Behind this story is a couple for whom I had done some portrait commissions. I trust they wouldn’t mind being described as Bohemian. Following on from their portraits, they surprised me with an offer to stay in their holiday cottage, in exchange for a couple of local paintings.

It was 2022, we were having a pretty miserable time as a family, coaxing my son Leon to revise for GCSEs, Izzi was in her first year of A levels, and we were reeling from homeschooling three children through the pandemic. The break was just what we needed, much fresh air and revision happened - here’s a video I made from that trip:

Roll forward two years, and the same couple offered again. This time, in exchange for a landscape painting to sit over the sofa in their holiday cottage.

It was the Easter holidays - Leon was doing a college project, and Izzi was revising for her first year uni exams. So we packed the laptops and easel, and headed back to the cottage. Set right on the South West Coastal Path, it felt like home from home. It was a wonderful time of glorious isolation - the change of scenery enabled more revision, and more painting.

After a few days, Marcus took the children back to Bristol, and Julie Dunster arrived for our ‘residency’. Julie is a dear friend, and a very experienced plein air artist, with a phenomenal work ethic and consequently well thought out kit. I have a more sporadic and, er, less focussed practice, but we match (and multiply) each other’s enthusiasm.

Julie and I had early mornings, early nights, and a lot of flasks of tea! One day I put my easel up a few metres away from her above Prawle Point… when I’d finished painting, I went back to see how she was getting on, and to our surprise we realised a rabbit had been dropped (presumably by a bird of prey) on the path behind her, some time after her arrival. So I happily sketched the unfortunate but very fresh rabbit while Julie finished painting.

Before packing up, we set all our paintings out for a very private Private View - with just one visitor (my collector, seen painting the edges of his new aquisition!).

I will never forget the wonderful impetus of painting alongside a friend, away from regular responsibilities, throwing ourselves into the landscape from dawn till dusk. Having the trust and backing of our hosts was such a positive ingredient. As any artist knows, mindset is a major factor - their confidence and enthusiasm made a big difference to what I produced.

I hope this can serve as inspiration for anyone interested in arranging an informal artist residency as a mutually beneficial act of patronage, with me or someone else! It was a great framework.

Here is Greg Rook’s article on contemporary patronage ideas:

Blackbird Rook’s Substack

The New Patronage, or Fantasy Football For Collectors

There is no great mystery about why so many artists struggle. The stranger thing is why, in a culture so swollen with money, so few people have thought to make supporting artists into a mark of status again…

Read more

a month ago · 36 likes · 22 comments · Blackbird Rook

Wherever and whatever I’m drawing, these are my trusty steeds:

1 - Kraft Paper

Like traditional parcel paper, this drawing surface is a warm mid-tone, which is easy on the eye, and gives you a timesaving head start for sketching. The slightly ribbed texture ‘grips’ the pencil pigment well, and gives a cool corduroy effect in evenly shaded areas. Kraft paper has a matte and a shiny side (I use the matte side, which picks up the pencil pigment slightly better, but is less easy to erase from) - it’s so cheap you can experiment freely!

My favourite sketching paper

Available in 100 sheet pads of different sizes here from Cass Art

2 - Derwent Drawing Pencils

Derwent make these ‘Drawing’ pencils, which I have used for years. They are highly pigmented, and slightly waxy, so they don’t smudge or come off on, say, a cellophane cover. But when lightly applied they can be lifted with a putty rubber. Some colours only get used occasionally, but I order the ones that I get through quicker using Derwent’s handy ‘build your own tin’ feature.

Using the pencils and paper

I usually start with Warm Earth (it’s a close match to the paper, so is great for mapping out shapes inconspicuously), then work out to lighter and darker values from there. For portraits I use ‘Ink Blue’ to reinforce some outlines at the end, and to hatch in a background - the cool blue colour contrasts with any skin or hair colour, so helps offset the main drawing:

Nb Warm Earth initial shapes (and hair), Ink Blue outline, and corrugation effect

There is a great range of warm and cool colours, which I would describe as harmoniously natural earthy hues, equally suited to portraits and landscapes. They can be mixed in layers - I’m particularly fond of using the ‘Ink Blue’ as a sky underlayer, laid down lightly. Blending white over the top makes a surprisingly intense sky colour, by virtue of those strong pigments:

Nb intense sky colours by blending

Rather infuriatingly for those of us who can spend weeks on a single piece, when sketching you can casually knock out some of your best work. If you’re in public, it’s a wonderful feeling when someone comments positively on your sketch. Nice presentation can bring out the beauty and truth in a humble drawing. So here are some ideas to package and present your sketches on the spot, and to frame them economically (should you get home from your expedition and discover a gem languishing in that sketchbook!)…

3 - Mount Kits

Brampton Picture Framing do these really practical, good value mount kits. They can be cut bespoke, but I like to buy them in standard size packs. They include a sturdy self-seal cellophane bag, good quality Larson-Juhl mounts (computer cut), and a piece of Larson-Juhl backing board. These kits are great for quickly packing the portraits up, they look really professional. They’re also perfect for presenting unframed work in browsers at events like Open Studios.

Using the Mount Kits

In preparation for a professional sketching event I tape a sheet of Kraft paper carefully (absolutely central) to each kit backing board, and put my brand stickers on the outside back of each kit cellophane bag. When I’m sketching, I use the backing board as a drawing board, with the paper already stuck to it. Then when the sketch is finished, I simply lay a kit mount card on top to ‘frame’ it, and put them sandwiched together into the bag. I pop a Certificate Of Authenticity inside, and seal it closed with the adhesive strip, so it is neat, protected and looks the part for handing to the client.

4 - Online frames in standard sizes

The advantage of using standard paper sizes is that you can buy (or keep a small stock of) standard frames that match perfectly. Personally I like the constraint of having a ‘regular’ paper size, it is a gentle challenge to plan the composition to sit well within the bounds of the page, and has taught me the discipline to avoid ‘scope creep’.

The Frame Company are great to deal with, reliable, and I love their Campbell warm grey frames. For white frames I use the Franklin moulding. Both are made from sustainably sourced pine. You can optionally order mount card with the frames. There are plenty different mouldings, and custom sizes available if needed.

I keep a small stock in the following sizes:

A quick sketch portrait, brought to life with mount and frame

5 - The personal touch

Most artists have one or two beloved unique tools that have been made by, or inherited from, their ‘art family’. Pencil rolls keep your pencils safe and organised, with room for different bits and bobs. Mine was a handmade gift from my daughter (she’s not taking commissions!), but look out for independent companies who sell handmade artist rolls, or head to Pinterest for patterns and make your own.

6 - Positivity

For pressure-free sketching you need reliable materials that don’t cost the earth. You can grab them at a moment’s notice, knowing you haven’t risked too much if it doesn’t work out. I find this happy, ‘abundant’ mindset is a key ingredient on any sketching expedition. So ditch the monkey on your shoulder, perch yourself on a convenient tuffet, get in the zone and churn them out - just remember to set an alarm in case you get carried away!

If you love sketches, follow me on Instagram here, and if you see something you like I sell ‘off the pad’ sketches very economically here:

Shown at the Society of Women Artists annual exhibition, where of course there was much lived experience and familiarity with the positives and negatives that are laid out in my painting.

Invited to represent those experiences, and juxtaposed on the canvas with quotations from the work of several historic women artists, the models hadn’t met each other until this moment. I have more footage to edit, but wanted to share this first. Not least because (attention women artists!) the open call for this year’s show closes on Saturday.

I thank (Vice President of the SWA) for taking this footage. Check her Substack out - Anne published a very interesting article on whether there is still a need for a Society of Women Artists. This video is my answer.

You’re not allowed to take photos in The Prado. I was grateful for this by the end. It helped me be present to the paintings, trying to sear them into my memory. The only better way I know of learning directly from the canon is to physically copy.

I guess that before cameras, this conscious searing (and copying) was what artists did on their research trips. Poor Velázquez was only let out of the Madrid palace twice to go to Italy, where he copied Tintoretto, Raphael, Michaelangelo… trips that levelled up his studio and painting practice.

I go to galleries to get fuel in my creative tank from the art on display. To see the brushstrokes, colours, and scale of artworks that can’t be appreciated via books or screens. In Madrid I wanted to tap into the inspirational ideas and expressive compositions of big hitters - Velazquez, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and their ilk. But the big hitters came ‘with benefits’.

Looking at the historic collections in Spain, I sensed the <insert collective noun> of artists working in parallel, and through time. I felt part of a continuum - learning from each other, competing, consolidating, breaking new ground and representing our era. All drinking from, and pouring into, the same infinite swirling pool. The concept of an infinite pool isn’t new or original - see Marquis de Condorcet’s Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind

Scientists, authors, composers, entrepreneurs - whatever and however we ‘make’, ideas that were born long ago crystalise in the moment, and continue to evolve after the paint is dry. The ideas aren’t unique or original, but clutched and ordered by someone, and set down to the best of their ability. A relatively tiny individual perspective, a bleat into the wind, from their era to the future.

Chewing over what I saw, it struck me that people engage with the pool in specific ways:

• Trailblazers pour in a technical advance (Seurat’s optical mixing, Brunelleschi’s linear perspective), a conceptual approach (Emin’s confessional work, Monet’s series of a single subject in different lighting - haystacks/Rouen Cathedral) or a new audacious visual language (Hilda af Klimt, Hieronymous Bosch, L.S. Lowry). They resist stylistic smoothing by peers and audience, obsessively forging their work on a private beach on the edge of the pool. They throw in big rocks, making conspicuous changes to the landscape, causing infinite ripples. In the Reina Sofia I was surprised to see Dali’s transition laid out from realism via cubism to surrealism.

• Anyone creative builds on, and contributes to, the ideas in the pool in some way. For me that is the definition of creativity. Sometimes, when quoting the work of others, artists accede to the moral obligation to give credit. Seeing Picasso’s Guernica in the Reina Sofía museum, I was immediately struck by his brilliant sampling and recontextualising of Kollwitz’ “Woman with a dead child”. There is no record of him acknowledging this:

• Some artists simply try to paint like their heroes, contemporary or historic. They drink from the pool, hopefully enhancing the lives of themselves and others. Sometimes they develop beyond imitation. There were several artists doing master copies in The Prado. I got the impression their motives were both to sell (the one I spoke to told me he was working “on commission”) and to learn. There are some interesting small preliminary studies of large paintings on permanent display, and of course many artists make several versions of their own subjects, developing and refining technique and ideas.

It was also interesting to see paintings dating back to the times when it was normal for several artist to work on one painting, in a workshop context.

• Some artists are successful for reasons not of quality, but of privilege or personality. To the horror of discerning peers, they disperse gallons of effluent into the pool. High profile figurative public works, commissioned at great expense by indiscriminate institutions. These sculptures and paintings are installed in cities, headquarters, and football stadiums as an embarrassing reflection of nepotism and the artistic deficit of the era. I won’t sullying this journal with photos. But they will persist, just as fantastic Roman sculptures have:

  

• Artists whose legacy is tarnished with personal toxicity (Eric Gill, Gaugin, Picasso, Freud) still (in my view) leave valid and useful contributions in the pool. For my own sanity, I generally choose to ignore work where the toxicity is blatantly evident in it. Rape of the Sabines, anyone? But there may still be useful lessons to be taken from it, so…

• Teachers show people the pool, and ways to engage with it. They enable the next generation to break new ground and ultimately to contribute. I enjoyed seeing Van Dyke’s version of the Brazen Serpent story in The Prado. It jumped across the room at me, because I had spent time in The National Gallery in London copying one of Rubens’ versions of this, and enjoyed tracing the similarities and variations between student and teacher.

• Art societies, galleries and collectors build the landscape around the pool. That can be the plumbing (channels, taps and drains to and from the pool), pathways to follow, and water features to highlight excellence.

Doing master copies

Out of interest, I enquired at The Prado - you can do copies in person by prior appointment:

• They provide easels

• You bring all materials

• There is a max size you can produce, it must be slightly different to the original.

• You have to specify a single piece to copy

• There are a few old masters you aren’t allowed to copy.

This added an extra layer of excitement to my visit, as I fantasised about doing it, and assessed the best pictures to target for copying: Interesting compositions and subjects, together with logistics (not on the top floor, not in high traffic areas, near the cafe) were factors. Here are my top 3 contenders:

For drama, composition, light, and the value of having lower key people not doing much, to balance the drama.

The intellectual prince, in exile, disinherited by his father. Such a masterful depiction of a really unusual subject. Despite the opulence, it seems to capture the ennui and wasted talent of exclusion and captivity:

Rubens’ control of shadow on the face. The speed and fluency of execution. The void of black, a feast of lost edges and compressed tones, at both extremes, driving the focus to face and hands:

Maria’s statuesque figure (undiminished by being seated) reminds me of Pietro Annigoni’s painting of Queen Elizabeth II (painted the year I was born, 1969):

Annigoni went a step further and subjugated even the hands. Now THAT is how to paint a monarch in red.

On arriving home I started to think about how a contemporary artist might engage with ‘the pool’ during the course of a project. To be continued in a future journal…

This blog comes with huge thanks to two eminent contemporary artists, Michele Ashby and Jake Spicer, for sharing their work and thoughts.

Let’s take a journey through time, looking through a light-hearted lens (ha) at art before photography, up to the present day:

Good Ol’ Masters … Good Ol’ Days?

Not saying I could do better, but I’d wager that back in the 1500s even Leonardo da Vinci, dissector extraordinaire, would have benefitted from a squint at a photo of a lion, horse, or dragon.

If you want a convincing animal or person in your artwork, the time-honoured approach is to practice relentlessly from life, and to study anatomy. That is absolutely do-able if you have a spare decade, deep pockets, and are apprenticed to a Renaissance artist.

Then and now, artists who conquer the sheer grind of learning to ‘eyeball’ measurements and colours are held in high regard (er… that is my way - Ed)

Horse art bloopers

Until 1878, this was how galloping horses were generally depicted (even by my Romantic art hero, avid student of the severed body part):

Cameras crack the problem

In a fabulously Blue Peter-esque enterprise, Eadweard Muybridge used string, double-sided sticky tape, washing-up liquid bottles, and 20 cameras to establish that a horse’s legs are only all simultaneously off the ground when they are tucked beneath the body during a gallop. So in 1878, Muybridge invented the motion picture, and gave the world the first ever .GIF !

More horse art gaffes, and info on Mubridge’s work

Contemporary artists walking the talk

Lots of artists use photography as a cornerstone of their work. From hyper-photorealists to collage makers, to painters who reproduce photographic distortion. I would describe them as using the effects of photography, a great branch of enquiry for another conversation.

Setting those aside, I am interested in today’s practitioners who combine traditional skills, observation, and reference photos to meet their objectives. My hope is to stand on the shoulders of giants AND press forward. The use of the photo may/may not be evident in the final result, and that may/may not matter.

Here are two fine artists (and teachers) who inspire me with their vibrant figurative work, sometimes using reference photos:

Michele Ashby

Michele’s work speaks directly to my personal experience. From portraits to iron staircases, she seems to zone in on the textures and light that catch my eye about people and things. Her haberdashery still lifes are a hotline to my childhood, I feel I can smell and feel every object. It is fascinating to know her process, but what draws me in are her choices, often made at/before the photographic stage. Find Michele on Instagram and her Website

“Photography is my second love sitting closely behind my passion for painting with pastels. A reference photo is simply another tool in an artist’s arsenal that can be used as a starting point.

However, not all reference photos make for beautiful paintings.

Sifting through to find what will translate into a piece of art along with your skills is so important.

Triggering a strong emotional response to say what you want to say is how it all starts so choosing what I want to keep in and emphasising those elements alongside what I want to leave behind are key to creating a strong composition before I even begin putting colour to paper.

I enjoy the process of photography whether it’s with lighting and in the studio or while capturing an image on the fly as I’m in a crowded street.

For me as I’ve chosen my artistic path later in life I feel I’m always short for time with what I want to say and using reference photos is a great way of speeding the process up allowing me more time to create.” - Michele Ashby

Jake Spicer

Jake moves seamlessly between working from life, via zoom, and from photos. His work seems to be simultaneously knowing and inquisitive. I love his combination of control and looseness, his attention to both anatomical features and the spirit of the person modelling. Jake is endlessly generous in his use of video as a tool for demonstrating and sharing his skills.

“I’ve always been an advocate of using a wide range of source material to support learning. A photograph freezes a moment in time, giving us longer to work from the imagery that it depicts - it can be a powerful tool and is an integral part of the process of so many professional artists working today. While we limit ourselves when we work from photos alone, live subjects also present limitations - the strongest drawing education is built on an understanding of how to make best use of each source of imagery available to us. We might develop an understanding of form, a sense of physical presence and a more responsive process while working from life, and combine that with the patience and intense observation that a photographic subject might encourage.” - Jake Spicer

Find Jake on Instagram, his Website and Many other places

See the caption of this Instagram post for details; Nb the use of a reference set:

There are many great ways to work from photos within the realm of figurative realism. In addition to Michele and Jake, see the epic narrative paintings of Will Rochfort. Will stages elaborate reference photos, a process described in this great discussion with John Dalton.

So what?

Much as I love The Book Of Kells, there’s no denying the usefulness of word processors. If it weren’t for computers, this blog could have been handwritten and posted, but the reality is it just wouldn’t happen at all. I think the loss of manual dexterity is a shame, but (speaking as a calligrapher and tatter) does it really matter if handwriting becomes a niche craft, like tatting?! And does it really matter if artwork is produced by direct observation or from a photo?

As we evolve, we look back at traditional assumptions, priorities, and judgements with fresh critical thinking. We are taught that hard work begets good things.

We relish artwork being made ‘En Plein Air‘ (‘outside’ - Ed). Like the art equivalent of method acting, the en plein air painter gives up time and personal comfort in a quest for immersion in their subject, and thereby faithful representation… a thoroughly justified custard pie to reference photos!

Sure, reducing the shapes and colours of the 3D world onto a 2D page can’t be mastered entirely from photos. If you can, pack an easel and head for the hills, to a life drawing class, or off to Florence to study sight-size and earth pigments. As much for the joy of doing it as for the end product.

But if you’re learning to draw, and finding all the elements difficult, would using a photo make the difference between having a go or not? Hold your head up high at the kitchen table… brush in one hand, YouTube tutorial/photo in the other!

I often use photos, and often direct observation. From now on, I will lose the tinge of guilt that comes from thinking that working from life is the One True Way.

If you have enjoyed this blog, please do leave a comment, and pass it on to friends.

Thank you so much!

Gail x

(first published 2023 on my website. Updated and shared here on Substack)

It’s one thing to set up a still life in the privacy of your home/studio, but it takes guts to set your easel up on a busy street.

One spring morning, I went to paint in Glastonbury, about an hour’s drive from my hometown Bristol. I parked for the day, hoiked my clobber out of the car boot, and set off down the High Street to scope for locations. This unique town was ”Normal for Glastonbury”, so no shortage of crystal shops, wizards, singing, chanting, meditating, and drumming.

To be honest, I nearly packed up my easel immediately. The monkey on my shoulder said “People will be judging your work. Shop owners will complain you’re obstructing the pavement. What if it rains? What if you drop all your brushes? It would be so much easier to go to an empty field and paint Glastonbury Tor“. To add pressure, I was wearing a branded T shirt to advertise the gallery that was representing me, Heart Of The Tribe.

My extrovert son Leon always tells me people are much nicer than most of us assume. With his words ringing in my ears, I took a deep breath, found a spot outside the beautiful turquoise Crystal Shop where cars wouldn’t park in front of me, out of the way of pedestrians, with my canvas in shade. I put John Dalton’s podcast on my headphones, got caught up in the view, and for the next 3 hours just painted. Lots of lovely people offered compliments.

Two gentlemen of a certain age asked whether I was using oils or acrylics, and seemed to approve on the basis it wasn’t newfangled plastic paint. A couple asked how much I was planning to sell it for (I referred them to the Heart Of The Tribe - it sold there once it was dry), and many people just said how nice it was to be doing it. Children pulled their parents over to see, some came back later and checked my progress.

Apart from a dog weeing dangerously near my bag, I couldn’t fault the experience. Happy with my painting, I went to the supermarket and bought a delicious car-picnic of Kimchi, Kombucha, Goat’s cheese, lentil crisps, and seaweed. Restored, I set off back to Bristol.

Handbrake turn

Looking in my rear view mirror, I caught a beautiful glimpse of the Tor nestling on green land, in the late afternoon sun. One rather eccentric manoeuvre later, I pulled into a side road and parked by a gate. I trampled down enough verge nettles to put up my easel without blocking the lane, and set to it.

With the company of cows, birds, and the occasional cyclist, I enjoyed this second painting just as much. Several people paused and wound down their car windows for a chat on the way past.

The paintings turned out OK, which is always a bonus. I think you can tell they were painted from life, they preserve every dimension of the day, recorded as and when I experienced it (except the flies, which I fished out). Regardless of technique, painting from observation produces an image imbued with life, depth, and a certain quirky ‘realness’.

But the lasting impression, as I finally set off for home, was of the friendliness of people... when painting in public, you are an ambassador for creativity. It is an chance to reach those who don’t go into galleries. And a chance to get collectors on your mailing list.

So if they get out their phones and start proudly showing you their wife’s paintings, as she mumbles self consciously alongside, take a minute. And if they have children, ask them what they like painting and show them your stuff.

What about you - would you paint in public? Maybe you already do… so, how do you find it?!

I will be showing a selection of work painted outside in the South West at North Street Gallery from February 5th - April 30th 2026. Open Thursday - Sunday, there are lots of good cafes and independent shops locally. Let me know if you’re planning a visit, I’ll be on the stewarding rota and would love to welcome you in person x

If you are lucky enough to have two working eyes to the front of your skull, your brain is constantly receiving two slightly different images - one from the left, one from the right. You can take steps to control it (eg shut one eye), but unless you do, any painting from observation will be a subtle combination of the two different perspectives.

Imagine you are standing in a forest in the middle of a ring of pine trees:

As you look up, the trees appear to converge around you, to a vanishing point somewhere in the sky. The tree directly in front of you appears perfectly vertical, those to left and right appear to lean towards it. If you turn your head slightly, then a different tree seems vertical, and the one that was vertical before is now bent. Depending on your head position, perspective causes everything to bend to fit.

When you look at a subject, your eyes stretch their lenses to focus on whatever they’re pointed at. In the image sent to your brain, the surrounding area is blurred, and has less distinct colours. It’s also upside down, rather like this:

For hunting & gathering reasons, our attention is drawn to difference… it’s easier to spot insects (be they poisonous or delicious) when they’re moving; Red berries look more intensely red against green leaves.

Your incredible brain

High five to your occipital lobe, for resolving all these signals on the fly, to enable your body to deal with the world outside your skull. Without you even having to give it a second thought, your brain makes unconscious decisions about which image to use when.

Our eyes and brain are a unique reflection of our genetics and environment. So it follows that the way in which we see, prioritise and process these myriad images of the world is absolutely individual. What sort of red is that berry? What is the tilt of that branch?

While painting, artists make deliberate choices about composition, colour, style, etc. These choices relate to the artist’s selected aims and methods. But the observed information fed into that process, the artist’s eye view, depends on the unique mechanics of their eye.

However much an artist may change or evolve their conscious technique, the uniqueness of their visual observation underpins it, and is largely beyond their control.

Playing with observation

Paul Cezanne used to subtly tilt objects with coins etc, to bring his still lives to life. This short video gives a fascinating insight into how he bumped up the ‘from life’ effects so distinctively. Whether you paint or not, the coin thing is fun to try at the dinner table!

Cubists took it a step further, and deliberately combined different views of their subject within the image:

We are connected

Painting from life is a journey of information from the physical world, through the artist’s nervous system, onto the canvas. When the canvas is seen, the viewer takes a journey back the other way, through the artist’s eye onto the scene at the time of painting.

The camera never lies sees

Modern cameras are incredible machines, they make colour, shape, and value choices, either directed by the user or automatically. In skilled hands, they do a really good job of representing what we think we see. The camera’s ability to ‘fix’ an image is very appealing, especially if you’re painting on a windy day, drawing people in motion, or chasing the light (the shadows of your subject making a sundial).

But in reducing three dimensions to two, the camera quietly fixes everything: the position of the ‘eye’, the focal depth, the red of the berry, the tilt of the branch…

It’s evident

Once upon a time, at a craft market in Dubai, I had about 12 framed drawings laid out on a table for sale. My friend, the Sudanese artist and fellow stallholder Usama Afnan, told me he could pick out which ones were done from photos. To my amazement he did exactly that, without hesitation. I had no idea that it was so obvious to the trained eye.

Oh, and another thing…

The gloriousness of life

It’s one thing to set up a still life in the privacy of your home/studio, but it takes guts to set your easel up on a busy street. In my next post, I’ll take you on a painting expedition, and share what it’s like working in public. Then, lest you should think me a zealot, we’ll talk about the benefits of cameras!

Town or country? Inside or outside? Share your thoughts about all this, in the comments.

Originally published on www.gailreidartist.com in 2022, updated and reshared here for my Substack audience.

Picasso is celebrated for how profoundly he conveys emotion. Two of his works from 1937 feature female suffering and grief in a way that I find particularly striking.

Considering these works in the context of the lives of the women involved gives the lie to Picasso’s apparent empathy.

His paintings reveal nothing about genuine female suffering and grief, and plenty about the attitude to women that he displayed in words, life, and art.

Guernica

In 1937, Picasso was commissioned by the Spanish Republican government to produce a large mural for the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris International Exposition. While Picasso was contemplating design ideas in Paris, the strategic Basque town of Guernica was attacked by the German Nazis and Italian Fascist Air Force. Based on an eye-witness account of the bombing, Picasso decided to use this event as the subject of the commission.

Both Picasso (in Paris) and Käthe Kollwitz (in Berlin) had anti-war protest as a key feature of their work.

Kollwitz started this etching around 1903. It is in the Pietà tradition, based on a self portrait modelled with her 7 year old son in front of a mirror. That son Peter died aged 18 on the battlefield in Flanders in World War I in 1914. A few early-state proofs (when the etching plate hadn’t been fully completed) exist, but the definitive edition of 50 impressions (see image above) was printed and signed by the artist in 1918. Further editions were printed up to 1941, which implies it was well received, and distributed, particularly within the international anti-war artistic community of which Picasso was a member.

I am very familiar with Kollwitz’s image, having featured it in my own painting:

On seeing Guernica, I was immediately struck by his brilliant sampling and recontextualising of Kollwitz’ Woman With A Dead Child. It was like seeing an old friend.

Picasso was not in the habit of acknowledging references, but I would argue that the similarities listed below (ref annotations on the two images above) contradict all reasonable doubt that his image is derived from that of Kollwitz. This is also an insight into how Picasso edited and translated visual information into his idiosyncratic graphic style.

1 The position of her arm and hand, scooped under the neck.

2 The position of her thumb in Picasso’s version, reminiscent of her toe in the Kollwitz

3 The orientation of the whole image, illustrated by the position of the child’s head, with a section of his neck visible.

4 The incongruous corner of her breast in Picasso’s version, echoing the child’s shoulder in the Kollwitz

5 The heavy vertical hatching in the Kollwitz, where Picasso has put a vertical stripe pattern.

6 (below) Maar’s fascinating early progress shot shows that the child’s nose was in the same orientation as Kollwitz’s when first sketched in.

Although I haven’t seen anyone else make these connections explicitly, and there are other inputs at play, it isn’t particularly contentious that he referenced Kollwitz’s imagery here.

I fully support (and do myself) the sampling or quoting of the work of other artists. These are my objections to Picasso’s approach:

• The borrowed image embeds authentic mother’s grief (Kollwitz’ personal experience of her husband’s patients, and her own loss) into Picasso’s anti-war painting. Perhaps her intimately crouching pose was not dramatic enough to Picasso’s eye. Along with other changes, he raised the woman’s head into a wailing gesture, thereby also revealing her breasts. So in a festival of crassness, Picasso took Kollwitz’s image, layered hysteria over her grief, and added boobs.

• Anyone creative builds on, and contributes to, the immemorial communal pool of ideas. Seeing Guernica in the Reina Sofía museum, Kollwitz’s specific details and rhythms jumped out at me, thanks to hours spent copying her etching in my The Raft Of The Medusa. When quoting the work of others there is a moral obligation to give credit. There is no record of Picasso doing this.

• In Differencing the Canon: Feminist Desire and the Writing of Art’s Histories (1999), Griselda Pollock argues that the Western art historical canon has systematically marginalized women’s contributions, resulting not only in the absence of female artists’ names but also in the erasure of their ideas, practices, and ways of thinking about art. Art historians who water down attribution to Kollwitz with tepid phrases like “inspired by” deny Picasso’s derivative use of her authentic original motif, and boost his legacy at the expense of hers.

Weeping Woman

Picasso used Dora Marr as a model for this series of portraits. He is quoted as saying “a portrait shows what the artist knows or feels about the subject, not what the subject thinks of themselves”.

His relationship with Maar was characteristically abusive. When they met, he was separated from (and for financial reasons refusing to grant a divorce to) Olga Khokhlova. His mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter (27 years his junior) had just given birth to their child.

This was at the early stage of their relationship, during which time Maar modelled for him extensively. She sourced him a studio, educated him politically, and documented his progress on Guernica.

Picasso did lots of self-portraits. Many artists turn to self portraiture to depict themselves in heightened emotional states. A really interesting sub-oeuvre of self portraiture, this can be as a technical exercise, or to process actual feelings. It is often reflected that by using yourself as the model, you don’t need to give any thought to the model’s feelings about how they are represented.

It is a totally different proposition to superimpose despair onto the portrayal of a third party, let alone an intimate partner.

Positioned as representing the suffering of women, this series is chillingly prophetic of the control and suffering he would mete out to Maar over the following years. Picasso repeatedly portrayed her in distress, to the extent that eventually being “Picasso’s weeping woman” eclipsed Maar’s public reputation and career as a photographer.

Self portrait of photographer-artist Dora Maar “All portraits of me are lies. They’re Picasso’s.”

Conclusion

I can find no record of Picasso acknowledging Kollwitz’s etching. Although she was alive, productive, and critically acclaimed in 1937 when he painted Guernica, Picasso’s success, reach, and influence were of a different order to hers.

On a superficial level I don’t have much difficulty separating the personal life/character of an artist from their art, where they are essentially discrete. I appreciate some of Picasso’s work, and admire his boundless drive to create and innovate. However his character is integral to the choices described in The Weeping Woman, Guernica, and many of his other works.

Given that Guernica was exhibited at the Paris Exposition, then toured before being taken to Madrid, Kollwitz is likely to have known of the celebrated public commission, and would have recognised her vignette within it. If so, I wonder how she felt about it. Perhaps she would have felt they just had a common goal. Perhaps like Picasso she was busy working. Either way, his silence deprived her of visibility.

And as a woman artist, I can attest that visibility is very hard to come by, even though there has been progress since 1930s Europe. In 2020 I tried blue hair, sat in front of a mirror, and made a self portrait in the style of Picasso - referencing the monumentality of his Large Bather, and the playful style of Girl In A Mirror. It received 77 ‘likes’, a metric most contemporary artists are familiar with tracking. Maybe republishing it here will attract a few more.

Two precious weeks in the sun with family and friends. Time to chat, sleep, swim, play games, draw, read… sometimes noisily, often in silent conversation.

You can watch process videos on my instagram/youtube, but for those of us who prefer longform, here is a diary and catalogue of all the work I produced - all from life. But first…

Packing

So there we were in Bristol, the night before holiday, faced with our modest pre-ordered baggage allowance, juggling books, clothes, 6 almost-empty bottles of suncream, and my easel. I now know it weighs 6kgs, and if I take the side legs off it just fits in a medium suitcase… I really should have bought a lightweight pochard box ages ago, but was overwhelmed by choice and cost.

After all the excitement of the Society of Women Artists show and the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize show, I was looking forward to some spontaneous sketching, and some navel-gazing (my own, planning my next big painting). Packing a really pared-down kit, I addressed an imaginary airport inspector by bagging up my oil paint tubes in a plastic bag, marked “artist pigments in vegetable/seed oil”, and decanting a blob of Liquin medium into a labelled jamjar. Plus my trusty sketching kit. I bought white spirit from the supermarket on arrival, and promised my brushes a proper good clean on return home (Liquin is great for speeding up drying time, but brutal on your brushes).

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Balanced on a table to paint the courtyard View fullsize

The courtyard painting

Sète

Now the children are at school/work/uni, time together as a five is increasingly rare… and more like going away with friends than taking a boisterous circus on tour.

We had a few days in Sète, just the 5 of us, staying close to a beach. The shady balcony was a great place to relax, eat, and sketch. Hanging washing there to dry, clothes could stay out overnight and still be wet in the morning, but an hour of the warm daytime breeze would be enough to dry a pair of jeans.

The local grocer had piles of delicious still life subjects; I raided the kitchen cupboards for vessels to put alongside. Doing still lifes became my evening routine, it was nice to be able to leave drawings out overnight and not find pawprints on them in the morning! My daughter Izzi also draws and paints, so it was a lovely way to share time together.

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reflected shadows View fullsize

texture View fullsize

French labels View fullsize

the next morning light View fullsize

washing on the balcony View fullsize

my sketching buddy

One afternoon, Izzi was embroidering a football shirt on the balcony. Inspired by Curtis Holder’s brilliant drawn approach to the movement of makers I tried to embrace and capture her arm movement. Having sat for me so often, she is minded to set a time limit, so my drawings of her are a bit more vigorous than the other portrait sketches this holiday. My takeaway from this is that the hinge (in this case elbow) area needs to be much more vague and suggestive for it to read properly.

Plein air oil painting

Pencil is my comfort zone. I’m still a bit scared of oils - probably always will be. But having lugged all my painting gear to France it seemed important to get out and paint the coast before moving on to the next location. So I perched on a high path overlooking the beach, and had a most enjoyable couple of hours painting, with many passers-by stopping to offer compliments, encouragement, and conversation.

Top comment was prompted by a group of teenage boys on scooters, who stopped to chat. As they were heading off, one of them turned back, and politely (I thought!) offered me a tip about some French grammar that I had got wrong. An unrelated man who’d been listening and watching me paint chastised him in no uncertain terms, saying (in French) that when he could speak English as well as I could speak French, THEN he could correct my grammar! The poor boy protested that he was just trying to help, and was then told (at length) that his tone to me was disrespectful. I get the impression that the French have a bit more reverence for artists! Meanwhile on the beach below, Izzi was approached by a woman who was enthusiastically viewing her sketchbook.

After Sète, we headed to Montpellier to rendez-vous with friends, for a week staying in a converted glassmaking factory. Luckily for me, there is always a steady stream of people willing to sit and be drawn.

A3 pencil portraits

I’ve been reading a bit about meditation recently and have been struck by the similarities with the experience of drawing someone in person - complete focus at the exclusion of all else. It is also a lovely gentle silent conversation. These portraits were all about 30-50 minutes from life, on A3 kraft paper.

I do find it is a different experience being in or outside. The breeze, the fluctuating light, the distractions, all make for a looser more spontaneous result when the portrait is done outside. That is something else I would like to develop in future work - the figure outside. Dame Laura Knight being an inspiration.

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Ted by the pool View fullsize

Izzi on a lounger View fullsize

Katie by the pool View fullsize

Ted inside View fullsize

Ellie inside View fullsize

Daisy inside

The more the merrier

It was extra special that Izzi and Ted joined me when Daisy volunteered to sit, producing wonderful sketches of their friend and sister respectively.

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in situ View fullsize

Izzi's sketch View fullsize

Ted's sketch

Gouache workshop

Known traditionally as ‘bodycolour’, gouache was used to great effect for opaque light highlights by Turner, Cotman, and other watercolourists. Gouache can be diluted for washes, layered, and also applied in a very even flat opaque way. Favoured by graphic designers, illuminators and miniaturists, it takes overdrawing very well, having a very slightly rough surface, possibly caused by the coarser gound pigments and chalk fillers used in the paint. I brought them as an easily transported media for our annual holiday painting session.

We had a brilliant couple of hours at the kitchen table, experimenting to see what we could do.

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Mini exhibition

On the last night of the group holiday we embellish the evening cocktail routine with a ‘Private Private View’ displaying all the work created over the holiday. It was wonderful to have so many personalities represented, both as artists and as sitters. There was even a dedicated ‘Daisy table’. I usually try to do a representative oil painting of the group holiday, and hold a draw for the original. I give the portrait sketches to the sitters and the rest will be listed in my online shop soon.

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Inspiration

Three works of art really struck me this holiday:

• Fontaine du Pouffre (Octopus Fountain) in Sète, commissioned in 1985 from sculptor Pierre Nocca. A reminder of the importance of quality and dynamism in contemporary realism.

• The Unicorn statue, part of La Fontaine des Licornes (the Fountain of the Unicorns) in Place de la Canourgue, Montpellier, was made by sculptor Étienne d'Antoine in 1773. I would love to include horses in my next big painting - this is a great demonstration again of quality and dynamism, but also I love the fantasy element introduced by the unicorns.

• Finally, the one that got away - I nearly bought this beautiful 19th century oil portrait in a market in Montpellier on our last day. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling well, so a trip to the pharmacy was a necessary alternative plan. As well as being painted brilliantly, as a knitter I really love that she is using four fine double-ended needles (probably making a sock).

What next?

Thank you so much for following along. All comments welcome. I’m delighted to be back home, with several brilliant portrait commissions lined up, and a very exciting project that I will be announcing in detail very soon. Here’s a clue!

Midnight, fervently painting against the clock.

Contents

🎲Taking a seat at the table - the first rule of gambling

🎲Laying the bet - what are the stakes?

🎲Hedging - entering multiple open calls

🎲Double 6 - jackpot!

🎲No dice - a flaw in the plan

🎲Upping the ante - big decision

🎲Digging deep - how well did it sit with me?

🎲Double or quits - go small or go home

🎲Down to the wire - painting against the clock

🎲Play your cards right - get the ducks in a row

🎲Showtime - Ruth Borchard exhibition at Russell Cotes gallery

🎲Winner - art was the winner

🎲A full house - reflection

As an artist I try to create work that has an impact, and that resonates with people. To do this requires reach - both to find an audience, and to connect with people with the facility to help.

Society of Women Artists exhibition 2025

Taking a seat at the table

The first rule of gambling is not to risk what you can’t afford to lose. When submitting to an open call, you’re not just risking the entry fee. You’re tying your work up (from sales or other shows), and incurring other costs (framing, art transport, your travel to attend the exhibition).

You are submitting a piece of yourself, laying yourself open to rejection. Your work (or rather, your photo of it), will be subject to both a value and a curatorial judgement - is it good enough? and does it fit the curators’ vision for the opportunity? Faced with rejection, you hope it’s the latter, knowing that there’s rarely any feedback. Here are 3 examples of my work that have previously been accepted into the RPS, PAOTY, and SWLA open calls respectively (click for more info):

Judgement

After a cold blustery run

Slug noticing something

Laying the bet

Having finished my big Raft Of The Medusa, I realised it doesn’t fit in my bathroom, so decided to enter it into an open call.

Entry fees are about £30 per artwork. But if the work is accepted, it will cost about £500 (framing), £200 (van hire to deliver) + £50 petrol (for a round trip from Bristol to London). I would want to attend the show, so that is £100 in trains to/from Bristol. Luckily I have family in London who very kindly accommodate me.

Unless it is sold in the show, there’s another £200 + petrol for transport back to Bristol. And many hours facilitating logistics.

I looked into art couriers, but for some the size was above their max, and for others the fact I needed to go via a stop-off in Spitalfields was too complicated. Europcar van hire to the rescue!

This process is prohibitively expensive for many would-be applicants.

Hedging

I had never previously entered the RA Summer Exhibition, nor the Society of Women Artists, but felt my Raft was potentially suitable for either. Since being accepted into such prestigious exhibitions is a long-shot, and most open calls are an annual opportunity, I decided to try both. This, despite that they had slightly overlapping timescales: From the grapevine I’m aware it’s not good form to withdraw your work from an open call, but I figured the chances of getting into both were infinitesimal!

Even if T&Cs say the work doesn’t have to be for sale, it isn’t much of a stretch to assume that if it’s a selling exhibition, it’s preferable that it is. There is generally a UK industry-standard commission of about 50% on all sales, going to the organisers. So for both the SWA and RA applications, I included a sale price on my application.

Double six ⚅⚅

Dropping off the Raft at The Mall Galleries, in a homemade quilt bag!

My Raft picture was accepted into the SWA (hooray), but not the RA (phew).

The biennial Ruth Borchard self portrait prize was also open (I’ve previously been longlisted, and have a soft spot for the Ruth Borchard story). The exhibition for this was after the SWA show, and didn’t require work to be for sale. So I decided to enter my Raft for that too, as it contains a literal self portrait, and also as ‘womankind’.

Imagine my delight to learn that my painting was shortlisted for the Ruth Borchard prize, with an invitation to bring it to the in-person judging of the final round, in the Piano Nobile gallery (organisers of the Ruth Borchard prize) in London, shortly after the close of the SWA show.

No dice

It was at this point that I came to realise my cunning plan had a flaw. In order to proceed to the final round of the Ruth Borchard prize, I would have to be the painting owner, and my painting would have to be available for purchase into the collection by the foundation. Otherwise it would have to be withdrawn from the prize. Not unreasonable, given that this is the point of the collection.

Another condition of proceeding was not to disclose being shortlisted until the official results announcement (22nd July).

Upping the ante

So, with a few days to go before the SWA show opened in The Mall Galleries, I knew that if my painting sold I would have to withdraw it from the Ruth Borchard prize. Yikes! What would you do?

I took what I hoped was a long objective look at the situation:

• I was under no pressure from Piano Nobile to commit: they were happy for me to wait and see if it sold at the SWA.

• I didn’t even want to ask the SWA (who themselves had effectively taken a punt on me with a large area of Mall Galleries wallspace) to take the painting off sale. They are a charity who I want very much to support, and that could mean them losing commission.

• I knew (not least from Katherine Tyrell’s copious evidence) that most sales in such exhibitions are well below the Raft price bracket (and size). So it was statistically unlikely to sell.

• I had had a couple of genuine enquiries (in addition to the ones that start with “Your artwork is so unique and precious - is it for sale?”!).

• With a few recent commission payments in my business account, buying my own painting from the SWA show was an extreme but viable option.

Interview with sculptor Helen Sinclair, President of the SWA

I was nervous that buying it myself would be considered manipulating the market, or depriving visitors of a chance to buy. But a bit of research revealed that artists do sometimes buy their own paintings if, for example, they want to take them out of circulation or edit them. In December 2021, British artist Keith Coventry purchased seven of his own paintings (originally shown in the 1997 Sensation exhibition) at a Sussex auction for approximately £1,000 each. With plans to donate them to a UK museum, he thereby reclaimed control of his early work.

So I took a deep breath and entered into a very positive discussion with SWA leadership. With their backing, I went onto the website, pressed ‘buy’, the red dot went on, and I could get on with enjoying the fabulous 164th Annual Exhibition of the SWA at The Mall Galleries.

Digging deep

Ultimately, I decided the value to me of being in the SWA show, of supporting them as an organisation, and of securing the shortlisting for the Ruth Borchard prize, was worth my costs, including the commission on the sale. My art practice is in many ways quite frugal - I build my own website, do my own marketing, have a home studio, and don’t spend much on materials or workshops.

I had two regrets: that I couldn’t persuade the SWA to take their full commission entitlement, and that I had to be obtuse with visitors who commented excitedly about The Red Dot.

Frankly though, moments like this are priceless:

A visit to the SWA show from the people who modelled for The Raft Of The Medusa

So the next challenge was transporting the painting from The SWA after-show pickup at The Mall Galleries to the Piano Nobile gallery (also in London) for RB prize judging. This would mean 2 more big van trips in and out of London from Bristol, only a few days apart. I am extremely grateful that the Mall Galleries team were generously flexible on the SWA pickup date, storing my painting for an extra few days. This meant I could organise a courier with capacity for the XL painting size to deliver it directly to Piano Nobile for judging.

Double or quits

The next issue was the upcoming Ruth Borchard shortlisted works exhibition at the Russell Cotes gallery in Bournemouth. To participate in this, the selected self portraits have to be under a certain size. That certain size is, unsurprisingly, considerably less than 2.3m wide. D’ohhh!

Luckily the Piano Nobile staff reminded me of this well in advance of the exhibition. They asked if I perhaps had a smaller version, representative of the finished piece, that could be exhibited.

So… that’s how I found myself in Cass Art looking for canvases of the same proportions as the big Raft, and came to be painting ‘spawn of Raft’, at 100x70cm.

Would it be possible to paint a scaled down copy of my 2.3x1.6m Raft Of The Medusa (that took months), in only 7 days? 🤷. Was I chasing an opportunity of uncertain nature? Not really, because Piano Nobile had assured me it would be included in the show if I could do it in time.

Down to the wire

Day 2 - image outline transferred, colour block-in started. Watched over in my studio by Amit and Cheryl

There were many quick wins, second time round. Most of the time on the big Raft was spent on decision making, filming, documenting, having a hip replacement, Christmas, etc. You can watch the entire process on video here.

This time I had no decisions to make, and all the references to hand. Bouguereau apparently enjoyed copying his own paintings, and to be honest so did I. On hand was my daughter Izzi (who is the figure holding the book in the foreground). Izzi knew the original well, and is an excellent artist herself, so gave me vital quick critical feedback throughout the painting process.

My only distractions were uncancellable social engagements, and driving practice with Leon (that’s my son Leon’s body draped over the woman in the red dress in the Raft. Leon who has since passed his driving test first time!).

On the home straight, painting the edges ready for framing

Also, in a happy accidental turn of fate, the canvas I’d bought was clear gesso’d linen, so for all the light squares on the quilt in the painting I was able to just leave the canvas unpainted. The linen weave lent it a beautiful fabric look. Painting quickly encouraged me to be more decisive, and although working smaller, I was looser. I didn’t stress so much about likenesses to specific models either, and enjoyed painting the sky much more.

Play your cards right

Mike is very patient with me rocking up to collect with an entourage of friends

I had tee’d up my framer, Mike Ogden at Sky Blue, reassuring him that the diagonals were exactly equal, ie the canvas on stretcher bars was perfectly square. I painted using Liquin to speed up the drying time, and a spot of cobalt dryer in the slower-drying pigments. It was all done in a few days, and only took a couple of days more (thank you, heat wave!) to be completely touch dry in time for the framing appointment. I was then able to give it a very careful coat of exhibition varnish AFTER framing, ready for delivery to the Russell Cotes gallery for hanging, four days later.

Showtime

As a shortlisted artists, I was invited to the Private View at the Russell Cotes gallery on 22nd July. I asked my late mother’s dear husband Malcolm to be my guest. He lives nearby, and told me that he and my mother (a member and regular visitor to the RA Summer Exhibition) loved going to the Russell Cotes gallery together. I was excited to bring him, particularly as it was a complete surprise to him that I had any involvment in the show.

Malcolm and I had a wonderful evening. It was such an honour to meet the judges, the other shortlisted artists, and most of all to see their incredible work.

The Ruth Borchard Prize

The Russell-Cotes exhibition

Self portrait

At the SWA

Russell Cotes gallery garden

Hanieh Yavari (winner)

With Malcolm

With Richard Borchard

Winner winner chicken dinner

The self-portrait photograph by Hanieh Yavari was an absolutely deserving overall winner. Hanieh gave a most moving speech about her work, articulating the message about women’s situations across the world, how hair being seen as something to be covered, and other elements are addressed by her photograph.

The show of shortlisted self portraits in Bournemouth, surrounded by Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces in the beautiful Russell-Cotes gallery is open until 7th September . Well worth a visit (included in the price of entry to the entire gallery), this place was a favourite of my late mother and husband Malcolm. The long and shortlisted entries are permanently available to view online here

A full house

Completed and framed with hours to spare!

To be accepted into an open call for an exhibition, or to win a prize for your work is something many artists (myself included) crave. A void that is rich for exploitation. Done with integrity, it is a well-trodden, fairly democratic path towards exposure, particularly for people who lack network and contacts. At every turn, my experience of the SWA, The Mall Galleries, Piano Nobile, The Russell Cotes gallery, and the Ruth Borchard prize was positive.

But like gambling it can become all-consuming. When big open calls send out their decision emails, there is a joyful flurry of announcments on social media by artists who have had work accepted. And a flurry of messages of despondency by those who have received a rejection. For many the costs of participating are prohibitive, although some societies go to some lengths to reduce this barrier.

Being in exhibitions and having gongs gives you news for your followers, pictures for your socials, a tribe of co-exhibitors, fodder for your CV. Repeated acceptance is the path towards membership of historic societies such as the ROI, RSMA, SWA, SWLA, RP, etc. And don’t even get me started on connections, validation and affirmation.

On the days when you don’t really feel like facing the easel, or when you’re tempted to abandon a piece, having an open call to aim for can be the catalyst for breaking through to new horizons in your art practice. I value the opinions of others, and love doing commissions. For me, these are complementary to having the clarity and skills to make authentic original work.

I am so grateful to have the security and support needed to paint whatever comes into my head. And at the time of writing, a giant Raft painting, which is on sale, and back in the studio!

Taking in the room on arrival, I felt a rush of joyful pride at the artwork, and appreciation for this community who truly understand stiff doors and systemic obstacles. As long as women artists lag behind in the art market, organisations that promote and advantage our art per se are a lifeline of solidarity and support.

I am hugely grateful to everyone who came to the SWA show in whatever capacity. If there were a prize for quantity and quality of visitors, I would have won it by a distance! I didn’t manage to catch photos with everyone, please email me if you can fill a gap in the album.

Helen Sinclair (sculptor president of the SWA) and the SWA committee laid on a brilliantly organised, vibrant show. Here are some photos - note two international artists whose work I particularly enjoyed: Huihua Bi from China, and Omma Moonfalk from Sweden.

The Private View at The Mall Galleries

This was my first time applying to the SWA open call, so I was lucky (knowing how selective they are, and the high number of entries) to have two paintings accepted: The Raft of The Medusa, and The Boy Who Played Cricket.

The Raft Models (click for info)

These wonderful people all modelled for my painting -it was brilliant to be able to get together and celebrate our collaboration.

The Boy Who Played Cricket (click for info)

It was an honour to welcome Nerve Tumours UK people Karen Cockburn (director) and Markus Bell (shown - marketing and communications manager) to the show. Amit - we missed you, but you were with us in spirit!

Here are a few of my wonderful visitors, artists with their work, and a tiny selection of the brilliant pieces in the show. Full catalogue to browse and buy. For the artists, just look them up, they’ve all got websites!

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Huihua Bi (detail) View fullsize

Svetlana Semenova and Emma de Souza View fullsize

Anne Blankson-Hemans View fullsize

Heike Bauer and Diane Watt View fullsize

Asya Dudko View fullsize

Bristol visitors View fullsize

Camilla Dowse View fullsize

Curtis Holder View fullsize

Cathy Read View fullsize

Dave Cooke View fullsize

Deborah McLarnon-Riches View fullsize

Ginny Page, Cathy Read, Megan Hunter View fullsize

Izzi Reid and friends View fullsize

Laura Arenson View fullsize

Linda Brett View fullsize

Liz Watts and Yeside Linney View fullsize

Lou Chudley (Spark Social) View fullsize

Sally Ward, Suzanne Gibbs, Megan Hunter View fullsize

Tara O'Reilly, Michele Ashby, Omma Moonfalk View fullsize

Omma Moonfalk, Caroline dePeyrecave View fullsize

Roya Khalili View fullsize

Sally Ward and model son William View fullsize

Sally Ward and Yeside Linney View fullsize

Sophie Coe View fullsize

Svetlana Semenova View fullsize

Yeside Linney 🧡 View fullsize

Helen Sinclair (president) View fullsize

Tessa Jane, Anne Blankson-Hemans View fullsize

Anna Davey-Mitchell View fullsize

Tenisia James, Clare Creed, Alice Walpole - the 3 Graces View fullsize

Leon Gent (model son)

I was very touched to see two members of the Mall Galleries catering staff (the ultimate connoisseurs!) spend a while discussing my painting.

It’s a small world

It was a great surprise to bump into Katherine Tyrell when she visited the show, coincidentally when Curtis Holder had dropped in (also a lovely surprise, as he was exhibiting at the CBPP, see below). Cue a lively conversation between us about the contemporary art scene, and a dedicated post from Katherine, which was a generous accolade. Sally Ward (above) painted Yeside Linney (above) for her supporting piece in the Portrait Artist Of The Year final. Here is Katherine Tyrell’s blog post about the final, which Curtis Holder (above and below) won!

The historian critic

I was thrilled to be visited by distinguished art historian Michael Ohajuru and his wife, artist Ebun Culwin. Sadly I wasn’t able to introduce Michael to Amit as planned, but we still managed a lively conversation about the references in The Raft Of The Medusa, and other things. Here is some great footage of Michael talking about de-centering whiteness, in a livestream hosted by The Courthauld, so you can imagine how delighted I was that my work had caught his eye.

Michael Ohajuru and Ebun Culwin

Friends and family

Being in London was a great chance to catch up with friends and family including two schoolfriends who I hadn’t seen for 40 years! The downside was that I HATE dressing up, but had to decide and pack outfits for the entire week in advance.

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Outfit Of The Day View fullsize

Wardrobe consultant View fullsize

Schoolfriend View fullsize

Gallery-trotting partner View fullsize

Bright Young Thing View fullsize

Bristol crew on tour View fullsize

Schoolfriend View fullsize

Hosts with the mosts

4 fantastic shows

I was delighted to make it to four more shows that week - two in London, two in Bristol. Click on the images for links to the shows/artists.

Jenny Saville at NPG

While Saville is clearly into the act of painting, she explores the limits of drawing, of figurative representation, of the exposure of the evolution of a work, and the use of abstract marks (ref her deep engagement with Cy Twombly, arguably the boss of abstract drawn markmaking). As an artist, for me the benefit of the retrospective is that we can trace Saville experimenting with combining these strands over time, starting to make them all sing together in her latest pieces. Plus she’s a better figurative painter than Picasso ever was.

The CBPP in Brixton

All the coolest portrait artists are in this group. They hold a show every year, this one was full of absolute knock-outs. Click the photo for info

Curtis Holder at CBPP

Always making exciting new work, this abundant artist never ceases to amaze me with his ideas, skill, and joyfulness.

Emily Hadley and Suze Riley

Imagine being a gallerist in the UK and meeting an American artist online, and deciding to put on a joint show! Well, that’s what these two did, and Dive was the result. I was honoured to be their very last visitor, dipping for the line when I returned from London.

Eva Lane solo "All of my Favourite Things"

An awesome artist and life drawing buddy, about to head to Glasgow School Of Art. Eva threw a one-night only show - packed with greatness

Eva and Luna sketched in March

Apologies to those I’ve missed/not noted - please send corrections/omissions. Did you go? Please send any photos that would be good to include here. Tag me on social media, and share your thoughts in the comment section below, thank you!

Connections

I have enjoyed painting outside, inside, and alongside some great artists this year. It is always inspiring to see their work on gallery walls. Two friends have built on their own success as artists by opening their OWN galleries. All these people have fed my soul in some way this year, exchanging ideas, inspiration, and shared experiences. I would urge you to go on a voyage of discovery, looking them up. There are some big art names and some ones to watch in this gallery (see below for list)!

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L to R Top to bottom (in no particular order!)

Joshua Donkor at the CBPP annual exhibition in Brixton’s Department Store gallery.

Yeside Linney’s “Presence” at the opening exhibition of Casildart Contemporary Gallery.

Huw Richards Evans’ gallery in Clifton

Frances Cooley’s solo show at Cass Art Bristol

Painting trip in East Prawle with Julie Dunster

‘Meet the artist’ event with Frank Harwood (from which I gained two beautiful original FH portraits of Yours Truly in action)

With Jane Bloomer, Jacqueline Hammond and Julie Dunster at the Plein Air Painting competition in Painswick Rococo Gardens

My Art Husband Dave Cooke’s work on show at Huw’s gallery

With Melissa Scott-Miller, and Oliver Winconek at Sophie Skelton’s artist & collector event in Scarborough

Adebayo Bolaji’s show at Bristol’s Arnolfini

A painting trip in Weston with Gemma Lane, Lorna Bryce, and Anne Graham

The irrepressible, inimitable, incredible Curtis Holder at Guildford House.

A painting trip visiting Jacqueline Kilpatrick in Penzance

A studio visit from Clare Bowen

Clare Creed (poledance instructor, bodybuilder, life model) modelling for my Raft painting

Tom Hughes at the Jamaica Street Studios open studio

Studio visit by Jane Bloomer

Aga Kubish, and Weston super-Mare Mayor, Cllr John Crockford-Horley

Jack Hicks (who wrote my solo show curatorial statement), and Keith Symonds

The incorrigible Daryl Hembrough modelling, for me and Ruth Meynell (one to watch)

Andrew Hood and Mandy Smith at Andrew’s show at the Kit Form gallery

Neil Watson (Dubel Prize finalist)

Lee Putman (at the SWLA)

Robert Greenhalf (at the SWLA)

Jacqueline Hammond (holding the beautiful painting from her solo show that is now in my collection)

Artists exhibiting at Aga Kubish Art Gallery & Studio ‘Botanical Vibes’ show

Amit Ghose, Dr Nicola Stock and Dr Maia Thornton of the UWE Centre for Appearance Research

The 2024 intake of Goodenough College Arts & Humanities (postgrad) faculty

Katherine Tyrrell at the SWLA

Public Speaking

I have enjoyed several opportunities to speak this year. Below are some links to associated recordings/documentation:

Try my test on an artwork of your choice!

Standout projects

Some of my most meaningful projects are the work that I cannot share: Painting private clients in the comfort of my studio - understandably not for public view. Watch my TEDx talk to hear the sort of journey that is sometimes taken by artist & sitter in that context.

Here are my 8 top picks of work done this year, indicative of direction of travel for 2025. As you’ve stuck with me this far, I might as well show you my unpublic ‘goals’ page too!

Five portraits (of sorts), a still life, a landscape, and two anthropomorphic pieces:

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Books

I have been excited to contribute graphically to these two awesome books, by two very talented women:

Diane Watt gave me the honour of providing the title calligraphy (done freehand on an iPad Pro) for the cover of her book on the life and letters of Margaret Paston.

Caroline Arthur included my illustration as the final swish of her book on how to get more than 1 wear out of your wedding dress.

Click on these images for info, and to buy either of these excellent tomes:

Exhibitions

A solo show at the Aga Kubish Gallery, a 2nd consecutive acceptance into the SWLA at the Mall Galleries, work in Huw Richards Evans’ gallery, the Conference Artist at AM10, exhibitor and panellist at the IWD event at Goodenough College, and with Tom Mead, Oliver Winconek, Florence Yuqing, and others at Sophie Skelton (Behind The Artist)’s collector event in Scarborough’s Woodend Gallery. Click images below for more information. I am very happy too that my painting of Amit Ghose is currently on show in a private business venue in London. I hope to have some concrete evidence of that before too long!

Aga Kubish

SWLA

Huw Richards Evans

AM10 conference

International Women's Day

Woodend Gallery, Scarborough

Sales

One of my favourite ever comedy sketches is Peter Cook and Dudley Moore’s The Piano Teacher. So here we go, on “the sordid subject of money”: Almost any gallerist or artist I have spoken to has observed that artwork isn’t shifting easily this year. Even friends who are used to selling in London, New York, etc are reporting gallery closures and far lower year-on-year sales. I can see from my own experience that commissioned portraits, landscapes and still lifes are generally the way forward, from a sales perspective.

However, despite this, my collectors (new, and trusty steeds) don’t seem to have got that memo - so lots of my work has found new homes. Including the dead rabbit sketch. And the still life featuring a plastic carton of food waste and some dirty brush dip. Perhaps you have some on your own wall? If so, a huge thank you for taking that plunge, it means a great deal to me. Many pieces are now sold, but there are plenty still available here, including some of my favourites from this year (see above).

I have completed two portraits that were raffle donations (for the benefit of Birnbeck Pier Regeneration Trust, and for Help Bristol’s Homeless charity). I’ve also bartered a large landscape for a cottage stay… just in case that sort of thing floats your boat!

On a personal note

Life changes

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The offending item

You may have noticed from my recent videos that I have been limping for a while, and putting on weight. I finally got (paid) someone medical to take my appeals seriously, it turns out that I had stage 4 osteoarthritis in my left hip. Having submitted to the ministrations of a surgeon “It was knackered, no wonder you were struggling” on 14th December, I’m delighted to be on the path to recovery and fitness.

In other news, Man Of Dreams is retiring at the end of the year. He has shouldered a very demanding job ever since we met in 1997, and travelled a lot over the years. So I’m really excited for him to have less stress, and more leisure (reading and modelling for portraits) time. It is thanks to his job that my hip replacement was covered by health insurance. There is a lot more that could be said about that, but this is an art blog, so I’ll stay in this lane...

Mindset

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The plan

Last but not least, as if this blog wasn’t self-indulgent enough, I wanted to share with you a new mindset that has helped me this year.

• Gericault’s famous painting the Raft Of The Medusa is a multi-figure epic, now on show in the Louvre. Done as a personal project (not a commission), it was submitted and exhibited at the 1819 Paris Salon to a good reception. It was even better received in London, but was unsold during Gericault’s lifetime. SO many artists, like Gericault, died without knowing the significance their work would hold in the future. Learning that his painting was essentially a punt, and never sold, somehow released me from the guilt of indulging so much time & materials on an un-commissioned piece.

• Who could fail to be deeply moved by reports of people round the world trying to defend their land from invasion, sacrificing their lives for the hope of benefit to future generations? To seek immediate ‘success’ for artwork seems facile, when people under attack are enduring such extreme hardship, fighting for something they may well not live to see.

My inner critic is very much alive, as is my intention to continue building on the successes of this year. But I aim to take more risks, so as not to squander my liberty and privilege on ‘easy drinking’ work.

Your comments are welcome

Thank you for your support and interest in my work. Feel free to leave a comment, or contact me directly with any feedback or enquiries.

Lubna, Gala, Gail, Shruti, Anja with Jane Masojada’s portrait of Her Honour Judge Sarah Monro KC

Thursday 7th March 2024 was the Worshipful Company of World Traders’ 3rd annual International Women’s Day celebration in the Great Hall of Goodenough College, London.

The spectacular hall was full of international postgraduate students (for whom Goodenough College is a residential community) and livery company members.

The organisers curated a program of first hand accounts by women, including experience at the top of UK business and politics, research into the experiences of young women with HIV in South Africa, and activism against the criminalisation of abortion in Brazil. This was set against a backdrop of art and music created, composed and performed by women.

The event brought together artists, musicians, academic, professional, social and commerce leaders:

Curatorial notes and images Listing of artists and panellists

In addition to the program above, Jillian LeBlanc (Canadian consulting feminist) and Dame Susan Langley (Alderwoman, Sheriff, and non-exec chair of Gallagher Insurance, Risk Management & Consulting) conducted a fascinating ‘fireside chat’. As Non-Executive Chair for Gallagher UK and the Senior Independent Director for UKAR, it was so interesting to hear about Susan’s career path, opportunities, experiences and choices. Some great personal anecdotes of her approaches to various situations too.

(L to R) Jillian LeBlanc, Susan Langley, portrait of Maeve Goodenough (whose idea it was to found Goodenough college) by Gala Hills

Following this, Lesley Batchelor CBE facilitated the panel discussion. The four panellists each presented women who are/have been invisible. Moving examples were discussed in the fields of family businesses, HIV in South Africa, and abortion criminalisation in Brazil (see the program summaries below). I hope to do a future blog on my ‘invisible woman’, having invested a fair bit of research into her life!

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Event pictures

The unflappable Kitty Brandon-James

who miraculously managed to curate our many disparate pieces into a coherent exhibition, taking account of incumbent portraits, and with fixings that didn’t disturb the wood panelling. Click on image for more information about the painting

Jane Masojada and Lady Mayoress Elisabeth Mainelli

Click on the image for more information about the painting

Lubna, Gala, Gail, Shruti, Anja

With Jane Masojada’s portrait of Her Honour Judge Sarah Monro KC

Izzi, Gail, Alice Walpole OBE (principle of Goodenough College)

Click on the photo for information about the paintings

Setting up... nearly done!

With organiser and presenter Lesley Batchelor CBE, under Shruti’s textile quilt installation, which, together with my painting ‘Defiance’ were set opposite the ‘Empire Clock’ in the Great Hall.

Eugenia Anastassiou

Author of the article about the painting behind us https://workplaceinsight.net/author/eugenia-anastassiou/

With Dr Isabel Laurence

Subject of the two paintings behind us (click for info)

Artists

Christine, Shruti, Ashlyn, Gala, Rianna, Ruta, Lon, Susan,

Installation

Goodenough College Great Hall is also a dining room. The exhibition remaining in situ until Monday 11th March

This video is a short overview of my four paintings in the exhibition:

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If you want to tag me on social media that would be great, @gailreidartist across the board. Thank you so much for reading, and for all the lovely messages xxx

For an objective view of the competition, follow the fantastic Making A Mark blog by Katherine Tyrell. Katherine is a veteran reporter of the show (amongst other great artworld content), and applies her artistic eye and statistical head to give very fair reflection and advice.

You may also like my blog about how I prepared for the show, my blog about the heat, and my process demo video .

Before we start, here are action shots of all the artists. Click on any image below for links to their website/social media. PLEASE check them out, we’re not defined by a 4 hour painting, you may be very surprised by what you find. Huge thanks to Stephanie Chappell  stephaniechappell.com & big-dog.tv for the photos.

Lorena Levi

Sara Reeve

Ed Lawrensen

Davide di Taranto

Wendy Barratt

Anna Loy

Yvadne Davis

Gail Reid

Now, if you dare, take the red pill… and read on!

(6.45am on Semi Finals filming day. Wendy Barratt and Sara Reeve are in the hotel foyer. Spotting each others’ canvasses and kit, we guess we’re all contestants - a nice icebreaker. Walk to Battersea Arts Centre together, to meet the other artists and have some breakfast)

“they all seem very grown up and relaxed”

(Yvadne Davis, all smiles, tells us she’s been brought back as the wildcard. Davide di Taranto isn’t feeling very well and is talking about coffee).

“Right, I’ve done all I possibly can to make the best of this. Here we are, lining up in the corridor, we’ve all done it before so we know the drill”

(Walking in to the hall and seeing the set for the first time, on camera)

“OMFG. But the chair is fine, I can work with the chair”

(Walking in for the 2nd take)

“Thank goodness Anna Loy is so nice and relaxed, because we’ve got to stand together and marvel at the set together, again, while looking entirely natural, spontaneous, and delighted”

(Emma Bunton is announced and walks in)

“Woweeeee! I actually know this person. OMG why oh why didn’t I wear my Buffaloes today? I practically live in them. How come she hasn’t aged AT ALL? That suit’s great, I can work with that, it’s like Debbie’s dress on my practice run. Shiny hair! Great jaw! Great shoes! Olympics opening ceremony! Must remember her surname and not call her Baby Spice” etc etc

(Starting off)

“OK this is great. I can eyeball the composition, and fit the lot in. I’m glad of the big canvas because I can do that and still have room for a decent face. Just like I practiced with Jon. She’s sitting pretty still, looks like she’s intending to keep that up so I’ll proceed working from life”

(After 40 minutes)

“Boom! Look at that nice bit of space just to the left of the plinth. That’s a win. All seems to fit. I’ve got this composition nailed. Just need to sort that head…”

(Camera crew, doing their duty, ask me to step away so they can get a progress shot. This takes a few minutes because they take a video. I return to continue working…)

“Oh shit, it’s dried, I should have used retarder medium in the acrylic underpainting! I can’t scrub the patently wrong head off. Shitshitshit! OK. Breathe. I’ll sort it out with the oils after the break”

(After the break, starting with the oil paints)

“Right. Breathe. Stick to the plan. Where’s my red paint? Gonna need a load of that. Looks bright yellow by the lights. The curtains are cool red (alizarin) and the carpet is warm (cadmium). What am I going to do with those boots? I know! They’re super-unsaturated, so I can make them pop by using the saturation contrast with the background. Like the opposite of what people like Sarah Manolescue do with sunsets. That’s a really clever idea. Bet nobody else has thought of that. Well done Gail. Go Gail!”

(Lots of camera crew and staff are between us and Emma. Someone interviews me and I think I’ve made a good meaty comment about wanting to show Emma as a mother and a businesswoman. But then I may have called her Emma Bunting. D’ohh).

“Just get the big shapes down. Block it in. You can do this. Just paint what you can see. Hang on a minute, I can’t see Emma! What’s Ed Lawrensen doing? Ed always paints from life. He’s right next to me looking cool calm and collected with his reasonable sized canvas… better take a photo to work from”.

(Tai interviews me. He feels like an old friend, and his confidence in my ability is calming)

(Lunch time. We’re herded off set, and in the corridor Emma comes and chats with us)

“OMG she’s so nice. Is she actually famous, or just a normal person? If we were at school together I’d want to be her friend. She hasn’t even rushed off, she’s properly chatting and is really REALLY nice. I must NOT make her look like a dragon”.

(All the artists seem lovely. Wendy is all smiles. I bolt my food and make my excuses, feeling rude, but I know it’s not going to plan. I will trust my stamina to work through any breaks where allowed)

“trust the process, turn the canvas, get the face shape basically right using the photo”.

(It’s quiet, most people are at lunch. I’m at the easel, and sense someone behind me. There like a vision of compassion is Morag and Genty, coming for a walk round while the audience is out of the room. We have a lovely chat. She offers solidarity. I get the chance I’ve always wanted to tell her how amazing her prizewinning portrait commission of Lenny Henry is)

“here come the audience, we’re back on show”

(The judges are doing their mid-way sum-up in front of the audience, so we’re asked to put our headphones on, presumably so we can’t hear them. I had taken the instructions to the letter, bringing headphones, but not actually connected to any music! So I put them on anyway, but am too busy with crisis intervention to listen to dialogue. Someone in the audience comes over and gently tells me the judges don’t like the background. Something about Emma being on fire!)

“Argh! Do I sort the face (which needs a lot of work), or the background (which I now know is a problem)? Can’t face the face. Can’t see Emma anyway. Need some purple to kill that yellow in the backgound round the shoes… but I don’t even own purple paint, and it’s going to have to be strong to knock back that hellfire. Definitely don’t want to mix purple, adding even more red to that canvas, I need actual purple pigment”

(Ed helps me out with a tube of purple. He still seems incredibly calm)

“What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I be calm like Ed? This is the first tube of purple I’ve ever used… why am I experimenting in the Semi Final?!”

(After this it’s all a bit of a blur. I’m covered in paint. There’s something up with my mic, the cameraman tries to help but it’s fallen down my cleavage and he is reluctant to go there. Kathleen, lovely Kathleen, steps forward and fishes it out with reassuring good humour)

“OK, damage limitation. Stay calm. Really really carefully pick out highlights on Emma’s face, to try and find the structure. Every mark is critical, no time for more mistakes. She’s dancing now, so it’s totally fine to use a photo”

(Kathleen Soriano walks past with a crew member, she’s looking to interview someone who’s not painting from a photo, asking “is ANYONE painting from life?”. I pipe up that I would normally, but have just had to resort to photo because of the poor view. It sounds like a pathetic excuse! Only Ed is sticks to his guns throughout).

“Right, I’m going to have one more go at painting from life. Stephen’s talking to Emma, but I don’t think it’s being filmed. I’m going up there to ask if she could resume her pose. It feels very awkward, but I need this!”

(I look into the audience for a friendly face. Debbie doesn’t see me in time to compose herself… )

“Debs looks very worried. I don’t blame her, this is NOT where I expected to be at this stage. It’s the worst portrait I’ve done in a very long time”

Stephen Mangan: “Artists… Stop Right Now, Thank You Very Much!”

(Right. Game over. Photos with Emma. Finally get to meet the other artists properly. They are all lovely. Their portraits are all amazing. We are all exhausted. But it’s not over yet. Wendy is like a swan, turns out she’s been chatting to my son Tom.)

Stephen Mangan: “Artists, please turn your canvasses round”.

“Oh no. There’s no escape. How on earth is Emma going to find something nice to say about mine? This is going to be a serious test of her performing ability! Did I imagine a flicker of horror?”

(Emma is gracious and lovely about every single one. I don’t think I’m the only one who did a load of practice for this day!)

“Keep smiling even though you want to run away. It’s just a show. You’ll live it down in a few years”

(We line up for the judgement. We know the process. I look over to Debbie, who gives me a 50:50 sign that there’s actually a chance, based on the judges’ summary, that I might make it through. The winners are announced. Wendy Barratt, Davide di Taranto, and Lorena Levi. Great choices. Absolutely fair. When we are hugging our goodbyes to the judges, Kathleen tells me it was very close. That helps.

Then it’s all over. We have to walk out to go to the corridor and clean our brushes. On the way, two audience members and a 2 crew members make a point of very kindly telling me they love what I’d done, and that I was not to regret going large. I don’t believe them.

My workstation and brushes are chaos, because towards the end, desperate to use every second, I stopped putting the lids back on paint the tubes. I hate cleaning brushes anyway, but this is tough. Packing up feeling quite low about my painting. Thinking about the artists in my heat, wondering if one of them would have made more of the opportunity. And wondering if they felt like this, as they packed up. Then I head up to the café to wait for the wet canvas to be wrapped so I can take it away. There are my boys. And Yvadne. And others… smiling… chatting… I start to feel a bit better. By the time the canvas arrives I’m just relieved to be setting off back to Bristol)

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Heat 2

Lessons learned

I had a brilliant but exhausting day. I am beyond grateful, but before waxing lyrical about the benefits, here are three key lessons learned:

• I should have paid more attention to Katherine Tyrell’s excellent advice in her blog, that for the Semi-Final, working from life is almost impossible. Emma Bunton is a MASSIVE star, and a truly lovely human, who had clearly put a lot of consideration into how she would be portrayed. She was being interviewed/filmed/chatted to a lot, and being a fabulous energetic engaged person, needed to get up and move around. With the increased distance between the artists and sitter, there was even more traffic between us and her, which meant that a clear view of Emma, in pose, was a rare treat after the first few minutes.

The truth is, after doing this four hour practice from life of a friend, on the same size canvas I used for the show (30x40”) I got ahead of myself and thought it would be OK!

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• I should have asked the Storyvault team to wait a few minutes, when they asked me to step away from my canvas so they could take footage during the underpainting process. This is a really critical point, I was trying to get Emma’s head right, and in proportion, but by the time they’d finished videoing my canvas, the patently wrong acrylic underpainting was dry and couldn’t be adjusted. I could have used extender medium to keep it open longer, but I had rejected that because of needing it to dry over the first break.

• I so nearly wore my Buffaloes! I often do, and that would have been a great opportunity to make a connection with Emma. As Emma commented at the end, she felt a real connection and good energy with Wendy (everyone does, she’s lovely!). Connecting with your sitter is a basic portraiture skill that I should have remembered to consider.

Benefits of the show

• The biggest benefit, by far, is the practice beforehand. If you’re wondering whether to apply, DO IT! My portraiture has come on in leaps and bounds, and I’ve spent many happy hours practicing with new and old friends.

• Exposure. In the contemporary art world, we have to do our own marketing. PAOTY is an absolute gift. It doesn’t matter how you do, people will look at your website, your submission portrait, and your other work. Savvy contestants, regardless of how they get on, line up press releases etc to make the best of it.

• The wonderful people I met, some of whom will be lifelong friends and inspiration. The judges and presenters who we all know and love. The heat and Semi Final artists. Jay Rayner. Crew and audience. Also a sense of excitement, based on the demographic of Storyvault Films staff, that the future is in the hands of bright, diverse, positive, intelligent, generous youth who REALLY have their heads screwed on.

• Knowing myself as an artist - my strengths and weaknesses, so I could decide what to embrace or work on. I’m not all about portraits, but there is something particularly challenging about them, which truly stretches the ability.

• Getting used to being on camera - this was really useful for my TEDx talk (which will be released early next year - watch this space), and for livestreams.

• Being able to show my kids the amount of work that goes into a 1 hour show, both for the performers (that’s what we all were, really), and the crew.

This moment!

What did you make of it all then? Please let me know in the comments, and enjoy the rest of Series 10!

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If you want to tag me on social media that would be great, @gailreidartist across the board. Thank you so much for reading, and for all the lovely messages xxx

Girona from the city wall, the cathedral and basillica on the skyline

Having ferried into, and driven down through France (see previous blog), we arrived in high spirits to spend a week with friends at a remote villa just North of Barcelona.

The painting lesson

The olive groves are a lovely subject for beginners. For those that wanted, I painted a quick demo, and we worked from a shared palette. Ted and Izzi needed no help and just got on with it. I love how each artist has a unique approach to paint application and composition:

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Trying different paper

Two portraits of Ted revising, the first is on my normal sketchpad (slightly ridged kraft paper). I find this a very sympathetic surface. It’s possible I’ve been using it as a crutch, as the ridges mean the drawn marks aren’t quite so precise (ie exposed). So I have started trying to use smooth paper more, which is definitely more of a challenge. The portrait on the right was a battle, I still don’t feel I got Ted’s proportions/features alligned faithfully, but, as anything done from life I hope it captures his concentration, and the way his hair falls when he wears it down.

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Adulting

Usually holidays with friends mean we hardly see the kids except for mealtimes, but Thursday called for maternal ministrations, and a trip to A&E for treatment and antibiotics (thankfully all fine).

The next day our calculated gamble to not buy roadside assistance for many years caught up with us. The car battery gave up on a dusty sideroad in midday heat. Friends came with refreshments and jump leads, then helped us track down a very kind garage salesman who diagnosed the problem (how could we have missed that alternator belt, casually draped over the car intestines?!). Finally our host located a garage that wasn’t already closed for the Catalonian national holiday weekend.

By the end of that baking Friday, I was gratefully limping the ‘cotxe’ without power steering/handbrake to the only open ‘garatge’ for miles around. Marcus meanwhile was unpicking and rebuilding our travel arrangements, emerging with a 3 day city break in Girona, and flights home, instead of driving back up to the ferry from Cherbourg (🤞🏻 for travel insurance).

We are many things, but none of us are mechanics or speak Catalan

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Finally in the garage

The last evening was a chance to sketch a few quick candid portraits. The next morning we checked out, glad to have brought our host a framed copy of last year’s painting of his villa. This served as a parting gift (albeit no real compensation for his time and help with the car).

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Last year's painting

We distributed the easel, wet oil paintings, and dirty washing between our kind friends’ cars, and they took it all back to Bristol by ferry.

So we set off to Girona, somewhat reeling from the past 48 hours. This absolutely beautiful mediaeval city gave us a lovely reset. While most sensible people retreat to air conditioned cafés, I seized the chance for 2 bumper drawing days.

Sketching Girona Cathedral

I arrived early to avoid the heat, and started by resolving the structure of the subject as far as possible, ignoring shadows. This is an approach I find helpful with outdoor subjects.

Shadows move so quickly, and are such a key feature, they need to be captured in a ‘snapshot’ of time, otherwise they all point in different directions. Once the framework of the drawing is in place, I can record the shadow shapes in as close to one moment as possible.

The cafe staff seemed very unsure about whether their first customer was actually going to pay, or give them trouble. Luckily Marcus arrived and sat properly at the table like a normal customer and ordered actual food, at which point they seemed a bit less suspicious. I find this one of the hardest things about sketching in public - to get a good view, you sometimes have to put yourself in awkward situations, sit very oddly, juggle a load of kit in the wind/rain/beating sun. Especially when your work is in the early stages, or if it goes wrong, it can be particularly toecurling. With a bit of luck, and if you hold your nerve, as it starts to look better lovely people come and chat/compliment your work. Or people wanting money/directions/salvation. Life’s rich tapestry…

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Sketching Girona Basillica

This beautiful building provided welcome shade. I liked it so much I drew the front, back, and inside!

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The art of Girona

Both the cathedral and basillica had some incredible paintings tucked away inside, some of which I thought stood on the shoulders of Velázquez. Some very interesting composition ideas too.

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The door furniture throughout the city was also eyecatching. Tourists are invited to kiss the bronze lion’s bum, to ensure their return. I did, and so we did…

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A few days after we arrived back in the UK, Marcus and I flew back to Spain to collect the mended car, and hammer it up the motorway, back onto the ferry. Despite the driving, we managed a few lovely stops, and a few more sketches in the process:

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Portbail, Normandy View fullsize

Cherbourg - our ferry incoming View fullsize

War memorial View fullsize

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View from the marsh!

Thank you for reading, I hope that gave you some sketching/tourism inspiration. Leave a comment, including if there’s anything you’d like me to cover in future posts.

As well as my PAOTY blogs, and a portrait painting demo, there are various projects in the pipeline. Sharing this post is also hugely appreciated xxx

Yes please! Bring it on!

While preparing for Portrait Artist Of The Year (see earlier blog), my focus was on that pesky four hour time limit. The painting time is broken into two hour-long sessions before lunch, and two after. As the artists are tactfully reminded in the breakfast briefing, it is ultimately a TV show. Each episode entertains over 300k viewers, so we had to be prepared for interruptions: We had to be OK to stop for progress photographs, and to be interviewed while working by the judges, presenters, and production team.

If you’ve watched the show, you’ll already know that each contestant flies the flag for their style. The painters paint, the drafters draw, the printers print, the traditionalists pace back and forth, the funky artists collage and use neon. To grid or not to grid? Take a reference photo, or ride bareback?!

It is a big win just to get through the selection process to appear on PAOTY, but everyone wants to give a good account of their method, offering up their normally solitary process as a spectator sport.

With this in mind, I wanted a reliable hour-by-hour plan, to make best use of the time, and as a security blanket in case I was nervous.

The first decision was what method to use. I was torn between drawing (comfort zone), linocut (secret power), and oils (trusty steed).

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(Russell Tovey and Clare Balding both sat for the world to draw them on Portrait Artist Of The Week - a Facebook livestreamed version of the show, broadcast during lockdown. The oil portrait is of a friend)

Knowing that there have been several fantastic drawing specialist winners (Gareth Reid, Curtis Holder, and Morag Caister), I went with oils. If I ever did Landscape Artist Of The Year, I’d go with linocut - it’s high time a printer won that!

The Storyvault production team ask contestants to list their materials and broad process in advance. Based on this, they go to a great deal of trouble to make sure artists have everything peripheral needed, such as power socket, water, rags, chair, easel, table etc. Perhaps this was also useful information for the filming crew, so they can predict when to hop over and catch artists at good eye-candy moments.

So here it is laid bare for you - my honed process and materials, complete with progress shots for each stage, and an accompanying video. Don’t hesitate to ask questions in the comments, and watch the free demo video (see below), of me using this process to paint my son Tom. Look out for his ad-break, and if that’s not enough Tom for you, watch PAOTY on Sky Arts (released Autumn 2023) to see him in the audience.

Hour 1:

The aim is to decide composition and get a solid underpainting in Burnt Umber acrylic paint. This dries so quickly that once the sitter has had their break at the end of the first hour it will be ready to paint over in oils. Any part of the canvas that I don’t manage/want to paint in oils, will at least be the right value (light/darkness).

1. Mid tone paper scraps in the same proportion as the canvas, plus a dark and light pencil to sketch composition options with. Using toned paper saves time, and allows me to easily focus on highlights and shadows

2. Canvas and smaller spare canvas (for emergency restart). I prepared them in advance with a single coat of white acrylic gesso to slightly reduce the absorbancy and texture

3. Water spray (to help the first wash of acrylic go on better, and slow down the drying a tad)

4. Nifty water container, with a curved shelf to squeeze the acrylic paint onto. A redundant part from a fridge, the shape is great for controlling the dilution of paint, and all the surplus water runs back in from the brush. I usually use Liquitex (burnt umber) for underpainting

5. Wide thick absorbant brush to spread the first wash

6. A wide brush, and one on a stick to allow me to work at a distance when mapping out on a big canvas

7. Kitchen paper to lift out highlights (and/or rags, which are provided on set)

8. Uber ruler (made and supplied by Tom Hughes), great for painting straight lines at any angle

9. Wool (to use as a radius if I need to draw arcs on the canvas, handy if the sitter’s special object is a beach ball)

10. Mirror (big, lightweight, with a handle - to see the painting and sitter in reverse, which helps me check for errors in my likeness)

11. Tablet (to take a photo for future reference, once the sitter has settled)

12. Lucky dragon (made by Tom’s sister Izzi from a post-it note)

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At the end of the first hour

Hour 2:

My aim is to block in the image in oil paint, covering as much of the acrylic underpainting as possible in ‘best guess’ colours. I also like to look for exciting colour notes (bright/saturated/dark), to make sure they don’t get lost later. To do this I add the following materials to the mess collection already in use:

1. Disposable palette. During the sitter’s break (which doesn’t count towards the 4 hours), I take the opportunity to mix up a good supply of the background colour(s). I try to keep some of that set aside, as it is useful for ‘cutting in’ to the subject edges throughout. It is also sometimes useful to mix with the main colours for harmony. In my studio I keep one sheet of palette on the go until it’s unusable. Then I use a palette knife to transfer any reserves of paint from the old sheet to a new one, and add what I need from the tubes.

2. A small glass jar of medium. I use a combination of paint thinner (Zest-it), medium (Liquin), and cold-pressed linseed oil. I was shown this by Maestro Michael John Angel of The Angel Academy in Florence (during a workshop in Belfast).

3. Paint thinner/brush wash.

4. Assorted paints. My go-to colours for portraits are

   • Burnt Umber & French Ultramarine (I have big tubes of student grade ‘Georgian’ for these, as I use them together instead of black)

   • Warm White (Michael Harding)

   • Burnt Sienna

   • Yellow Ochre (synthetic)

   • Quinacridone red

   • Alizarin Crimson

   • Cadmium Yellow

   • Cadmium Orange (mid-value warming)

   • Turquoise (mid-value cooling)

   • Plus various others as needed

5. A beautiful wooden brush-holder, made by my friend Ali’s grandad. A range of brushes, mostly flat hog/synthetic bristle, a couple of rounds, and a couple of fine detail sable/synthetic brushes.

6. A maulstick (or “mahl stick”) that can be screwed together for extra length. Great when working into wet paint in the centre of a large canvas, to avoid smudging what’s already there. Many people use them for steadying too, but I tend to take my chances with an imprecise brushstroke! I love seeing different artists’ variations on the maulstick on the show.

7. Dart (to scratch in details. I just used this briefly in the hair/eye in the demo portrait of Tom. It came in very handy in the show).

8. A craft knife. Just in case!

At the end of the second hour

Hour 3:

My aim is to simply progress the picture. At this point, I sometimes use the reference photo to paint from. It can be helpful for fine details, to check relative values (light/darkness of areas). I don’t tend to use it for the big shapes, unless the likeness/proportions are really off. Although photography distorts shape and colour, occasionally it’s helpful when looking for a bit of ‘pop’. So it’s mainly insurance in case the sitter is very mobile, or the painting’s going wrong, or both.

Plus there are only so many times you can ask a celeb, or 11 year old, to stop moving and talking! If you are interested, here is some more about making art from photos and why paint from life.

To maximise the opportunity to abstract the shapes, I generally turn the canvas and the photo.

At the end of the third hour

Hour 4:

This last hour is just about holding steady to the original vision, patiently working round the painting, moving colours and shapes closer to what I observe. I try to keep an eye on design too, softening or completely losing some edges. In this step I get the really small brush out to do fine details, and the dart to scratch out any fine light lines. I try hard not to over-use either, it can be very tempting to start drawing with them.

The fine brush is particularly useful for the sclera (the white of the eye), and the line of the mouth, as tiny variations in these can have a profound effect on the sitter’s expression, and the direction of their gaze. Oh yes, and freckles!

Tom watching - 14 x 18” oil on canvas

For you

It’s not perfect, but to me this captures Tom at the end of primary school, on a rainy day in the summer holidays, engrossed in a video. We tease him about how his eyes do that droopy thing, often when he’s exasperated with his older brother, so I didn’t ‘open them up’ too much.

Tom and I filmed the whole process, so here is a demo of the painting, mercifully shortened to half an hour with timelapses (to save you watching paint dry). Tom’s impersonation of Stephen Mangan at the end needs some work, but his advert made me laugh! Please subscribe to my channel and leave a comment for Tom if you like his performance.

By the way, if you like Tom’s pajamas in the 2nd half, they are from Pajama Pantry. Handmade, they come in all sizes and lengths, in an ever-changing array of fabrics!

My next blog on the Portrait Artist Of The Year experience will be released once the program is aired, but until then… please do follow me on social media, check out all the demos on my YouTube channel, and don’t expect any spoilers!

Jo Walter

“That’s the great thing about painting, you are completely free to do exactly what you want”

Jo Walter is a Bristol based artist strongly connected to her Cumbrian roots. She works with oil, acrylic, charcoal and ink to create landscapes, still lives and intimate domestic interiors. She uses colour to describe her emotional response to the subject and enjoys bringing colours together to create mood and atmosphere.

Over to Jo:

“There’s so much art that’s based on imagination, think about Giotto’s angels:

Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ), Scrovegni Chapel, Giotto di Bondone

(Photo by Gennadii Saus i Segura - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=117978368)

Childhood revisited

“The experiences that you have as a child are very, very intense. I can go back to a moment in time and there I can smell hear, taste… my whole body remembers what it was like to be in that moment. My mum and dad have both died now, a huge thing for me personally, so it feels very natural to be looking back to my childhood. It isn’t a forced process, lots of memories come back and forth. So it is easy to then expand into my memory, my peripheral viewpoint. It’s almost like you inhabit your childlike self. And you say: ‘I’m just going to look around this room, look around that landscape’, and transfer that to paper. I may not have depicted it entirely realistically, but to me, it’s real. It matches my memory of my real experience. But there is an element of imagination, because I’m telling a story.

My Childhood - The Chenille Tablecloth - Jo Walter

“My Childhood - The Chenille Tablecloth” was based purely on memory. So how could I be definite about the edges? I really felt that it was more about the mood. I didn’t want the paint to interfere too much. I wanted it to be so that you just felt the enclosure of the room, and the lamp light was sort of glowing and pervasive. And maybe the painting carried on beyond, with no edges.

I’ve always felt that my painting was an emotional response to my life. None of it is just plain painting. Even if it’s a bunch of flowers on the table, to me it’s an emotional response. Because that’s how I live - very emotionally. I see a good piece of work, and emotions pop out! I respond to the world like everything is amazing all the time. It’s a bit intense.

Sharing memories of a shared lived place

“We Remember The Room Of Our Childhood” - exhibited at the RWA Annual Open Exhibition 2022

“So I thought I’d do a really big drawing - I had this lovely wall, put a huge (4ft x 5ft) piece of paper up, and just started. I sent it to my sister, who said “You’ve forgotten the jam cupboard. And you’ve forgotten that the windows only had six panes in each sash”.

I didn’t want to start again, so I put slightly transparent paper over the areas that I had originally drawn, and altered it over the top. It just grew from there.

I talked to each family member and asked them for help. And what really has been wonderful is extending my memory. So each time they mentioned an object, it would spring into my mind. Like the biscuit barrel. It’s cream China. It’s got roses on, and a little flat lid that makes some noise every time you secretly take a biscuit. Only my brother could take that off without it making the noise.

All of us loved doing it. I talked on the phone about it to each one of them. And it helped - we’re a close family anyway, but hearing different perspectives has allowed me to change some of my memories of the past in a really positive way.

Changing memory

“The little landscapes are almost like postcards to myself. I knew that working from memory was not going to be the same as the reality. I can go to this place, and see that view, but it won’t be the same as my memory, because of what people have done to the house and things.

Each time I painted that view it changed slightly, because I remembered it slightly differently. That’s another really fascinating thing about memory: When you remember by observing the memory, you change the memory. And particularly if you look at a photograph. So that was a really good discipline not to look at the photographs.

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“I’ve done paintings that are based on life, but they’re not! Even when you think you’re painting from observation, as you consider your composition you’re imagining how it might look. As you pull your eyes from the subject to your canvas, you are using your memory of the subject.

I might set up a still life (usually flowers), and work from that. I don’t paint solidly for two days, I go back in and out, so the plants change and die. So I’d take some photos, then also use my imagination to create the composition that I wanted, and rectify the distortions of the camera to match my memory of the subject. So if there wasn’t a line somewhere and I wanted a line I put the line in, because to me it’s more important that the image sits where I want it to be. That’s the great thing about painting, you are completely free to do exactly what you want. I actually I think I’m not that brave about changing things. And I’m becoming more brave.”

Huge thanks to Jo for providing the pith of this blog, and proof reading the butchery that passes for my editing.

View Jo’s work here, and on Instagram. Contact Jo by email here.

Hosted by Heart Of The Tribe for Somerset Art Weeks, I spent the weekend of 8th/9th October doing quick sketches of visitors, raising money for local food distribution charity Love Glastonbury.

It was quite the rollercoaster (11 portraits in 2 days), so I wanted to record and dwell on the charms of each portrait sitter:

Day 1 - outside in the gallery garden

Sarah Griffiths

Sarah, a Jazz singer who also works at the gallery, graciously volunteered to be my first appointment. This really helped me relax - as a performer (see below), she has a wonderful presence, and I felt safe that she was happy to have a lively portrait, rather than a sanitised ‘homage’!

Ingeniously, Sarah then used her own portrait on reception as an example when inviting other people to book. Anyway, enough about that... THIS is Sarah. Guaranteed goosebumps! I am so happy I didn’t hear this until after I drew her, I would have been completely startstruck and unable to operate a pencil! See her website for more.

Sarah Griffiths · Summertime

4 years young

Gorgeous Jago was a bundle of fun - totally up for the portrait process, but naturally not wired to sit still. Although we could have used a photo, the experience of sitting and seeing your portrait ‘hot off the press’ is, I think, part of the fun. I hope he enjoyed it as much as I did. He chose for his top to be red

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Flo

Despite her tender years, and my saying the image would have a downcast face, I was SO impressed that Flo opted to be looking at her phone while she sat. The result is one of my favourites from the day, helped by the direct sun on her left. Her T shirt featured caricatures of the “Friends” sitcom cast, so at the end I invited her to colour in Chandler’s hair.

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Amelia

Young people are notoriously tricky to draw, on account of their smooth skin and perfect features! Amelia was a wonderful sitter, still and composed throughout the process, despite the sunlight in her left eye which made for a really striking effect - cast shadows are SO useful for capturing form, and transparency.

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The trio:

Maya

Maya was looking for a profile picture for her business. We had a fascinating conversation about how she helps people connect with colours, and use them to express and influence their mood.

She had a particularly flattering sugar almond pink gilet, and I’m pleased to say was delighted with her portait. I can attest from personal experience that when life is full and relentless, it can (if you embrace it) be a very grounding experience to sit and be drawn.

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Wil I Om

Wil is a core artist at Heart Of The Tribe gallery, and was working/demonstrating alongside me in the garden, using his trademark painting medium: espresso! Wil plans to give his portrait to his mum. I found myself hoping that one day my children would do the same for me. It was lovely to spend time with Wil, we listened to a recording of music that he’d played in the gallery garden recently, and talked about whatever it is that artists talk about. Will was a great subject, and asked for his headscarf to be red. See Wil’s work on his gallery profile here

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Beth

So here’s a lovely story - Beth brought glamour to proceedings (she once won a Daenerys lookalike competition!) with brilliant lipstick and fantastic fake fur epaulettes. I know from experience that some people just don’t like their portraits, and sometimes it takes a while to get past the surreal experience of seeing yourself through someone else’s eyes. I try not to put people under pressure to give a ‘verdict’ for my sake, reassuring them if there’s anything they’d like adjusted that I’m not sensitive about changes. So Beth’s portrait was one of those where I wasn’t 100% sure she was convinced… and I mulled over it for the rest of the day. Anyway, you have to let these things go, so I did. But then, imagine my delight when Beth appeared the following day, having booked another sitting - because her mum wanted the portrait, but Beth didn’t want to hand it over! It was nice to be able to draw Beth inside on Sunday, giving quite a different lighting effect.

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Day 2 - Inside the gallery

Francesca

I was drawn to Francesca’s confidence in herself as a woman - her warm autumn tones matched her personality. She had a beautiful set of necklaces, and complementary layers of clothing - Francesca allowed me a few extra moments to capture that wonderful décolletage.

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Michelle

When people sit, I usually ask if there’s anything they particularly want captured/downplayed. Michelle is a warm and natural connector with people. She asked me to capture that softness - and we enjoyed a lovely conversation while she was drawn - the time flew. Those are Sarah Trenchard’s wonderful colourful paintings behind her.

Debbie

Debbie (‘Debs’ to me) is a close friend of over 30 years. It’s typical of Debs that she booked in and travelled to Glastonbury, without telling me, so she could support my charitable and artistic endeavours. Summer Solstice ‘twins’, Debs and I have been connected through motorbikes (hers was bigger than mine), taekwondo (she’s a blackbelt), art, knitting, joie de vivre, and grit. She has been a role model and inspiration to me since my early 20s - not least her parenting style (the proof is in the pudding!), and I was so happy to have the chance to try and put all of this into her portrait.

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The Lovers

Rodrigo and Jana saw my portrait of Sarah, and asked for a double one. I just had one slot left at the end of the day, and knew I’d be tired, but couldn’t resist pushing the boat out. There are several extra considerations in a double portrait: The risk (of messing up) is double, because if one goes wrong I’d have to restart both. It is compositionally challenging to get the perspective of the heads relative to each other. It’s a tall order to sit still for an hour, so I dotted between the two images, meaning the person not being drawn could relax. They were brimming with young love, he was adamant the hat (a gift from her) was to stay - I thought his hand round her was a lovely detail to include too. As a knitter, her top was a gift!

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During the short time we are together, both the sitter and I put ourselves out on a limb. Even though we’ve never met, we bare a particular part of our souls to each other. The sitter is generally very invested in the outcome, sometimes looking to know how they’re seen, maybe looking for a gentle reflection of how they feel, sometimes just curious to see what I can manage.

For my part, the responsibility of holding their money, time, and expectations can feel daunting to say the least. The ‘reveal’ is particularly nerve-wracking. And the middle part before the drawing (hopefully) comes together!

Capture a likeness (internal and external) is a lifelong journey, and I am grateful to every sitter who puts their trust in me, whether for a quick sketch or a large oil painting.

Never, though, has it been trivial. In the process of intense observation, I do fall somewhat in love with every sitter - so in that sense it’s maybe not like a speed date.

Well, that’s all folks, thank you for reading! I hope this gives a sense of the joy I feel connecting with people in this way, and the lovely atmosphere at Heart Of The Tribe. I am so grateful to all the staff for facilitating such a wonderful experience.

So, a question… what would you hope for in a portrait of yourself?

¡Hola!

In the spirit of tapas, please enjoy grazing this final selection of Spanish holiday sketches.

If you don't want the full menu, head to the last item to groan at my most shameless artistic moment!

We spent a week near Girona with family and friends; the sun was roasting, but the pool and cocktails refreshing. We got up only when we had had enough sleep, with time to chat, read, ping pong, paint and draw. 

To stave off sloth, we did a couple of runs around the nearby lake, which involved setting off at 8am to miss the heat. The second time I planned ahead and brought my easel. Despite the picturesque boathouses, I was drawn to this view of coots milling round reflected reeds, the Pyrenees in the background. It felt like I painted for a couple of hours, but the clock said it was four. 

Later, hoping to capture on canvas a souvenir of the holiday, I looked for a perfect view of the place we stayed. It took quite a bit of walking on scorched grass to find a spot under an olive tree, from where I could see both the house and the landscape. The cicadas were deafening, in harmony with the Tock Tock of pingpong (can you see the little red dot of a pingpong bat that fleetingly caught the light during a game that was happening on the terrace?

Although the olives trees weren't fruiting, I was happy to set up a little jar with a leafy sprig to paint 'sight size' as an exercise. It takes a lot of faffing to get canvas, subject, and eye properly aligned, but I was inspired by the wonderful process videos and results of Felicity Starr. Ted (more of him later) and I managed to each paint the same still life, sharing paints and talking through issues as we learned together. It is always fascinating to see how differently two people can interpret a subject. Also cathartic to witness another artist wrestling and dissatisfied - I hope very much that Future Ted will look back at what he painted and appreciate the beautiful shapes and sophisticated design. 

Because it's so hard to transport wet oil paintings, I put them out in the sun to bake dry for the last few days and turned to sketching instead. Starting with some olives found on a walk...

I love sketching people more than anything - whether they're posing or oblivious. There's something about being drawn that, in the context of a lazy holiday, feels slightly like work, so I was grateful to friends for agreeing to sit even stiller than they already were! I've drawn the same friends on the same annual holiday for decades now, so they know the deal. They are kind enough to make me feel a million dollars by indulging me with their attendance at an end-of-holiday Private View, reliving moments and places together. Some people order prints, compare notes on their portraits, and I do a giveaway draw for the originals.

After goodbyes to friends, we headed on to Bilbao as a family.

The Guggenheim have a fantastic exhibition "Motion" curated by Norman Foster, centred around a display of iconic cars including the first ever car, Firebirds, a Cadillac, and a bisected Mini. Tying together art, design, and construction, my favourite room had a Bugatti alongside the Henry Moore sculpture "Reclining Figure". Ignoring the somewhat hushed reverence of the room, I broke out my pencil roll and stood sketching in a corner - marvelling at the curves and angles in both the car and the sculpture.

On our last day, Izzi and I headed to a nearby square to practice sketching people. We spent a lovely hour picking off locals and tourists. Again, I loved the difference in our approaches, and comparing who we'd each been drawn to draw.

Finally, we spent the 30 hour ferry crossing from Bilbao to Portsmouth bingeing Toblerone, playing cards, sketching, and reminiscing about our time in Spain. I taught the boys to play Patience, and left them to it. Izzi and I shared an audiobook, and got our sketchbooks out while we listened... there was no shortage of time or subjects.

I was practicing looking at people then trying to draw a likeness without looking back. It's a skill used by court sketchers, and feels like a really good way to laser in on big shapes and individuality. I am in awe of the memory involved - according to the court reporter Tim Wood (who runs fantastic Legal London tours), they use various methods including a numerical code. Here is all I managed:

Much as I would have loved to draw strangers for longer, I somehow couldn't pluck up the courage to approach anyone, so my obliging family stepped in as models for a few more casual sketches.

At last, artistic distraction arrived in a most unexpected form: Brittany Ferries run lots of entertainment on their ferries. I managed to resist Bingo, Shuffleboard, the music quiz, and lots more. But the drawing competition was too much for my inner child. The theme was sea creatures. No age limit, they said... When it comes to elbowing children aside, shameless is my middle name!

To much eyerolling and mirth by the family, I was delighted to make it up onto the information desk wall, and to receive a prize from this delightful member of staff.

Several other actual children also won prizes, I didn't get the impression there was a limited amount, but we won't go there.

Adiós!

There’s no substitute for practice when building up a skill - over 30 friends sat for me in a single intensive month, when I was honing my 20 minute process ready for a live sketching event.

Here is the process I developed:

Real time demo on Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum jubilee:

One of my favourite learning experiences was drawing Kim: Click here to read about her portrait, and why her eyes are closed:

Have a wonderful weekend, and if you're at a loose end, grab a pencil and a friend, it's fun, honest!
Gail x