Painting after Titian

The White Horse Opera set painting project has come to an end and the show, La Traviata  (set in Paris 1910) started last night.   In addition to the 12 post impressionist paintings used to set the atmosphere of the scenes in the opera, I copied a Titain, "The Entombment, to hang in the lasts act as Violetta dies from consumption (happy stuff some operas, but fab music!).  In this final scene all the paintings are turned to the wall as her apartment is being closed due to her declining health and fortune. But this one painting can still be seen hanging.
The director had asked for a religious painting and I chose this, partly because I'd made a tiny copy of it years ago (about 6"x 8") and because it sets a suitable solemn and compassionate mood.

Titian's wonderful work, squared up for copying.

Initial drawing on  a rather blotchy overpainted ground. 

94cm x 64cm

 I had initially started painting very loosely recalling Ruben's method of putting in white impasto highlights early on, loosely applied. I went  a bit over the top, but was just experimenting and couldn't stop myself. It was  a mix of  home made Titanium white, some varnish binder (dammar maybe) in egg tempera mixture, which I'd  had in the freezer for years.

Starting the colour using oils. It was a pretty rough start causing a bit of difficulty later in taming it down.

So I  had to back pedal and wrestle with it a bit to bring in a bit more accuracy.

My more or less finished copy below, I can see lots still needs doing, but out of time but it and it does the job.

 I've always looked long and hard at Titian's work (and others) and  now realize I have been actually absorbing something and could begin to usefully use some of his methods from memory.  Being restricted by time, and not wanting  slavish copy but more capture a feeling of his style, perfect accuracy wasn't the goal.
To sum up .....One rarely gets a chance to copy an old master painting. After starting working from a book reproduction, I went to the National Gallery to look closely at the Titians and realized that it was essential to see how he built up the drawing and laid the paint on in various ways, scumbled layers and glazes etc. So when I returned I could see where I'd been going wrong, drawing rather dark hard lines instead of building up the drawing with softer siennas, particularly noticeable with his depiction of hands. The Madonna below is one of my most favourite paintings. Everything is so softly even blurrily painted, and the glazing like nothing else I've seen, so many thin colours blending and picking up the  canvas texture, particularly over the blue gown. Most of the shadow in the gown was added later in multiple glazes.

Virgin with Child (National Gallery)

 Some of Titian's later work can be  incredibly loose. ie "The Death of Actaeon" (National Gallery)

 But his earlier work is more precise combining a confident looseness juxtaposed with incredible delicacy, particularly in the drapery of the figures. One of the finest bits of painting is in the Bacchus and Ariadne painting (National Gallery) - in the lower LH corner is  a crumpled yellowish cloth with an urn tipped on it's side, engraved with his name. If you  can get there to see it take a look at the way that cloth is painted. No photos can really show that but here is the  detail to show one what to look for. One needs  to get up close as possible to see it, but stay behind the rope security!

Hooray!!
I entered 2 paintings for the Bath Prize and this one below  won the 'Purchase Prize'. In this case the owners of the cafe in the Market had offered to buy the painting they liked best. Several people took on the challenge, and it was actually my stipulated place to paint so I had no option (in the competition, they assign each artist to a particular place, selected from about 35 locations around The City of Bath).

At the start I felt  a bit out of my element as I like painting in the open, but persevered, trying to capture something of the diffused but sometimes strong light in the  space, as the intensity of the sun waxed and waned through the day. This was done over two sessions, with the help of two double cappucion's kindly donated by Mike and Wendy.  (the injection of caffeine may have given me an unfair advantage - thankfully, there was  no caffeine test!:)
A view of the market below ....

 and many people enjoyed being photographed with the Queen :-)
Someone said  that if one patted the pig's nose, it brought luck. So I did later, quickly, feeling silly - but I won the prize so there you  go! Should have more faith

My other painting was done from Parade Gardens, below Poultney Bridge. Here is the first study under way, after starting I realized I needed  a wider format

The final painting below  felt a bit forced and I think the study had more life.

At present I am involved in set design of  WHITE HORSE OPERA'S 2012 production of "La Traviata".

The director has set the time Circa 1910 Paris, and  a number of paintings, by well known Post Impressionist painters of the time, are being used to set the stage and mood of each scene.
Here's a little website made to keep track of our progress.  http://paintingslatraviata.shutterfly.com/
(You don't have to buy prints, it is just a good free site for displaying  images).

 The painting gang. Some are trained some are apprentice trainees. All have done very well and I'm proud of their progress, and ability.

Wylany and her mum Candi, Deavin, Nicole, Julia, Sophie and Dan.

Julia painting "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt.

Katie and Simon painting "Hungerford Bridge" by Andre Derain

Nicole and Deavin, starting Van Gough's "Flower Garden with path"

GLASS PAINTING LESSONS OFFERED

Working on a privatly commissioned panel at the moment , to convey something of the Spirit of "Wiltshire Landscape".    These clumps of trees are typical seen atop and around the Wiltshire Downs they are usually on ancient Bronze Age sites. I've added some standing stones, burial mounds, often seen in the landscape. 

(This is still unfired paint and the coloured glass is stuck up with beeswax, on a flat glass easel , for painting against the sky ). Black lines are painted behind the easel glass to simulate the lead between each piece.

 Close-up detail at lower part of the panel  with wheat, flora, water.
There's the remains of a Viking helmet under the water, reference to King Alfred beating the Viking Danes at Edington.
Some silver stain will add touches of gold and enhance the richness of the glass. i.e. fruit, helmet, wheat, primrose (might have all 4 seasons in this one) - Stain still to be fired on.

There might be  a few insects in the undergrowth if you look carefully :-) or are they in the other bit?

Harvest Time, from Strawbery Hill

(Above) Just After Harvest

(Below) Early evening before Harvest

(below) Looking North Towards Devizes and Roundway Hills

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Apple Blossom, Great Chalfield.

Just updating this image.
Another view looking back at the house in May .....

..... and catching the last of the Apple Blossom. Also showing Climbing Roses and Wisteria on the left.

I'll be exhibiting with the MARLBOROUGH OPEN STUDIOS  soon, sharing a studio with portrait artist Yvonne Cunnane. The  event runs over four weekends from Sat 23rd June to Sun 24th July.

I'll be there for three weekends but on the 29th June - 2nd July I'm exhibiting in Bradford on Avon  -   with two friends Valérie Pirlot and Bob Childs, we're calling our exhibition  THREE WESSEX SKETCHERS.
All welcome to drop by these events if you can.

Apple Blossom at Great Chalfield

I was asked to paint an apple tree at Great Chalfield Manor  

There was quite a delay before I could get there but I think I made it just in time and found the trees with flowering blossom. This little tree caught my eye and appropriately it is seen against a backdrop of the Apple Store, building on the left, and some of the cottages on the Estate. Amazingly it was a beautiful fresh day after the dire wet cold month we've been  having ( yes I know the rain is much needed) so I really enjoyed the sun on my back, getting quite hot at times.

 Bach's Chaconne for solo Violin played Hilary Hahn.1/2
(good music to paint to) 

Joshua Bell playing the Chaconne in Washington Metro subway

Painting the Rapeseed, near Marden.

It's odd how subjects select you. I was going to paint an adjacent row of trees, see in the video,  but this field in bloom insisted I painted it; so,  how to use a half a tube of yellow without really trying.(I got a dose of nasty spring hayfever too!:(

 

Learning some basic editing ....  three takes in a 3min video, at a 'blocking in' stage: quickly working at blank areas, of the painting. It can be interesting watching other painters at work but  actually quite alarming to see oneself painting - normally the brain is in freeflow and one is oblivious of much else and  has little sense of time.   

Captured without looking through the viewfinder, so not seeing the framing hence dipping to the mixing palette, camera in my right hand. This is  in real time though I did discard a few seconds of  mixing on the palette and another short clip in the sequence which was badly framed. Also I should have set camera to a wider image format.

Music: Var. no.2 of The Goldberg Variations, JS Bach courtesy of  a great facility I discovered recently-  www.musopen.com - I thought that better than adding dialogue here.

Hooray! I just sold three of these late evening sky paintings, they'll be framed together and hung one above the other.
Just looking at this batch of 8 I did almost a year ago. I'm trying to devise  a catalog system, an inventory to  keep track of my paintings so each is numbered and  named. i.e. these are "Lavington skies with Jet Trails" (no's 1- 8) but 81-88 in the  main list. Does anyone recommend a good system of cataloging?

And it was whilst doing this series , some differ slightly in size, that I realized I had to make a better effort at standardizing sizes so bought  a big batch of ready cut board, all primed now and ready to go.