Sunday 9 February 2014

Sunday Morning

Up trying to paint the Spencer Smith chaps and my eyes are finding it hard. My reading glasses (which I only use for painting) help but...
 What do you use as light sources for painting by?

Yesterday Jan and I had a belated Wedding Anniversary trip by train into Edinburgh.  We had lunch at the National Portrait Gallery. As ever I enjoy looking at the mural paintings by William Hole-
Please click on for a bigger picture. As a boy this was the National Museum of Scotland and I loved coming with my father to see the Roman things and my favourite a reconstructed chariot- fitted in well with an Airfix Ancient Britain fan...
Hole's battle scenes are so evocative and his  frieze of the Kings and Queens and diverse notables brilliantly done-

I often think a wargames army dressed a la Hole would be lovely to look at colouful and fun ...

We both really enjoyed our leisurely look round town and the lunch and later coffee we had. I came home with a £1 bargain-
Which I look forward to reading.I have the first 5 in the series but went off them through reading one after another.I look forward with reacquainted with Hervey soon...
The day ended with a glass or two of wine whilst watching "Went the day well..." on DVD. In our case the day certainly went well...

11 comments:

  1. Beautiful gallery - thanks for sharing.

    I tend to only paint by daylight these days but I used to use a couple of "daylight" bulbs hung above my head. I always found other bulbs would affect my colour vision

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  2. I have just bought one of these
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200901835843?var=500147459721&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
    to replace the bulb in the ceiling light overhead. It is not much brighter than the 100watt bulb it replaced but I am very impressed by the fact that I am not tired at all by painting sessions using it. I am quite impressed.

    Regarding Spencer Smith, they are surprisingly hard to paint. I find you have to think of them as a watercolour sketch compared to a full oil portrait. Think hard about what is not essential to the character of the uniform you want to portray and then leave it off. If I may mix metaphors it is a bit like a Stafford china soldier, you have a shape that is vaguely what you want you must then suggest the uniform with as few brush strokes as possible.
    The charm is that compared with todays urge to paint at least two colours on a button it is a completely lost art.
    Good luck.

    John

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    1. Failing miserably this morning with regard to the Spencer Smiths...
      Even by my standards they are looking truly awful!

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  3. A good day then. I use a couple of anglepoise desk lights with 40w bulbs.....ok but the light is a bit yellow. Didn't get on with Mallinson at all, I tried the first couple but gave up :-(

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    Replies
    1. I know Malliinson is not everyone's cup of tea, will look at our anglepoise lamp too.

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  4. Congratulation !

    Greate pictures !

    best regards Michael

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  5. I have to admit that I gave up with SSMs but this is how good they can look...

    http://www.spencersmithminiatures.co.uk/Battle_of_Blasthof_144dpi.pdf

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  6. Belated congratulations on your anniversary. For some reason I thought of you as living in NZ. Perhaps I'm confusing you with that Piccolo chap. What a treat those Hole murals are. They have a Pre-Raphaelite quality about them that I always find attractive. You are right, they would make a great painted army.
    Don't give up on those SSM figures!

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  7. Sounds like a grand day out.

    I use 2 Ott lites (the folding kind). I like them because they use daylight "bulbs", and the lights themselves can be positioned as needed. (I also use some drugstore reading glasses when I paint; I don't need them for reading, but I can't focus on the fine detail of miniatures without them).

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  8. I use a rather elderly Anglepoise lamp fitted with a daylight bulb (as seen here: http://megablitzandmore.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/modelling-table.html ) . During painting sessions my eyes generally hold out longer then my back!

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