Paintings in progress.

The temperature is quite perfect right now. Outside, that is. I could sit on the balcony all day long reading and surfing the internet and just enjoy the weather. I do not of course, otherwise I would never get anything done in my studio... The summer is not far away, and that means that I have a lot to get done before going home to Finland in July. I have an exhibition coming up in August, and I have a lot to get ready for that before leaving my studio here in Shanghai for a month or two. I am looking forward to going home though. The Finnish summer is, in my very subjective opinion, simply the best! =D 

So, this weeks studio update:

This is my most recent page from my big art journal. I wanted to try out a new idea I had for a painting, and I think it turned out quite nice. At least I liked this idea so much that I immediate started on two paintings. I knew I wanted to paint two kingfishers, but I wasn't sure about how to approach the background. I did know however that I wanted to try out some backgrounds with some more contrast in them. After experimenting on the previously two backgrounds for my Heron paintings with black, I thought I should follow the same line and try it out for the kingfishers as well. My first thought was to keep the backgrounds in black and white, but then a little bit of colour made its way in. (Kingfisher reference pictures with kind permission from Peter Skillen)

Here are are the two paintings in progress. The painting to the left will get the Kingfisher from my journal on it. I am really enjoying these colours, and I think that the kingfisher looks like a jewel against the black in the background.

The intended Nuthatch paintings from last post have both got the birds on them. Here I decided to add a little more paper to the tree bark, so I will have to paint that next after it has completely dried. The base coat of acrylic is ready on the Nuthatch itself, so now it only needs it final layer in oil. I'm not sure the background is ready yet, lets see after I finished the tree.

The second Nuthatch. The Chinese stamps I used here were given to me from my precious friend Rain, and I chose the words Beauty, Love and Harmony for this painting. Otherwise it is the same story with this one as the one before: I have the base layer of acrylic all done and will continue with oil on the bird.

Barn owl. I darkened the background quite considerately on this one, and now I need to sit down with it and finish those feathers.

First I was toying with the idea of adding leaves or flowers to the chickadee, but I decided to add some brighter colour to the background instead. I really wish to keep these small paintings as simple as possible. Only a few more details are required on the chickadee, and the same with the small blue tit. Then I have to start on the 4 remaining small painting in this series.

And I will leave you with this weeks video. It is the making of the kingfisher art journal page from the beginning of this post. I hope you enjoy it!