Been a long time in posting this as it was completed in February. Nevertheless, this is the film of my painting a portrait of my Mum.

Acrylic on canvas, measures 80cm x 100cm.

I think the full impact of what Asada is saying would best be realised through an actual viewing, as she did, in the ‘Color Vision Experience Room at the Hokkaido Color Universal Design Organization (HCUDO). But if you follow this link and read her findings it does make an interesting proposal – especially with someone like  van Gogh, for whom colour was such an imperative.

It’s just a selection of stills taken of me painting a portrait in acrylic on canvas. I was trying out some techniques I’d not used before – like a mid grey undercoat as Holbein used when painting The Ambassadors. I thought I might try letting the base coat show through in some of the highlighting. But as it turned out I painted over practically all the surface.

Also I’d been looking at polychrome work and Estofado – the process of layering of gold leaf and then paint particularly on sculptures made of wood. They would reveal the gold leaf by scratching the top layer of paint off. The polychromer can scratch or scrape the design off the reveal the gold underneath.

As well as scratching it off I’d heard the gold leaf was used under paintings to help make the painting itself glow – especially the flesh tones. So I  tried that too. I think it did work. There was a finish to the facial area that felt more vibrant. The final picture. Click on it to get a close up of the detail.

Video Music: Daydream by Danny Sharp

Tell me what you think.

I’m quite pleased about that. There’s always the risk that someone will play it safe with an older, classic  piece by a more established name and then the ‘gift with value’ card will have  been seen to be played. (a bit like Mr Brown’s very politically correct Victorian timbers from an anti-slavery ship, pen holder). But dealing the modern art card is definitely more peppy, risky and shows a good deal of faith in the value of modern artists. Obama gave Cameron a signed colour lithograph by American artist Ed Ruscha, one of leaders of the Pop art movement. The piece, “Column With Speed Lines,” was selected for the red, white and blue colors matching both countries’ flags. Hmmm, symbolism laid on with a trowel.

The Pop Art link with Ruscha is an astute  choice – he’s not one of the massive names of the Pop Art movement. However, he has has been around from the start, having exhibited with the likes of Warhol, Lichtenstein, etc in the historically important and ground-breaking “New Painting of Common Objects,”exhibition first acknowledged as the beginnings of the Pop Art movement in the US.

Twenty First Century City-Eine (Courtesy of the British Embassy)

On the other hand, Cameron’s gift shows a surprising savvyness that is very up to the moment. His choice, well his wife’s,  is a piece by Graffiti artist Ben Eine valued at less than the Ruscha but worth a hell of a lot more in street cred. A conservative leader promoting a known graffiti artist!? Who has a criminal record!? Eine admits to being a hardcore part of that ‘hooded tracksuit gang thing’. And having been arrested 15 or 20 times, with a close escape from prison.

Nevertheless, the piece, although reflective of Eine’s obsession for lettering, doesn’t have the satirical or political edge that other graffiti (or as Eine himself and other similar artists are beginning to be called – Street Artists) have.  So it wasn’t a dangerous choice in that sense. It’s certainly a clever title and theme. It reminds me of Jasper Johns – but not as sloppy!

After the earlier image faded, the artist could remove the canvas from the camera obscura and continue his work. Caravaggio converted his studio into a kind of darkroom by filtering light through a purpose-made hole in his ceiling, using a biconvex lens and a concave mirror to reflect the image he planned to paint directly onto the canvas.

The use of a camera obscura to sketch the subject was not a new technique among artists, having gained prominence thanks to Leonardo da Vinci’s writings.

The device works by projecting reverse images of outside objects onto the flat wall of a closed box through a lens in an aperture. By attaching a mirror to the apparatus, artists were able to trace the exact dimensions of the image onto a piece of paper.

Caravaggio spent months refining his technique, adjusting the light and the size of the models.

However, by turning his entire room into a camera obscura, Caravaggio found himself working in the dark.

The experts believe this led him to create his own version of the faintly luminous, lead-based paint.

But the technique could sometimes give rise to distortion, said Grundy. ”In ‘Boy with a Basket of Fruit’, photographic discrepancies emerge with the lengthening of the subject’s head and neck as a result of the projection,” she explained. The size of the area being projected in the paintings depended on the size of the room, and Caravaggio was able to paint his subjects from ”far away” by altering the mirror and lens arrangement.

The many techniques pioneered by Caravaggio (1573-1610) have confirmed his reputation as one of the most revolutionary artist of his time, although he is probably best known for his mastery of chiaroscuro lighting.

It was the first exhibition of female Pop Art and is now to be seen, I believe, at Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, although I can’t see it on their web site as yet.

This Times Square inspired ‘Ampersand IV’, is a stylized neon ampersand in a Plexiglas cube by Chryssa, one of the first artists to utilize neon in her work in 1965.

Mara McAfe’s ‘Marvelous Modern Mechanical Men’ harks back to Art Deco.

But I think my favourite is Black Rosie by Niki de Saint Phalle. Eight foot tall, this colourful, lumpy, playful figure glorifies woman’s roles without the usual half naked predilections.

This example, ‘Early Man Goes To Market’  appeared in The British Museum in 2005 and wasn’t noticed until Banksy announced it on his site. All credit to the Museum staff in recognising man’s base need for making marks andhoping the largest possible audience will see them. It is now in their permanent collection.

I’m sure this drew a wry smile from the artist him self.

I wonder if the recent reversal of fortunes of Banksy’s work from Art Republic did the same. Probably did. Two limited edition framed prints worth £16000 were stolen by a man and woman from the shop in central London. And this is not the first time this has happened from the same company. Apparently, 10 prints were stolen from  the same company, only in Brighton. Tut, tut, Art Republic – very clumsy.

The police, who of course adore Banksy’s work, are investigating  and are hard on the heals of the culprits, issuing these telling images of the couple they wish to question.

This is all so gloriously ironic.


And it goes on. Here are some other ludicrous incantations ….

• London Banksy poster ‘removed after halo added’ – People spending time in London hotels may have noticed a Banksy poster at London Bridge station recently, but the artwork has now been taken down after it was.
• Free: Banksy Poster | FADWEBSITE – Banksy releases new poster entitled ‘Forgive Us Our Trespassing’ Photo: LILY PAD PR Almost a decade since his last Don’t Panic collaboration during which time he has risen from street artist to cause célèbre, Banksy is back with a new …
• Banksy poster “re-worked” on underground – Never defeated by the institution eh? The Banksy artwork, ‘Forgive Us Our Trespassing’ was transformed into a poster for London underground, but they denied the addition of a halo round the little boy’s head for fear of “inspiring” …

People near

Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts

will be able to see demonstrations of this strange technique at their Arts Festival this weekend.