DavidMatherartist

"Wet day in west street Tavistock" watercolour

2012-03-01T08:28:00.000Z

Finished this watercolour painting yesterday, painted from a photo as it was too wet to stand there in situ.

"Into the light" exhibition from Impressionism to the early 1920's

2012-02-25T21:31:00.000Z

Had the opportunity yesterday to go and see the exhibition being held at the newly refurbished Royal Albert Memorial Museum Exeter, the "Into the light" exhibition was arranged for the opening of the Art gallery after the refurbishment, this exhibition featured French and British paintings from impressionism to the early 1920's, artists that are represented are Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Cezanne, Whistler, Forbes, Knight plus numerous others, an excellent exhibition to see if you are in the area, it finishes on the 11th March before going on to warickshire I believe, this was my first opportunity to see impressionism by these masters in the flesh so to speak, a wonderful experience.

Tavistock in the style of John Hoar

2012-02-22T22:49:00.001Z

Following my workshop with John Hoar, I have tried this watercolour using his style of painting, quite pleased with the outcome although I still need to control what I am aiming for.

Watercolour of Paris

2012-02-21T23:00:00.000Z

Visited Paris for the first time last year, what a beautiful city it is, cannot wait to go back, hopefully will have more time to explore next time we go, here is a loose watercolour I completed yesterday, not to sure what the name of the place is.

"View of Polperro" finished painting

2012-02-17T15:01:00.000Z

Have just finished this oil painting "View of Polperro" I have changed the line of trees in the distance which I think adds to the composition by giving it more depth, finished off by laying in some glazing, have not captured the true colours on this camera image but very close after manipulating on Picasa [editing suite], any comments would be welcome.

More paintings from the workshop with John Hoar

2012-02-15T19:51:00.000Z

Here are further paintings which I produced whilst at the workshop with John Hoar, I found it a fulfilling experience and have taken onboard one or two techniques which hopefully will benefit me and maybe help in improving my work.

Watercolour workshop with John Hoar

2012-02-09T20:38:00.000Z

Just finished a workshop with John Hoar, who is someone who's work I have always admired, he paints very similar to Edward Wesson who again is another who inspires me, we managed to complete five pieces of artwork which was quite daunting, John and his wife are fantastic hosts and make you feel very relaxed, I have placed two of the five images for you to see, I will post the other images later, would love to receive any comments you wish to make, constructive that is.

Pencil drawing of our puppy

2012-02-06T19:20:00.000Z

This pencil drawing is of our recent addition to the family [Mist] our Border Collie, she is twelve weeks old and I did this quick drawing of her whilst she was having a nap, it was done with a 2B pencil on a A5 sketch pad, which took about 15 minutes to complete.

Totnes Devon watercolour sketch

2012-02-04T18:11:00.000Z

This watercolour sketch was quickly drawn to establish the main elements then washes of watercolour were laid in with little detail, approximately finished within an hour and half, the sketch was done from a photo taken last summer.

Oil painting progress "View of Polperro"

2012-02-01T20:58:00.000Z

This is the progress of my latest oil painting "View of Polperro" as you have possibly noticed I have decided to change the title of this work, as it seemed to work better with the added figures and where they are looking.
Have added these other figures to help with composition, also added more boats and started to establish the tone and colour, bit more work needed to complete the painting.

Figures in watercolour

2012-01-30T17:49:00.000Z

Further figure studies sketched in loosely and then with a watercolour wash to establish colour and tone, these will be used for later watercolour and oil paintings.

Figure studies in watercolour

2012-01-23T16:29:00.000Z

Some of the figure studies I produce, which helps with your drawing and watercolour skills, some of these will be used in later paintings when required.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

More animal studies in watercolour.

2012-01-19T21:07:00.000Z

Studies of sheep, which may be used in oil or watercolour paintings at a later date, these I find a form of practice of drawing and watercolour techniques.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Latest oil painting progress "Strolling through Polperro"

2012-01-16T20:23:00.001Z

"Strolling through Polperro" The progress so far of this latest oil painting, will be adding further figures and boats into the composition and adjusting the tone and colour, will show you further developments as they are completed.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Watercolour studies of cows.

2012-01-14T17:23:00.002Z

These are watercolour studies of cows, which I will use in future paintings, I find these a good excercise for improving your drawing skills, mixing colour and the use of watercolour.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

View of St Ives in a whimsical style

2011-12-28T23:18:00.000Z

A style which I have not attempted very often, but I find that trying different ways of approaching your work helps in stopping you getting into a rut, this attempt was taken from a photgraph and simplyfied.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Christmas greetings

2011-12-26T11:33:00.001Z

Like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy christmas and a peaceful new year.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Watercolour and pen painting in a loose style

2011-12-03T11:38:00.001Z

Here is a painting I have just completed in pen and wash, I love to sketch this way when out and about to capture the feel of the place, the painting is of two fishermen returning from a days fishing out of Port Isaac in Cornwall, their fishing boat has been anchored out in the harbour, and they have brought their tender and catch into the beach, hope you like it.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Workshop with Laura Wall

2011-11-27T17:07:00.001Z

Last week we had a workshop with Laura Wall, [www.laurawall.com] one of the members who attended brought along a painting in the style of Laura's, he was greatly inspired by what she produces which gave him the inspiration to paint the painting in the photo, it is a quirky whimsical and comical painting of the Town hall in Tavistock on it's famous Goosey fair day, everyone there thought what a wonderful painting it was.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Van Gogh "Moulin De La Galette" Oil painting

2011-11-22T17:03:00.000Z

This another sketch I completed in this series of works by famous artists, I love to try and copy their style of painting hopefully to improve my own style, this time I have used an image of Van Gogh's "Moulin De La Galette" of which he painted many views in the 1880's, I try to do the sketch in a quick manner but using water based oils instead of more traditional oils, also it has been produced on a small scale.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Excercise in oils of Paul Cezanne's Tulips and Apples

2011-11-18T16:52:00.000Z

This follows my other excercises of impressionist artist works, this is a quick sketch painted in waterbased oils on board.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Another oil sketch excercise " Renoir's Girl reading"

2011-11-03T17:11:00.000Z

An oil sketch excercise completed in approx two hours, loosely drafted the main elements in pencil, then applied a wash of raw umber acrylic to set the tones before laying the colour in water based oils.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Oil sketch excercise Monet's "Red Poppies"

2011-10-25T14:18:00.000+01:00

This painting was started and finished in just over the hour, painted on gessoed board which had a warm undertone, which was allowed to show through across the picture, loose pencil lines were applied to show the main elements and then painted loosely with waterbased oils, comments would be welcome.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Still life study in charcoal

2011-10-07T09:22:00.000+01:00

Had a completely different subject to tackle on Monday, we were asked to do a still life study of fruit arranged loosely on a table, the fruit was selected with the colour yellow in mind, even the cloth on the table was a shade of yellow, most of the students tackled it in watercolour, I decided to try it in charcoal on a mid tone grey ingres paper, this is my effort would appreciate any comments.

Watercolour painting of Lake Bala in north Wales

2011-09-13T16:24:00.000+01:00

Here is a watercolour I started and completed this morning, it was loosely sketched in pencil, I then laid a loose wash of various warm and cool colours across the whole painting just leaving small patches of white paper for the sails of the boats and in places across the painting, I then let it dry before adding the mid tones to define the shapes, again waiting for it to dry I then added the dark tones and some small details, [Please comments would be appreciated]

Watercolour study of geraniums, plein air.

2011-08-28T18:00:00.001+01:00

Watercolour study in one hour of a pot of geraniums on a table , my wife liked it but was not convinced they looked like geraniums, she thought they were more like some sort of oriental flower, still it was nice to be in the sunshine for an hour.

Paintings received back from the framers

2011-08-26T23:13:00.000+01:00

Just picked up two oil paintings that have been framed for the Walkhampton exhibition next week, looking good as a matching pair, which is what I intended as these two were done on a outdoor workshop at Mount Egecumbe with Louise Courtnell in June, one was started in the morning whilst the other was started in the afternoon, both from the same spot, but two different views, they were completed in the studio when they had dried sufficiently.

Images from the art exhibition Upton Cross

2011-08-11T23:19:00.000+01:00

Second plein air oil painting finished

2011-08-04T22:38:00.001+01:00

Here we have the second of the plein air paintings I was completing after laying in the main elements on site, I believe I have managed to capture the feeling of a passing storm on what was a hot afternoon in June, if you have any comments about the work or you wish to know a little more about its creation, please get in touch, the two paintings that were created on this day were from the same spot, one in the morning looking towards the Mewstone, the other [this one] looking across to Plymouth.
www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

Portrait in shape and tone.

2011-07-30T09:57:00.000+01:00

Here we have a portrait study, which I was taught using just tone and shape, I found it to be quite a challenge as we were taught to just paint the negative shapes in approx 2 hours, as a first attempt I was pleased with the final study, your comments would be appreciated.

No photo's from the art exhibition

2011-07-25T17:40:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately the photo's I intended to show you of the exhibition at Peter Tavy, were not up to standard to show, as I must have had the wrong settings, just shows that I need to stick with a brush and paints, I am in the process of preparing some work for our next exhibition in August, so I will try again to capture some images of the event, details of the exhibition I will post nearer the time.

www.parkwoodstudio.co.uk

First completed plein air oil painting

2011-07-22T21:22:00.000+01:00

This is the first of the two plein air paintings that I have been finishing in the studio, following laying in the main elements on site, your comments are welcome.

Plein air oil painting

2011-07-18T23:24:00.000+01:00

The weather has been atrocious for July, so have not been out to paint as I would like, two paintings that I managed to start but not complete when I had a days painting at a national trust property in Cornwall last month, has been my objective to finish in my studio, one is just having its finishing touches, whilst the other has a little way to go, when they are complete I will post them for you to see, lets hope the weather improves soon so we can capture some inspiration onto canvas.

Art exhibition Peter Tavy village hall

2011-07-15T23:24:00.000+01:00

Today was the setting up for our exhibition, and the handing in of the individual artists paintings, I took along four paintings two oils and two watercolours, the exhibition runs from tomorrow until Sunday 24th July with free admission, you can also treat yourself to a wonderful array of refreshments, Peter Tavy is approx 2miles outside of Tavistock in Devon, look forward to seeing you if you are there.