Portrait of Richard Smith

Odyssey VI 48" x 40"

Odyssey VI is the latest piece of the "Odyssey series". The title means "journey"and is used also as a metaphor for relationships within these conversation pieces.

The scene is St.Marks square looking to the Riva degli Schiavoni , which means the dock of slaves. In fact each of the six pieces take place in Italy.

ODYSSEY V 29" x 24"

Portrait of Jodie

Here is a link to a small demo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLV2itAK3Bo

HSBC World Matchplay

I have spent an interesting few days at Wentworth recording this years event. Sponsored by HSBC I was commissioned to capture events as they unfolded and
to produce 14 paintings in a relatively short time span, that will be presented to Wentworth Golf club.
Most were sketches of the golfers themselves including Ernie Els and Paul Casey, but also
Peter Alliss .The Portrait of Alliss himself was broadcast live from the BBC as I was painting it, It was completed within the 2 hour slot that I had been given so was a real challenge against the backdrop of Sam Torrance's continually arriving refreshments.

The larger version 48" x 36 "

"To sleep a dream within it's bed"

I am in the process of painting a larger version of the attached image . I painted a smaller study from life ,the location is a small town called Durfort at the foot of the Montagne noir.A beautiful tranquil spot filled with the sound of a passing stream.There is a tap here where people fill up their bottles of spring water.

Portrait sketch demo

This a portrait demo that I did recently for my agent and appears on www.commissionaportrait.com under the info link .It is my daughter Gemma and was done in oils on paper sized with lead white.

First I sketched in with a filbert using Trans.Oxide Red and Viridian, slightly diluted in essence of Turpentine.Then putting in the darkest areas with Trans. Oxide Red and Ivory black. The mid tones were put in using varying mixes from the following colours , Alizarin Crimson, Cad.Red Light,Cobalt Blue,Yellow Ochre,Viridian and Titanium White.I normally find the areas around the mouth and temples more green due to the underlying veins.

Apart from the first stages and on some of the background no medium was used.

The highlight on the cheek took a couple of attempts and had to be
scraped off.

These are typical of the
studies I do for a portrait commission.

Demo in oils

I came across this girl by chance outside the medievel city of Carcassonne. I have posted a demo with more details on www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=438447

Félicie devant le feu

This a new version of a painting I did in February, the original is on my website under "recent paintings . " I wasn't happy with the composition and thought I could do better. The original
was started from life, a four hour pose, then finished from photographs. I had the head and shoulders in at that stage.

If I keep doing it I might get it right!

Portrait commission

At last I have recently completed the Portrait of Leyla who, wasn't at all keen on having it done.She said she has a negative self image and I tried my upmost to gain her confidence.I have painted her husband Trevor, four children and dog so far.
The result is posted here and although she has yet to see the original she is pleased with the image that I e-mailed to her.