Rain and Fog- Kings Road, Chelsea, Oil, 8" x 10", 2011

This is Kings Road with fog and rain, the typical London wet day. I basically love it! It's that part of Kings Road just before you get to Sloane's Square. When it doesn't rain, I miss the rain and when it does, I want it to stop. I think it's all about being human!



Rain and Fog- Kings Road, Chelsea, Oil, 8" x 10" , 2011 SOLD

Special Quote
"The things you do at the start of a painting (from life or otherwise) will determine the entire course of your work. They make the difference between an achievement or an ordeal. This is about taking control right away. It is never enough just to be in the throes of inspiration. Before you lift a brush, take some time to think about what you intend to do. Notice certain things, make a few decisions, then start painting."-Richard Schmid on "The Big Moment"- Alla Prima Everything I know about Painting.

BIG ISSUE SERIES XVIII

This is a continuation of my series of Big Issue Sellers in London and Bath. This particular seller had one of the faces that is a dream to draw for portrait lovers. You could take one look at him and he'd take your artistic breath away! The guys that sell these Big Issue Magazines are homeless but this gives them something to gain extra cash.

This was done on a museum mount board prepared with gesso. I drew with pastels and coloured pencils.



Big Issue Seller XVIII, 8" x 10", Mixed media, 2011

My main goal was capture that mixed look of hope and uncertainty in his eyes.

Special Quote
"I had a teacher years ago(George Bridgeman)who made us draw hundreds of skulls in all positions. I felt he was overdoing it at the time but now I realize what a wonderful lesson he taught us. Whenever I draw a head, I instinctively feel the skull structure beneath."- Norman Rockwell on the Importance of Head Structure.

Sketches on the train and bus in April I

Back to the sketching routine, these are some of the recent sketches I have done on public transport.







Special Quote

"Heads are obviously rather complicated to draw. However, if you think of them as a compound of many shapes and sub-shapes, you will realize that you can draw any of the individual parts by analysing them carefully first.
I stress this structural approach in your thinking about the head because most beginners overlook these basics in their preoccupation with drawing the features. This reverses the proper order of the drawing process. Until the structure of the head is established, and the lighting determined, the rather subtle details of feature, such as the placement of the eyes, the length of the upper lip or the width of the nose will have no form with which to relate" - Paul Calle on heads in his book "The Pencil"

Evening Light, Leadenhall Market, 12" x 16", Oil on Canvas, 2010/11

I have worked this this painting over from last year. It is of the City boys after work, at Leadenhall market. The lighting of the place makes this place exciting to paint at any time of the day. This one was done with evening light approaching with the artificial lights also creating a nice mood.



Evening Light, Leadenhall Market, 12" x 16", Oil on Canvas, 2010/11 SOLD

Special Quote
"It has been said that Sorolla worked hurriedly, that he got tired or bored before he concluded or finished a work. This is not true. He painted two portraits of me: one indoors and another in his garden. For each one of them he took more than a month, in sessions of three hours a day. Yet, both paintings seem to have been made rapidly, with fortunate suddenness. The multitudinous quantity of his work must be attributed to his tireless laboriousness. He worked from the early hours of the day until twelve at night, in his studio, in the open air, with artificial light. At the same time that he was painting my portrait he had many others in hand, and when he interposed an interval without a model, he made studies and sketches, or he painted landscapes, charming landscapes. For him the practice of art was a vital function, like breathing. If he had to stop painting, it was as if he were being as-fixated."-Perez De Ayala, assessing Sorolla's manner of working in "Joaquin Sorolla" by Blanca Pons Sorolla

SKETCHING ON THE TUBE: My 2 hour workshop on the Circle Line

On the 10th of March I took 6 students from different Universities in London on a 2 hour Workshop on "Sketching on the Tube". I had a Masters Student from Metropolitan University and 5 Under-graduates from Middlesex, LCC, Wimbledon, Byam Shaw and Camberwell. This event was organised and sponsored by The Fine Art Collective and Winsor & Newton.

MATERIALS and RESOURCES
Winsor and Newton provided a bag with the essential materials each student needed on this bite size workshop. A sketchbook, two graphite pencils (one for lines and one to shade), a Black Bic Ball point pen (for lines) and a warm grey Copic brush marker (for shade) and a spray can of fixative. I gave them all my 25 tips for sketching on public transport and hands-on demos on how I go about this from day to day.

VENUE
The venue for the meet up was at Paddington Rail Station. We then used the Circle line for the actual hands on demos. It was good to give this a go using real life situations. It allowed the students to see the possibility of this great habit and how the public reacts.

THE DEMOS AND STUDENT PRACTICE
Just before we popped onto the Circle Line for the main part of the workshop. I had to introduce myself, show them some of my sketchbooks, give them my printed hand-out of tips I have acquired over the past 7 years of sketching on public transport, room for questions and what they all expected from the workshop and then I gave them a brief talk on what they'll experience from the trip. They all looked so eager and willing to give it a go and we focused on the ball point pen and Copic brush marker-which are my favourite combinations for sketching. Some of them have been sketching but not as much as others, while it was a totally new experience for others. The benefits of sketching for the representational artist, these days, are endless and even for designers. We all have ideas and often try to sketch out on paper, sometimes as artists we understand things better by sketching them. We plan our compositions by sketches. But the main purpose of this was to help them understand how I go about this with all public eyes on me and how they can train and improve their eye-hand co-ordination.

FEEDBACK
The feedback was really positive, even after the workshop we gathered to discuss our sketches and how it all went. They asked more questions and from this I have developed a relationship with some of them for further assistance and help. It always great sharing knowledge-the student gains and the teacher gains. The learning process for both parties never ends!


PICTURES OF SKETCHES FROM THE DEMOS











SPECIAL QUOTE
"In drawing, one must look for or suspect that there is more than is casually seen. The only difference in drawing is what you sense not what you see. There is other than that which lies on the surface."- George B. Bridgman on Heads, Features and Faces

Three 5" x 3.5" Postcards to help Childhood First Charity

I was recently contacted to paint 3 postcards to help raise some funds for Childhood First, A registered charity that delivers exceptional, cost-effective outcomes in the care, education and treatment of traumatised children and young people. Many other artists ans some celebrities were also involved in this Fund-raising event that took place at The Savoy in London.

Since the guidelines were left up to the artist, with the only emphasis placed on them being bright and eye catching, I decided to experiment with some faces and mixed media-mainly in water based media.

These are my three postcards.



"blazeandshade" 5" x 3.5", mixed media on card.

Here I played around with acrylics, watercolour, pens, gouache, and coloured pencils. I applied a light coat of transparent gesso on the card first. It's my son Joshua, but I have also taken some liberties to go wild with different mark making to add an abstract quality to the piece.




"The girl behind the window" 5" x 3.5", mixed media on card.

Here, I have played with the same materials as the one above. It's of a fashion shop mannequin. I really get inspired by these shop mannequins because of the play of light across their structures-they almost assume a life like quality.





"The sunshine she brings" 5" x 3.5", mixed media on card.

Here I played around with watercolour, gouache and coloured pencils. Again I went a bit wild with the strokes as if I was drawing.

Special Quote

"What people subconsciously are interested in is the expression of beauty, something that helps them through the humdrum day, something that shocks them out of themselves and something that makes them believe in the beauty and the glory of human existence.
The painter will never achieve this by merely painting pictures. The only way he can appeal to humanity is in the guise of the high priest. He must show people more--more than they already see, and he must show them with so much human sympathy and understanding that they will recognize it as if they themselves had seen the beauty and glory. Here is where the artist comes in." Hawthorne on Painting

Sketches on the bus and train in March I

These are some recent sketches I have done on public transport. One of these sketches has a lady I sketched on a 401 bus from Bexley to Belvedere Station. She was talking to her friend and I was sketching. She then noticed my eyes kept bouncing off her and unto my page. She then smiled and I used my "Wink technique" which diffused any tension. But then she became inquisitive, and asked, "are you drawing me?" I affirmed by nodding my head, she smiled and I kept on, after a few minutes she said, "I am soon going to get off, can I have a look? I said, I need a bit more time as I had only started. She then became relaxed but a bit anxious to see what made me so absorbed and keen in my observations. I noticed she couldn't wait any longer, and she said, PLEASE CAN I SEE IT, I AM GETTING OFF NOW!" So I showed her and she quickly asked if she could take a picture of it with her blackberry phone. I agreed and she took about 4 different shots, I promised to email a copy to her and she gave me her email address. That all happened in a 15 minute journey! But that's one of my little experiences on public transport and sketching.

People want to know why I sketch, what I do with the sketch, how I got into sketching, if this is what I do everyday, what I see in them that makes me want to sketch them......the questions never end and as Johnny Nash used to sing in a song my dad loved so well, I can only say," ....there are more questions than answers....."





Special Quote
"Today, if a novice signs up for a drawing class, more often than not the first lecture he hears focuses on anatomy. The predominant assumption persists that learning the muscles and bones of the human body enables one to draw. If this were true, all physicians, body workers and personal trainers would draw well. This thinking is obviously false. Learning to draw comes well with a different and much simpler focus.
The human mind complicates seeing, and that is why these disciplines can be a trap. It is easier to busy oneself with the nomenclature of anatomy and the rules of perspective and proportion than to grapple with the real demon: seeing simply. It is easy to complicate and so difficult to simplify."-Sherrie McGraw author of The Language of Drawing.

The Duet, Mixed Media on Gessoed mountboard, 8.5" x 11", 2011

This is my contribution to a world wide sketchbook exchange I am currently taking part in called "The Flying Moleskins".


This is my contribution to Edward Burton's Sketchbook. His theme is music.
I decided to use these two players who I had been longing to paint for a quite a while.




The Duet, Mixed Media on Gessoed Musuem mount board, 8.5" x 11", 2011



I can't remember the origin of the music but I remember sketching a man on the tube and then I got talking to him and he invited me to an art exhibition where music was played alongside. This is quite a while back but I still remember the happy, colourful feeling and the buzzing sounds, I have tried to capture this in "Duet" which is a mixed media piece on Gessoed Museum mount-board with oil, coloured pencil, Liquin and oil pastel,. It was more of an experiment as I haven't tried this mix before. I was happy with the result.

Special Quote
"I found myself questioning the validity of art, and one day I thought, "What am I doing? Why am I doing this?" But I got to work anyway, I started drawing my subject. As I set my charcoal to canvas and began copying the beautiful contour of this Egyptian woman's head, I knew I was doing exactly what I was made to be doing. This is how I was made. I'll set my heart to it and work with everything I have.
I still wonder, occasionally, if art is what I should be doing. There are major difficulties and heartaches in the world, and I'm standing behind an easel, painting a pretty picture. And yet, I think that is almost false guilt. When I really think about it, people need art. I need art. What if we had to go through that hard stuff-the difficulty and heartache-and there was no art or music to move the soul? The real need for art out there. I have found for myself that art in any form allows emotion to become more tangible, whether as an expression of worship or as a release of grief."-Dan Gerhartz, expressing moments of doubt from his book "Not far from Home"

Rush Hour VII and VIII, 60 x 45cm, Oil on canvas, 2011

The Rush Hour Series continues. These two are more of the build up to the Rush Hour, they are not all that congested but this is how it starts. One, two three, ten, twenty and then the whole place is a congested mess!!

RUSH HOUR VII





RUSH HOUR VIII



Special Quote
"It's my Birthday today and I was born to inspire, motivate and encourage! What were you born to do?" Know it and do it and the world would blessed"-Adebanji Alade, the sketcher at 39

Rush Hour VI, Oil on Canvas, 45 x 60cm, 2011

These are some real life quotes from real people on the tube in the RUSH HOUR in London! It's no joke, if you have been in the heat of it you will understand what it's all about.
I have been in the Rush Hour and it is a real hard time breathing-it's a typical rat race situation, one we have to live with as long as we use the public transport and want to get to work early.



Rush Hour VI, oil on canvas, 45x 60cm, 2011



This is what makes me paint these scenes-they are not just records of situations in busy cities but they are who we are in this fast generation!

Enjoy some quotes below taken from a public site of different peoples experiences.

"Why do people stare so much in London! And it's not as if they you see them looking at you just as they look around, they actually stare!!!"-A L Johnson



"I work for London Underground and when I make platform announcements at rush hour this is usually the structure:

Ladies and Gentlemen your next eastbound train will be in x mins.

The train may be quite full so please move down the platform and use all available space.

The train is approaching the station, please stand behind the yellow line.

Please let passengers off the train first before boarding.

This train is ready to depart, stand clear of the doors please, mind the doors.

Our objective is to get our customers on the train quickly and safely. The need to get the train out of the platform quickly is essential. We hate the last second boarder who jumps in the train whilst the doors are closing and jams them - causing delays. At rush hour, the Central line can run a train every minute. So please do not block the doors and listen to us when we say move down the platform."-R Rashid



"One time on the district line there was the usual 'stand clear of the doors' announcement when the doors shut the driver goes 'See now that wasnt so hard was it?' and what is it about people barging u wiv their hefty arse backpacks 2 get 2 a seat and then gettin off at the next xxxx stop?!"-D Hollands



Rush Hour VI on the easel with Palette

Special quote
We are here to learn lessons, and the world is our teacher
When we fail to learn a lesson, we get to take it again... and again!
Then once wev'e learnt the lesson, we move on to the next one. (and we never run out of lessons!).-Andrew Matthews

Learning by Sketching from Paintings in Galleries/Museums II

This is my 2nd post on the usefulness of sketching in galleries and museums, the first one can be seen HERE. It really helps one to tap into the way the artist works and that also helps increase the ability to see and learn from seeing. Seeing does sound a bit common but for the artist it isn't, it means so much more and I keep learning that everyday.

Learning from Andrew Festing PPRP.

I love The Portraits of Andrew Festing and I always lookout for his work during the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Exhibitions at The Mall Galleries annually. The sketches I made in this post were of detailed parts of complete portraits he had on show at the RP Exhibition in 2007. I'll just share below, all the notes I jotted down while getting absorbed into the paintings.

1. Portrait of the 55th Grand Prior of the English Knights of Malta, Oil, 80" x 46" (detail)



I have sketched this face because I love it, it communicates! Simple! It's fascinating to paint from life and Andrew Festing makes it look like a delight. His BRUSH condition is his strength and the marks in specific places delineating the structure is very interesting. The cool parts of the skin around the chin are just great, it makes the skin flow with life and it definitely depicts the form.
A few lights (2) midtones (2) greys (2) and there is no mark in dark but colour.
He must definitely use black because it has a "carbony content" appeal. But it's great! I love it! It's a delight to watch and observe this guys strokes- Adebanji Alade(thoughts going through my head)

The real painting (detail)




2. The Master and Past Masters of The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, Oil, 50" x 70" (detail)



2.1 Every mark is a sketch, stroke paint-placed mainly broad
2.2 Draughtsmanship, even though executed fast is precise!
2.3 Kolinsky Round Sable brush sketch, stoke paint, "It's Sick!"

The sketch and draughtsmanship is everything
There's no feat, no hesitation
It shows he enjoys this
It is "HANDWRITING"
The Background is a pinkish warm colour
The strokes mould and model the figure in clothes
Enough colour has been mixed
The light must have come straight on
-Adebanji Alade(thoughts running through my head put on the page)

The real painting (detail)






While researching for the images for this post I discovered a wonderful blogpost on his working methods by Joseph Galvin Winner of the Bulldog Bursary Award in 2007, which can be seen HERE

Links and information on Andrew Festing can be seen below
Website
Wikipedia
Royal Society of Portrait Painters
Commission a Portrait
How to paint a portrait-Very Useful on Youtube
Painting a portrait-Very Useful on Youtube

Special Quote
"One of the most frequently asked questions from students is "How do you know what to paint" It's a question that comes from painters working at all levels: beginners who really haven't done much subject searching and more experienced painters who are trying to discover their unique style. Here's what I recommend: Buy a small notebook-one that you can easily carry around. In the book, write down the five senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. Carry the notebook for three weeks and as you come across them, jot down things that really wow you under the appropriate sense category. These should be the things that take your breath away. For example, under sound, one of my horse students wrote, "The sound of my horse running in the meadow at night." By the end of three weeks, try to have 10 to 20 things listed under each category. These are the things you should be painting. Once you've focused in on what you should be painting, there aren't enough hours in the day to paint that subject."
-Mary Whyte on Why Workshops work-in Watercolour Magic Handbook

Sketches on the bus, train and tube in February III

These are some of my recent sketches on public transport. The guy above slept all the way from Toy's R Us on Old Kent Road(SE15) in a Bus 453 to Parliament Square(W1). Now that's a sketchers delight! It's because of opportunities like this, that the sketch hunter MUST have a sketchbook handy, just a pocket size one and a sketching tool (pen, biro, pencil) ready to "fire" at short notice when a great model appears!





Special quote
"At most college-level art schools, instructors take the easy way by letting students do their own thing. Why? Because it'll "stifle your creativity". NONSENSE!
Figure Drawing is really not about learning how to draw the Figure! It's about learning how to make your eye see something, your mind perceive it, and your hand obey.
The human figure is the best subject to practice on, not only because it's endlessly challenging, but because anyone, even you can accurately evaluate your progress.
With a figure drawing, if it looks right, it quite likely IS right.
Clearly it is worth the effort to learn to draw.
Your investment is small, and the payoff comes EVERY TIME you pick up pencil or brush.
I don't know the first thing about a horse's hind end, but I can draw it. A cowboy, or an artist, or anyone, can look at my drawing and say, "That Harley really knows his horses!"
I don't know horses. I just know how to observe a horse. I know how to reproduce what's in front of me.
You can learn it too. Yes, YOU CAN DO IT!
But your eye has to be trained. And the way to train it, is to draw constantly, not to learn how to place muscles, not to do fabric folds, but to learn to SEE what's before you, to SIMPLIFY what you see, and PUT IT DOWN ACCURATELY with as few strokes as possible"- HARLEY BROWN on "DRAWING IS IMPORTANT"

Bath Revisited II-CAPTURED AT THE CIRCUS!

It was a wonderful day, I had a shot(painting) at the Circus from Gay Street the day before. Up till that moment I had never seen the Circus,but my little experience from the day before, gave me a vivid impression that the Circus was worth exploring!



"Easel does it by Jess Loughborough "SUNFACE13"



On the 21st of September I got out of my bed while the sun was shining with a glorious morning light and I ventured to get one shot(painting) of the Circus done. I arrived at around 10.15am at an interesting spot right in the middle of the park at the Circus and decided to paint a good view of an area in which the sun had illuminated part of the grass to almost a fluorescent yellowish green, with Brock Street peeping through!
While getting ready to paint, a resident from the Circus buildings came down to meet me with a cup of tea and said, "May the sun shine for you all day long"- I gladly had the 'Cuppa' and got down to work, at about 11.38am I had completed my first panel and then I thought the composition looked a bit incomplete. So I brought up another panel and joined it to the first and at around 12.36 in the afternoon I completed my first two 6" x 8" panels of the Circus. I was happy with the result until one passer by said, "it's good you are doing a panorama of this....." then I thought, OK, a panorama....I think I'll try...? Let's see what a third panel would like, by this time I had to turn my position to capture another part of the Circus, linking the third to the second. IT WAS and MUST HAVE BEEN AT THIS MOMENT, THE MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER, Jess Loughborough CAPTURED ME in the shot above!


Adebanji's Circus Panorama- 36" x 6", Oil on Board, 2010, (SOLD)



I didn't know he captured me in a powerful shot until last week when Jose, a plein air painter from Spain and a lover of British Artists like Peter Brown, David Curtis and Trevor Chamberlain, introduced himself to me by email and told me he had discovered a picture I'll like on Flickr. I went to the link on flickr and "Lo and behold"- It was a picture of me painting the Circus!!!!



Adebanji presenting the Circus Panorama



The art of photography is similar to my quick sketches because most of the people I sketch never know I sketch them and that's the same way I never knew Jess had captured me with his Pentax K20D camera! But the Internet is a small world and Jose happens to follow my blog and has also taken part in one of my competitions. He discovered it and I love the picture so much! It brought back memories of one of the days during my Bath Marathon when I feel Inspiration and Perspiration met at their best! I went on to do 3 more panels and it ended up as a 6 panel Panorama of the Circus. Jess has given me the permission to use the image on my blog. Check out his other pictures HERE, they are great! Also check and read the comments of other photographers, one had actually seen me the day before, the picture and comments can be seen HERE

Below are some other pictures related to the Circus Panorama.



Circus in progress I





Circus in progress II

Special Quote
"Always paint your intention. One is composing with every brushstroke. Every brushstroke is furthering the composition, not just by completing the painting, but by creating it. As pearls reflect the string, so do the brushstrokes reflect the composition, the artist's intention. One is always painting one's taste. Every brushstroke is a reflection of that taste or sensitivity"- David Leffel, painting as a discipline,

Sketches on the bus and train in February II

These are some more recent sketches. There's one of me sketching myself, I didn't have anyone to sketch on a bus, so I looked into the CCTV Mirror and did one looking up. The others are of the best models ever-The sleeping commuters.





Special Quote
"What we do on some occasion will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline."-Henry Parry Liddon

Sketches on the bus and train in February I (and the materials I use to sketch)

This is one page spread of sketches I have recently. I have also decided to highlight the materials I use to sketch, I have done this before but it seems a lot of people still would like to know. I have replied many emails from readers but I have now decided to re-post. I'll do the one of my graphite sketching kit when I return to the trusty old graphite sketches. But for now it's the pen sketching kit.



This is my Biro sketching kit

1. Bic Biro (medium)

2. TOMBOW Dual Brush pen (Number 75)- Cool Grey..I think

3.Daler -Rowney sketch Book A6(150g/m acid free cartridge paper) or Winsor & Newton Heavy Weight Case Bound Sketch Book A6 (170 gsm heavy weight paper)

SPECIAL QUOTE
"Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with inner drive, go much farther than people with vastly superior talent. -Sophie Loren