Isaack Lutichuys Portrait of a Young Lady Oil on canvas, 99x82cm, 1656 The fairly unknown ‘society’ painter Isaak Luttichuys (1616, London – 1673, Amsterdam) moved from London to The Netherlands in the early seventeenth century. He was the son of…
I like trying out new products. So if I can afford it I tend to buy a colour that looks appealing, a brush that is in the sale or a linen I have never used before. Sometimes it is a…
The Harley Open is a biennial art competition and exhibition at the Harley Gallery in Worksop. The gallery is located on the amazing Welbeck Abbey Estate which is home to not only the abbey itself but also artists studios, a…
Last week I visited the BP Portrait Award 2017 exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Since I have exhibited in the show twice it holds a special place in my heart as it does for so many portrait…
Joseph Wright of Derby Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump Oil on canvas, 183 × 244 cm, 1768 This painting pictures a ‘travelling scientist’ (quite a common thing in the 18th century) display how an air pump works to…
Society of Women Artists The Society of Women Artists was founded as far back as 1857 and has famous names connected to it, such as Dame Laura Knight as one of its presidents in 1932. It is obvious how important…
While I was at the Royal West of England of Art (RWA) in Bristol for a workshop, I decided to pop in the current exhibition, Air: Visualising the Invisible in the British Art 1768 – 2017. The exhibition features some…
My painting The Girl in the Mirror is one of the first in which I tried to change course a little bit. I wanted to create a large portrait in an old-master style with its familiar traits of dramatic lighting,…
To make your painting a success you need 3 things: you need to know why you want to paint it, you need a grasp of what you see, and you need the skill to do it (Richard Schmid) …
Click the image for XXL Hans Holbein the Younger A Lady with a Squirrel and Starling Oil on Panel, 56×38.8cm, 1526-8 This is one of Holbein’s most beautiful paintings and yet we do not know for certain who this serene…
In this blog post I would like to discuss how to keep your artist studio safe from toxic materials; safe for children, pets and yourself. Just the other day someone told me she would like to use oil paints but…
Although we may now think of wedding dresses and lingerie, in the 17th century lace was not associated with either. And yet the 17th century was one of the heydays of lace.
Regular readers might have noticed that they are reading this latest blog post in a slightly different environment. No, you haven’t landed on someone else’s website, it is still me. I have just changed the way my website is managed…
To many viewers, his paintings might look alike. Portraits of men and women, often with dark brown backgrounds, wearing black clothing and a fabulous snow-white ruff or flat collar. There are a few exceptions of course, but the majority of…
