Makup and FX Ghostbusters 2

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A makeup and Fx behind the scenes photograph from Gostbusters 2.

Oil on canvas

I found the image a few years ago and then when trump got elected it seemed like an appropriate time to paint it. It’s always nice when the images while Benign in there original intent have some sort of subtext. This one always had pretty obvious subtext in spades but maybe a little more so now. Also now with the next in  along line of mass shootings and the same old tired wheeling out of the 2nd amendment. The image once again gains hidden meaning that was never intended by the original photo. Well I dont think it was intended anyway.

As always it’s not really finished as such but I’ve hit a roadblock with it as I do with so many paintings. Just usual I hit it allot earlier.

Oil Painting Practice

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Restarted Life drawing classes for the new year. This is the first painting. same as always. Oils on canvas over two hours. This week I tried using the pallet knife to make the light areas as bold as possible, using the brush to blend the edges.

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On display for the first time

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I finally hung some photos in a local pub. These are some of the first canvases that I painted. Not the C3PO and Terminator paintings that I had painted for this purpose. I cant  bring myself to part with them yet. I’m excited to see if anyone shows any interest in them. I am currently trying to finish my  Rocky painting to go with them. Maybe when I have done some more I will be ready to part with my favorites. Either way having some paintings finally hanging in public is a great motivator. If no one shows interest in these two Ill swap them out for some others.
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Terminator – Time Laps

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Currently working on the second painting in a series that started with behind the scenes C3P0. I found a great photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the makeup chair for the film Terminator 2. I knew I had to do this as well. Its going well and i’m at the final stage now but it has been a  really long process. Such an iconic person and image that it absolutely had to be right and good. A few times along the way I felt i had nailed the likeness but then lost it again. Its definitely not perfect but i am really pleased with how its coming along. Probably up to about 8 hours on and off to get it to here. Ill post the final image soon when i’m happy with it. The question now is can i find another behind the scenes photo of an 80’s robot/cyborg to complete the set?

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(New) Cross Stitch

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Well the day finally arrived. The sculpture project Jon Newey and I worked on last year is finally in the ground. Together we now have a piece of public art with our names on it which I hope will be around for years to come. I also hope it will be the first of many.

The piece is called ‘New cross stitch’ and can be found around the corner from  New Cross station in London. Drawing on local history the piece is represented by the line ‘Salus populi suprema lex’ (Latin “The health of the people should be the supreme law”). Within the piece we reference local history of new cross as the heart of Haberdashery in London and the old brick pits which the site is built on. I would like to thank Goldsmiths University. Makers Studio and the One Housing group for making this all possible.

Here are some images of the final installation And  some images of the Needle being made by Makers Studio and installed by the One Housing Group: -: –

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Oil Painting – C3P0

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C3P0No life drawing lesson yesterday as I had a day off which I spent painting for fun. The aim was to paint a picture to hang in a local pub and see if i can sell it. I have been doing the life drawing lessons for a while now and so far all the paintings I have done have been either practice or for a friend. One of my friends from the lesson recently hung and sold a painting that they did. So I thought why not give it a go. I managed to find a behind the scenes photo of the designers on the original start wars constructing the final C3P0 costume which I thought would be perfect. Its a great image and with the new start wars movie on its way it seemed like a good one.  In the end this took around 10 hours off and on while watching agents of shield in the background and defrosting my freezer. I’m really happy with it. Its not as painterly as I would like but the composition and light look great. It also has a high density of hands which I think I have captured pretty well considering that I usually struggle with them. No the complicated question of how much to ask for it. How much would I pay myself per hour as an artist? Ill need to factor in the time taken and the materials. Also someone I was speaking to mentioned that it is a 1 of a kind painting not a print with multiple copies and that should also be reflected in the price. I still need to varnish it and in the mean time may fix a few things I’m not happy with. So I still have time to think about pricing. Id like to give some of the money to the http://www.gorillas.org charity but lets see how much I can get first.

Oil Paint Practice

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Fantastic lesson yesterday. Still sticking with the box layout technique Jon showed me last week. The image really came together in the first hour. This is really great as I seem to be getting quicker at blocking out and getting to the point I would normally get to after 2. This is giving me more time to work on tone and colour. The end likeness isn’t to bad. I spent most of the second hour working on the face. Hopefully this speed up in the layout will continue and ill be able to get deeper into the tone and colour in future paintings.

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Oil Paint Practice

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From last weeks Life drawing lesson. 2 hours with oils on canvas from a life model. Jon started the session by showing me how to lay out the posture using boxes rather can spheres. Up to now I have had allot of trouble getting the initial posture/composition right in these sessions  using the sphere technique. Jon wanted me to try boxes now. And it worked. This is the first session that i can remember where Jon has not had to come in and make changes to scale/composition. Jon said that he does not teach box layout earl as with painting it is important to learn to paint curves initially as in particular with portraiture the body is mostly curves not hard angles. Once painting curves has been practiced the painter can move over to boxes for layout making scale easier to manage and also allowing curves to be added in (over the boxes)  once the painting begins. very happy with this one. No Lesson next week but maybe ill try to practice this technique at home.

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