Initial sketches for the Aldeburgh Mural

 Thought I would post some of the working sketches that I made for the mural of Aldeburgh beach.

 I loosely sketched the possible window variations and then separately sketched the specifications  requested for the mural.   

The brief was for a view of Aldeburgh beach, with the beautiful pastel houses along the front, big fluffy white clouds, big crashing waves, and a big boat in the foreground.

These working sketches were very small 5"x 4" and were intended only as guide, allowing scope for possible changes and to get a feel of which items to include or perhaps more importantly what not to.   

I drew a number of different styles and  then carefully cut around each one.  These could then be laid over the sketch of the beach.

Rustic driftwod with netting

Firstly I wanted to give a choice of different window options.  Some quite rustic with ropes and netting, (fitting for a seaside mural) or peeling plaster and others with window bars, curtains and poles.

      

shutters, lobster pot

peeling plaster/brickwork

Hopefully this aided in which window treatment best suited the view and also which best suited the room the mural was to be a feature in.


Be back soon with some more updates.

Little details

It has been a hectic few weeks, dividing time between pouring over capturing the tiniest hairs on a portrait to scaling up a design for a large wall mural, which I am due to begin next week.  It is surprising how much time it can take in preparation before work begins, I am trying to remain patient, because as eager as I am to get started I know that if I miss a necessary item needed for the mural now,  it will cause delays next week, when I need to be painting.  I was checking through my paints to see what I needed to order and was quite shocked at how much it all came to.

The parcel arrived this morning, and as always, I was excited to open it (even though I know what is inside)  However it wasn't quite the excitement I had anticipated as a tub of varnish had leaked over everything.  It was a sticky, gloopy, wet mess and it took quite some time to wash and dry all the materials.  I phoned the company with the bad news and they were very helpful, and will send a replacement tub, tomorrow.  Fingers crossed it arrives safely.

In memory of Pippa

I was asked to paint this memorial urn in memory of "Pippa", a beautiful golden retriever, who unfortunately passed away earlier this year.
I had painted her portrait several years ago in watercolour (you can view her photo in the pet portraits gallery on my website) The photo I was given of her this time was when she was a much younger dog.

The urn to keep her ashes in had been lovingly hand made.  I felt that oil paint would be a more suitable medium, enhancing the polished wood, with the advantage that I would be able to match the colour of the wood exactly, blending the image with it's surrounding.  For an even more personal note, I added her name in gold lettering.

She was a wonderful dog with such a gentle nature, and will be very sadly missed.

View of the lid from above

Side view