Winter Valley

Here is one of my latest works. It is the first time I have gone about doing a painting with no vision in mind. I just let the painting take me where it wanted to go. It ended up being a frozen winter valley. I quite like how it turned out. I think it captures mood and surrealism rather than realism.

You can purchase this painting at http://turningtide.bigcartel.com/product/winter-valley

project instagram

I have recently been doing quick and small paintings of my instagram photos I have taken on my iPhone.
I thought it would be a good way to practice painting and give a variety of challenges to myself, with the end result being that I would improve my artistic skills.
Here is what I have done so far.

If you want to follow me on instagram my user name is @lytesyde

Perfect Break

I have come to realise that the most abstract subject is reality itself.  I mean, throughout nature there is so much in the way of patterns and imagery that make fascinating subjects for an artist to be inspired from.
This latest art project I have been doing is a set of three canvases that when put together, reveal a scene of swell lines approaching a shoreline and breaking in an almost perfect pattern on the beach. I have used only black, grey and white to emphasise the patterns created by the waves.
This work is for sale at  http://turningtide.bigcartel.com/product/perfect-break

Kangaroo Sunset

So far my art has been a hobby, with a long term goal to one day retire from 9 to 5 work, and be able to make enough money selling paintings. However, with the economy doing badly in Victoria where I live, I have been made redundant at work. This means I have to find a new job by the 23rd of March.  So I am doing everything I can to find new employment, and at the same time, I am ramping up my attempts to market and sell my artwork, in case I need to fill in the gaps between jobs.

Here is the latest work, with a distinctly Australian flavour. It is priced to sell. You can purchase at http://turningtide.bigcartel.com/product/kangaroo-sunset 

Chao Phraya

Here is my latest painting, this time I have switched to acrylic due to my oils running low on a few key colours. I have painted a view from the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, inspired by a photo I took back in the 90s.  I find it interesting firstly that people live on rivers, not beside rivers, but on the river. Also, there is such a blatant view of the difference between the rich and the poor. The penthouse suite overlooking the riverside slum neighbourhood.

Can I finish before my holidays end ?

I am really keen to get this portrait/landscape of Kelly Slater / Golden Gate finished before I have to get back to the real world of my 8 to five job. So far I am happy with the progression. What do you think?
On Wednesday, I was painting away and the garage door was blown off its frame by a freak gust of wind, and then in turn the canvas blew over, with paint going where it shouldn't.  So a bit of a distraction with the some repair work, but all is good now.

Blue Eyes or Brown?

As I have continued working on my portrait/landscape in between taking the kids to the beach for a surf and keeping them amused on the holidays, it occurred to me that Kelly Slater's eyes are blue. But when I look at the photo I am using as a reference, there is no blue there, only a brownish greenish type of mix. So I am faced with a dilemma. Do I stay true to the photo, or true to real life. Maybe a golden yellow sun was shining in his eyes and blue and yellow make green right? Maybe he put a filter on his photo that made his eyes that colour. I don't know. What to do? I will continue to ponder as I try and make this painting begin to take shape.

A New Project Begins

I have settled in to my new home nicely. I've set aside some space in the garage as a painting area that has a big glass window letting in a lot of natural light.
So then I got thinking of what my next project could be. Since I enjoy doing landscape paintings, and I've also started doing portraits, (so far just sketching with an ink pen), I came with the idea of doing a half landscape, half portrait.
I happen to follow Kelly Slater on Instagram, and he uploaded this photo, which was taken just after he won his 11th world title at San Francisco.  I love this picture because Kelly has such striking eyes, and also the Golden Gate is so iconic.

So here is my start on a largeish 40 x 40 inch canvas using oils.  Hoping to get most of this finished in the last week of my holidays!

Finished Art found a home in my new home.

After the stress of packing and moving and unpacking etc it is great to finally settle in and hang up my recently finished paintings, and enjoy them and the way they compliment the living space.

I have some  new projects underway, so watch this space !