Oil painting is fun

Week 25:  23rd June to 29th June
I'm really appreciative of your efforts in re-generating the momentum at Sue's Arty Party .  Jerry, one of my readers since year dot, has posted an image of his Pet Portrait, a rather pretty black and white cat. I've been meaning to tackle another pet portrait myself and this motivated me into action.  I mentioned earlier this month that I quite fancied having a go at the Grey Labrador, so today I made him my mission. After prepping the canvas I set up my work station and looked at the clock so I could time myself. When I am painting for me, I am one of the fussiest painters you'll ever meet. I stopped a couple of times and walked away from the easel, I took a couple of phone calls too.   This is the end of stage 1, with 2 more stages to go. The whole process took 90 minutes, which includes the breaks. I'm sure a less fussy painter would be done a lot quicker. If I remember correctly, when I painted 'Smokey', stages 2 and 3 were a lot quicker. If you're interested in trying one of these step by step DVD projects for yourself at home, you'll find the details HERE
Ok, I think I might have to get a pet extension for my studio. It's not enough to have the chickens joining me, Ziggy now feels the need to keep me company too. I wasn't even aware that he'd come in, let alone fell asleep under my chair as he usually spends most of his day on my bed. I had my camera at the ready and just managed to capture his sleepy face. I've been photographing each stage of my class paintings, it helps me when I type up the step by step painting guides, which I issue to students who attend my workshops.
I know it's a few weeks off as yet, but I have been getting in some egg practice. What's egg practice I hear you ask? Well, soon enough our chickens will be laying (fingers crossed) and I'm told we can expect an egg a day per hen. We have some more hens to add to our flock/brood/posse which means we can expect approx 6 eggs a day. So this week I have mostly been baking and as fast as I'm turning out the cakes, buns and scones they are getting eaten. In just over a week I have used up a total of 30 eggs. I'm in heaven as the smell in my kitchen is divine but on the downside I think Alan and his workmate have put on half a stone each!
Would you just look at this........I thought bird watching meant we watched them, not the other way around. I was in my studio quite early this morning, the sun was shining, I'd just waved my daughter off (she's on her way to Sunny Greece) and I was in a holiday frame of mind. Quite often your frame of mind will dictate the type of painting you make. I was so engrossed in sand, sun and sea it was only at lunchtime that I realised I couldn't hear the chicks. I downed tools and went hunting, looking in all their favourite scratching and pecking places. Nothing, Nada, Niente, Rien.......  And then I spied them in their run. They'd obviously become fed up with being ignored and marched themselves off across the garden back into their run. Still, today's painting project paid off, we'll be painting my new seascape, 'Palm Bay' in Capel St Mary on Sunday August 3rd. You'll find a larger version in the Class Subjects Gallery
I knew it was a possible, I just hadn't figured out how to do it. Tom has given us details as to how we can post our images to the Sue's Arty Party forum and the instructions are now showing on a sticky thread. So, if you'd like to check out one of Tom's seascapes do pop over there. Perhaps you'd like to show us what you've been up to today as well?
This morning I was determined to have a studio day. I'd managed to tear through my chores and get my internet despatches off by 9.30, which gave me the rest of the day to indulge in nothing but painting. By 10.30 I'd prepped enough canvases to keep me going for a week and re-cycled several 'ex-class' canvases too. The studio roof is the ideal place to lay these to dry out in the sun.   I had plenty of company, as the chicks were pecking and scratching away close to the studio door.  Sometimes they even popped their heads round the door to see what I was up to! (Or perhaps they were after another handful of wheat.) I'm currently working on a little countryside design and hopefully this can be a new painting class subject. See what you think so far.
On Sunday morning I put a 'shout out' on my forum 'Sue's Arty Party' . It's never been the busiest forum in the world but I think it is informative and it's most definately friendly. Over the last month or two it's really slowed down and after the Summer the annual forum subscription fee will be due, which makes me wonder if it's worth renewing . I posted a thread explaining this and the forum has not only picked up speed again with many new posts, but we've picked up a few newbies too. So thanks guys for all your lovely comments and your support. I'm touched. If you haven't checked out the forum already, do drop by and leave a comment, even if it's just to say Hi. Even better, if you've got any helpful tips please do share.

Week 24:  16th June to 22nd June
It's often quite a good idea to google search your business name, or variations of it, once in a while just to see where you are featured and what's being written about you. This evening, whilst waiting for changes to my website to upload I had a quick search. I found AyoubArt had a mention in a Birding Forum under the title 'Will I even be able to paint'. I was quite touched by the lovely remarks being made. Here's what the article, dated November 2006, said: hi matt, as someone with no artistic talent whatsoever i can asssure you it is possible for you to have paintings which you can hang on your walls as i have three landscape paintings on my walls which i painted and everyone who has seen them says they are good the secret of my success is i went to a class which is run by a lady i work with. she shows you how to paint using a technique which i believe was originally used by bob ross. it involves oil paints, you can find out more about it on her web site. she runs regular classes which are very enjoyable and i beleive more or less guarantees you will take home a painting at the end of the day. i'm not sure how you link to websites but if you put ayoubart into google its the first result you find.
During today's floral oil workshop Des added a couple of little extras to his painting which reminded me of one of Darrell's DVD's. 'Sticks, Twigs and Wriggly Things' is just one of the DVD's from the Basic Floral 13 DVD set. This particular film is absolutely facinating to watch and illustrates all sorts of extras that can be added to either a floral or a landscape painting. There's a ladybird on a leaf, a hummingbird, there's a butterfly, some raindrops on leaves. But, one of the most lovely parts of this DVD, in my opinion, is the painting of the Red Cardinal. It is set against a simple distant background with the bird perched on a highly detailed twig which is so far into the foreground that the 3D effect is stunning. Of course, the red cardinal can be replaced with any number of birds. A robin would look nice, a blue tit or even an owl.  Darrell shows in his informative and simple step by step guides just how to add this extra definition.  If you don't already have this DVD, it really is a 'must have'.  To encourage you to add this one to your collection I am putting it on Special Offer for 2 weeks only for just £7 including postage and packing to any European address. You'll find it on the SPECIAL OFFERS page.
Our new chickens are most definately bad for the health. Now the alterations are finished on the hen house and run, the 2 parts have been put together and are now in situ. (Before, the hen house was one side of the garden and the run was against a wall at the other end of the garden. At least once a day we let them out to free range. Getting them back into the run can be an adventure and I'm sure the neighbours must be in fits watching us trying to round them up. Once in the run, the space is quite limited for us to get them to run up the ramp and into their hen house for the night. Alan, last night in desperation, climbed into the run and physically caught the chickens and threw them gently into the hen house, within seconds they ran out, down the ramp and headed towards his blind spot. So, why are chickens bad for the health........?   Well, I was rendered totally helpless watching this, nearly splitting my sides, tears streaming down my face.
What a small world........ As many of you know, my Alan installs bathrooms, showers and wet-rooms. Earlier this week he walked into the lounge of his current job and stood face to face with one of my paintings. It turned out the husband had brought it as a gift to his wife. When Alan explained to his customer that the artist was 'his missus' they were more than a little amazed. Which made us wonder what the chances of the reverse happening.  What are the odds of a would be painter finding my website and booking themselves into a class - only to discover their bathroom designer fitting a frame on their finished piece? If it happens, I'll let you know.
As promised, my new stock of paints have now arrived and the shopping basket for these items has been set up HERE   You'll find some interesting colours available.
Today was the first ever Intermediate Class. Up until now, intermediate subjects have been previously taught as private lessons. With 3 different sizes of canvas to chose from we had some wonderful versions of Bamburgh Castle. The students found the class to be high in concentration when it came to the actual castle - and so it should be, we want a recognisable landmark. I can always tell when students are working hard - you can hear a pin drop. After the class, Cherry, one of my students helped me clear away so we could leave together. Cherry lives on a wonderful farm down a narrow track miles away from anyone. Cherry specialises in chicken breeding and I was absolutely spoilt for choice with my chicken selection. She showed me chicks that had just hatched that morning, her Guinea Fowl, geese, turkeys and the hugest variety of stunning and colourful chickens. I left with a baby Rhode Island Red and a Cream Legbar in a box. Here you can see the Red, but the Cream is a little camera shy.  Myself and Alan have spent over an hour with all four which is good, as we would normally both be in our offices on our computers.
I've had a reminder about the shopping basket I said I was going to set up for the £1.50 (plus postage and packing) oil paints. Apologies, I hadn't forgotton - I'd sold out of stock all bar a couple of tubes. New stock will be with me before the end of the week and I'll be sure to get these on the website pronto. They're proving both popular and economical.
Say hallo to Waters and Gilmour. They're our first 2 Barbu d'Uccle bantams. They are only 3 weeks old and have to be brought in at night to keep them warm. We picked them up at 11 yesterday morning and popped them in their run in the brilliant sunshine. They amused themselves for a few hours pecking around, showing no signs of nervousness at all. We handled them several times and they really seemed to enjoy being picked up and stroked. By the afternoon we decided, as we were both working in the garden, to open the door of the run.........they followed each other out into the big wide world and made a bee-line straight to Alan, who was turning their coop into a 5 star Hotel. At one stage, they ran up his arm and both sat on his shoulder. They even left him a nice little present on his t-shirt. I can see why keeping chickens can be addictive!

Week 23:  9th June to 15th June
You know I was saying the other day that I made a painting with some leftover paint after class - well, I lied. I didn't make one painting, I made two. If you click on the images on THIS LINK you'll see quite large versions of them both. Several of you have already found your own way to this website.
'The Good Life' continues here at Apollo House as Alan is halfway through making his first batch of stout. To say his office smells like a brewery is an understatement! It'll be ready for drinking, so I'm told, at the end of next week and I'm looking forward to it being decanted into a pressurized barrel so that we can start a batch of cider. On a similar note, I've been running around this morning dropping off paintings at various venues, ending at Heartlands in Gipping. I caught Marion just right and we enjoyed catching up with news over a cuppa. We got onto the subject of chickens and before I left we ambled over to where her many chickens frolick. Marion disappeared behind a few bushes and came out with a handful of eggs, some still warm. We'll have boiled eggs with marmite soldiers for breakfast tomorrow. But, it's actually triggered off something that's been at the back of mine and Alan's minds for a while - chickens! One of my students always has chicks available from her farm, so sourcing good, healthy ones are not a problem. The garden is plenty big enough for a coop and a run, I guess the only decision to make is do we buy the coop or do we make our own? Watch this space as I don't think it'll be too long before we're having our own free range eggs......   If there's anyone out there who knows of a coop and/or run thats up for grabs, do drop me a line.
In today's workshop we painted 'Woodland's End', one of my favourite paintings. I'm happy using green oils and am even happier painting woodland scenes 'till the cows come home.   Janice was telling me how just about everyone in her family has an artistic leaning in some shape or form - except her! Well, I think the masterpiece she's gone home with this afternoon will show her family that she too has artistic talent. After the class, as I was tidying up, it seemed a shame to throw the paint away (especially with green being my favourite colour). So I grabbed a small canvas and used up the leftover paint on another little woodland scene, just for the fun of it. Using really small brushes this is what I ended up with and you can see how small it is against my easel. I'm hoping Alan will save some of his left over gold ornate frame moulding as I think this might be a pretty painting to hang in the Apollo Studio .   I'll pop a larger version of this in my gallery as the details are lost in this snap. I'll have to take a snap of the entrance to the wood over the road as it looks very similar to this painting. PS: Does anyone know the actual time that the cows come home?
I want a wee................. Last week, neighbour Karen was telling me about her new Wii Fit. How you can do yoga, step aerobics, jogging, just about any workout you want at any level you want. She was telling me the whole family are addicted to it, including her husband! I had to find out more about this revolutionary game as it sounded almost too good to be true. So in I went and watched Karen's daughter demonstrate exactly what the machine could do. The workouts looked great fun and the charts showing goals, progress, BMI, weight loss, calories burnt etc etc were an education in itself. To say I was impressed was an understatement and I decided there and then that I must have one. Thing is, they're so good that they're practically sold out throughout the UK and to find one hasn't been easy.  They're readily available on Ebay at double the retail price but I've decided to wait for a bit in the hope that they come into stock in the shops again quite soon. Now, whether I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I don't know.  This lunchtime I found a website that had the Wii Fit in stock at the recommended retail price with FREE DELIVERY! I grabbed my credit card and made the purchase. Everything appears to be OK, with confirmation of purchase - but something is just niggling at the back of my mind that surely I couldn't have been that lucky? Fingers crossed a delivery van will turn up in the next week with this new gold-dust.
Today I bit the bullet and took all my oil painting equipment along to my Monday Art Group - easel and cleaning equipment too. Normally I try and prepare an acrylic or graphite project as it's just easier to carry a pad and pencil or paints that are water soluble.  I managed to complete my oil painting project, seen here on the left. In the next class in Capel, on 6th July, we are painting a gentle seascape called 'Serenity'.  It's available to paint in a variety of colours and today I finished the mono chrome version. But as I was carrying my equipment to the hall (2 trips from the car), I was reminded of a couple of DVD's that might be helpful to anyone wanting to use this landscape technique with acrylics or water mixable oils. So...........I've decided to have a special offer on both DVD's. They are available, until the end of this month, at less than half price for just £5.50 each including postage to any European address. Click HERE for details.
This overdue change in the weather was a delight yesterday and looks like it will continue today. As we sat in the garden enjoying our lunch, student Lee spotted a Jay feeding under a tree. (Mystery solved, Alan thought it was a woodpecker.) Lee went on to tell us how the exotic blue feathers in the Jay's wing were once a very sought after item, used to decorate Trilby hats. The bird talk continued when Alan explained how tempted he was to purchase some ducklings for our pond, he'd seen some cute ones for sale at the garden centre at the bottom of the road. And then the bird talk got silly when we contemplated a pair of mute swans for the pond and some peacocks for the garden....... After taking on board the cons of ducks, Alan's decided against the idea - but, we've been offered some tadpoles so we'll make do with little frogs instead.

Week 22:  2nd June to 8th June
The postage rates for large packages and heavy parcels are really making some products un-economical. For example, my easels are £24.99 to purchase from my website yet only £15 purchased from my classes. I've been toying with pulling some larger and heavier items from my website yet still making them available to purchase direct from my classes. I've also been trialing some alternative oil paints for some time now and I'm happy to announce I can now supply 37ml tubes of oil paint in a wide range of colours for just £1.50 each from classes with immediate availability.  I'll put together some basic packages and have a shopping cart for these oils in the next few days for online orders. NB: I'll not be switching brands of paint in my classes just yet.
As several of you are already aware.......there's a Travel Lodge just as you enter Capel St Mary Village. It's less than a mile from the hall where I hold my Capel Classes. Did you know, Travel Lodge are currently giving an offer of just £19 per room from 27th June to 31st August - CLICK HERE for details. Now that's really handy because my own Apollo Studio self catering accomodation is already booked for my July 6th, July 12th, July 15th and 3rd August classes. This just might make a difference if you're having to travel down and are looking for a bargain place to stay. There's a Little Chef almost opposite the Travel Lodge for a quick fix breakfast, the Co-Op, next to the hall, often have sandwiches, salads, pies, pasties and snacks for lunch too.
Sometimes you plan your day in advance and often things crop up to throw your plans out of the window. Today was one of those days. I had set up my laptop in my dining room, brought in the huge stack of paperwork and was determined to get stuck in and get totally up to date with my books. I looked across at the table and gave a huge sigh as I have 2 months work to catch up on. I needed a cuppa before I even tackled it all. As I sat down, sorting everything into date order I saw 2 characters walking up my path. I opened the door to a familiar face and was greeted with a big smile 'Hi, I'm Helga Dee ............' Helga is the first Alexander Certified instructor in Austria and we've been communicating for quite a while now. Her husband, Len, a musician,  just happens to originate from this area and they were over visiting family and decided to drop by. It's one of the most lovely interruptions ever. We spent a good while catching up with all things before they left to visit their grandaughter. Before they left, Len managed to take a couple of snaps so I can share our moment with you. He also left me a couple of CD's of his music, which is playing as I type. It'll be nice background music while I plod on through my accounts. Thanks Helga & Len for dropping by and I hope your Princess put the sun into this rainy day for you. xx
A new Pet Portrait DVD from the Valerie Stewart Series has just arrived in the UK and is available with immediate effect - a rather energetic and lively looking dog. If you'd like to purchase 'Jake' as a single DVD project, he is available for just £13.50. The Pet Portrait Series is also available as a 10 DVD set for just £83 or all can be brought individually incase there's one particular genre that interests you. The prices include postage and packing to any European address. You'll find a larger image of Jake and the shopping basket for these items HERE   I'm getting quite drawn (pardon the pun) to the Grey Labrador and just might give him a go.
Checking my website statistics this morning, I'm always intrigued to see the list of countries who visit my website. I had to chuckle to myself when I noticed my website had been picked up on a word search which read: 'Huw painted the 16 capel'. I can guess at the information the person was looking for, but I'm now wondering if they might just believe I was responsible for some rather impressive ceiling work.
The new class subject for the Capel Class next month (6th July) has been added to the Class Timetable. You'll also find it on the Class Subjects page, for that all important larger view, which can be obtained by clicking on any image in the Subjects Gallery. I've gone for something a little different this time - not quite the Darrell Crow Tall Ship, but a very achievable Sue Yacht.
When we paint we are given an artistic licence. We have freedom of choice. We can select any brush or tool we choose, any colour we choose and express ourselves on canvas. At classes, quite often students will bring along their work which they make at home to show me and other students - and quite often I can spot the student's very own individual style coming through. But artistic licence doesn't stop there. In yesterdays workshop one imaginative student decided her butterfly wasn't just a butterfly, carefully placed in the composition to enhance balance and flow.........no, her butterfly was a 'lesser spotted woodpecker garden butterfly'. So if ever you were wondering what one of those looked like, you need look no more - here it is in Joan's painting.