group exhibition last year with Enid Lawson Gallery on London Paintings. I was so happy when a lady who introduced herself as Margaret Thacthers Nurse bought it and said it captured everything she felt about these situations in London! She took the painting off with her to South Africa! I 'm always thrilled by these people who can strongly relate to what I had in mind while doing the piece.

I really love crowded scenes, I tend to treat each figure like a still life object. It's always nice to see how they come out in the end, as I used a shape by shape technique to complete it. The process of this painting can be seen HERE




NUMBER 35- ON THE WAY TO BATH RUGBY HOME GAME

On The Way To Bath Rugby Home Game, Oil on Canvas, 36" x 24", 2011


The story about this painting can be seen by clicking HERE. It was posted in March and in order not repeat everything I have said so recently I have decided to have the link HERE.

I said I wouldn't write about it but I can't resist....so ....It's a painting I did when on a visit to Bath I saw all these Bath Rugby supporters on their way to an afternoon home game, I must have taken about 50 pictures that afternoon but settled for this one because of the balance in the composition. It 's also a painting I did with only 4 colours to keep the harmony alive. The colours used were Terra Rosa, Yellow Orche, Prussian Blue and Titanium White.

I was exhibited at the Bath Prize in 2011, it didn't sell at the auction but a week after on a day when Bath Rugby were playing it was put in the shop front and inquiries started flooding in and a couple showed interest and now have this painting with them included in the crowd! I ended up going to their home to include them in the painting.


SPECIAL QUOTE
Preparation does not mean mastery of the facts. It does not mean knowing all the answers. It does not necessarily mean achieving the consensus. (Former British minister Margaret Thactcher remarked that " consensus is the negation of leadership.")It means putting yourself in a better position to succeed."-John C. Maxwell from his Book "Talent is Never Enough"

Back After a Long Break (Stories Behind & Sketches)

It's great to be back to blogging! I have had to take a break from blogging to sort out loads of stuff in my life that needed attention, and I am glad that after a break and also a wonderful spiritual refreshment with the youths of my church recently at a Youth Camp called, "Call of Duty"-Get Equipped", I am back with a firmer, stronger and more determined spirit!

I'll continue the remaining 20 works that made my career tomorrow and these posts would come two at a time, for me to recover from some lost time. Meanwhile enjoy these bundle of sketches that have always been the story behind my success in my career!

SPECIAL QUOTE
"Very clear here I play the game for lost and found, the feeling of dynamic quality of abstraction.......This drawing is unfinished on purpose. Only draw the face, not the hair, seeking the feeling of broken and partially revealed. The unfinished part makes the part that I did more delicate and finished. I feel "less is more."-Zhaoming Wu-talking about his process

The Story Behind 40 works that changed my career 14

Number 14- Rush Hour II



In this post I'll be showing the stages of completion from start to finish. This shows another technique I use when starting off these kind of crowded scenes. With This Rush Hour I started with an abstract acrylic opaque wash, I really wanted the finished painting to have a lot of density and that's why I used this technique.




Rush Hour II, Oil on Canvas, 80 x 120cm, 2007


I exhibited this painting at the Patching's Art Exhibition organised by The Artist Magazine in 2008. It won the Pro-Arte Award- if I can remember, that won me Paint Brushes worth £250, some of which I am still using till today.

Stage 1


Stage 2


Stage 3


Stage 4


Final Stage


SPECIAL QUOTE
"Here are some other ways I try to spark my imagination:
=Look through my reference files, sketchbooks, and photographs
=Take a subject I like and paint a series of it
=paint some fresh flowers
=set up a still life
=buy a new brush, colour, or paper
=read a book or magazine on watercolours
=read about the masters
=look at some of my old paintings
=go to a workshop
=mat some of my work
=go to a museum"
-Angela D'Aleo on the Purpose of Painting

The Making of Rush Hour VIII, 24" x 20", Oil on Canvas, 2011

Rush Hour VIII, 24" x 20", Oil on Canvas, 2011 SOLD


This was one of the paintings I did earlier this year, it was part of the London Paintings Group show I had at Enid Lawson Gallery. I have posted this piece before but not with a few shots of the stages.
This post is just to show the stages I go through to paint a Rush Hour Scene. The sketching is very important and also the ability to paint the shapes of each figure in relation to another. The pictures here are just to reveal the stages with little explanation because I wasn't really planning a demonstration but I normally like to take pictures of different stages while I work, do I can also go back to learn from the process for future work.

STEP 1



The canvas is toned with brownish orange, a warm colour, I purposely wanted this colour to show through. I did the sketches with Tom Bow Wash Felt Marker.


STEP 2



I added more figures with a darker marker. All brown to match the same colour scheme.

STEP 3



The painting starts from the figures at the back and gradually sneak forward to the figures in the foreground.

STEP 4



All figures connected.

SPECIAL QUOTE
"You must draw with the Brush"-John Singer Sargent-(one of my all time favourite painters)

Rush Hour III, oil on canvas, 80 x 100cm

This is another series on my Rush Hour series, this particular one got accepted for the finals of the under 35 category in the Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2007 exhibition to be held at the Mall Galleries.

I really enjoy these Rush Hour paintings because they are the experiences I go through everyday on the tube and I know what is like to be part of that "rat race feel". We all go head long in the train/tube or bus with a serious weird anticipation for work. Hmm mm .

In this painting I wanted to capture the evening feel during the shorter day periods in London when it becomes dark at about 4pm and it is closing time around 5.30pm and everyone plods into the tube subway......

Mostly muted colours have been used, yellows, oranges and red/browns to give the city central glow!

RUSH HOUR II-steps of progress

This is my second series of the Rush Hour paintings and It took me about 2 weeks to complete. I relly enjoy these crowded scenes as it gives me the opportunity to put into the paintings, the feelings I have, whenever I use the underground everyday and see the many people just going and coming, it really inspires me how differnt we all are!

RUSH HOUR

Daler-Rowney Award - (www.daler-rowney.com)
Daler-Rowney Award: three prizes of £250 worth of art materials.

Artist : Adebanji Alade
Title : Rush Hour

I did this painting to depict the rush in the tube at peak hours, I love the hustle and bustle of the tube and the figures- it was great painting it -(oil on canvas) measures 36" by 24"

It won an award for the Daler Rowney artists Category in the patchings art competition organized yearly in the Artist's magazine.

It was also sold for £975 at the Liberted Expression Exhibition last year at Barclays. I am currently working on another one in the same series, thanks to Sharmina and her hard work in promoting the exhibiton in which half of sales went to supprt children in need.