double portrait

I would really like to find out how to use watercolour, so I have started playing with it  and have begun adding a watercolour portrait in with the oils I've been doing... this morning's portraits, a 20 x 16 oil, 60 minutes, and an A3 watercolour, 50 minutes.

and  a couple of life studies from this week, some 2 minute graphite sketches and a 20 minute  A2 Conte

Saturday's  80 minute oil portrait, 20 x 16... an awkward angle as I couldn't really see any eyes behind the dark glasses

and  a 40 minute oil figure study from Sunday A2

Joel

today's oil portrait of Joel 20 x 16, 80 minutes

recent plein air paintings

I have been getting out once a week with some of the local artists  for a shot at plein air painting... here are some from the last few weeks.

plein air Yarramundi

its been two or three months since getting to one of the local plein air field days, and the first one this year organized for last Thursday was in the afternoon, which I couldn't get to due to grand-parenting duties... it was due to be about 40 degrees anyway... so I paid Yarramundi a quick visit in the morning.
Since my last visit the banks had become quite overgrown with summer growth,  and I had to walk along the stony edges which I found fairly difficult... and finished up with blood coming from both arms from the falls... and a few scratchmarks on the painting too!

paintings in progress

some paintings that I'm currently working on

More trees 45 years apart

This was a bit harder to tell, and it's the only other painting I have remaining from 1968, painted in the winter when there was a little bit of rain in the creek.... it's far different today,  very dry and things have changed but I'm pretty sure these are the same trees.

the 1968 painting, current photo, and a painting to be developed more.

Virginia

today's oil portrait of Virginia, 16 x 20... I stopped at 80 minutes

I couldn't believe it!

after almost 6 days in the one place I was vacating to some real accommodation at Rawnsley Park Station, and  one of the last things to do was to fold up my easel. I gave the little wing nut a quick flick with my hand, my normal method to speed things along... only to my surprise some pressure seem to catapault it away and though I heard it plop down a meter or so away...  after over an hour of searching I had to give up looking for it, though I did come back on a couple of occasions to resume the fruitless search...
Fortunately I had brought two easels just in case something did happen to one of them.

even the emu's seemed to wonder what was going on!

On the initial trip in 1968 I don't think I even knew what a box easel was, I did have a tripod easel and carried everything else!

some Flinders plein air paintings

wind flies and changing light were some of the difficulties encountered in painting on this trip, but here are a few shots of paintings in progress

same trees 45 years on

it's a long story but in January 1968 my brother Denis and I set out in a little Austin 30 car to paint pictures. We headed towards QLD but changed our minds half way and headed to a place in South Australia we had vaguely heard of called the Flinders Ranges.

The little car which was laden with painting gear that I had been accumulating over a year,  and camping equipment, developed a problem of jamming between 2nd and 3rd gear... which we finally solved by driving only in 3rd and 4th gear.

We asked a friendly local at the Hawker garage where the good scenery was and he  told us that the Moralana Track had good scenery... and that the road was good!!! ... 20 miles of dirt track and bouncing through dry creek beds later, with me jumping out to help push the car up the creek banks in  100 degree plus mid Summer temperatures left the car with broken springs, no exhaust pipe, tyres peeling and a fan that had seized up and couldn't turn the fan belt... or turn the generator... or cool the engine, and it had to be push started in 3rd gear!

We camped on the bank of the Arkaba Creek near Rawnsley Bluff and once a week I would hitch a lift into Hawker for a few supplies, usually with the daily truck from the Barytes mine. At Easter we eventually sold a few paintings to the Smith's, owners of nearby Rawnsley Park Station and were able to drive to Adelaide to commence the next stage of our artistic journey.
I had my 21st birthday camping there and at that time we didn't own a camera to record any of the scenery or our experiences there.
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I have always wanted to go back there with Denis, but unfortunately he died a few years ago... and I  finally made the trip back there this last week or so, camping not far from our original campsite and traversing familiar territory.

I was moved to recognize a pair of wonderful gum trees that I had painted 45 years ago, still standing in much the same condition... and sketched another version... here are the  gums painted as a 20 year old in 1968, though I modified the background later, a photo of the trees as they stand today, and my latest sketch of them.

Madison

Saturday's portrait of Madison, 80 minutes oil painting on 16 x 20 linen panel

Tony

last week's portrait of Tony, after a bit of extra work on it, 16 x 20 oil

and a 24 x 18 oil sketch from the Sunday Life Drawing group

Paul

today's portrait of Paul, a bit under 2 hours 16 x 20 oil

Charlotte

this week's 20 x 16 oil portrait  sketch

20 minute life drawing with Conte

Cassie

today's oil portrait of Cassie 24 x 18, 2 hours

some things I have been working on in the last week
some amendments to last week's portait of Yvonne

15 minute carbon pencil life drawing

trying to decide on the background of a portrait of Brian

from the Sunday life session

Asu

today's portrait of Asu,  lovely African/Philippine student at the Uni here,24 x 18 oil,  about 100 minutes

recent portraits

I seem to have missed the last couple of portraits from the group sessions
Shawn 20 x 16 Oil

Tom  20 x 16 Oil

self portrait 24 18

another version

another version of last week's portrait, using the first one as a reference

Shiba

today's oil portrait of Shiba,  Oil 16x20 about 2 hours