Discover Landscape and Portrait Paintings and Courses with Ian Price and a Massive Congratulations to…

Posted on May 18, 2024 by ianpriceart

Hi Everyone,

Since the last update I’ve had a successful Clevedon Spring Exhibition, Exhibited at the RWA with the Friends and I’ve had a portrait of Ruth accepted for showing at the Mall Galleries, London with the New English Art Club, one of the most prestigious art groups in the UK.

You’ll be able to see Ruth at the Mall Galleries from 13 – 22 June 2024. The portrait was completed over three sessions from life. She’s been a lucky model as I also sold some watercolour sketches of Ruth at the Clevedon Spring show.

I’ve also been having a lovely time doing some painting outdoors in some great locations in Bristol, Devon and the Isles of Scilly. Here are a few from the Scillies.

Immediately though I’ve showing some landscapes at the NSA Members Exhibition in Failand this weekend, get along it’s a lovely venue in Failand, 18/19 May.

Next month I’ll be showing new work on the BS9 Arts Trail at Redmaids School, 8-9th June. Hopefully I’ll have enough space to show some of my new larger seascapes that I’m currently working on.

If you’d like to try oil painting outside with me, I’ve a couple of landscape painting days coming up in the next few weeks Sunday 2nd & 16th of June. I can provide any equipment you don’t have so it’s a good chance to see if you like it. We’ll be painting around Black Nore beach in Portishead.

If you’d like to try portrait painting and don’t know where to start, I’m hosting a couple of one day sessions with Clevedon Art Club where you can choose a day or charcoal or oil/acrylic. These are bookable via the Clevedon Art Club website and are open to non-members too.

Later in the autumn I’ll be running two two day workshops where you can dig a bit deeper into Capturing a Likeness in charcoal or paint, it’s also good opportunity to learn some tips and gain experience in a supportive environment. Details of these are on my website.

I’m pleased to welcome Andrew James R.P. back to Portishead to run he Expressive Oil Portraits course for the tenth year, if you’ve some experience in Oils and Painting from life then it’s not to be missed, always great fun with great outcomes too. There are only a few places left. Finally a massive congratulations to Andrew who won the Ondnaatje Prize for Portraiture at the RP this year, it’s really the portrait painting equivalent of a BAFTA, complete with a gold medal.

Let me know if anything take your interest or get in touch to enquire about a purchase or a commission.

You can also follow me on twitter and on Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook @ianpriceart or just browse the galleries on my website.

2024 Course Dates – including portrait courses with Andrew James and Ian Price

Posted on February 5, 2024 by ianpriceart

I had a great time teaching courses myself for the first time last autumn and I’ve scheduled some more portrait courses for 2024.

I’ve also confirmed Andrew James again for the annual autumn Expressive Portraits course. I think I’ve run it 20 times now. However this year due to various reasons including, literally, time and tide, the courses are two days each.

Get in touch either directly back to me or via the contact form on the course pages. Note my portrait drawing and painting courses in March are quite soon.

Capturing a Likeness with Ian Price

Suitable for beginners and experienced artists, they cover drawing techniques, introduction to limited palette, and assistance with transitioning from drawing to painting. Basic materials are provided, and participants can bring favoured paints and easel.

Note the ones in March are quite soon!

Ian Price course – portraits – capturing a likeness in drawing

Sat 16 & Sun 17 March 2024
Weds 2 & Thurs 3 Oct 2024

Ian Price course – portraits – capturing a likeness in paint

Sat 23 & Sun 24 March 2024
Fri 4 & Sat 5 October 2024

Andrew James 2 Day Expressive Portrait Course

The course is built around expressive portraiture. Observational work set up to enable the formal qualities of oil paint to become a more explicitly descriptive medium and asserting a more active form of observation and connection whilst still capturing a likeness.

Andrew James Expressive Oil Portraits

Tuesday 8th- Weds 9th October 2024. Single model for 2 day pose.
Thurs 10th- Friday 11th October 2024. Same schedule with a different model holding a 2 day pose.

Oil Painting Outdoors

Note that the dates of the landscape course for 2024 are not confirmed but I am able to offer one to one tuition or tailored courses for small groups. Please use the form on the oil painting outdoors course to enquire.

Ian Price Course – Oil Painting Outdoors

I’ve enjoyed having a bit more time to do lots of painting in the last few months, more ships after being chuffed that my tanker painting sold from the RWA open as well as landscapes and portraits.

I’m very excited to have started to sculpt in clay and am looking forward to seeing how I progress this year or if my hopes shatter in a kiln!

Let me know if anything take your interest or get in touch to enquire about a purchase or a commission.

You can also follow me on twitter and on Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook @ianpriceart or just browse the galleries on my website.

Summer news and Autumn Courses

Posted on September 10, 2023 by ianpriceart

Hello again, here’s a quick update on recent work and where to see my work this autumn. However the biggest new is that I took the daunting step to make art full time in March so I’m now running some courses myself for beginner or intermediate painters for the first time.

I’m also organising the Andrew James portrait course for the tenth year so get along to that if you’ve some experience with oils, more details below.

Recent News

I’ve had a great Summer and crammed in quite a bit of painting in the south-west, including Sidmouth Folk Festival, Cornwall as well as Clevedon! I’ve painted 20 plus over the summer so check my posts in Instagram.

Last week was the opening of the RWA open exhibition in Bristol and I am beyond chuffed to have had two paintings selected from the 6000 submissions.

Thanks to Hemali Modha for the photo of myself ( with Andrew Hardwick and my son’s shirt) and for helping to organise such a great exhibition. It’s a great exhibition this year with a colourful main gallery; attractively split by subdued and full on colour.

My work is in the Methuen side gallery, the sage painted wall really complement the landscapes and seascapes hung. They are in great eye-level spots, don’t miss battery point in the corner. Perhaps I got two in because they aren’t showing any Prince Charles watercolours this year? (Thanks your majesty!). The black and white room looks as good as ever including a scarily valuable Frank Bowling work and a piece by Hamish Young who exhibited with me earlier in the year. The exhibition is on for the rest of the year. Get along but more urgently get along to this …

ArtPort 23 Portishead

On the weekend of 23/24 September I’ll be exhibiting my work part of the ArtPort 2023 festival in Portishead which is continuing to grow year on year. Come and find me in the church opposite Somerset Hall in the High street. It’s broadened to a burgeoning arts festival, come along to see the range of music, guided walks and other art events on offer. Brochures should be dropping into Portishead letterboxes shortly.

Courses

Once again I’ll be organising the Andrew James Expressive Portrait courses in October which is always fun, educational and stretching for those with some experience of painting in oil paint. Dates for these two three day courses are the 13-15th October and 16-18th October.

Take a look here to see the quality of Andrew’s work. on Instagram or on his website. He really is one of the most respected portrait tutors in the country.

Most excitingly (and terrifyingly) I’ll be running some art courses myself at the same location in Portishead Yacht Club.

A two day introduction to oil painting outdoors 16/17th September, so whether you want to try oil painting for the first time or want a bit of support as you paint this might be for you. I’ll be able to provide or advise on materials as required.

A few weeks later from the 30th September I’ll be running a three day Portrait course on Capturing a Likeness. This will be aimed at beginners and inexperienced artists who want to learn techniques to capture a likeness in charcoal leading to oil paint. This has been in response to people asking for a companion course for the Andrew James Course. This is filling up but get in touch if you are interested in a future course.

Find out More

So please get in touch on the contact forms on the respective pages if you want to book a place.

That’s quite a list I’ve blasted at you there, I hope our paths cross at one of these events.

If anything take your interest get in touch to enquire about a purchase or a commission.

You can also follow me on twitter and on Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook @ianpriceart or just browse the galleries on my website.

Open Studio weekends coming up in May

Posted on April 17, 2019 by ianpriceart

I’ll be opening my studio for North Somerset arts week again 11.00am to 6.00pm over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend (including BH Monday) and the following weekend, 4th, 5th, 6th and 11th and 12th of May. If you can’t make these dates and are local we’ll be opening up on Weds evening 8th May 5.30 to 8.00pm.

This time I’ll be sharing the venue with incredibly talented local printmaker Ruth Ander. Ruth layers unique prints on Japanese paper, she’ll be presenting a range of work including new work evoking the estuary location.

Hopefully there is something for everyone to enjoy, come along to browse, chat, listen, eat, drink or explore…

As in previous year’s Black Nore lighthouse will be open for visitors to climb inside during the afternoon while I’m open. This is accessible via the garden and I’ll be selling tea and cakes in support of its upkeep.

I’ll have a large number of new plein air oil paintings of the local area and from further afield on show for the first time as well as new studio paintings, apologies for not sharing more on the blog recently. Much of my new work is exploring the fast changing light at dawn and dusk.
I’ll also be showing some examples of my portraiture and life class work.

Also I’ll have Raku pottery by Brian and “Nibs” Fowler at the venue, they’ll be exhibiting a range of vessels, bowls and figures that show this exciting medium off to the maximum. If you’ve never seen the Raku process before it’s fiery and unpredictable, there will be a couple of Raku burnings in the garden on the final Sunday when you’ll have an opportunity to scrub off the carbon yourself and reveal what the process has created.

Finally I’ll be showcasing some estuary soundscapes by a local producer Dave Howell to add to the atmosphere. When that’s not on I’ll be playing a bit of vinyl on my turntable, or LPs if you are my age.

So something for everyone, hope to see you there.

Don’t forget you can also follow me on twitter and on Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook @ianpriceart or just browse the galleries on my website.

Thanks,

Ian

Where are you going to go this weekend?

Posted on June 8, 2018 by ianpriceart

This weekend (9th and 10th of June) I’m at the BS9 and the inaugural Portishead Around the House art trails at the same time!

Just likes buses that all come at once but the Portishead painting bus takes you around Portishead and it’s estuarine environs while the BS9 one takes you around Clifton and on into Cornwall. Where are you going to go this weekend?

Venue 10 at the BS9 Arts Trail is Elmlea school in Henleaze, BS9 3UF. It’s a great venue in the centre of the trail in Henleaze and full of Bristol talent.

Venue 8 at the Portishead Around the Houses Art trail is at 20 Woodhill Road (not my own NSA venue). I’m exhibiting with some fabulous local artists so it’s well worth a visit.

If you want to come and say hi I’m afraid you’ll have to come to BS9 in Bristol as I’m the venue organiser.

Some surprising recent news, I took part in the UK’s first ever ArtBattle. The challenge is to paint something in 20 minutes and the audience votes, there’s a final round and a winner is announced. The winner goes on to further regional heats and there’s a national and even a world champion! My family were mortified that I was going to compete with graffiti artists and worst still the venue was a nightclub frequented by my kids – the shame of it. To cut a long story short and to embarrass everyone further I won it.

It was really good fun and there’s another Bristol round next month, also a Facebook event. Why not give it a go or go and have a look? There’s some film of it somewhere you might be able to find on YouTube.

Over the hump in 2018

Posted on April 10, 2018 by ianpriceart

This morning I got set up for the NSA #65 show in Nailsea, this evening I looked around the venue for the BS9 art trail at Elmlea school and lunchtime I found out I’ve had a painting selected for the New English Art Club for the first time EVER.

Come and celebrate the post hump 2018 with me at the private view of the NSA exhibition #65 on Friday (13th April). Ignore the fact it’s Friday the 13th and get out from under your duvet, it’s all downhill from here, see you there.

My wall at the NSA #65 show

I’m particularly excited about finally getting a piece into the NEAC show at the Mall Galleries. One of the first “proper” artist’s I met was the marvellous Dawn Sidoli NEAC RWA who has always been overwhelmingly supportive of my efforts over quite a large number of years of no NEAC luck, so I’m relieved to feel I’ve rewarded her faith.

To quote from the press release, ahem…

“Work by a local artist has been selected from over 1,600 entries to appear alongside paintings by some of Britain’s leading figurative artists. The New English Art Club’s annual exhibition is on display at Mall Galleries in central London between 15 and 23 June 2018.

Continuing to build on its tradition of painting and drawing from observation, the New English is a vibrant and diverse group of visual artists whose work is highly collectible and widely admired.

Its Annual Exhibition is a showcase for members and gives aspiring artists an opportunity to exhibit alongside some of the best figurative artists working today in painting, drawing and printmaking.

Many diverse styles of art have developed since its founding in 1886, adding richness and variety. The New English aims to foster excellence in all its activities and continues to assist and encourage the art of painting to develop even more expressive possibilities.”

Some of the “richness and variety” in my selected work was added by it being blown off the easel and rolling down the slope leaving all sorts of exciting vertical marks which I embraced.

The show in Bath is still on until Mid-May, get along if you can, it’s a cracker.

Don’t forget you can also follow me on twitter and on Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook @ianpriceart for more recent news or just browse the updated galleries on my website.

On view in Clifton, Bath Society of Artists and the Mall Galleries this weekend

Posted on March 22, 2018 by ianpriceart

A good week, when I got back from the private view of the Royal Society of British Artists I checked my email and found I’d had a painting selected for the Bath Society of Artists exhibition. I’d also braved the snow last weekend for the “meet the artists” at the Clifton Arts Club Exhibition at the Clifton Suspension Bridge visitor centre. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to paint some more snow so I drew in the punters by painting the snowy gorge.

So I’ve got work in three diverse, exciting venues currently.

The RBA private view was rammed and it was a pleasure to meet some new plein air painters I’d not had the chance to talk to before, Neil Pitcher, Karl Terry and others. It runs at the Mall Galleries in London until the 31st of March.

Some paintings from #beastfromtheeast2 at Clifton Suspension Bridge. The “views of the South West” exhibition at the bridge visitor centre runs until the 25th of March (open 10-5).

And a few chilly paintings of the Portishead coast from #beastfromtheeast1 a few weeks ago.

Beast from the East 1

The Bath Society of Artists is a prestigious regional exhibition and I’m delighted to be selected after not having the opportunity to submit last year. My recent painting of Botallack which was painted on the spot got selected. The exhibition is at the beautiful Victoria Art Gallery in the centre of Bath and runs until the 12th of May (check out the excellent permanent collection upstairs too).

Bottalack

You’ll also have a chance to see my work more locally in April at the North Somerset Arts pop up shop in Nailsea. 11-22nd April, 65 High Street, Nailsea, BS48 1AW.

Don’t forget you can also follow me on twitter and on Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook @ianpriceart for more recent news or just browse the updated galleries on my website.

Thanks for your support in 2017

Posted on December 31, 2017 by ianpriceart

Thanks for a great 2017, hopefully plenty more to come in 2018 for us all.

Here’s my best 9 from Instagram #2017best nine

And my unofficial best 9 from 2017 that didn’t make the cut.

Don’t forget you can also follow me on twitter and on Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook @ianpriceart for more recent news or just browse the updated galleries on my website.

Lido Cafe Exhibition Opens Friday

Posted on November 23, 2017 by ianpriceart

After a successful outing at the Cambridge Art Fair I’ll be showing work at the Portishead Lido Cafe this weekend. It opens on Friday 24th and will be open until 9.00pm, there’s a bar!

Here’s some recent work all of which will be hanging in the Lido. Come along and say Hi, I’ll be there all weekend.

Some familiar Portishead scenes like the banner above.

Some from further afield, Cornwall.

Some very local, Clapton Moor.

Opportunities to see my paintings near and far

Posted on November 6, 2017 by ianpriceart

Well relatively far anyhow. Some of my work will be showing with Farmer Fine Arts at the Cambridge art fair this coming weekend. Andrew Farmer is a fine and ridiculously prolific painter himself and he invited me to exhibit with his gallery along with some real up and coming painting talent. Take a look at his site and even better if you can make to that part of the country take a look at the fair. Look out especially for Tom Stevenson and Maria Rose who are ones to watch for the future. I really ought to get some painting swaps sorted while I still can!

As well as some larger work I’ve packaged up some of my life class studies for the fair too.

HJ Ink and Brush

Closer to home I’ll be exhibiting with the Portishead Arts painters at the Portishead Lido Cafe again at the end of this month.

I’ll be showing some dinky little ship paintings that I’ve enjoyed creating over the last few weeks along with some recent plein air painting work fresh off the easel, yesterday in fact. I’m really enjoying this low winter sun.

P.s. if anyone has the Sky Arts channel then you might be able to spot me in the background of the recent episode of Landscape Artist of the Year. It was on last week but it should be on catch up. I’ve not seen it but I’ve seen some shared screen shots. I’m the one wearing an apron that looks like it’s been involved in some kind of dirty protest.

I was one of 50 wildcard entries painting Worm’s Head on the Gower, this was in addition to the 6 artists selected for that heat. It was a really enjoyable experience being in a group of artists who were all excited to be there. It was great to meet so many artists face to face and I hope our paths will keep on crossing. As a bonus we were able to park up the campervan in the crew field which had a spectacular view of Worm’s Head.

It was really interesting to see the programme being made and it was great to meet *spoiler alert* the heat winner Alice Boggis-Rolfe Art who I’ve followed on social media for a few years and knew my work too. But even better I got to speak to and shake the hand of Tai-Shen Schierenberg, one of the judges, I love his work. Unfortunately my painting didn’t work out so well, my foreground turned to non drying gravy, I painted over some of the brown mess when I got home, too late for the programme though. There’s always next year…

Worm’s Head, with repainted foreground!

The application process is open for next year already if you fancy giving it a go. I can really recommend it if you are able to make any of the heat locations.

RWA Open Exhibition and back to Cornwall

Posted on October 2, 2017 by ianpriceart

I’m really pleased to shared that I have a painting exhibited in the RWA Open Exhibition which opened last weekend. It’s the most prestigious open exhibition in the region and I felt very privileged to have attended the varnishing lunch on Saturday. So many fantastic paintings on show, really exciting but with a a good chance of the artist being in the room and not knowing what they look it was a bit frustrating, badges of the paintings pinned to the artists next year! The exhibition runs until the 3rd of December.

Painted from the Clifton Suspension Bridge

Varnishing lunch speeches

My painting hanging gooseberry like between plein air supremo Tom Hughes and his partner Serena Curmi

I’ve also had a recent trip to Cornwall doing some more plein air painting, enjoying some turps dribbles in the sunshine.

Fave painting spot again

Cape Cornwall detail

Nanjizal Cove

Nanjizal arch

Dusk Cape Cornwal

In contrast to the turps dribbles I also did some palette knife painting with Newlyn School of Art while I was down there, watch this space for more local palette knife work over the Winter, if my future experiments succeed.

Rock Flows at Cape Cornwall

Cape Cornwall Coastguard Station

Don’t forget you can also follow me on twitter and on Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook @ianpriceart for more recent news or just browse the updated galleries on my website.

Marina Painting this Weekend (5-6th Aug) and my Summer Painting Tour of Britain

Posted on August 3, 2017 by ianpriceart

This weekend I’m really excited to be taking part in the Marina Arts Trial in Portishead, I’ve had a small part in organising it along with the other Portishead Arts people and will be doing a demo on Saturday, wish me luck. Saturday is all about people coming along and joining in to do something arty. We’ll be supplying acrylic paint, boards and brushes, there’ll also be felting workshops and a pastel demo by Michelle Lucking. We’ll be hanging all the work around the Marina ready for Sunday which will be a day of celebration and relaxation for me as I won’t have to do a demo. I’m really looking forward to Paris, a renowned graffiti artist, painting a 25 foot yacht! I might do a painting of him painting. There’ll also be some skateboard trickery, the whole weekend is also raising money for youth projects in Portishead, you can pledge to buy one of the created art works online here, get in quick to bag a bargain, there are a limited number left.

Here’s a Marina painting from June.

Sunset catching Marina

Apologies for it being such a long time since the last post. I’ve been doing plenty of outdoor air painting all around the country, I only realised how much while writing this.

I had a quick trip in June to Lyme Regis on the South coast to paint with the very talented painters Maria Rose and Tom Stevenson.

Pink Flamingo, Lyme Regis

I’ve long heard about the Buxton Spa Prize competition and this year I had an opportunity to take part. I spent a warm, sunny day painting outside in the most gorgeous market town. The visit coincided with a farmers market that kept me well fed for the next few days too.

Buxton

I spent a weekend at Priddy folk festival at the start of July, a chance to paint and sketch some performers as well as the crowds.

Tom McConville

Bouncy Slide Priddy

I went from there to a one day course with artist Richard Pikesley NEAC and by contrast painted some arable farm scenes in Wiltshire and picked up some tips too, mostly look harder!

Farmyard and Barley

I then had an opportunity to paint on the Gower with a load of other artists. The weather was so changeable I was oblivious to a red sunburnt neck until it was too late, the drizzle was deceptive. Apparently it’s not enough to have sun-tan lotion in your bag at your feet, you need to put it on your skin.

Worm’s Head, Gower

Last weekend I took part in Pintar Rapido, Europe’s largest outdoor painting event that runs annually in the Chelsea area of London. I did a little painting of the Albert Bridge in Chelsea on the day before that I was pleased with despite having left my turps at home.

Albert Bridge Chelsea

The prize ceremony on Sunday was a great opportunity to meet up with artists that I’ve previously only known through social media, one of whom Adam Ralston I’ve admired for a long while and I was very pleased when he was announced as the ultimate winner. Congratulations Adam.

More painting trips are coming up, look out for a bit of Cornwall followed by a bit more Wales. I can’t wait and I hope to see some of you this weekend.

Also don’t forget the Clevedon Art Club Open exhibition which opens and I’ll hopefully get some work selected for, perhaps some of these.

Don’t forget you can also follow me on twitter and on Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook @ianpriceart or just browse the updated galleries on my website.

Final weekend of my Open Studio

Posted on May 5, 2017 by ianpriceart

Don’t forget it’s the final weekend of my open studio.

I’ll be open from 11 to 6 on Sat 6th and Sun 7th.

I’ve got this pair back for it.

It’s been a pleasure having the work of Lois Pryce in my dining room all week and spending time with it.

Paintings by Lois Pryce (close up)

Finally don’t forget the beautiful ceramics of Brian Fowler. There will even be a Raku firing demonstration on Sunday afternoon.

You’ll be able to watch the process and scrub the carbon off to find the beauty underneath.

Brian Fowler ceramics

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @ianpriceart

Clifton Suspension Bridge and More

Posted on March 30, 2017 by ianpriceart

I’m exhibiting work at the Clifton Suspension Bridge Visitor Centre with Clifton Arts Club, it’s a great space and it runs until Sunday the 1st of April. I’ll be there Sunday afternoon if you want to say hi, it’s open from 10 to 5pm and is free.

Winter Mizzle, Suspension Bridge

Za Za Bazaar

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but I have been out painting over the Winter and to prove it I’ve just updated my Landscape gallery, take a look here. I’ve also broken it down by area, Wales, West etc. Any comments welcome, I’ll be updating the lifeless and portrait galleries in the next few days too.

I’ve got lots of new work to show at the North Somerset Arts week which is coming up in the next month. The paper brochure is already out and it should be downloadable from the NSA site shortly. I am exhibiting from my home “studio” in Portishead again on the Sat 29th, 30th April, 1st May (Bank how Monday) and the following weekend 6th, 7th May. I’m easy to find as I’m last in the brochure! I’ll be exhibiting with painter Lois Pryce and Brian Fowler who creates beautiful raku and pit fired pottery, More news on this shortly.

Thanks

Don’t forget you can also follow me on twitter and on Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook @ianpriceart.

Another Lido show last weekend of November

Posted on October 31, 2016 by ianpriceart

Thanks for all your support during the last Lido show.

I can reveal that the Portishead Arts group are running another pop up show at the Portishead Lido cafe for three days in November , Friday 25th, Sat 26th and Sun 27th, 10am – 5.30pm, with a late night opening with a bar on the Friday until 9pm.

Take a look at the Portishead Arts group website for more details of the other artists taking part.

I’ll be displaying a wider range of work than last time including some work from Cornwall and the Peak District so if you didn’t make it last time or want to see some paintings from further afield come along.

Here’s a little plein air (well inside the cafe) painting I completed during an afternoon cake induced lull. If you look closely you’ll see it’s a drier, more blocky technique than usual. This was mainly due to it being solvent free to allow the visitors to enjoy their triple decker coffee and walnut sponge without being in a turps haze. I’ll take low odour solvents next time!

Group Show at the Lido Cafe in Portishead & more

Posted on September 17, 2016 by ianpriceart

I’m excited to be taking part in the inaugural show of a new groups of artists and painters in Portishead that go under the banner Portishead Arts. We have a
website where you can find details of the other artists involved.

There’ll be a great range of work on show including painting, photography, jewellery and illustration so come along and enjoy a slice of cake and perhaps even have a dip in the Lido.

The show will be on for over a week from Thurs 22nd to Friday 30th of September the lido is open 9.30 to 6.30 every day (later on Monday mornings I think), I’m planning on stewarding on both the Fridays, I might take my painting kit along to paint the estuary in any quiet periods, so come and say hello.

For this show I’m focussing on local scenes, pretty much all painted within a mile of the Lido. My painting of the lido is the top right image on the flyer above.

Here’s a recent one painted after a last minute decision to walk down and catch the last light at Black Nore lighthouse. I’m so pleased I did, once again I was painting over a failed painting so it was doubly therapeutic, I’m so lucky to have this on my doorstep.

Last Light Black Nore 10 x 12 inches

As well as these outdoor paintings I’ll have a couple of larger works that were painted back in the studio, such as Winter Wave.

Ian Price Winter Wave 24 x 24 inches

The Autumn is always an exciting period with so many shows on, I’m lucky enough to have had a painting selected for the ING Discerning Eye exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London which is coming up in November. More news in the next post!

I hope to see you at the show. Don’t forget you can also follow me on twitter and now Instagram @ianpriceart as well as Facebook.

Somerset Levels

Posted on August 3, 2016 by ianpriceart

I expanded my horizons into the Somerset Levels (and the Quantocks) during the spring. I’m very pleased to say that you’ll be able to see some of my efforts in the A2 Gallery in Wells during August.

I’ve had three paintings accepted for their summer show running 4th to the 31st August 2016

A2’s biennial open submission exhibition shows work from national and international artists practising contemporary and conceptual art and mine.

Here’s a detail from one of my entries.

Everything has gone green

Posted on June 11, 2016 by ianpriceart

I’ve previously favoured a muted palette so at this time of year with all this lush, verdant growth wherever you look I feel a bit intimidated.

My theory is that evolutionarily we are programmed to discern differences in the many shades of green to help guide our ancestors to sources of food and water. Also green in Spring is especially acid. How many works of art can you think of that accommodate the true strength of these greens? It’s very easy to foul up a painting that includes green.

Many artists today (myself included) and throughout history have worked around this by downplaying the true strength of green to ensure a harmonious picture. Even Constable browned down his greens.

Gone Fishing, Usk Reservoir

Gone fishing. Avoiding green at Usk reservoir in the Brecon Beacons.

I decided to try to focus on this weakness, tackle it head on and paint more green, more strongly.

I sought some advice from artists about how they made such strong and believable greens. Mix your own greens from warm and cool blues and yellows, avoid viridian, practice with sap and hookers green and use premixed light green moderated with earth colours came the conflicting advice.

Here are more of my recent plain air paintings, my main finding is that the right green can be arrived at by many different routes but the important thing is to maintain the true variety of greens across the painting by careful observation. Sadly its easier said than done, I’ve not found a silver bullet and more practice needed.

There’s no better way to practice your greens than to paint outside at this time of year.

Liberty Leading the Trees

Usk Reservoir

A bit more green, Liberty leading the trees, also at Usk reservoir.
I also had a green disaster at Carreg Cennen castle. Total rework needed, no image to protect your eyeballs!

Friesans, Catcott

An improvement, Friesans on the Somerset levels. Also some camera glare, may crop this one.

Castleton Castle, 24×12

Castleton Highpoint, 12×8

Dark Morning, Hope Valley

Some views around the Hope Valley in the Peak District including Castleton castle. There’s plenty of variation in green between these paintings but plenty more to do.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this. You an also follow me on twitter and now Instagram @ianpriceart

Currently Exhibiting in Bristol and Bath

Posted on April 27, 2016 by ianpriceart

I had a great evening at the private view of the Bath Society of Artists open exhibition at the Victoria art gallery on Friday.

I was great so see so many familiar faces in the throng as well as meeting some artists for the first time. I was lucky enough to have had my painting “Sunrise over Perranuthnoe” selected, I wrote about it in my last post, describing how I painted it before breakfast on my last trip to Cornwall. If you get a chance make a day of it by going to the Impressionists exhibition at the Holburne on the same day. (Also enjoyed the work of Kristan Baggaley and Ellen Watson Voyage exhibition at Bath Contemporary but it’s only on until 2nd May)

‘Sunrise over Perranuthnoe” (centre above red dot) and friends

I’m also exhibiting with Clifton Arts Club at the Steak of the Art restaurant on Bristol’s harbourside. These are also paintings from Cornwall.

This is another pre-breakfast dawn painting that I talked about in my last post.

Brisons at Dawn

Kernel Viridian

I called this one “Kernow Viridian” which I appreciate makes it sound like a racehorse but I thought it fitted. It’s one of the more abstract ones I made and includes wax medium, stand oil and lots of rolling and scraping, fun to make.

Close up of “Kernow Viridian”

Not such fun to make was the frames but I was pleased with the outcomes, I’m beginning to get the knack for doing it in a straightforward way that looks professional (enough!).

All exhibitions are running into June so you’ve plenty of time to get along.

Some images from the Impressionists exhibition at the Holborn, George Clausen and Berthe Morisot

To Hail and Back, a painting trip to Cornwall

Posted on March 15, 2016 by ianpriceart

Much to the frustration of my long suffering wife, I only get up early on holiday. This wasn’t hard the first morning of my trip as I’d pulled the van over in a lay-by on the A30 near Penzance sometime after midnight, after a fitful night woke to the sound of manoeuvring juggernauts. I was in Cornwall for an indoor course at Newlyn following on from an outdoor painting course last year. I’d decided to top and tail it with a few days of painting on the coast.

I was near to St Michael’s Mount so I turned onto the Marazion road, squinting into the dawn, seeing glimpses of the mount to my right. I pulled in at Perranuthnoe which I thought might be a likely painting spot, gathered my things and set off. Along the path I realised what a stunning dawn I was missing behind me so decided to turn my back on the mount.

Dawn over Perranuthnoe

I used a pink board and the painting session stopped abruptly when I had my first hail shower of the weekend. I have to thank the hail for causing more of the pink ground to show through, I think this sketchiness improves it.

The shower passed and I moved on to the Mount, I used a smaller board expecting the showers to return and wasn’t disappointed, they did. One feature of hailstones is that they land in your thinners and you don’t notice until you find a large globule of water lurking at the bottom.

Back at the van I had a late breakfast and coffee in some satisfaction having completed two paintings. I drove across the Cornish peninsula to the North coast and headed towards Pendeen. It was on the schedule last year but was too foggy to use; I was keen to see what I’d missed. Pendeen lighthouse was a spectacular but very exposed spot but I found a little nook with enough shelter from the fierce wind.

Towards Levant from Pendeen

Completed Painting

Detail

I used a larger board, 1ft by 2ft, and thought the view along the coast would work on this elongated format. I wasn’t quite sure if the weather was going to hold so I was as free and splashy as a I could with the initial dark painting hoping that much of it could stay to add interest and save time. I’ve included a close-up showing the thinners giving a rocky effect towards the bottom. Once again the hail struck but I was able to retreat to the van to block in the sea and sky before returning to the cliff to capture the frothiness and patterns of the waves.

The next day I moved to Porth Nanven facing The Brisons, it was wonderfully sheltered from the wind. The dawn was a beautiful peachy orange as I attempted to capture it.

The Brisons

At Porth Nanven

The effect was fleeting and I realised in the process that I ought to be prioritising painting the more transient bits at the outset and not painting the rocks! I’m happily still learning.

Next was breakfast and off to Newlyn for an abstracts in oils course I’d booked myself on. My gloopy efforts from the course are still dripping and un-photographable but I may share them at some point.

After the course I ended up at Carn Groose near St Just which has panoramic views of the North coast. Once again a pre-breakfast dawn painting, this time looking back over St Just and a mine chimney.

Dawn over St Just

I tried to grab the dawn much more quickly in this one, hence the heavier brushwork.

After some food I settled down on the headland at Carn Groose, looking towards Land’s End, a favourite painting spot from last year.

Porth Nanven and Land’s End

Detail

In situ Carn Groose

I really wiped, scraped and splatted the surface on this one, I’ve included a close-up.The board was only 1 foot square, I think I would have benefitted from a larger canvas for this session and got even looser.

I was prepared for more hail but I ended up worrying about having not packed sun cream and sat next to a very large pile of my discarded coats and jumpers. The only disappointment of the day was afterwards when talking to some people who had been sat above me. They had been watching humpback whales (now long gone) breeching on the horizon to the right Land’s End. I was oblivious. Next time.

A fun and educational experience all around, perhaps an annual one at the very least and am already looking forward to returning.

Mother and Welsh Dresser / Mam a’r Seld

Posted on February 7, 2016 by ianpriceart

I spent some of the Christmas break painting a portrait of my mother and have spent some more time tweaking since. Sadly she died last Summer after years of deteriorating health. Over the past five or so years I spent my time with her sketching and painting.

She is pictured in the bungalow she moved into after leaving the family home and is in front of the dresser holding the family china. She also has her fall alarm around her neck.

The sketch was ready many years ago! So I was relieved to make some time to start painting.

I dug out my precious lead white, I thought she deserved it. Also good evidence that all portraits go through an ugly phase. This was after the first painting session.

The second painting session showing an improvement and one discarded background.

Another of the many background iterations and showing one of the iPad images I used. This background framed her head too closely.

A close up showing the texture of the lead white paint and the way the gingham fabric was painted. I was pleased with the end result and the fabric was the least or my problems once I’d worked out how to approach it.

I’m relieved I’ve completed it as well as being pleased with the result. I’m not too upset that she didn’t get to see the finished, she did see many of the sketches and paintings over the years and she was really pleased when I gave her a painting of the cat she left behind at her family home.

I’ve another larger image sketched out, also from years ago. Hopefully that will get finished at some point.

Painting-wise something I found very useful during the process was taking a photo and making it black and white. The small size and the monochrome image really helped with identifying drawing and tonal problems, of which there were many.

2015 round up

Posted on December 31, 2015 by ianpriceart

I’m not a great fan of those round robin Christmas letters so I’m writing this with some trepidation. However 2015 has been a year of some progress so I thought it would be worth reminding you of news and any earlier posts you might want to look back on by clicking the links.

It was a year of two (unequal) halves a flurry of painting followed by a cycle of exhibiting.

I began the year by doing quite a bit of plein air painting and went on a course at Newlyn School Of Art with Paul Lewin. The course as well as being enjoyable was also an encouragement to loosen up with mixed media. With hindsight I haven’t taken this as far as I anticipated but it was certainly an inspiration to be looser when painting outside.

Ian Price Cape Cornwall from Carn Groose

Painting Land’s End

St Cuthbert’s Isle off Mousehole

This flurry of activity was mostly to get things to hang on the wall for North Somersets Arts Week. Once again it was great fun to have people coming through the house and I managed to raise £200 for Black Nore lighthouse by selling cards and Helen’s marvellous cakes.

The other main painting event of the year was the Andrew james portrait course which I’ve organised for a few years now and was a great success again fuelled by more of Helen’s cakes. I get a free course out of it and am still pretty pleased with my portrait of Viv.

Viv Portrait

Viv Detail with brush used.

I spent the rest of the year (well apart from life classes) punting these paintings around various juried exhibitions the highlights being the RWA in Bristol and the ING and rubbing shoulders with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters for the first time in London.

Dusk Tanker, exhibited at the RWA

I’m especially grateful to the judges of the Clifton Arts Club Open for awarding me the prize of excellence (which also doubled as my entry for the ROI).

Thanks to Trevor Haddrell RWA, Ione Parkin RWA and Ros Cuthbert RWA, what. a discerning trio.

People ask about my organisation and preparation but it all boiled down to this little scrap of paper I used for shepherding my meagre resources and time, so it’s all smoke and mirrors really. If you can read my handwriting you’ll see there are some misses among the hits so still plenty to aim for in 2016.

The Masterplan! (the only plan).

I mentioned not freeing up as much as I wanted and I am looking forward to a return trip to Newlyn for a course focussed squarely on abstract painting in March. I’m obviously hoping that 2016 will bring as much pleasure as 2015 but to be honest if it brings as much I’ll be surprised and very happy.

Thank you very much for taking an interest and I hope 2016 is a successful year for us all.

Another successful Portrait Course

Posted on November 8, 2015 by ianpriceart

Another couple of portrait courses done with Andrew James and smiles all around. Most importantly Andrew is looking forward to it again next year. If you’re interested register on the course page and I’ll let you know the timings when the venue schedule is available in the Spring.

This is now the fifth course I’ve attended (and organised) and I think progress is being made, portraiture is still the most maddening strand of art though.

Here’s a run through of what happened on the courses…

Course 1

We started off with some charcoal sketching followed by a quick demo by Andrew. Here’s his sketch.

Here’s my longer sketch, 1 hour I think.

Day 1 was completed with a monochrome oil painting. This was probably my least satisfying painting, I underpainted using a turpsy wash that didn’t dry before trying to apply the thicker paint on top.

Day 2 started with a demo oil painting by Andrew.

We spent some time sketching and working out compositions in charcoal before blocking in.

Here’s my work at the end of day 2.

I found the 3rd day frustrating, battling with likeness but ended up with this at the end of the course.

The following week I tweaked the portrait, very little time was spent and very little paint was applied but the tweaks brought out the likeness more by modelling the chin more simply. Oh and I tried Joanna in a fancy frame! (Excuse the carpet).

Here’s a shot of other people’s work in progress on day 3.

Course 2

I (and another attendee) were lucky enough to do two back to back courses complete with new models.

Here are my sketches from the first day.

As I’d done the monochrome painting earlier in the week, I did a limited palette exercise using the zorn palette (only red, yell ochre, black and white).

Again day 2 started with a demo. This time Andrew tried a more conventional planned approach instead of his usual magic. The results was a more prosaic portrait but as a bonus we saw the pain he went to to complete an eye, it wasn’t just bravura brush marks. He doesn’t seem this bald usually, apologies for the angle Andrew.

Here’s some of the student work in progress.

Here’s mine after the 3rd day

I’d used large brushes for the initial block in and tried to work with them for as long as possible. Andrew made a good point that the machined finish of the board isn’t as pleasing as a canvas would have been.

When I got home. I did some further tweaking to the eyes and lips which I think brought out the likeness and removed the unflattering and untrue goggle eyed effect.

I hope you found this interesting and if you feel up to the challenge next year let me know.

Currently exhibiting in…

Posted on August 22, 2015 by ianpriceart

I’m exhibiting in a couple of places at the moment, the Clevedon Art Club open exhibition and the Mall Deli in Clifton Village.

I’ve had four pictures accepted for the Clevedon open, all of local scenes. It’s at Clevedon secondary school, the Portishead end of Clevedon. It’s a great show and as eclectic as you’d expect. I was lucky enough to sell (at least) one painting at the private view. It was good to see the winners of some of the prizes on offer were club stalwarts too. The exhibition also features prizewinning work by Clevedon school art students from their art coursework.

Battery Point, six codling caught

Buoy Maintenance Vessel, Portishead (sold)

Also I’ll have twentyish paintings hanging on the luscious white wall of the Mall Deli in Clifton Village until the end of September.

I’m really pleased about this as it’s an uninterrupted wall (arts week venue had a couple of windows) and it gave me more presentation options. I think it looks pretty good given it was hung in an hour! So excuse any slight wonkiness; I might pop back. They are scenes of Portishead, Clevedon, Clifton and also some from Cornwall. Most are painted on the spot in oil paint. It’s a lovely smelling deli, sadly I was hanging after closing time, but thank you Oona for the leftover bread, it was great.

Mall Deli, Clifton Village

Update on Clifton Arts Club Open

Posted on July 9, 2015 by ianpriceart

I’m shocked to announce that I’ve won the main “Prize for Excellence” at the Clifton Arts Club open exhibition.

Ignoring this go and see the exhibition over the next two weeks. There’s some great stuff there and the venue is incredible.

redcliffe bay, portishead, sunny showers

I wasn’t trying to look smug, sorry

Trevor Haddrell RWA, Ione Parkin RWA and Ros Cuthbert RWA, what. a discerning trio

Sorry, I also got a critics choice for this. Thanks Ione.

Eira Price Sketches

Posted on June 25, 2015 by ianpriceart

Passed away in her sleep aged 88 years.

A willing model, some sketches from the last couple of years.

Oil

Charcoal

Sepia Pen

Impasto Oil

Art Challenge Wales Plein Air Portcawl

Posted on June 7, 2015 by ianpriceart

I took part in the inaugural Art Challenge Wales event in Porthcawl yesterday. It was really good fun and the weather was great after a gusty start. There are many artists who get distracted and upset by people that chat to them, my advice to them is don’t go near Porthcawl, I’ve never met a more open, friendly and chatty bunch of people. They were all very supportive and encouraging.

The challenge was to paint something that captured the spirit of Porthcawl in a day, so first thing I drove there to suss out good spots before taking a couple of canvases to the registration point to get stamped. It’s a bit like the Pintar Rapido event in London (that I’ve never been able to go to!).

It was a windy start to the day so I set up on the leeward side of an amusement arcade where I could capture some of the natural beauty of the bay and some colourful seaside atmosphere in the same frame. And not forgetting the wonky lamppost! I was also drawn to the dark shadow shapes on the left and bottom which supported the shape of the bay. I started sketching the composition on a light red primed 16 by 20 inch canvas and realised by pure fluke I could use sight size measurement which made the drawing and measuring of the structure of the painting much faster.

At this point I overheard a comment that they weren’t on keen on the colour I’d painted the sky, some other onlookers leapt to my defence to tell them I’d not started it yet, like I said everyone was very supportive.

The kiosk in the painting was owned by Myra (pictured and very smartly turned out) who came out of the amusement arcade behind me for a few chats as well as the offer of a cup of tea. With hindsight standing next to the entrance to an amusement arcade was bound to attract attention but in my defence it was closed when I started.

Here’s the finished painting, “Myra’s Kiosk”. I had used quick drying white and quick drying mediums to accelerate drying to allow the painting to be safely left for judging. However this made the paint on the canvas and on the palette tacky very quickly, I’ve got so used to moving the paint around and smearing it that I found it a bit more limiting than normal but I’m pleased with it overall. It’s preframed to allow it to be handled wet and you can see the masking tape covering the frame to keep it clean. I got this idea from the fantastic Roos Schuring Blog.

After taking the painting back to the car and having a bite to eat I contemplated what to paint on my other registered canvas. I hadn’t much time to roam around and I was admiring the abstract shape the lifeguard lookout made on the horizon so I thought why not?

This time I was backed right up against my car to avoid the wind but it didn’t put people off from coming up for a look and a chat, the best one being three burly likely lads from the North East who were very encouraging and after a while one said he took his watercolour kit wherever he went. Never judge a book by its cover.

Here’s the finished painting “Lifeguard Lookout”.

All of the paintings are online ready for a people’s choice vote (from Sun 7th evening) and announcement of the prize-winners later in the week. Ahem, did I mention there was a people’s choice vote?

It was a really great event made by the friendly organisers and locals. Thank you. Hopefully it’ll be back again next year with even more people so get practising.

Exhibiting in Bristol and Portishead

Posted on June 4, 2015 by ianpriceart

I’m pleased to say that I’ve had a couple of paintings selected for the New Visions V exhibition at the Grant Bradley Gallery

They’ve selected a variety of exciting work from the Bristol area and I feel very edgy being in such company! The preview evening is Friday the 5th of June do turn up if you’d like to meet a variety of local artists in various states of inebriation. They put on a good bash there. If you can’t make it or can’t remember having attended here’s the very professional Exhibition magazine that shows a piece by each of the artists.

I’ve also got 8ish paintings of local scenes hanging in Café Gosh at the top of the Portishead Marina for the month of June. It’s one of the top rated places to eat in Portishead too, see their TripAdvisor page.

Bank Holiday visit to Wales

Posted on May 25, 2015 by ianpriceart

Over the BH weekend I went to Wales timed partly to catch the BP Portrait award exhibition which is in Aberystwyth and is highly recommended. It finishes soon before moving on elsewhere. I particularly liked the Paul Benney “pig” painting as well as the prize winners which all looked totally justified in the flesh.

On the way I walked up to Llyn y Fan Fach in the western Brecon Beacons above Myddfai. It’s a stunning spot and famous for its Lady of the lake legend. I was prepared for everything apart from the heat so carried a mountain of pessimistic clothing as well as my painting kit to the top. Here are some photos complete with gnats which found the paintings irresistible. I hope they’ll come off when they dry.

I also managed to grab a quick sketch of Mam too on my rush around South Wales.

Open Studio – Bank Hol Weekend

Posted on April 26, 2015 by ianpriceart

Open Studio over the BH weekend (inc. Monday) and the following weekend.

I’ll be showing 50 paintings most of which are of the local Portishead coastline and many painted outside in oils. In addition I painted some scenes in Cornwall recently and am also including a few portraits and life class studies.

I’ll be sharing my open studio with Richard Sergeant whose work is often more abstract, unexpected and always interesting and Karen Lilley who will be displaying beautiful glass vessels and jewellery. I’ll also be selling cards, tea and homemade cake in support of Black Nore lighthouse.

The lighthouse will be open to look at on the BH Monday (you can get to it through the garden).

Bonus event! There’ll probably be some folk music playing on the Sunday afternoons with some of these guys. http://youtu.be/1DVlAeS72_s

Opening times and further details in the image below. It’s venue 10 in the Arts week brochure if you have it.

The Sea Can Be Turquoise?

Posted on April 21, 2015 by ianpriceart

I’ve spent quite a few days down in Cornwall over the last few weeks on a family holiday closely followed by a course with Paul Lewin at the Newlyn School of Art. I’ve never had much success with sketching out of doors so I thought some exposure to some new ideas on his Coastal Painting mixed media course could help.

I did a few plein air oil paintings around Mousehole where I stayed and also in Newlyn. Because these were fitted in around other things they came out a bit tight but it was good to get into the swing of things before the course started. Did you know the sea could be turquoise? Mousehole is a great place for an arty break. Ken Howard even has a studio there.

Mousehole

St Cuthbert’s Isle off Mousehole

Mousehole to St Michael’s Mount

Mousehole

Newlyn

Despite the turquoise sea it was pretty chilly and fogbound when the course started. The woolly hat I found in my pocket got used. Thanks to Sarah for the arty photo (note beard has gone for the Summer).

On the course we were encouraged to make multiple sketches initially of various compositions and to get a good tonal range using water soluble graphite pencils. I’ve tried these before without much success as mentioned but they seemed to work better in Cornwall. Not worrying about where the dog has wandered to or is eating or barking at or chasing helps to improve sketch quality I think.

Here are the inital paintings from Porthgwarra, getting to grips with gouache.

After a few days painting and sketching at Porthgwarra the final day was at Carn Groose on the north coast near Land’s end where I found a 2m by 3m ledge at the end of the headland which had spectacular views in every direction and was unnaturally sheltered.

Being at he end of the headland I wasn’t interrupted by anyone passing, even Paul struggled to find me. The sea fog eventually lifted and I was eventually able to take off my hat and coat that hat been welded to my body for three days and apply some sun block. I was able to get into the techniques I’d picked up and completed these three paintings looking in varying directions from that single point. A real treat.

The Brisons from Carn Groose

Lands’ End from Carn Groose (I’ll straighten the horizon line).

Cape Cornwall from Carn Groose

Carn Groose to Land’s End (still wearing waterproof trousers!)

The course gave me a prod to persevere with outdoor sketches and also reignited my previous enthusiasm for water-colour. I found adding gouache to extend the range of effects and paint over any messes and define things without the slow death of using masking fluid to be really liberating. The most surprising thing was that is allowed me to play with paint splashing and dribbling outdoors in front of the subject which I’d previously only done (very enjoyably) using oils indoors. Getting oil too splashy outside would generally result in your efforts dribbling to the bottom of the painting on the walk home.

Overall a great use of a few days at the course and lovely to spend time in a beautiful cottage in Mousehole too, thanks to Adam and Helen for their cottage. My next step is to apply some of the things learnt to the greys and browns of the Severn Estuary.

Most of these paintings will be on view during North Somerset arts week, Mayday BH and the following weekend, 2-4th and 9-10th. My venue details are included in the North Somerset Arts Week Brochure entry.

Double Art – End of term life class report

Posted on April 9, 2015 by ianpriceart

I’ve just completed two terms of life classes and am taking the Summer off to get out in the fresh air and do some more plein air painting so a good time for a round up I think. I’ve attached a bumper pack of life class studies at the end of this post.

For most of the time since October I’ve been focussing on double life model oil painted studies. I go to the Bristol Life class run by Will Stevens, the Bristol Grammar session he runs is famous in Bristol but there’s a sister session in Ashley Down (Brunel Field) that has a bit more space for me to set up an easel. One benefit of Will’s classes is that they have enough models to allow a double pose, usually at the long pose end of the room.

When doing life painting it’s easy to fool yourself that you’ve nailed the colour mixing when you have come up with a convincing study, this is even more true in still lives or landscapes. However when I started doing the double poses I found that I’d been deluding myself, I found my flesh tones were convincing tonally but when you are confronted with two models you suddenly realise there’s a whole new world of subtlety in skin colour that I hadn’t appreciated, this is even true between two “white” models. By having the two models next to each other you’re forced into mixing a true skin colour that complements or contrasts accurately with their neighbour, or to put it another way you can see you’ve got it wrong more clearly. You can no longer get away with them being tonally close enough when working with a pair of models. Obviously none of this matters if you haven’t got the models in front of you when you are looking at the painting but I’ve always treated a life class as a learning and improving exercise and I found painting two models at once really stretched me.

I’m not way saying that these are great paintings or great compositions, in some cases I’ve got the mixes horribly wrong or made drawing errors and in others I’ve just run out of time. It takes concentration for me to get this much down in the time and the odd week that I fell back to plain old charcoal or whatever and drew a shorter pose seemed like a holiday. However as an exercise I’ve found it really challenging and rewarding and I’ll be back next Autumn to continue trying to improve and working out what to do with backgrounds!

Why don’t you take the double life art challenge too?

All of the poses are 45 or 60 minutes and painted in oil on Arches Oil paper (stocked by Bristol Fine Art), this is all on the same white paper despite appearances from my variable photos below. I’ve generally used the Zorn palette (cadmium red, yellow ochre and black which acts as a versatile blue!) and supplemented with other colours as the pose dictates.

Chilly #pleinair #painting from #batterypoint #portishead

Posted on March 5, 2015 by ianpriceart

Apologies for the double post, accidentally published a draft, here’s what I meant to say…

My painting of a Buoy Maintenance vessel, which obligingly sat still actually maintaining a buoy while I painted. Thanks to Norman for the photo and his friend for the ship info. Despite the care my favourite part is the turps drips in the bottom right.

Here’s one of Battery Point, Portishead from later the same day showing a fisherman sat at the base of the lighthouse. He caught around five cod while I painted. It was much colder than it looked and my hand was a frozen boxing glove by the time I’d finished but I was pleased I stuck with it.

Recent Oil Portrait Sketches

Posted on February 12, 2015 by ianpriceart

Some recent portrait sketches, all 45 mins to 2 hours.

All oil on Arches oil paper apart from the lady in a hat which was on a cereal packet that was sized with rabbit skin glue. I quite liked mid-grey tone of the cardboard.

From life class, incredible cheek bones.

Profiles are tricky so I was pleased with the likeness.

Captured his sad look, perhaps got a bit muddy.

Probably the longest of these and repainted most of the rhs of the face in the last 5 mins!

Pleased with the shoulders, good chunky marks

The sitters were either at Clifton Arts club who have a Saturday morning portrait model/still life session once a month or at the weekly life class sessions in Ashley Down.

Tools of trade #painting #art #portishead

Posted on January 20, 2015 by ianpriceart

Here are a couple of recent larger landscapes. Both are headlands close to home on the Severn Estuary, regular dog walking territory.
The first one includes a few tools used to “paint” it. I used the big putty knife to drag the sky around.

I did quite a lot of scraping with it on the “Frosty Headland” painting too. Appropriately chilly, but no snow yet here this year.

I did bit of bathroom tile DIY over the weekend and am wondering whether to use the “grout float” on the next one? I’ve got some bigger canvases ready for it!

Clevedon pop up gallery is going well and a new spot in Bristol

Posted on December 9, 2014 by ianpriceart

The Clevedon pop up gallery is going really well, many thanks to the volunteers manning the shop for their efforts. I called past over the weekend and was chuffed that my “Steep Holm” painting was in the window after a few weeks in the store room. It all looks great and the North Somerset Arts week committee are considering how to take advantage of the venue following the planned end just before Xmas.
I’ve also got a painting in the Bristol Harbourside exhibition at the Harbourside Gallery near Millennium Square in Bristol which is also running until Christmas. It’s a great spread of work with established painters alongside some lovely work by lesser known people but every bit as good.
My painting is called “Welcome to the S.S. Great Britain” (it’s what you can’t read on the banner in the middle!). It started as a rainy view of Cabot tower but I couldn’t resist adding in a primary school trip walking past to the S.S. G.B. with it’s accompanying contrasting hi-vis jackets. Excuse the glare, it’s facing the window (which is good!).

I’ve been selected for the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London. Opens tomorrow.

Posted on November 12, 2014 by ianpriceart

It’s at the Mall Galleries, i.e. on the pink street the Queen lives on, not the Bristol out-of-town shopping complex. Yes I know, it seems unlikely to me too.

The ING Discerning Eye is a show of small works selected by prominent figures from the art world. Each selector is responsible for their own section giving the impression of six exhibitions in one. I’m expecting mine to be in a dark and moody corner.

The exhibition opens tomorrow (Thursday the 13th of November) and runs until the 23rd. I’m really looking forward to attending the private view tomorrow and meeting up with some exhibiting artists I know and meeting others for the first time. I’m sure I’ll come back inspired.

The painting selected is “Have We Enjoyed Ourselves Enough Yet?”.

Have We Enjoyed Ourselves Enough Yet, 10 x 12 inches (ING Discerning Eye and RWA Open selected, Clevedon Selector’s choice).

The title is a saying of someone my wife used to ride horses with, while getting soaked to the skin and freezing on a hack she’d ask “Have we enjoyed ourselves enough yet?”. I thought the same applied to the trudging dog walker.

It was painted using the left over paint on the palette after finishing a much tighter plein air painting. I painted the memory of the dog walker I had just seen walking back to his car, he was gone by the time I started to paint him; I was sat in the warmth of my car with the wipers on intermittent. Those that know Portishead will know the backdrop of Battery Point.

Thanks for reading, do follow if you want to keep up to date with future news and paintings.

Recent #oilportraits – everythings gone grey

Posted on October 30, 2014 by ianpriceart

Living on the Severn estuary I’m beginning to accept that perhaps greys are my strong point, probably repeated practice. I’ve always been drawn to a muted palette and love understated painters such as Gwen John and Kyffin Williams. I’ve just had six days of painting with Andrew James and had a great time but his heightened colour palette can be a stretch, but the point of it was to use it as a chance to experiment and improve.

After a bit of warming up with charcoal sketches we dived in with the first painting.

The background was a bit messy so I blocked in the ugly kitchen area roughly then turned the painting upside down and painted the entire background using the shapes only as a loose guide and just went with what looked good.I think it was worthwhile and helped create a less literal and more attractive painting.

I thought my first portrait was a bit conservative in colour and texture. This was partly due to painting over a very turpsy underpainting which was a bit slippy. So with the second painting I sketched in pencil first which kept a drier surface and enabled me to add more definitive, chunky brush marks.

As I know the sitter well I was pleased to get a forceful likeness quickly (but did pass through a Hitler moustache phase). When it came to blocking in the background I thought I’d get a rough idea with a thin layer but basically got carried away with the turps. I think the effect worked well with the loosely painted hair so I went with it and strengthened the areas such as the shoulder with dark turpsy pigment.

This all came together very suddenly and I didn’t want to ruin the loose effect, so after a night to sleep on it and some very minor fiddling in the morning I was ready to start another painting.
Rather than repeating the same pose I thought back to a memory of a Gwen John portrait I’d admired and began work on a full figure in muted colours. The light dropped towards the end of the day after the clocks changing so I thought the treatment wouldn’t be adversely affected by any dimness either.

I am pleased with the outcome, I think it achieved what I’d set out to do. Once again I turned the painting upside-down to abstract the background. Also if you look closely you can see black dots where it fell over onto a charcoal covered floor when I was tidying up, hopefully it’ll just brush off when it’s dry!

Here’s the Gwen John portrait from the National Gallery that I had in mind when I set out. I wanted to rip it off the wall when I visited this year. Don’t compare too closely, it’s just a thought I had in mind! I didn’t look at it before starting the painting so it’s interesting to see them side by side after the event. Stronger textures, a bolder cut off composition and obviously talent make it a fabulous painting but nevertheless a useful exercise to compare.

If you’d be interested in joining the portrait course next year you can find out more and register interest here https://ianpriceart.co.uk/andrew-james-course/

A #Clevedon #pleinair #painting round-up

Posted on October 9, 2014 by ianpriceart

After a blogging hiatus brought on by decorating I eventually switched back to the smaller brushes, here’s a round up of some painting I did in Clevedon a few weeks back.

Just a quick 30 mins warm up. A bit wobbly.

I opportunistically painted the crane over the Royal Pier Hotel development at a very early stage, which was great as it drove off five minutes later. The scaffolding and pier was painted from the Clevedon Sailing Club which had a great view of the pier and followed a demonstration by Ian Cryer ROI.

The following day I took part in Art on the Railings, also in Clevedon and parked my painting kit facing the bandstand… I was starting to feel piered off, very fiddly ironwork to paint!
Thanks to all those that stopped for a chat or took a card at the Marlens/Tides festival in Clevedon. I really enjoyed it and the weather stayed steady for the painting, sometimes overcast is good! I know some artists get wound up by people stopping for a chat but I had a great time and hope to see some of you again at the North Somerset Arts week open studio in May.
Here’s the end result. Those that did spot the difference as a kid will notice some painting corrections on the bandstand, I blame a lunchtime cider.

I’ve got a couple exhibition opportunities in Clevedon coming up so you’ll get a chance to see them in the flesh. Firstly the Clevedon Art Club members’ exhibition at the Sixth Form Centre Clevedon Community School, Valley Road, Clevedon from Friday 31st October to Sunday 2nd November. Also North Somerset Arts in planning a pop up shop in Clevedon in November, details when I know them.

A new modernist direction? #painting #isitart

Posted on September 11, 2014 by ianpriceart

…not really, just spent what feels like the last two months painting my lounge. Normal service will be resumed shortly.

Severn Bridges from Portbury Wharf, Portishead.

Posted on July 26, 2014 by ianpriceart

A bit of a barren period painting-wise between DIY and work so good to get out and paint a bonus picture.

I’ve realised the ground makes a great difference to the painting. This board was painted in quite a slippery orange acrylic paint that was easy to let through in areas like the grass. The board had been knocking around for a while, I always chose another board as it always seemed too orange and too shiny.

Last day of Clifton Arts Club exhibition Sat 26th if you’ve not seen it yet.

Mam #oil #portrait #aging #oldage

Posted on July 7, 2014 by ianpriceart

A difficult little A5 sketch, Mam couldn’t hold her head up for long.

Forgot to post this photo of #pleinair #seascape #painting in situ last week

Posted on May 16, 2014 by ianpriceart

The palette is probably a bit misleading as most of the colours around the edge weren’t used.
From memory I probably used white, burnt umber, raw umber, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, viridian and yes a touch of black!
Interestingly, perhaps, I’d left my palette knife at home, which I would have expected to have used in that fiddly iron-work and scratched about with it in the foreground rocks. Who knows if it would have improved it?
Those with a nautical bent can tell me how long it took to paint by judging the change in the tide line!

Not posted a #portrait #drawing for a while

Posted on May 13, 2014 by ianpriceart

Here’s a charcoal portrait of Maureen from the last Clifton Arts Club Saturday morning portrait & still-life session before the Summer.

I had a couple of comments about what I was going to do to it after the break and the look of relief on their faces when I said “perhaps nothing” removed any doubt about it.
“It takes two to paint. One to paint, the other to stand by with an axe to kill him before he spoils it.” (William Merritt Chase)
I’d never heard of him either but he was an accomplished American impressionist and painter of this “truthful” portrait of Dorothy.

Severn tide receding through Clevedon Pier #art #pleinair #painting

Posted on May 8, 2014 by ianpriceart

I was struck by the darkness of the ironwork making a bold zed. But sooo many lines to describe it.

That was 12 by 10. Here’s a little A5 lunchtime sketch that encouraged me to try again later with a deeper format; painted holding an ice cream in one hand. I don’t think there was very much cadmium paint in so I should live to paint another day.

My first attempt at #framing

Posted on May 2, 2014 by ianpriceart

Well actually my 3rd, 4th and 5th attempts but I won’t show you those.

Total cost of the wood is about £3, I can’t remember the cost of the new mitre saw I bought, ahem…
The main thing is that I’ve still got all my fingers left.
I’ve got a thin, normal and wider width of tray frame, general feedback so far is that the thinner frames look better around these little paintings although the difference is subtle.

Bank Holiday sun sparkling on the Severn #pleinair #seascape #oilpainting

Posted on April 21, 2014 by ianpriceart

Did some little plein air landscapes over Easter showing the sun glinting on the Severn Estuary in the evening. They make a change from my usual fog/rain themes. Apologies for the sun glinting off the photographs too!

Steep Holm

Welsh Coast

I’ve shied away from painting the Black Nore lighthouse for a while, I wasn’t sure about how to incorporate the white lighthouse into the landscape. It’s the first time I’ve tried a contre jour approach, I think it worked well enough to try on a larger scale, all are A5 size.

Other pics still available to see in the Tinca gallery in Portishead for the next week or so.

A couple of life class head studies #lifeclass #portrait

Posted on March 14, 2014 by ianpriceart

A couple of head studies of the same model from this term that I thought it was interesting to compare.

I was really pleased with the likeness of the first one in charcoal and just got carried away with the coloured crayons in the second, so perhaps not the most flattering tones. Good fun though, sorry Hilary.

15 mins

15 mins plus 10 minutes colouring in. (Ignore advice about not fiddling, sometimes it helps!)

Cruise Liner MV Discovery sailing to Avonmouth! #pleinair

Posted on February 27, 2014 by ianpriceart

Strange as it may seem I painted this cruise liner on a dog walk along the coast path last weekend. I took the painting kit on the off-chance that something would grab me, I was pondering a fisherman when I saw what was on the horizon.

It was moving at a rate of knots, literally, so I painted the ship first and then painted the rest around it.

It’s the MV Discovery which offers cruises from Avonmouth to places like the Hebrides, Iceland, Norway and erm … Liverpool.

After looking at it when I got home I thought I’d overdone the prow and nearly shortened it. I was relieved that I hadn’t fiddled when I looked at the MV Discovery site for a link for this post I was pleased to see it looking quite long nosed (I’m pretty sure that’s the correct nautical term).

Beware of fiddling.

Couple of charcoal sketches from the Bristol #lifeclass

Posted on January 29, 2014 by ianpriceart

Pleased with the likeness on this one. 15 mins. Charcoal with a spot of Wolfe Carbon pencil.

This week a couple of models posed in a really complementary way, this was the second of the paired poses. 15 mins again but for the both of them so was pleased to have got so much down. Surprisingly perhaps I was pleased with the likeness on the model that’s lying down, less can be more. Drawing two overlapping people seems to be a bigger challenge than two separate drawings.

Both were from the Horfield version of Will’s Bristol Grammar Life Class