McSherry's Daily Studies in Oils

104. Cévennes Ceramic

2009-12-04T11:29:00.001Z

McSherry's Daily Studies has moved...

2009-11-27T18:41:00.004Z

...over to my exciting and comprehensive new web site at www.mcsherry.ie. You should be able to sign up for the blog which means you'll be notified of all my sharply witty posts -which will include any new daily paintings that I do.

If you've arrived here directly from your copy of the Irish Times; hello! It was very pleasant of them to include my work in their catalogue of highly original gifts for Christmas. Anyway, do take a gander and drop me a line sometime.

No. 103. Looking Towards Leeson Street Bridge

2009-11-02T12:14:00.005Z

During the summer, I took myself down to the canal on my pushbike with my camera to take a few reference shots for a painting [that is still only a figment of my imagination, these months later]. While I was there, I stood on the lock at Baggot Street Bridge and looked westward towards Leeson Street. I can see why Patrick Kavanagh spent so much time down here. The canopy of foliage from the plane trees and the restful stretch of water provides a sanctuary from the bustling urban activity either side. It really is a lovely place. Not so much a daily painting, as a study in tranquility.

This painting is in oils on stretched canvas: 16" x 20".

No. 102. The Difficult One Hundred and Second Painting [Jasmine]

2009-10-30T11:11:00.011Z

This has been delicately scenting my studio for the past several weeks. In fact, our jasmine plant had been in flower throughout the summer, much to our surprise. We have two -one is thriving and the other sits there like the spindly runt of the litter, not giving much back.

I mean, you feed them, look after them when they fall and scrape their tendrils, you wait up for them, worried, when they're out till all hours at illegal flower shows and what do they do? Give you the silent treatment with their sullen and droopy fronds and treat the place like a bloody garden centre.

Well not any more. No more choices for lunch; 'Would you like compost or manure, dear?' I even found traces of rooting powder in the bathroom, for crying out loud. Things are going to change around here.

Oils on 8"x10" gessoed panel.

No. 101. Strawberries Loose

2009-10-29T15:22:00.005Z

Summer is ancient history and autumn is just about over too, depending on your calendar. What am I supposed to paint? Sweet Chestnuts? Turnips? Seasonal vegetables -seasonal studies.

I stood in the garden, darkness all around and gazed back into the kitchen where my eldest girl was washing up the supper things, bathed in warm light. The whole scene was a nocturne, with the contrast between the warm interior and the cool darkened exterior, with the silhouette of the house against the Prussian blue night. So will this be my next large composition?

Nothing at all to do with this little study -but perhaps it'll feed into the doing of my next big painting.

No. 100. The Four Courts

2009-10-28T12:11:00.008Z

Ta-daaaahh...my hundredth daily painting! And what else should it be but a painting vastly different from my usual style -and not even in oils. Well; this is supposed to be a 'studies' journal and I am trying on new clothes all the time.

This particular raiment, I started last night while the telly was blaring away its usual nightly dollop of tish [that's an anagram]. I had intended to paint very loosely and also to play around with perspective. I found an old photograph I had taken back in the late eighties and worked from it. However, any resemblance to the photo ended there, my intention being to imbue my work with whatever intuition decides.

I also allowed myself a very varied palette. For example, instead of white, I used a colour called 'parchment' [how appropriate! It's a grey area...] in the Liquitex range. I've used Liquitex ever since calling into Kennedy's with the excellent English artist and illustrator, Paul Slater. Their paint does have a nice body and a broad range of colours unique to themselves. In there are: Brilliant Yellow Green; Light Green; Brilliant Blue, Cadmium Red Light and Cadmium Orange -neat from the tube.

I've always like to see pointillist work and it's a very pleasurable, forgiving technique too. It gives a romantic sun-drenched sheen which probably would be lost on many of those passing though its forbidding portals. If you don't like it, well...sue me.

Acrylics on 7"x 5" panel. Costs €135 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

99. Sweet Pepper Jar

2009-10-25T11:28:00.004Z

What a day -trying to tie down all the students old and new for my art classes which start again next Tuesday. There has been little time to devote to my daily studies -this one is from a few weeks ago and I'm damned if I can remember what was going through my head during the painting of it. Perhaps, 'How can I stop myself from over-working it?' or, 'I could murder a cup of tea'.

On a positive note, I received a letter from someone in Worthing, Sussex about a sketchbook that I'd left behind me in an internet café about a year ago. I had been over in Blighty to see my Godmother as she was ailing. They'd tracked me down on t'internet [naturally] and I phoned them. What lovely people. They assumed that the sketchbook may be valuable to me and they were right. It's often that my sketchbooks contain pencil-work descriptions of my raw ideas and musings, before they get worked up into paintings or illustrations. They're where the fun is and I'm often proud of them -as long as they don't contain too many advertising sketches!

Thank you Lorraine and Josh of Carewise.

Painted on 7"x 5" panel. Costs €135 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

98. Three Amigos

2009-10-22T20:05:00.006+01:00

Sometimes, in the evening when the house is quiet and when my beloved is working evenings, I can get a burst of energy and complete a quick study. Must be all the fructose I'm ingesting. Well; you can't wait too long with strawberries, can you? Especially if they've already been transported halfway around the globe before arriving chez MacSearraigh. Summer fruits indeed. Summer where? Mexico maybe. Or a plastic tunnel in Wexford. These ones even tasted of strawberry, which is good going compared to some of them.

97. Cracked Jug

2009-10-19T11:28:00.003+01:00

An acrylic moment. I did this specifically in acrylic so that I could use a special 'craquelure' varnish. Groovy.

Acrylic on 6" x 6" gessoed board. Costs €135 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

96. Formal Figs

2009-10-13T15:47:00.004+01:00

This summer, we took our holidays in les Cevennes, a region of France noted for its ceramics [and for being the epicentre of the Huguenots and French Protestantism]. It''s a beautiful region equal to anything I've seen around Provençe and has a proud history of being non-conformist stretching back to the heretical Cathars. There happened to be a pottery festival in the village of Anduze where our campsite was and that's where we bought this deep, heavily glazed dish. The glaze is so dark it's almost black but as the pot is turned it reflects hues of alizarin crimson, sap green and ultramarine blue. To be honest, I could have filled a crate with desirable ceramic wares if I had the money and Michael O'Leary would let me on one of his planes, the brute.

95. Tomatoes Reflection

2009-10-12T16:31:00.005+01:00

Loose tomatoes.

Oils on 6" x 6" gessoed board.Costs €190 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

94. Last of the Summer Fruits

2009-10-09T11:19:00.003+01:00

God I miss the summer. Although we've been very luck recently with many fine days for this late in the season, winter is looming over us like a dismal economic future. Anyway; this study has been done for a while and was hanging around in my studio waiting for a frame. I'll be putting it [and many other daily paintings] into my stand in the RDS Art Fair. The Fair runs from the 13th -15th November. Hope to see you there...

Oils on 8" x 10" gessoed panel. Costs €240 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

93. Tropical Cocktail

2009-10-08T13:57:00.006+01:00

Another vase bought from the local charity shop. I'll be able to open up my own one soon. I had my students painting lemons and limes all week and felt it was time to shake together my own cocktail instead of watching. I sat the objects on a silver platter, to get the reflections. As you can see, I've kept this one loose.

Oils on 8" x 10" gessoed panel. Costs €240 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

No. 92. Daddy's Glazed Jug with Clementines

2009-07-24T09:44:00.006+01:00

A few years ago, we brought our eldest daughter to Pompeii Paints in Stillorgan's Leisureplex for her ninth birthday. Anybody can go in and glaze any of their products and have it fired properly. It's a great outlet for creativity and very enjoyable, too. Our little one glazed this jug and wrote 'Daddy' on it, which is so sweet. I'll bring it out and wave it at her when she's a rebellious teenager!

I did this as a demonstration study for my students, one of whom had asked me about the technique of glazing. Essentially, the entire composition is worked out and painted tonally in grey before being tinted with transparent 'glazes' of oil colour. It's a very safe way of painting because any drawing or tonal errors can be corrected before colouring. All that glazing and no firing -it's even simpler than ceramics. Well done Daddy.

No. 91. Reflective Lemons

2009-07-22T10:30:00.005+01:00

Yes, yes, yes...more bloody lemons. In fact they're the same lemons, this time painted alla prima. I bought the jug in a charity shop in Rathmines. I was looking for silver, rather than steel as silver has a warmer reflective value. Recently, I've been painting on boards that I've gessoed myself, with LeFrank & Bourgeois gesso. I like the flat feel -the oils glide on and I don't miss the tooth of the canvas panels at all. Anyway, at this size the tooth seems unnecessary. What's more is that I get a superior panel for a fraction of the cost of buying them. Result! Artist Richard Hearns got me on to this. He gave a few to me to try out -so, thanks, Richard.

I must say, it's very satisfying to paint a reflective object. There's always a while during the painting that it seems as if it just isn't going to work. Then -almost in the space of a few brush-strokes - it comes together. So; the watchword is perseverence.

No. 90. Renaissance Lemons

2009-07-21T12:57:00.009+01:00

The lemons aren't from the Renaissance, obviously. I was trying out the old masters' method of painting. I painted out the composition in monochrome and the applied glazes of colour over the picture. Rather like old tinted photographs, I suppose. I used a lot of Liquin, instead of thinning the paint with an oils medium (I have no patience, you see).

I quite like this method, as it's difficult to go wrong - there's less of a chance to get confused between colour and tone, which can happen using the alla prima method. The entire composition is finished and ready before laying in colour. On the down side, paintings can look stilted and formal; lacking in that freedom and expression that comes with applying the paint and sculpting into position.

Painted on 6" x 5" panel. Costs €190 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

No. 89. Connemara Lake

2009-07-20T09:38:00.006+01:00

Two versions of the same Connemara scene. I did a tonal study, just using burnt umber, ultramarine, yellow ochre and a touch of white .

I then moved on to a full colour study and embellished the scene with a couple of my own details -the little sailing boat, for example. Both are painted on 7" x 4" gessoed panels.

Connemara Monochrome:

No. 88. Achill Clouds

2009-07-17T10:27:00.007+01:00

One of my students asked me how to paint clouds, which began a discussion of Paul Henry and his work in Achill. I had a photo of this ancient ruin handy so we both painted it together, leaving plenty of latitude for artistic licence. I painted on a reasonably bright orange ground that I left showing through in some places to give the sky a lively appearance, as if this is evening after another stormy day. I piled the clouds high, somewhat in the manner of Henry's style.

Oils on gessoed panel. 5" x 6". Costs €120 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

No. 87 Milk and Lemons

2009-07-14T17:16:00.009+01:00

This is an exercise in painting white. White ceramics reflect everything around them so therefore, aren't white, if you catch my drift. The lightest paint on the palette is white, so that has to be reserved for the brightest highlight. So, everything else must be darker by a couple of degrees.

As for the lemons -there's the usual problem of describing the shadowed flesh on the slices, which I get by mixing a light yellow with a touch of ivory black and zinc white. Blimey -why am I trying to describe the colours in words? It's hard enough to do it in paint!

...and everything is darker than you think...ponder that one.

Painted on 7" x 5" panel. Costs €190 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

No.86. Tomato Juice

2009-07-13T13:26:00.004+01:00

Tomatoes and a cup? I know, I know...but the cup has a good reflective surface and it's good practice to describe light-coloured objects. The ellipse around the lip of the cup was a job to paint, too. That's where a brush with a good, sharp chisel edge comes into its own. Oils on panel, 5" x 7".

No. 85. Baggot Street Bridge

2009-07-13T10:47:00.003+01:00

One day, when we were all taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of summer, I curtailed my inspection of public buildings and turned my attention to Dublin's waterways. I strolled down to the canal lock by Baggot Street bridge to sit with Kavanagh and view beauty at it's lunch. The sun was high, the colours vivid and the whole scene shimmered and radiated warmth and I fleetingly caught that mood, unique to youth and all its possibilities.

I stood on the lock gates that span the canal and looked eastward to watch the canal as she turned the bend and imagined that I was in Delft.

This painting is in oils on stretched canvas: 16" x 20". Costs €750 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland].

No. 84. Self-portrait. All about me, me, me.

2009-07-11T11:18:00.006+01:00

What's this all about? I hear you ask. Well, it's about me -and about this blog becoming too much like a painting sales forecourt, when it was really only supposed to be about my development as an artist.

This is not the first self-portrait I've done by a long chalk. There are many others residing unfinished, in a kind of chamber of horrors in my garage -the opposite of Dorian Gray. I won't be showing them ever but I keep many of them to help me judge my development.

This little one [it's on a 5" x 7" MDF panel] took under an hour. I wanted to keep that looseness and energy that often gets lost as a painting becomes more refined. This is the first time I painted on such a vivid ground, too. Another thing is that I kept away from doing a drawing first; I just massed in tones and added details to bring the portrait out. I have a natural tendency towards detail and finessing and I'd like to be able to deviate from it sometimes. I like the effect that letting the intense blue background gives.

No. 83. Glass Reflections Study with Cherry Tomatoes

2009-07-10T18:24:00.005+01:00

I set this still life composition up for my students on Thursday. They all enjoyed it despite it being more challenging than the usual simple arrangements of fruit, etc.. I decided to have a go myself after they all departed. Thinking that it'd be nice to get the entire tall bottle in, I selected an appropriately-sized canvas.

I kept the painting loose, by my standards and as you can see, there's a fair bit of texture.

Oils on stretched canvas. 14" x 10". Costs €550 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland].

No. 82. Nectarine in a Bright Bowl

2009-07-08T18:00:00.004+01:00

I found this little shallow bowl in a charity shop in Rathmines. Is it an ashtray? Surely not? Let's say it's a knick-knack holder, an olive dish or something that has healthier associations. It's painted on a wood panel cut by artist Richard Hearns's fair hand and gessoed by mine. It's quite pleasing to paint on such a smooth surface. Next to the dish and nectarine is a glass jug, also found amongst the knick-knacks.

On another note, my nine-year-old daughter sat for me. Normally, it's a difficult proposition, to paint a fidgety child. How William Tell ever managed to get a clear shot at the apple on his son's head, I don't know. He must have had several sons, that's all I'm saying. My daughter came up with the solution, herself: Bring in the telly/DVD combination and place it such that she can concentrate on the screen with that commitment that only children can achieve. Before you think that I'm a weak and chinless father she wanted to watch my recent purchase; namely Rolf Harris's excellent series Star Portraits. Everybody happy.

Costs €190 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

No. 81. Strawberry in Belgian White Chocolate

2009-06-12T12:53:00.004+01:00

Costs €190 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

I happened to be at the Dublin Tastefest yesterday afternoon, delivering some paintings to a gallery. A charming girl with a tray of delights offered this little chocolate-coated strawberry to me. Who was I to refuse? So I took two.

No. 80. Ratatouille for Tea

2009-05-22T10:24:00.008+01:00

Costs €190 including frame [postage, packing included for customers in Ireland]

Tomatoes are hard work and describing them with paint can cause headaches...you could just go on and on seeing more and more subtle reflections...I think I will go for that coffee, after all.

No. 79. Starfruit & Strawberries

2009-05-20T09:38:00.005+01:00

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study .

This is the first post for months since I started art classes in my studio. Preparation for the courses and the unexpected fatigue after the class days has stopped me in my tracks. I need fruit! I bought a starfruit for the first time in my life, to provide a complimentary colour to the strawberries. Incidentally, after finishing up, I proceeded to try out the starfruit for flavour. It wasn't the luscious and exotic experience I had been expecting...

Painting Classes Started

2009-04-03T09:41:00.006+01:00

I've branched out somewhat and commenced painting classes in my studio. My inaugural class was last Tuesday morning when I had six students along and I started them off painting a single apple. My aim is to keep compositions simple, with perhaps a single object.

I've seen many students in art classes, who may not have much experience, try to take on large compositions and become overwhelmed by the task they've set themselves. The philosophy at Art Classes Ireland is to gradually build up knowledge and confidence. The second principle is to have fun while learning -the atmosphere is relaxed and convivial. You can see the Art Classes Ireland web site here

No. 78. Orange Segments & Milk Jug

2009-03-05T17:15:00.005Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

It's my wife's favourite jug again. I'm really going to have to go on a bric-à-brac collecting mission one of these days. I chose to paint the background as grey as possible to help the oranges to stand out -really, the B/G was warmer. I didn't even try to get the pink florets accurately -I felt it wasn't necessary. And I had a pain in my back from standing up.

No. 77. Pomegranates and Latte Cup

2009-03-04T10:53:00.003Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

Pomegranates for tea again? One of my children put me under pressure to finish with the fruit as she wanted to devour it. She'd acquired an expensive taste for pomegranates whilst on our family holiday in Provence. So, directly after this, we scooped out the insides and had a little Provençal vacation at our Irish kitchen table.

No. 76. Pomegranates and Plums

2009-03-04T10:38:00.004Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

There's a small [or bijou, as it'd be termed in its vicinity] garden centre a moderate walk away from my house. They usually have an assortment of more exotic fruit and vegetables. Exotic means not a potato. Anyhuff, I bought these two pomegranates and set them up on my stand along with some plums for this study in warmth. Ironically, after several days of spring weather and false hope, we've now reverted to winter and I have my stove burning away as I write.

No. 75. Chilis on Purple

2009-03-01T17:31:00.004Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

I know, I know; it's those chilis again. Don't worry, I found a couple of pomegranates yesterday and I'll put them on the stage immediately.

Anyway, I wanted to paint red on a purplish background just to see how it'd turn out. I like the combination myself. What do you think?

No. 74. Chilli Study on Blue

2009-02-26T10:18:00.006Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

I'm on a run of chili peppers , as you may have noticed. The little selection I bought at the supermarket was pricey enough, so there's no point in wasting the opportunity.

In essence, this is a study in edges and colour. I kept the background loose as I thought that to describe it too accurately would detract from the composition. I put just enough detail in to suggest a patterned fabric and left it at that. They're an interesting subject to paint, peppers -they have a very reflective surface and the red ones have a surprising number of hues and temperatures. The middle pepper is a case in point; it starts at the stalk end as a very warm orange/red and drops in temperature to a cooler red at the blue end of the spectrum. I've found colour temperature to be one of the more difficult points to learn along the way.

On another note; an American friend and very experienced painter, Frank Sandford pointed out something that was blindingly obvious once he revealed it to me as I was painting a study of a white jug recently. He suggested that there weren't enough reflections on the surface. I replied that I thought I had put in what was there; yet I already knew that what I had painted was somehow dissatisfying. He took a mirror and stood it in front of the composed objects and said 'That's what is being reflected here'. I felt like a complete pillock, actually, but there you are.

Below is this study framed in one of my new line of frames. What do you think?

No. 73. Peppery Dish

2009-02-24T10:05:00.006Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

While the delectable wife was off working last evening, I was left with the children, which meant trying to come up with something average that they might eat. I'm not the best cook, I'll admit. Unlike 'Er-in-doors, I merely eat to live. Volume, please -and plenty of chips. But I digress. I decided to rustle up a carrot soup, as is explained in the 'Good Housekeeping' cook-book on our kitchen shelf. I brought the youngest along on my bike to Superquinn, only to be told that the main ingredient other than carrots was sold out. There was a run on the leeks! End of my sudden and inexplicable ambition to cook. However, they did have little selection boxes of these cute chilli peppers and I bought one of those, so the trip wasn't entirely wasted.

I stress that I didn't feed them to the children, either. That would be cruel...

This little creation was cooked up in about an hour.

No. 72. Landscape around Baile an Sceilig

2009-02-13T11:46:00.006Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

I recently spent a week in the beautiful regenerated pre-famine village of Cill Rialaig. All around was the spectacular, wild scenery for which south Kerry is famous. The trouble was, though, that while the rest of Ireland was suffering blizzards and storms, I was gazing upon clear blue skies with the odd fluffy cloud passing in the distance. Therefore, I've had to create my own drama in my landscapes! This is all in keeping with lessons learned over the week -that the artist controls the work and the subject is merely reference matter. This is how I want the landscape to be; all Paul Henry piles of dark, rain-laden cumulonimbus cloud formations. If you are thinking of coming to Ireland, you should expect weather. Lots of it.

No. 71. Pear and Chinese Bowl

2009-02-11T10:11:00.005Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

This is a study in light value. I wanted to keep the values dark all over to have the objects looming out of the darkness. My camera hasn't been able to capture the subtleties of greys on the ceramic dish or the warmth of the highlights on the rim. Photographing artworks is always fraught with problems, and I'm not much of a photographer.

Something I learned during my time away studying in Cill Rialaig was the use of warm or cool greys for lightening instead of white. As one of my colleagues repeated to me from his own tutor in New York, 'White is not your friend'. It seems that white does something to deaden a painting and should be used sparingly. Anyway, when I used the very warm, almost flesh-toned highlights on the rim, it brought the study alive. It's a pity this picture doesn't convey it very well.

No. 70. Orange & Vase

2009-02-10T12:32:00.005Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

Recently, I've been studying the work of David A. Leffel, the New York painter. I'll devote an entry to him later. He does wonderful work and has a great capacity for communicating his ideas to students. One of the finer points he tries to get across is the idea of having a concept for your painting. This could be whatever you're trying to get across to your viewer - the way light falls on a subject or an exploration of the treatment of edges, etc. In other words, not sticking to the reality of whatever it is that you're trying to depict. It's the process that distinguishes the artist from the student. There are decisions the artist has to make of what to include and what details to leave out or change. The painting itself becomes the reality and the subjects on the stand merely a point of reference.

Women in Art

2009-02-09T14:28:00.005Z

A friend sent me a link to this video, compiled by Philip Scott Johnson. It's a timeline of depictions of women over the last 500 years. I think it's beautiful, magical and quite inspiring. According to the blurb supplied with the film, the music is Bach's Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed by Yo-Yo Ma. For a complete list of artists and paintings visit http://www.maysstuff.com/womenid.htm

No. 69. Chili and Red Peril

2009-01-22T16:49:00.007Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

I raided the charity shops in Dublin's Camden Street again and found this dainty little vase. That's the same chili pepper from the last painting...I don't think anyone has the appetite for using it to put in food, so there's the ongoing opportunity to paint an ever-shrivelling pepper for the next couple of weeks. Or so one might think...

I was so tired after tea that I opened a can of fizz to pep myself up a bit. It wasn't the usual vile goop that allegedly gives you wings, but a different vile goop that they're trying to foist on our sugar-craving youth. My wife was given them free in some shop or other. Probably as a sweetener. Anyway, with my new wings flapping wildly, I set this still life study up on my kitchen counter and painted while I listened to the wireless, trilled a bit and sipped a Jameson and water to try to get rid of the taste of that sweetened toilet cleaner I'd imbibed. I should have just eaten the chili pepper raw. It would've tasted better and I'd imagine it would have pepped me up for a while, too.

So how are you doing?

No. 68. I got hot Chilis for ya

2009-01-20T09:48:00.011Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

This is last night's work. I had to pop out to get some bread in the supermarket and I picked up these shiny chili peppers along the way. Curiously, of the three peppers in the pack, one was a real little runt, as if the other two had sucked away its life-force while in the pack. I know some people like that; but I digress. I placed the peppers on a piece of fabric that's starting to become overly familiar on these pages. I'll have to get some more off-cuts from the haberdasher's.

It all took about an hour and a half. I had a glass of whiskey to keep out the cold. Despite that, after a while I got an intense ache in the knuckles of my right hand [my brush hand]. I thought it might be the result of holding the brush too tensely, but it also could be the onset of rheumatism, in this cold, damp weather we're having. It surely put the *ahem* pain in painting.

Incidentally, according to Wikipedia, chili peppers are the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae, which also includes Aubergines. Cool. Somebody get me a glass of water!

No. 67. Courgettes and Échalottes

2009-01-16T11:58:00.007Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

Pay cuts, dodgy bank managers, inept government officials, doom gloom and apocalypse. Is there no escape from this ragout of despond? Yes, I say! Grab a couple of vegetables and stew up a hearty eyeful of spiritual nourishment. Tuck in, but keep an eye on your wallet.

I'm afraid I can't think of anything more jocular on this cold day, when our government and economic system is in disarray. When, once again, our captains have been shown to be either appallingly incompetent, or downright selfish nest-feathering usurers, without even the most fleeting of thoughts about their responsibilities to their employees, customers or country.

No. 66. Silvery Vine

2009-01-15T12:51:00.006Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

I started this a little late in the day and now it's lunchtime. I'm glad I managed it though. The little silver [EPNS] jug I picked up at the same time as the tea-strainer from yesterday's painting. Silver has a lovely warm lustre, unlike the cool shine from stainless steel. On top of that, this one has been over-polished so it's down to base metal in places, adding another dimension. The grapes were commandeered from the kitchen, as usual and draped artfully across, in a decadent, come-hither way.

I managed to keep it all quite loose and impressionistic, so all in all, I'm very pleased with today's studying.

Another bit of news is I've booked several days in Cill Rialaig for the early next month, so I'll be able to do some landscape studies of the dramatic scenery down there in far-flung south Kerry. I'm hoping to be able to keep posting to this blog while I'm away.

How do you think it's been going so far?

No. 65. Tea with Lemon?

2009-01-14T15:22:00.004Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

This wasn't long brewing. I found this little silver tea-strainer on one of my trawls through the charity shops of Dublin just before Christmas and I was waiting for an opportunity to put it in a composition. The mug has a dark blue glaze that was reflecting the wooden panel upon which my shadow-box sat, you can just about see it in the second picture. It also reflected the strainer itself in an interesting way.

I seldom take tea with lemon -usually only when the cow has run dry. I send one of the servants down to the citrus groves with a basket and a pair of nail scissors. If lemons are out of season, my wife will make me a plate of buttered tea bags. Scrumptious.

No. 64. Clementines and Limes...

2009-01-13T11:37:00.006Z

...as the bells of St. Clement's didn't say.

I thought a dose of vitamin C would give us a welcome boost this morning. This is the first of my daily studies this year. I simply couldn't summon up the energy before now and 'flu was only part of it. I've really been over it for several days but during the break, I just fell out of the habit. But now I'm back in the saddle and roaming the range in search of new subjects to paint. I decided that once the weather improves, I'm going to indulge in a spot of plein air painting in a couple of the local parks. It'll mean hoiking an easel with me when I take the children to school in order to get out there early. It might be a while, though, as the Irish winter doesn't end until May. Then it starts again in June.

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

Below is the setup in my studio.

Happy New Year

2009-01-06T18:20:00.003Z

Hello to you all, I hope that you enjoyed your Christmas and holiday. I have to excuse my inactivity for the last week or so; I've been suffering from a hefty dose of the 'flu. Not 'Man-flu', either. I started into a study a couple of nights ago but had to call it off mid-way as I couldn't face it. I'm hoping to get back to normal by the end of this week. Till then...

Joyeux Noël

2008-12-24T09:38:00.002Z

It's unlikely that I'll post anything new today. The children are all off school, with the resultant increase in noise levels. There's still plenty of preparation to do for tomorrow, so it just remains to wish all my readers a happy and peaceful Christmas. Joyeux Noël, Kevin

No. 63. Garlic and Recessionary Courgettes

2008-12-18T10:15:00.005Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

Another night-time study. With Christmas approaching and my darling wife out with her friends for the evening, I had plenty of time to sit quietly and paint. I threw this set-up together in the kitchen, as ever. I clamped my warm spotlight to a door of the overhead press; my daylight lamp to my table easel and began.

I liked the way the shadow fell across the courgettes, making them recede into the dark. I chose garlic to complement the courgettes, because I've always been a bit daunted by its flaky off-white-paperyness. Its always a shady little character and this time, I avoided depicting it for as long as I could before I started into it properly. There seemed to be no way of massing in the main body colour, as there was with the courgettes but I figured that, since this is all about learning, that I should take on these little challenges. Otherwise, what would be the point of these exercises? I had to drag my consciousness back to basics; Dabs! Dabs; you fool!

The nicest part about this particular night's work was having the radio on in the background. I had it fixed on RTE 1 [Ireland's national public service station, for those of you who've dropped in from abroad] When I started painting, a rock music programme was drawing to an end. It was followed by Peter Browne's excellent traditional Irish music slot 'The Rolling Wave'. Finally, there was an audio documentary about the current crisis in the economy. Although not very encouraging to someone selling paintings, it made pleasurable listening. It's doubly gratifying to indulge in a hobby and to be able to listen to radio, while it paints a picture in your mind. Even if it is a depressing one. The recession, I mean.

Original Thanking

2008-12-17T10:39:00.005Z

A few weeks ago, the Irish Times published their annual Christmas gifts supplement. They had contacted me previously about my website, www.irishdailypaintings.com where I sell my small oils painting studies, with a suggestion to insert an article on it.

It demonstrated to me why print is still vital for advertising. There's something reassuring to buyers about a write up in a newspaper. You can pour all the searchable tags you like into a web site to drive people to your online presence but at the end of it, many people don't see material published on the web as verifiable and authentic. We all know from the movies that a newspaper office is full of caffeine-fuelled editors and journalists, with sleeves all rolled up, endlessly fighting to find the truth. So we know that all the material has been researched by the hacks and verified by a growling cigar-chomping ed, don't we? And that's a good thing. On the internet, it has been said, nobody knows you're a dog; any mutt could claim anything and they frequently do. The trouble is, we all suspect that the claims may be nothing more than piss up a lamp-post -even after evaporation, there's a bad smell and you don't want to park your bike there.

Subsequent to publication, I received many more enquiries [and sales] over two weeks than I had had in the entire year before. Print is not dead. You can't sit in a café and browse comfortably through an old copy of the internet and you can't hide anonymously behind the puff and flummery of a web site and expect people to have faith in you.

Of course, you are reading this on a blog -but I've been verified and passed as authentic by Citizen Kane. So, thank you.

No. 61. Nestling Aubergines

2008-12-11T10:18:00.004Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

These two shiny aubergines [isn't 'eggplant' a singularly unattractive name?] were sitting amongst all their friends in a basket in my local supermarket. Decked out in their finest rich purple livery for stardom and immortality in one of these daily paintings, only to be cruelly eaten in a frenzy of vegetable carnage that is one of my wife's ratatouilles. They don't know it yet, but they will be converted, courtesy of my metabolism, into pure painting energy. Or something else, of which I've no doubt you're thinking right now.

I chose an intense red ground for this artwork -and you can see it poking through in places on the canvas as I painted quite loosely in a kind of impressionist method. I had wanted to see how it would affect the tone and in fact, the darks of the aubergines seemed to benefit. Also, I re-used a piece of silvery patterned fabric that has appeared in a few of these studies. It all took under an hour and a half.

No. 60. A Fruit Beginning with 'N'

2008-12-10T11:51:00.006Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

While I painted this, I thought of the joke I heard from Dublin comedian, Brendan Grace about two little boys in the school yard. One says to the other, while holding something behind his back, 'Guess what fruit I have behind my back.' The other little boy says, 'A napple?' 'No.' 'A norange?' 'No,' says the first little boy, producing what's in his hand. 'A nonion'.

So you can imagine the fun I had. It also occurred to me that we have an awful lot of North African pottery around the place. This one came from a trip to Tunisia and survived the ceramic-crunching baggage reclaim experience to feature in this little oil painting.

No. 59. Lemon & Reflection in a Scotch Bottle

2008-12-09T09:48:00.015Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

To be sure, it's seldom I see my own face reflected in a bottle of scotch but when it is, it's usually a happy face grinning pointlessly out from a bottle of Laphroaig. This is a single malt whisky from the Hebrides, whoever they are. This whiskey, pardon me, whisky is so peaty, you could dry it out and use it to plant heather. But there are better ways. One excellent use is for 'medicinal purposes'. I tried it last night to medicine up some inspiration and it does work -I think it could really catch on. It makes everything look better. Oh, and there's a lemon in it, too. Don't answer that.

In addition, I've posted a couple of photos of me in my atelier. A friend came around yesterday with a couple of sacks of wood for my stove, an act of pity for which I'm pathetically grateful. Anyway, he took my camera and took a couple of shots of this old git, whose grimy overalls have burst at the gut [it's the pressure, you see].

No. 58. Clementine Awash in a Soapdish

2008-12-08T11:59:00.006Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

An odd combination, I know but I like the turquoise and green colouring of this little ceramic fish-shaped dish. It had been languishing in a press since we transformed our bathroom into something resembling a hammam -all stone tiling in biscuity hues- and my wife deemed the dish unsuitably vivid.

I was going to write something pithy and entertaining but a Val Doonican record just came on the radio and I became confused.

So I kept this study as loose as I could, given my propensity to become enslaved to depicting reality. Below is a picture of the setup I used.

No. 57. Milk Jug with Spoon

2008-12-05T13:04:00.006Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

SOLD

I've painted this little milk jug before and it proved to be a challenge. Those little pink florets are the devil to paint when you're as obsessed with detail as I am. I lightly dabbed them in, worked around them with varying hues of grey for the white porcelain , then reworked the flowers with a warmer hue of pink as appropriate. Then I left it at that.

Incidentally, I found the jug, which is a Roy Kirkham design, in TK Maxx. When important people come to the house for a cup of tea, this jug is taken out and the feeding trough is covered up with a tarpaulin.

You can see the setup in the second picture. I used a fair amount of Liquin hoping that it'll dry somewhat quicker than usual.

No. 56. Oriental Bowl & Spoon

2008-12-05T10:30:00.003Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

SOLD

This was done at least a week ago but I forgot to post it.

I had last evening to myself, so instead of vegetating in front of the telly, I brought up this little ensemble from my studio and plonked it down on the patterned oilcloth that covers our kitchen table. My spotlight, I hung from a chair that I placed on the table and I used Royal Talens H2O oils [they're soluble in water so they don't fume up the house]. Once again, I had to work my tonal values back from the intense highlights. I thought the pattern on the background may cause some trouble but in the end worked well. It gives a nice warmth to the composition. The only problem with late painting for me is that I come alive at about bedtime, so it took an hour of telly to get back the soporific effect, which is what I was trying to avoid in the first place. Perhaps some opium might do the trick...

No. 55. Pear & Oriental Pillbox

2008-12-04T10:16:00.004Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

You'd think with all this fruit around I'd feel a little healthier. What you can't see is the glass of red wine that's just off to the right of this composition. The wine kept on evaporating. Must be the oppressive heat in this country. Whatever; you've probably gathered that this was an evening's work rather than the morning. I don't have to exshplain my drinking habitsh to you. You don't care. You never leave commentsh on my poshts, nor nuthin'. Hic.

No. 54. Half-dressed Orange & WIne Bottle

2008-12-02T17:41:00.004Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

SOLD

I set this up in my kitchen, after the children went to bed and the house was quiet. We have a kitchen worktop made of merbau, which is a type of mahogany. It's a rich, dark red that offset the orange peel beautifully. Because of the spotlight [you can see it in one of the other photos] there was a clear reflection of the orange in the glass of the wine bottle. The whole setup seemed to glow like something from a renaissance painting. There's partial nudity and alcohol; in short, everything a renaissance man could want.

No. 53. Rosy Apples. Study in Oils

2008-12-02T17:28:00.005Z

Oils Landscape Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

SOLD

Another antidote to the curse of television addiction. I set these apples up on my kitchen table, turned on the radio and settled in for an hour's painting. In the process, while trying to adjust my warm spotlight for best results, I managed to burst the adjustable joint. I'll have to go and find another one today as I can't do without it. I ate one of the apples after and very tasty it was too.

No. 52. Connemara Landscape

2008-12-01T10:04:00.004Z

Oils Landscape Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

SOLD

If you ever come to Ireland, make sure you visit Connemara. The 'Twelve Pins' [Na Beanna Beola] mountain range dominate the landscape, although they're not that high compared with other ranges. It's quite beautiful. I've made many trips there, especially before I was married, because it's an Irish speaking area [Gaeltacht] and I'm a frustrated student of Irish.

No. 51. Twomatoes

2008-11-30T08:58:00.005Z

Oils still life on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

It's become decidedly cold here, Emeraldside. My children are hoping [probably forlornly again] that there'll be snow in time for Christmas. It seldom snows to any great degree on the low ground in Ireland, courtesy of our damp maritime climate. Time to try to bring back a little sunshine with these tomatoes that were lying in the kitchen, like me - all red and embarrassed. I used a background that I've used before, only this time I turned the fabric around, so this is the reverse -a slightly lighter combination of greys. I kept the painting as loose as I could, to bring a little liveliness to the study. After some time spent blocking in the warm red tones of the tomatoes, I began to notice all kinds of reflections and shifts in warmth and coolness as they picked up the background and the white canopy of my shadowbox. I could have gone on and on but my objective this time was to capture the composition without becoming too slavish to reality.

No. 50. Between Edenderry and Daingean, Ireland. Oils Study

2008-11-27T17:16:00.005Z

Oils Landscape Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

SOLD

My wife and I took a romantic long weekend trip on a canal barge some years ago. That's our barge just to the right of the study. The rain was continuous for much of the trip, and of course the barge still needed to have a man at the helm, so I learned what it is to be a seafarer. I also learned that you mustn't have the barge too near the lock gates when going downhill or it'll catch on them and end up nose down and stuck, with the added piquancy of panic in case the craft busts in half. If you close the gates quickly and refill the lock with water, it should be alright. That's all I'm saying. I shall go to sea no more...

No. 49. Lemon & Oriental Spoon

2008-11-25T09:55:00.006Z

Oils Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy this on Etsy.

SOLD

I bought this little spoon, along with its bowl, in a local charity shop. Porcelain is a difficult proposition to paint, I find. There's a translucency that's hard to capture, so it's difficult to see it through. Ahem. Because of the warm spotlight, there was a hard, intense highlight, for which I had to evaluate the tonal values for the rest of the piece. The porcelain is white, but painting it requires the artist to work against his perception of what white is. The addition of a lemon, with its own inherent difficulties made this a bitter experience. I'm sorry, I can't stop myself...

No. 48. Monolithic Red Pepper

2008-11-24T11:31:00.007Z

Oils Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy this on Etsy.

SOLD

This is not the composition I started out with. First, I tried to paint it alongside an ornament but against a light blue backdrop. I got only so far before I realised that it wasn't working at all -I scrubbed the canvas and started this one. Thankfully it came together well. The trick is the combination of cool and warm reds. The warmth comes from the mix of cadmium colours and the coolness from a deep madder red. It's a simple composition, hence the title, but I was at once happy and relieved and ready for breakfast...

Temporary Hiatus

2008-11-18T09:30:00.003Z

I've been unable to get any daily studies done for the past week or so -I've been trying to clear my studio of commercial work before attending to an important family reunion. I'll be back next week, brushes in hand to resume my studies. Until then...

No. 47. Abstract: Lavaflow

2008-11-12T12:08:00.006Z

Acrylics Abstract Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy this on Etsy.

Another enjoyable couple of hours. It feels good to start a small project with no clear idea of how it will turn out. It's the paint that speaks.

Once again, this is a mixed-media piece on canvas board -acrylics and varnish. As usual, the varnish buckles and cracks, leaving a craquelure effect that builds as layers of colour are applied.

Hence the title: the effect suggested lava as it forms a crust and you can still see the molten rock glowing beneath. Not that I've experienced much on the way of volcanic activity in Ireland. The only eruptions around here are induced by over-indulgence in porter.

No. 46. Abstract 'Sunspot"

2008-11-11T10:19:00.003Z

Acrylics Abstract Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

Playing with paint again. This is the fun stuff -just as rewarding as the more formal still lifes. Full of 'happy accidents' -I have no clear idea of how these will turn out and the only hint to tell me that a piece might be finished is instinct. I love the bright colours even though they've been subdued by glazes of burnt umber. Texture is another dimension -paint applied thickly over not-quite-dry colour forms cracks and fissures. A holiday from real life...

No. 45. Apple Delerium Trainems

2008-11-05T15:01:00.005Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

I upended an old box I used to have attached to my easel and stood an apple for this study. The box is very stained from several years of spilled turps and marks from loaded brushes and turps jars. I needed a simple composition this morning as I overdid last night's gym session. I've missed a whole week of training and was attending only sporadically [or sposmadically] for a couple of weeks previous to that. I now feel as if I have a cider hangover. Painting an apple as a kind of hair of the dog doesn't seem to have worked that well... so, I'm off to the pub this evening for some real cider amongst some other mouldy artists at an Illustrators Guild of Ireland open meeting -mmm, tasty.

No. 44. Ramequin and Green Olives

2008-11-05T12:45:00.009Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

SOLD

I bought a dozen or so of these olives a couple of days ago in order to paint them. No sooner than I got them home than my children fell upon them and devoured all but these three. It was like trying to stop a herd of thirsty buffalo at first scent of water. They have expensive tastes, my bairns -but healthy appetites! It's lucky I didn't want to paint a white truffle, that's all I'm saying.

This was another effort to reduce my evening goggle-box watching. I recreated my setup on the kitchen table, after the evening's tea debris had been hosed off with the power-hose. I perched a chair up on top of the table for a frame to fix my warm light lamp and once again, I used 'water miscible' oils.

No. 44. A Thoroughly Good Egg

2008-11-04T11:30:00.007Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

Last night, I laid an egg. Instead of the usual evening fare of meal - couch - television - physical collapse, I decided to set up a still life on the kitchen table. For this one, I used new-fangled water-miscible oils. They're great for use in the house as brushes can be washed out in water, sparing family members the reek of turps. Otherwise they work like regular oils. [I suggested that a friend use them once and he recoiled in horror at the thought when I mentioned that they're prepared in a binder of genetically-modified oil. It seemed like a strange reaction from someone who'd just told me that they thought Liquin was a great way to speed up drying. This is the kind of stuff you can't pour down a drain].

Anyway, back to my oeuvre. I spent a pleasant hour or so, away from the idiot's lantern and listening to the wireless and daubing. That's when I laid the egg, see?

Then I was too perked-up to go to bed; I turned on the box and to my delight, there was a documentary film on the life of one of my favourite singers, the late English troubadour Jake Thackray. A thoroughly good egg and for what it's worth, this little study is dedicated to his memory. What a pleasant way to spend an evening.

No. 43. I'm Asparagus! No, I'm Asparagus!

2008-11-04T11:17:00.006Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

Sticking to the tenuous Roman slave theme, Romans may well have grown, prepared and eaten asparagus; the vegetable of Kings. I made that last bit up. I set them up on the top of a red file box that was lying around the forum somewhere and set my faithful Quintus about holding a strong rush torch to light the piece. I'm lucky to have Quintus; he's from one of the Gaulish tribes who are world leaders in asparagus lighting.

No. 42. Green Chilli Pepper

2008-10-30T17:06:00.003Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy this study.

I feel like a fraud. Painting chilli peppers as if they're the natural choice for a sun-drenched Dublin studio when I'm bloody freezing. I should be painting moss or lichen -there's plenty of it growing on my legs. It's an occupational hazard of living in Ireland; you sit still for a few hours and somebody from the council has to come along at the end of the day with a scraper to free you.

In fact, I didn't paint this in my studio -I hauled in my tabletop easel into my living room last night and balanced the plate on the arm of the couch [that's the russet colour at the top]. I turned the TV on to something foreign and warm and hey presto! Instant summer.

Pepper has indeed come into the Irish conciousness recently as the police [An Garda Siochána] will now be issued with pepper spray. I think it's used to flavour their bagels.

No. 41. Aubergine

2008-10-29T12:26:00.007Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy

SOLD

I've been wanting to paint an aubergine for a while now. Such a rich dark colour and a kind of french-polished shine to them, like they've been on another excursion to the fruit valet for a good buffing. It'll end up in one of my wife's delicious ratatouilles. Not the painting; the vegetable. I've stewed over this one enough already.

Incidentally, according to my dictionary, this fruit comes from a plant belonging to the nightshade family [Solanum melongena]. Deadly.

No. 40. Scallions on Deck Chair

2008-10-27T18:03:00.013Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy

A couple of summers ago, on that day when it stopped raining for an afternoon, we had friends around for a barbecue [we have barbecues in Ireland to keep warm and as clifftop beacons to warn of impending invasion by the Saxon hordes]. We broke out the deckchairs which we offered to our guests -and one chair, fatigued by constant wetting, promptly collapsed under the weight of its occupant. Fortunately, this guest was a Saxon and he ended up apologising profusely for eight hundred years of imperial oppression. It was a delicate social situation; we weren't sure whether to rush to help or take advantage of England's misfortune...

Anyway, the point is, I broke the chair up for firewood and saved the canvas to make an...erm... canvas, one day. It still lies around accusing me of not being painted upon. So, here it gets a partial second life as the background for these onions. I kept this one loose, like the joints in my garden furniture. I'll stop now -you must be exhausted after reading this. Here; have a seat...

No. 39. Villeroy & Bosch Cream Jug & Grapes

2008-10-27T17:39:00.004Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy

I've been quite busy over the last few days -clearing out my garage to make room for another family of destitute bankers, so I've had to post more than once today. I'm sorry if it confuses you; you should see the state I'm in.
Anyway, back to wedding presents. This is another one from my dimly-remembered nuptials all those years ago. I think it was in the year of Our Lord eighteen hundred and six, my wife finally parted me from my communion money and she bought a Villeroy & Bosch dinner service. The grapes came much, much later. We still have the set in it's entirety which is something of an achievement in our house.

No. 38. Crystal Wine Glass & Red Pepper

2008-10-27T17:14:00.008Z

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Click here to buy

We bought a set of Galway crystal wine glasses when we got married. We also bought the pepper. It's remarkable how long fruit and vegetables last when they've been irradiated. I've had myself irradiated too and people say I'm quite fit-looking for a man of 103.

No. 37. Market Segments

2008-10-22T15:55:00.004+01:00

SOLD

I started this one late in the day, after a really early morning meeting. By the afternoon, I found it difficult to focus! I always find citrus fruit hard to render, for some reason -it's easy to become embroiled in every little subtle hue of yellow. Anyway, here I used a mixture of cadmium reds and yellows. My favourite bit is the shadow to light area on the segment at the back next to the bottle.

You can see the set up I used on the second pic. Any feedback you give would be welcome.

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5" . Buy this Oils Study

No. 36. Through the Dark Glassy

2008-10-21T12:48:00.005+01:00

I took the shapes of little bottles that I've painted before in various studies and drew them from memory in dark lines without reference to the real thing. I then painted in between the lines in cadmium red, leaf green and cadmium yellows and oranges. I also layered a tinted household varnish over the whole composition, pointed in the highlights and once again layered over more of the varnish. More learning while playing!

Acrylics Still Life Study on paper. 7" x 5". Buy this original $90.

No. 35. More Pears

2008-10-21T10:20:00.003+01:00

This is a continuation of a process I started today -working with acrylic paint, acrylic varnish and a household tinted varnish. The tinted varnish, when applied over paint and acrylic varnish that's not quite dry, forms fissures and cracking patterns haphazardly around the painting. It was great experimenting with the materials. So much to learn!

Acrylics Still Life Study on paper. 7" x 5"

No. 34a. Techniques all Going Pear-shaped

2008-10-21T10:11:00.004+01:00

I might have to change the name of this blog. Acrylics are in!

I was talking with an artist friend about techniques in painting. He paints but is very influenced by his main love which is ceramics -all those glazes and textures that can be fired onto a ceramic item. We got into a long discussion in the pub over a couple of beers, and I was very taken with the notion of this way of working. So, when I got home this evening from a long meeting, seeing there was no time to do a formal set up, I got out the acrylics, a pot of acrylic varnish and a tin of Ronseal 'walnut' tinted quick-drying varnish. What I was aiming for was to keep this as a still life, but work on it in an abstract way. This piece started out very bright, with bold colours but after a couple of applications of the varnish over not-yet-dried clear acrylic varnish, I arrived at this autumnal finish. The craquelure effect which was achieved by experimenting, only adds to the composition, I think, don't you?

Acrylics Still Life Study on paper. 7" x 5". Buy this art.

No. 34. Handling My Own Plums

2008-10-17T14:14:00.005+01:00

SOLD

There's an upholstery workshop just across the lane from my studio and Alan the merry upholsterer did his bit for the arts by donating this bit of fabric. He doesn't know that he did however as it was in a plastic bag outside. I rescued it from the rain, OK? The plums, on the other hand were plucked, all speckled with dew from the tree at the foot of our timeless garden. This tree is a scientific marvel, as it's a sycamore.

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5"

No. 33 North African Pottery & Apple

2008-10-16T12:07:00.005+01:00

The sun is shining this morning, which always assists in my delusions of living la dolce vita, We visited Tunisia a couple of times, years ago when we had some money and I brought back a few of these mugs from one trip. I also tried to bring back some other ceramic items at the time but I arrived home with a bag full of pottery rubble. Anyway, I've had a pleasant morning and just finished my coffee, so I'm a-buzzin'. Incidentally, I used the same set up as yesterday. But you already knew that, didn't you?

SOLD

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy this original

No. 32. Mmm, Lemony

2008-10-15T12:59:00.004+01:00

SOLD

I'm still painting in this dark, shadowy style at the moment. It seems to parallel the general feeling of despondency as the economy slides into depression. My advice is to take a lemon and add it to a glass of gin and...no wait...paint it. Excuse me, I kept making the same mistake when I was in charge of a bank.

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy this original

No. 31. Half Lemon

2008-10-13T13:09:00.004+01:00

I used a wooden box all covered in old paint for my shadow box on this composition. The lemon resided in our fridge [for some time, by the looks of it!]. The pillbox had featured before. Here's the setup below:

It took longer than usual to paint this; about three hours, all told -mainly because of the pattern on the pillbox.

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5"

No. 30. Red Onions & Spoon

2008-10-10T12:01:00.005+01:00

I emptied an old box full of photographs to make a little shadow box for this composition. Like yesterday's study, I wanted to paint a darker, more atmospheric still life. It took about an hour and a half. I've now got to wipe the tears from my eyes and rush off for a meeting. Cheerio!

SOLD

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5"

No. 29. Green Peppers

2008-10-09T11:40:00.006+01:00

I decided to paint this one as quickly as possible -although I didn't time myself. I think it took a little over half an hour. I wanted to do this in order to stop myself from becoming embroiled in the details and becoming overly descriptive. I also wanted to have a more sober feel than I have been getting lately. I like what I've come up with here.

Here's a pic of the setup. As you can see, I made the background greyer than reality. I did this to try to focus the eye on the peppers themselves.

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy this original

No. 28. Garlic

2008-10-08T12:17:00.007+01:00

What can I say? Garlic on a plate. One of my darling wife's favourite plates too. I'd better make sure I get it back to her in one piece, or all I'll have to eat will be the garlic!

SOLD

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy this original.

No. 27. Aping Grape Shapes

2008-10-07T12:08:00.006+01:00

I picked these delicious grapes as I wandered around my private vineyard, on the gentle, verdant slopes just beyond the stables of my stately and gracious chateau. It's harvest time and the fields are busy with my merry peasants who wave a cheery bonjour to me as I canter by on my snow white mare, Fartypants. No. No, really it's as wet as a herring's swimming costume and any grapes grown around here are treatable with a cream available from your local pharmacy.

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5" Buy on Etsy.

No. 26. Red Pepper Peril

2008-10-03T11:33:00.005+01:00

Peppers again. What is it with peppers? Perhaps they're a symbol of summer, of good times and Mediterranean cooking. Anyway, you gotta love them.

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy on Etsy

No. 25 Hello, Mellow Yellow Fellow

2008-10-02T16:45:00.008+01:00

SOLD

Another one from the colonies. We can't grow peppers here because in Ireland, we live in a perpetual nuclear winter. So we import peppers with a massive carbon footprint. [You can see the carbon footprint extending off to the right of the pepper]. It's a strange world we live in, where you can be painting such a sunny vegetable whilst having trench foot.

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy on Etsy

No 24. Hot Chillis. Almost an oxymoron

2008-09-30T10:50:00.005+01:00

I needed a bit of heat, this morning. The weather has now turned very blustery and wet. I picked these up at the supermarket last night specifically for the purpose of painting them. I'm not going to attempt to eat them -hopefully my lovely wife has a better idea of how to use them. Maybe a lively curry...mmmm.

The most difficult thing with this was the background -I couldn't match the lime green of the background using the leaf green that I normally have on my palette. Fortunately, I had a tube of cadmium green which, when mixed with a cool yellow and white, got me to where I wanted to go.

Oils Still Life Study on canvas panel. 7" x 5" Buy on Etsy

No. 23. Veni, Vidi, Vici

2008-09-29T11:47:00.007+01:00

On my way home from dropping off the children to school, I picked up a couple of horse chestnuts off the street. It brought to mind my schooldays in London when all boys sought out the best and biggest chestnuts with which to make conkers. We'd drill a hole through the nut, pass a string through and knot it to stop it flying off during battle. Then we'd challenge each other to a game of conkers and take turns to bash the opponents conker to pieces. in the process, we'd often bash each others' knuckles, which could account for the rheumatism that afflicts my hands now.

Sometimes, we'd even try to toughen the conkers up by baking them in the oven or soaking them in vinegar for the night, and I've just caught a whiff in my mind's nose, of a vinegary conker as it hurtles past my face towards my trembling knuckles. Toughening never seemed to work and usually made the chestnut brittle, like a set of knuckles with osteoporosis. That's why playing conkers has been banned in old people's homes; there's nothing that nurses can do with someone whose hands flap around like a pair of washing-up gloves filled with chalk dust.

Oils on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy this original on Etsy

No. 22. Bottle and Unnamed Flower

2008-09-25T11:31:00.011+01:00

SOLD

I've been meaning to paint this bottle for a while, since it was lying around the house. The trouble was, I had restricted myself to the one format for all my daily studies. This was really to make things easier for framing or sending to buyers. I went out to the garage and found a piece of particle board and coated it with gesso, and voilà!

I had to work quickly on this one as this flower seemed to start wilting as soon as I picked it in the front garden. Probably a good thing - give myself a time limit and try to express the subject as simply as possible. Anyway, I did the minimum of blending in this one, and I let some of the burnt umber ground show through...

By the way, if you know what this flower is, do let me know!

Oils Still Life Study on wood panel. 7" x 5". Buy on Etsy.

No. 21. Three Onions. Thrunions. I need some sleep.

2008-09-23T07:59:00.012+01:00

I woke this morning at 5.30 and couldn't get back to sleep, so I mooched down to the end of the garden to my studio. I got this done and it's still only 8AM! As soon as I have this done, I'll walk the children to school and take the long route home for my morning constitutional. I expect that I'll flop to the floor with tiredness like a trifle after I've had my lunch. Maybe there won't even be any lunch if my lovely wife can't find the onions...

Oils on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy on Etsy.

No. 20. Little Plum and Coffee Cup

2008-09-22T16:35:00.009+01:00

SOLD

Haven't posted for a whole week since I had to rush over to Blighty to visit relations. Anyway, here's the result of today's daily studies. Once again, the reflections on top of the pattern on the china cup were the most difficult thing here. Also, by the time I got to the end -and putting the little highlights on the edges, I found that I had painted the whites in such a light tone that I feel that it stopped the highlights from making the whole thing shine. I must remember to start very sombre and work my way towards the highlight. Tomorrow, tomorrow, always tomorrow.

Oils on canvas panel 7" x 5". Buy on Etsy.

No. 19. Porcelain Trinket

2008-09-15T15:37:00.008+01:00

SOLD

I've been raiding the charity shops again. I picked this one up for a whopping €1 in town -along with a few other trinkets that will appear in daily studies over the next while.

I found the pattern difficult to depict, but I got there in the end, even though this one took longer than it should have. I put the entire piece in the blender again -porcelain always looks better blended, I think. Once again, the camera hasn't really picked up the subtleties in the whites. I'm sure it's not the camera -I can't blame the technology.

Here's the setup I used:

I won't be posting for the next week or so as I'll be working to some tight deadlines. So, à bientôt mes amis.

Oils on canvas panel. 7" x 5". Buy on Etsy

No. 18. Loose bottle

2008-09-11T15:56:00.007+01:00

I had to physically restrain myself from attacking this with my hake brush and blending the hell out of it like I usually do.

Oils on canvas panel. 5" x 7". Buy on Etsy

No. 17. Shapely Grapes

2008-09-10T18:38:00.005+01:00

I tried to stay loose on this one but I ended up labouring over it for far longer than I should have on a daily study. Out came the hake brush and I blended and blended away as I went along. The blue detailing on the little pill box was hard to depict and as usual, I became obsessed with getting it 'right' instead of describing it simply. I also have to admit that the looseness around the background is contrived as I kind of dabbed it in there after the fact, if you know what I mean. Anyway, here it is in its full 6" x 6" glory.

The other thing about this is that the original is warmer than the photograph shows here. My photographic skill aren't good enough to cope with the subtleties of whites...

Oil on canvas panel. 6" x 6". Buy this on Etsy

No. 16. Casting Nasturtiums

2008-09-10T18:26:00.005+01:00

We've been overwhelmed with nasturtiums [nasturtia?] this year, great stringy things that they are. I plucked a couple and threw them up on the stand. The flowers are such a vivid red that it was impossible to capture it in paint. Maybe I need better paint! Maybe I need a better painter! [Shut up -Ed].

Oils on canvas panel. 6" x 8". Buy this on Etsy

No. 15. Mango Thursday

2008-09-05T17:09:00.006+01:00

I found a mango nestling in amongst the apples and bananas in our kitchen. I painted this just before I got down to work on the latest illustration project. It never ceases to amaze me how difficult I find painting from life. I mean; I thought illustration work would prepare me a little for painting. But it doesn't. I signed this 'Sutton' for some strange reason of multi-personality, although I'm better now, thank you very much.

Oils on canvas panel. 6" x 8". Buy this on Etsy

No. 14. Pears in Conference

2008-09-04T12:04:00.007+01:00

I grabbed three pears from my wife's central stores and made off with them for a couple of hours as a subject for this still life. I laid quite a lot of paint down with this one which is relatively unusual for me and my usual miserly approach to using paint.

I've been taking long looks at Carole Marine's marvellous blog of daily paintings, especially her set up which she has generously explained in a couple of posts.

This set up is excellent for controlling light [and for adding a touch of sunshine which we so seldom get in this country!]. According to Carole, her husband cleverly contrived a frame by using electrician's ducting, which is both rigid and light. Perfect for moving around the studio or even collapsing to store. So, well done Mr Marine!

Oils on canvas panel, 6" x 8". Buy this on Etsy. Click on the panel top right

No. 13. Apple of my Eye

2008-04-01T12:05:00.004+01:00

I managed to get out to the orchard yesterday. One of the local peasants handed me this lovely apple.