When is it finished?

I remember watching a video a number of years ago of the celebrated oil painter Fred Cuming RA. It was a sort of masterclass, and he was painting an estuary scene from scratch. It was wonderful to watch him layering on thick oil paint with such confident strokes of the brush as the painting developed. After a while he had created what I thought was a great scene, with just enough detail to define the ebbing water, the decaying wooden fence posts, and the evening light. It was to me the perfect picture.

But then he mumbled something at the camera and wiped a whole portion off the canvas and started again. I wanted to shout "NO! Don't do it! You had the picture there!". But he repainted and wiped away and repainted again until he was satisfied that the painting was what he wanted. I think he must have had a certain quality of light, or mood, or something in his mind that he wanted to catch. (But I still think the earlier version was better!)

Knowing when to stop is really a matter of opinion, and the end result has to be what you, the artist, is striving to achieve. It didn't matter to Fred on his video, that I wanted him to stop earlier. He knew what he wanted to achieve, and to him, he achieved it. The satisfaction was his, and he must have learned something that day. I know I did!

You can see some of Fred Cuming's work at his website (http://www.fredcuming.com/)

April Painting Holiday

If you happened to be out and about in the hills around Keswick in the Lake District last week you may have come across a group of slightly frozen artists. I had eight delightful painters with me for a week of sketching and painting in the Lake District, and every day we managed to get out into the countryside despite the biting wind. I think they all deserve some kind of medal for bravery! We had many laughs along the way, and really enjoyed each other's company as we had a go at painting this beautiful and slightly over-awing scenery. My thanks to all who took part in making this such a memorable week.

I remember painting in even colder weather once, when my paint froze on the paper before it had a chance to dry, and ice crystals appeared in the paint box. I've heard that you can prevent this by adding gin to your water - but that seems to me to be a bit of a waste!

Drawing on the Masters

Recently I was down in Brighton for a week and I took my drawing kit and a couple of photos to work from with me (England is cold at this time of year and I didn't expect to get out much!) I was staying at my mother-in-laws house and she has a good collection of drawing and painting books left behind by my father-in-law who was also an artist.

Flicking through them I realised how much I could learn by copying some of the paintings in pencil, as I didn't have any paints. It was a good exercise in seeing and drawing tones and textures, and learning as I went along how the masters before us were able to construct such wonderful pictures. Here are just a couple of examples - Carmelina by Henri Matisse and, by way of contrast, Lady in a Rocking Chair by Pablo Picasso.
Inspired by these I then worked from a photo I had taken in Northern France a few years ago of the massive statues at the Canadian war memorial. I've called them Brothers in Arms after the Dire Straits song.

A handy tip - if you draw in pencil and don't want your masterpiece smudged afterwards, just spray it with a cheap hairspray to fix it. You can even spray it as you go along and still draw on top of it. Much cheaper than the fixer you buy at an art shop, and just as good!