Well cool and lush

My sixteen year old nephew has come to stay with me for a few days, along with his male friend, and I'm enjoying having two teenagers in the house (yes, really, I do mean it). Its the first time they've been to see my new house and it was described as "Well lush" which seems to give it the thumbs up in teenage-speak! This morning they asked to see my studio and the artwork I produce in it, which I was more than happy to show them. And my nephew declared that it was "Well cool" which again was great acceptance! He picked up one picture and asked me if it was painted in oils, and I said no, it was in watercolours, remembering that he had mentioned the other day about me painting on material, and realising he meant canvas. Its all new for him to see for himself as he lives the other end of the country from me so I don't see him as often as we'd both like.  He particularly liked the "Tree of life" painting I did, as a version of it is hanging on my studio wall, and his friend liked the "Guardian Angels" painting I've done with the faces in the cottage garden. It reminded me of the sort of art that I used to do when I was their age - surreal paintings of faces with a macabre twist to them, mostly.

I took them to see the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, the afternoon they arrived as it's the village I grew up in, as well as being a very pretty and interesting place to visit. We wandered around the ancient graveyard as I pointed out the more interesting gravestones, and then into the church itself for a brief visit. You don't have to be religious to find the building of old churches interesting. As we walked in there was a small tea party taking place, and the first person I saw there was a woman I knew from years ago, who helped me get a drawing of mine in a local book about Derbyshire villages. We saw each other at the same time and said hello as I went over to speak to her properly. "Hello Jackie, how are you?" she said and we had a brief chat before I took the quietly loitering teenagers down to the crypt to show them the ancient historical areas which I was pleased to note they were actually interested in! As we ascended the well worn stone steps back into the church and walked back past the tea party one of the old ladies beckoned me over "Are you the artist Jackie Adshead?" and I nodded at her and smiled and she said "I've always wanted to meet you, since you did the covers of the Parish magazine" and I smiled even more at her as we chatted. And on the way out, I pointed out the Parish magazine to my nephew and his friend - they still use my artwork for them, and I did them in the 1980s. Its certainly been a good advert for me over the years.

I saw my good friend Peter the other day, who I've not seen for a few weeks, and as we chatted he said he had spent the evening with some purple people the week before. Although I am an artist, and colours are incredibly important for me I don't particularly know what a "purple person" was, and queried the description. He went on to explain about the "arty types who don't wash very often and their houses and clothes are a disorganised mess" and I nodded at him in understanding. He asserted "You're not a purple person" and I replied with a big grin "I knooowwww!". Peter said "No, I always think of you as half yellow, and half blue" and I thought about it, and agreed, yes, I could see that. I know I am an unusual mix in that I am creative and artistic, but also methodical and logical too - hence his description of the half and half colours. He said that he was fully blue, as he has the methodical accountant background to his career. It's funny, the colour thing, because I've always thought of myself as gold coloured. I wonder what colour other people view me as?

Because I did the parish magazine covers, but also I used to do macabre surreal art as a teenager, I like doing erotic art, but I'm more than happy doing landscapes and pet portraits and mythological creatures too!

Basically,   I just like doing art, whatever it is.

Why is it what it's in?

They've gone. And to a very good home, where they certainly belong. But I still had a slightly sad moment when the dog pictures were collected this week. Only a bit sad though, not a gut-wrenching depression over it, you understand! I always get slightly emotionally attached to my artwork, even when I'm only creating it because someone has asked me to and I would never have considered painting it if it wasn't a commission. But, when I've put in long hours creating it, and sit back and admire it, and think with pride "Wow, I've painted that!" I can't help but be emotionally attached to it to a degree. But I also know that the painting will be loved and cherished where it's going to live, so that makes me happy too.

I was asked this week by a friend, who is not artistic, how I knew what to paint the dogs "in". Interesting question. And one what I can answer instinctively (although perhaps not too much considering that the "instinct" is based on many years experience and lots and lots of practice!). The dogs were painted in acrylic dry on dry (dry paint on a dry paper) as I had to pick up all the little nuances of colour and tone, and give the illusion of hair and fur. Its not a technique that I normally use but its just perfect for animal fur. Having said that I've painted a lot of tigers in watercolour using the wet on wet technique (wetting the paper first and pouring the paint on). That technique is lovely for creating swirling shapes and movement, and I use it a lot for the tango paintings too as it gives the illusion of movement, perfect for dancers. And I'm pretty sure when I do the illustrations for the unicorn book I shall use bright watercolours for the lovely mystical colours and shapes that add interest to fantasy paintings. And I adore using oils, although they take a lot longer, as the buttery texture merges and blends so well and the colours just flow, even though painted a different and controlled dry way they can be painted just as dots of bright colour on a contrasting colour well too. And I sometimes draw with pencil, giving lovely tonal depth to a monochrome drawing where colour can be superfluous to the overall effect. And then I sometimes use pastel or chalk to create chunks of colour in a figure drawing, utilising a fine point of the same colour for the details where they are needed. And when I want to be finely detailed in a picture of buildings, pen and ink is perfect for it. And then there's the joy of using mixed media, and just using whatever is at hand to make interesting textures and create movement and vibrancy in a painting (and usually getting very messy in the process, what joy!!). So, some subjects lend themselves to certain mediums. So, that's how I knew what to paint the dogs in - acrylics. Of course, if someone wanted a particular piece of artwork painted in oils instead of watercolour, or acrylics instead of pastel, then that's what I'd do. Its not that difficult to use something else, and it will certainly give a different effect by using differing mediums. And that's why I'm interested in the effect I'm getting painting over the acrylic painting I did three years ago, but in oils now. The tones are far more subtle for flesh and skin and the painting is so much better for the change. I'm working on the faffy bits now - the tiny details that make or break a painting. The toes, the colour under the arm, the sharpness of focus around the nipple, and particularly the hair. I want the hair to be soft and flowing, the sort you want to run your hands through.....

This is the painting I'm talking about at the moment. It looks so different to this now, already. And I've got some more work to do on it. Count this as the skelton to the finished painting - the same design, but filled out more. I don't even like the original title for it now, and will think of something more fitting for it.

And today I most definitely feel a colour. Do you ever feel a colour? Today my colour is gold with facets of lime green, and with sparks of bright cream coming off it. Yep, most definitely!

White light

Whilst painting dj kirkbys erotic landscape I've been thinking about the use of light and dark in a painting. For me, a painting is far more interesting if it has deep darks and bright lights. But sometimes that can detract from the subject matter, and the painting just becomes a study in sunshine and shadows, and whilst that is exciting, it probably wasn't the best way of painting this particular erotic landscape. So, I needed to work out where the light source is coming from (the sun in this instance) and brighten the parts where the weak sunshine is hiding the geography of the landscape, and darken the weak shadows to create the form of the land. The sky has scudding clouds in it which makes it look more interesting than a flat blueness, and that in itself shows why the sunshine is weak in the painting. So, on to the choice of tonal value, and by definition the bulk of it has to be mid-tones, with just a few bright lights and deep darks to add interest. And that got me on to thinking about the best way to show bright lights in the painting. Because you can't get brighter than the white of the canvas (although I was covering it in paint) so then, you can't get brighter than the white paint you have, but what you can do, to make the light seem lighter than it is, is to darken the colour around it, and by definition the white will seem brighter, will shine and glow more.

And this got me to thinking, along with another conversation with my spiritual healer friend, that life is mostly mid tones, alot of it can be grey and dull coloured, but occasionally we get bursts of colour in our greyness, some bright bold, vibrant and exciting colour that makes us feel good, and whatever those bursts of vibrant colour are depends on the type of person we are, and the way we measure excitement, it could be the joy of seeing a good friend, a special day out, a long awaited holiday, or just a favourite film on the telly. And amongst the mid-tones we also get bursts of bright white light that fills our existence and brings great joy and deep personal fulfilment. But to experience it, we have to have the darks. We might not like the darks. We may not want the darks. We may fear the darks. But... they have to exist. They must. Because without them, the vibrant colours won't be vibrant. And the bright whites can't exist.

So, to follow on with my thoughts on the erotic landscape, have I put enough bright lights in it? Should I put some more in it? And are the darks dark enough? And, as it's mostly a green landscape, should I put a dash of bright red in it? Because red is the exact opposite of green on the colour-wheel, (as green is made of the other primary colours, blue and yellow) and that dash of red will add a huge piquancy to the picture, it will make the overall picture far more vibrant. And that's what we're searching for in life, isn't it?

What colour am I?

Before I say what I am....I can say with absolute certainty what colours I am not. I'm not bottle green, anything grey, brown or beige. I'm definitely not magnolia, cream, baby blue, pale pink (or any other shade of pink), lemon yellow or mint green. Infact I'm no pale colour whatsoever. I could never be anything so insipid! Nor am I any shade of green, not even vibrant, throbbing lively lime green. I could almost be the colour purple, regal and deep and never ignored, but I'm not quite..... No, I'm a warm colour, a rich colour, a strong and sensuous colour. I'm the colour of gold. Not the shiny brassy new gold, freshly formed and brazen, but of older gold, mellowed with time and constant caressing, full of desireability, confident of its appeal and value to others. That's the colour I am...... but scratch the surface and underneath there is the colour of voluptuous vermilion, the slash of red on the pouting luscious lips of a wanton woman, the red of desire and lust, passion and sex. And deeper even than that, is another colour - a dark blue, deeper than navy but not as lethal as pure black. Its an inky blue, of velvety depth.... its midnight blue.

That's my colour - the colour of a scarlet, wanton woman, her golden skin by seductive candlelight, at the hour of midnight......