Hooray! Finished!

After a lot of gluing, waiting and gluing again, my elephant lamp is complete!
actually, its really lovely and I'm thrilled with it, however, it makes me wonder how many people buy these and never quite get around to finishing them.
The thing is, you can only glue perhaps two sections at once (often just one) then you have to wait until the glue has dried before gluing the next, otherwise the first bit moves and you get a wonky elephant.
I also found that I was gluing myself quite a bit, so I reverted to wearing rubber gloves so that I could get on with other things while the sections dried and not have to keep washing my hands.

Anyway! This is it. It looks lovely lit as well as just standing in all its glory.

A good idea at the time

What a lovely shop I found myself in, full of very unusual gift ideas and arty books, as well as a cafe. Surrounded by unique items, I spotted a delightful blue elephant lamp, glowing on a display. It was not alone, there was a fish, a parrot, a turtle, but the baby elephant was my favourite. 
With a 'new arrival' due soon, this looked like an ideal gift.
Surprisingly, these lovely lamps were all in rather small boxes,  but ideal to carry home!
I really can't expect new Parents to assemble their gift, and it will be such a fun project.

Yes, I bought the 'paper lamp kit' 26 cms tall, after all, how hard could it be?

The box has been sitting in my kitchen now for a couple of weeks, I did take a little peek inside and fairly quickly closed the lid again, but with the snow outside, it seemed like a lovely Sunday afternoon activity.

The afternoon just flew by and before I knew it, after copious cups of tea, the light began to fade. 

All the pieces are now scored and folded, I just need to glue all the bits together... in the right order.


Good job this is classed as an 'easy' one! Skill level 1 out of 5 (perhaps 1 is most difficult, oops!)


This lamp will be worth a small fortune in man hours!

I shall let you know when my project is finished... let's hope the new arrival doesn't arrive too soon!

Part Two

Once the basics are all in place, I then begin to work from the back of the painting towards the front.

I add my warmer colours, in this case Raw Sienna, which once added to the Shadow colour results in a lovely deep warm shade, adding more and it becomes a muddy green brown colour, fab for the distant foliage and to suggest clutter and objects.

There is a tendency to look for those little details, shrubs, bushes and distant objects, however, I have learnt over the years to try and avoid thinking about these things, and just simply paint what I can see.

Of course, if I am using a photo, and I bring it right up to my face and peer at it, I will be able to see lots, if using an iPad I can zoom in on a section... oh dear, I do it too! However, this usually just detracts me from what is important in the painting, so if I use a photo, I pin it to the top of my easel or better still the post in my studio. If I use the iPad I stand it up and paint as if I was outside, after all, if I'm painting outside, I can't zoom in, I can only screw up my eyes to try and get a better idea of what it is I'm seeing.

So my rule of thumb is, if I can't make it out, I don't make it up. If I can see a dark shape, I paint a dark shape, I don't make that dark shape into a neat object.

Where was I? Oh yes, background first, trees, distant fields and sky, then the sheds. (always the fun bit) once the sheds are established, I add posts and anything around the sheds and behind them.

Now all that's left, is the foreground. Well I say the foreground, but that can be almost 2/3 of the painting, so I work on the most distant of that, which in this case is the triangular shape to the right of the painting, blocking in the basic sections of colour, then the posts need to be re-established, because they can all but disappear sometimes. 

The sumptuous snow fall in the foreground goes in next and finally, the little touches of snow on the posts, roofs, sunlight on the side of the shed and of course the grasses.

then I prop it up, walk away and come back to it an hour or so later, sometimes the following morning. 

I like this one. I love the snow that has slipped on the roof of the greenhouse, and I like the square patches of ground that so clearly say 'allotments'.  

I hope this makes you want to get out a canvas and have a go.

Painting with a group

A couple of weeks ago I went along to a painting group in a nearby village with a friend of mine who has been going there for years. Fiona, she said, why not come and paint with us all? It's a group of painters who meet weekly, have a natter, paint in any medium they choose and enjoy the company of like minded people. I thought she would probably be right and it might be nice to meet like minded people, and paint in company. There is no tuition, it's just a painting group, so that is perfect as I don't feel like I'm stepping on anyone's toes.

I went along with my 10 x 12 inch blank canvas, easel and art bag, met everyone, wandered around and had a look at what everyone was doing, had a 'cuppa' and listened to everyone chatting away.
During the morning I blocked in all the basics for my next painting.  

This is the stage I got to, when the hall began to feel a bit cold and the lights went out!  Yes the meter had run out and that signalled our time to go return home. It was a very chilly day, but not half as cold as it would have been if we had been painting outside!

The colours I used so far are Shadow, Bluebell and a touch of White.

Already I can see how the painting is building up. I love it when a painting gets to this stage, I know its going the way I want it to and I then can't wait to move it along.

I think some people get a bit nervous is at this stage of their painting, when nothing looks finished. Some people love to have a small section complete, perhaps the shed or greenhouse, however I would say don't do it! Avoid completing any section too soon, just allow the painting to slowly come into ficus, otherwise you just keep on being dragged towards the finished bit to keep on tinkering with it, at the expense of the overall painting.

The finished painting turned out rather well and I will share my process with you tomorrow.