paintings prints and stuff

Masquerade Roses contre jour, watercolour and coloured pencil sketch in 7x7 inch S&B sketchbook This was a challenge to myeself to do some blowsy roses, strongly backlit by the bright day outside, creating deep shadows on leaves and window frame (which I simplified to abstract geometric shapes).  Flowers aren't something I do very often.  They are climbing masquerade roses that I remember buying for £1.60 as a sickly little plant a few years back, that have now spread yards along a fence and flower and flower.  They start out yellow and gradually the red creeps in and takes over as the flowers open. The route I took was to play with the intense shadow, lost edges and brightly backlit elements.  Interestingly this week A&I magazine (July issue - in May !)  was about painting light, featuring a series of different painters.  One, Edward Seago whose main interest was the depiction of light, said that there were 2 ways of tackling bright light: to darken the whole pa

Experiments - manipulating the photographs I took this morning. Combining osteospermum flowers, begonias and poppy seedheads. and another version from the same beginnings .......

Poppies by Glen Heath - detail I have the next book in the FPP sketchbook exchange and help!!!!! what a challenge. The book is Nina's and her theme: Polychrome. http://vivienb.blogspot.com/2008/06/sketchbook-exchange-ninas-work.html You can see how Nina started the book here, with a beautiful watercolour of the view from her home. Now Glen has lived up to it with this lovely study of poppies - the full image is below with some of Nina's work showing on the left: How to follow this ???????????????? I need chocolate And how am I going to part with this book? and I've had a sneak preview of the next one which is currently with Glen - and it's gorgeous as well I need more chocolate . .

This is our friendly garden hedgehog enjoying a pasty (OK - I know the edge is scorched!) - he/she really enjoyed the cheese and potato pasty and remains of the cat's dinner :>) Flearidden I know, but awfully sweet. He/she was limping so we'll keep an eye on the situation and make sure food is out. (the limp isn't due to the cats as they have a live and let live attitude to the hedgehogs) He/she is very efficient at keeping the slugs and snailsin the garden at bay. The cats just watch with interest - and a little wide eyed annoyance at their dinner disappearing! Sam doing his best Bruce Willis impression And above is why no painting has been going on - the family have been over for a visit, so nothing else was happening. The cats were not impressed with the scary noises, too many people and disruption to their routine. Glen Heath Detail from Glen Heath's addition to the FPP sketchbook exchange - isn't it fabulous? This is in Nina's book - theme: Polychrom

digital images and photograph copyright Vivien Blackburn I should be getting on with the paintings of C0rnwall in progress and maybe be working on the waterways project - but I'm always juggling lots at once and I wanted to carry on with these digital images I've been working on. They've been in and out of Corel Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop and I couldn't tell you exactly what I've done to them! They started life as photos, close ups of flowers - the rest is layers, filters, cropping, adjusting colour and contrast and levels and .................. ......... etc etc etc! I'll upload some of these to my Imagekind account I think and will also give some thought to developing paintings from them. Some would work fantastically well in watercolour - if I'm good enough, not sure if I am though. They would involve careful layering and patience and that isn't something I'm strong on. I'll also try some in mixed media on canvas. I thi