Sunset

Three very quick sketches of the sun setting, created plein air over an hour.
It was fascinating to gradually see detail fade and suprising to me that, with the darkness, everything felt so much closer...like walls closing in, as if to turn two dimensional.

Sketching On Canvas

My Parents House - Acrylic ink on canvas - Plein Air

...With a dip pen and acrylic inks, I then used a brush to add tonal washes.
The ink is black and white so I have no idea why the hedge is showing as blue?

Benwick Bridge

The old bridge at Benwick has recently had a make-over with fresh white paint and looks wonderful!

Sketchbook Studies

...from back in February...Just some general composition studies.

Another Montmartre Sketch

A quickie from a photograph I took back in 2003.

Norfolk Lavender

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Here is 'Norfolk Lavender', in full and finished.

This turned into quite a personal piece for me; Norfolk lavender was a huge part of my Mums final year, she used it daily to soothe her aching body and smelled just wonderful. All of the aspects of the painting are at the location, I just composed them differently and changed the colours. You cannot see Heacham beach from the location but it is nearby and the last place I took a holiday with my Mum, infact the beach was the very last place we visited together while at Heacham, so I just had to pop it into the background. The palette choice was easy and mostly spoke for itself but blue was also my Mums favourite colour, the addition of red helped to reflect the warmth and love she generated. The fence seemed like the perfect way to express the divide, keeping the lavender just out of reach but still firmly in sight, allowing the viewer to admire it's beauty - unable to hold it, echoing my own feelings and frustrations during this difficult time.
My Mum always complimented my work, a big fan, and I always answered the same way 'I wish my work showed more expression though, said something about me, a story, an atmosphere...' I am pleased to say that I feel this piece does exactly that.

There was no planning involved here, I simply painted!
It now hangs on my bathroom wall.

Art has a magical way of wrenching out of us that which we need to release, oblivious, we watch it unfold and stare back...a mirror of our very soul.

Norfolk Lavender - Snippet

This is just a small section of my latest acrylic painting entitled 'Norfolk Lavender'.
In real life this beautiful building is actually red brick but I have been rather creative in this piece, using a harmonious palette of just blue and red and moving land, buildings and water into a composition all of my own.
It was created using this sketch I made on a trip to Heacham with my good friend Joannie back in October last year.
I'll post the finished piece just as soon as I upload the photo.

Crop Rotation

A rough sketch of a painting I had in mind a few evenings ago.

Montmartre Finished

Montmartre by Anita Davies
Acrylic on canvas

I'm done!
It's been emotional. LOL!

Ups, downs, good, bad, easy or hard...I enjoy every moment that I paint equally.
Unconditionally...I love art.

Hope you enjoyed the process on this one...I'm heading out of Paris and focusing more locally on the next piece...Norfolk Lavender, almost finished and ready to photograph.

Montmartre Painting -Step 5

Taken the red from the guy in the front's jacket as it was catching my attention a little more than I'd like.
Nearly over...

Montmartre Painting -Step 4

I decided the girl in the front left was too warm, even though she's in the foreground the people are not my main attraction here, so I cooled her down.

I also made the foremost female echo the colours in the sky for some much needed unity.

I added some warm tones to the two males hair.

I started to work detail into the Sacre Coeur.

...paintbrush in the right hand, darts still in the left on standby.

Montmartre Painting -Step 3

Montmartre - Work in progress

What you see here is a conflict of styles.

For some reason I started working a session from the photograph I had rather than my sketch and as a result I have two styles, the loose, dreamy top half and the tight, somewhat static bottom half.
My next session was spent trying to gain some unity within the piece and ignoring the urge to throw darts at this canvas and start the whole thing over again.

Montmartre Painting -Step 2

...A little sky colour...

Montmartre Painting -Step 1

...and so we begin...

The Quay, Wells-Next-The-Sea

The Quay, Wells-Next-The-Sea - Anita Davies

This was painted using my sketchbooks as a reference, from one of my many trips to Maryland Cottage in Wells last year.
The great thing about going straight in with paint is that you are free to change things without becoming a slave to your drawing. Below you can see the three stages my sand banks went through before I was finally happy with their placement.

I tried something of a vingette on this piece, an idea that has been knocking around my head for a while, and didn't fill the canvas so the primer showed...I quite like the effect but then I have always has a passion for artworks that appear unfinished or incomplete...What do you think?



I worked fast and loose with a big flat brush and Atelier interactive paints, the entire painting took around an hour and a half and was great fun.

Room for improvement - Notes*
I am considering lenghtening the mast so it breaks through to the sky slightly to improve composition and, who knows, maybe I'll add a couple of birds to that sky on the right to keep the viewers eye rolling around the canvas and complete a nice triangle between my mast, the birds and the buoy.

Montmartre

In 2003 I spent a long weekend in Paris for my birthday, my first.

I also began my art adventure in 2003 and, since it was all new to me, I did not think to take a sketchbook or very many photographs...Boy do I regret that now!

I loved Monmartre and could have easily passed away many hours sat outside one of the cafes watching the artists at work...coffee and art, who could wish for more than that?

I sketched this from one of the few photos I did manage to take and, after making a few alterations in my head, am currently working it up onto canvas using acrylic interactives...More on this one soon.

Sketchbook

A landscape sketch from my imagination and a cockerel, not my cockerel though because he won't stay still for long and it's too cold outside to be patient with him.

Home Straight

' Home Straight' - Acrylic interactives on canvas

This is the painting I created from the sketches in the previous post, relying on memory for the colours and atmosphere.
This is the drove I live in; a mile long, dead end with just seven homes in total and clear views across the Fen in every direction make it a wonderful place to call home.

Studies for a Painting

You may remember the sketch 'Home Sweet Home' I made from the top of our drove. I came across it the other night while looking through old sketchbooks for inspiration and decided to re-sketch it a few times in my Copic pens. The following day I decided to paint it from the information I had from both my sketchbook and my memory.

I'll upload he painting from my camera soon.

As you can see, the copics create a wonderful tonal study to work from and they are just so easy to use. The fun part is trying to remember colours or make my own up to create the mood/atmosphere I am after.

Plein Air ...of sorts

'Rain approaching Doddington' - Atelier interactive acrylic on canvas

'Of sorts' because I painted it from my studio window in real time. The only thing that could argue the 'plein air' aspect is the pane of glass dividing me from the scene.
Painting an approaching rainstorm is HARD. The sky changed every second and in turn so did the light, one has to work FAST! It was fun, though challenging, and when the rain did hit I was relieved to be in the shelter of my cosy studio.