Highlights of Peter Browns Solo Exhibition, "Bath Between the Snows"

Pete working on "Beginning of a sunny October day, George Street, 2010


I have been very busy recently preparing for a group exhibition in June at Enid Lawson Gallery- it will be an exhibition of PAINTINGS OF LONDON, 8 - 22 June, 2011
by Chris Daynes, Michael Richardson, Karl Terry and me. Hence I have had a backlog of posts that are over due.



Pete making his humorous opening speech


This post is one I have been longing to put up and here it is. As you must know I am a great fan of Peter Brown. There are so many painters that inspire me out there and once in a while I love to highlight their work on my blog for readers to see some of the artists that inspire me and why they inspire me. Whatever you do in life, there are always some people you have the blessing to look up to. People who give you belief, encouragement, inspiration and motivation. Peter Brown falls into this category. I love drawing, in fact, if drawings sold as much as paintings, I would only draw, and that's one of the many reasons I got hooked on Peter Brown.



Another great height of the night was meeting Valerie at the exhibition, we've been connecting as painter-bloggers but we had never met until the night of the PV.



About 7 years ago when I happened to see his exhibition at Messums titled, "From Town path to Embankment" -it was all paintings, 55 of them, but then, I could see through the paintings that he loved to draw-it was obvious. Then I later discovered from one passer by during my Bath Marathon that he never painted at first, but only drew for almost 3 years or so. That's what I feel made this guy what he is today. Plein air painting is becoming very popular today but then, no matter how moved one might be at the moment of capturing light in plein air-if it's going to worth the time spent, it must be anchored on good drawing. I end up getting sick of my own work when the drawing is off, so I constantly work on this-hence you see the constant sketching on this blog. When I look at Pete's work I see him drawing every thing with paint and brush- it's almost second nature and the way the paint is laid, is spontaneous and sporadic in flow, that you feel the boiling blood of drawing, drawing, drawing- running through his veins. I am not saying it has to be all technical and firmly meaured by meticulous mark making. But Pete's work reminds me of how Herman Du Toit, PH.D described Burton Silverman's drawings in The Intimate Eye, he said, "Consequently Burton's work never stoops to decorative effects or seductive mark making. The honesty of his portrayal sets his work apart as a sincere exploration of the human condition, model by model and subject by subject-by one who is human and intrinsically invested in the process"



Pete and Adebanji


Pete personally sent me by post a catalogue of the works for this exhibition and you can imagine how honoured I felt to receive it and also to be invited for the Private View of the exhibition at the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath. So what I have done here is to give those of you who can't get to Bath a taste of what was on show and also for those of you who can make it, to do so before the 2nd of June.



Cross Section of the exhibition on the Private View Night


Hope you enjoy the remaining pictures below-they are self explanatory and speak louder than words.



The snow in this scene, I heard from one of the onlookers at the PV, could be something from the 1800's if Pete didn't put the traffic light in!





Snow scenes captured at thier best, I went to this corner of the gallery and I felt cold! BELIEVE ME!




MY BEST PAINTING OF THE SHOW-in the catalogue Pete recorded, "I am not a great letter writer. The post to me is bills and, if I am lucky the odd cheque. I'd love to know what the elderly lady was posting, risking her neck in the frozen snow"
I love this piece so much because it is too true to life, yet without much detail but a faithfulness to the scene, he produced the exact way the sunlight scores across the snow surface on a sunny day in winter! Refreshing and amazing!





A down to earth confession of an experience that many an artist has had to taste at one time or another.





I once painted from this spot for a lady who gave the painting to her husband as a birthday gift-it's a wonderful scene from Belvedere and Pete makes me "Bathsick" when I see this piece. This one has tremendous quality to the light.





I have been to this scene many times myself but how Pete has managed time and time again to capture the light and beauty of such a common place remains a mystery.






He says here, "In 1993-94 I bought a sketchpad, and charcoal and started drawing. I did not care whether it was "Art" or not-my only reason and drive was from my heart"





These two paintings are from exactly the same spot, but the goal of the plein air painter is all about capturing the light. One was captured at mid afternoon and the other at 4pm. What a difference the change in light makes to a scene.






Watch out for my next post which was watching a demonstration by Simon Davis at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries.

Special Quote
"You will come in contact with a lot of people who can impact your efforts as you work on achieving your dreams-some in a negative way.
Here are five types of people you are likely to encounter:
REFRESHERS-They inspire your dreams and energize your talents
REFINERS- They sharpen your ideas and clarify your vision
REFLECTORS- They mirror your energy, neither adding nor subtracting from it
REDUCERS-They try to reduce your vision and efforts to their comfort level
REJECTERS- They deny your talent, hinder your efforts, and impede your vision"
-John C Maxwell from his book, "Talent is not Enough"

The 400 year old Mulberry Tree, Lenses Abbey, mixed media, 8" x 10", 2011

There's something that fascinates me about trees and sometimes I can't really explain what makes me love them. Maybe one of the reasons could be the animated features of the trunks and branches, especially the ones of those that are very old and have stood the storms and winds of life.

This particular tree stands in front of the Lenses Abbey in Abbey Wood and some photographers reckon it was planted 400 years ago by King James I, men. You can't really appreciate this tree in the summer but in the winter it's leaves are all gone and it's grand old beauty shows.




The 400 year old Mulberry Tree, Lenses Abbey, 10" x 8", Mixed Media, 2011



This piece was done mainly with gouache with additions of watercolour and coloured pencils.

Special Quote
"Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale 'til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Winter Grey Afternoon, Sloane Square, 24" x 18", oil on canvas, 2011

I went about this piece over 2 sittings. The first sitting on the 27th of January and the second sitting on the 2nd of February. Then, the weather was really cold around 2 degrees and as you can see from the pictures I was padded up to the core! Even my feet were not spared to only boots had my "Ice Breakers" on.




Winter Grey Afternoon, Sloane Square, 24" x 18", oil on canvas, 2011 SOLD


I really love the view at Sloane Square, and I have always longed to paint it. So I decided to give real good go and I was pleased with the result over the two sittings. The advantages of painting on grey days is that the light doesn't change, so there's no need to be in a hurry to catch the light as it changes, the constant grey light has it's own beauty and it was also a good lesson on mixing a variety of greys.




My set up before the work starts





Keeping feet warm-My ice breakers!





I got one good observer to catch me while the work was in progress, first sitting.





Final touches on the second sitting.


Special Quote
Robert Goodwin, remarkably, knew exactly how far to drive a student without breaking him. In the first few minutes of my first morning at his studio, I felt I had already a year's training. I had, and I burst into tears. Robin metaphorically shook me by the scruff of the neck. 'You're kidding yourself if you imagine that you can paint only when you feel like it. And don't talk all that rubbish about painting from your "innermost self". The Electricity Board doesn't give a damn whether you're painting from your innermost self or from anywhere else. They want their bills paid. You've got to get into your studio at nine in the morning, even in the winter when it is so dark outside that you can't see your easel or canvas. You've got to paint all day long, until the light fails-Sundays as well. Treat it as business. If you are prepared to accept all this I'll teach you. But if not, bugger off now and stop wasting my time.' More tears. BUT I HAVE TO THANK HIM FOR MY SUCCESS AND I GREW ALMOST OVERNIGHT- David Shepherd recounts his first experience in an artist's studio in his book, " The man who loves Giants"

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