Tuesday 30 September 2014

Monday 29 September 2014

Egg and Vase

Oil painting of an egg and a small blue and white Chinese-style vase with gold patterns.
As an Australian, I pronounce the word vase with a long a, as in Mars; however, I'm happy to resort to American pronunciation for the sake of a pun.  You see, I don't wan't to get egg on my vase.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Sunday 28 September 2014

Glazed Terracotta Pot with Lemon

Oil painting of a blue and white glazed terracotta pot beside a lemon.
This is the second time I've painted this terracotta pot; welcome back terracotta.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Saturday 27 September 2014

Lemon-Scented Gums, Royal Park, Melbourne

Oil painting of two lemon-scented gums in bright mid-afternoon sunlight.
I purposely avoided putting these trees in the dead centre of the painting, hence they may be referred to as lemon off-centred gums.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Friday 26 September 2014

Apple Detail

Small oil painting of the top of an apple with a protruding core.
A red and green pink lady apple.

Oil on canvas board, 2" x 2"

Thursday 25 September 2014

Antique Medicine Bottle with ISO Tasting Glass

Oil painting of a brown bottle partly obscuring a wine glass.
Wine is a medicine for some (and I've been at a barbecue today where I've taken a fair dose, so doubtless I'll receive a different type of medicine tomorrow).

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Tuesday 23 September 2014

Red Pepper with Antique Schnapps Bottle

Oil painting of a red pepper beside a green antique Schiedam schnapps bottle.
A peppery characteristic is often desirable is a red wine such as Shiraz or Syrah, but I'm not sure peppery schnapps has the same appeal.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Monday 22 September 2014

Pear with Milk Jug

Oil painting of a green pear beside a white porcelain milk jug.
I've painted each of these items many times (though never together), hence I could be accused of milking the porcelain jug, or simply inviting the viewer to compare.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Sunday 21 September 2014

Pipers Creek Telephone Exchange and Harmony Row Vineyard

Oil painting of a small light-coloured building with several other larger buildings and trees behind, with rolling and lightly-treed hills in the background.
The light-coloured box in the centre of the picture is the Pipers Creek telephone exchange.  I suspect  you wouldn't get much in exchange for a telephone these days.

Saturday 20 September 2014

Teapot and Tea Caddy

Oil painting of teapot in front of a black tea caddy with gold-coloured patterns and the word tea printed on the front.
I painted this while watching Apocalypse Now on the telly.  I looked deep within my heart of darkness and found a nice cup of tea--black, mind you.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Friday 19 September 2014

Onion and Copper Vase

Oil painting of an onion with an Art Deco copper vase behind.
Apparently copper is good conductor, hence this was an attempt to orchestrate a coppery composition.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Tuesday 16 September 2014

Glencairn Whisky Glass with Banana

Oil painting of a banana wrapped around the base of an empty Glencairn whisky glass.
A Speyside malt whisky typically smells of bananas (or fruitcake).  In this picture, the banana represents the smell, and the empty whisky glass represents what happens if a Speyside malt gets anywhere near my alcoholic clutches.

While the posting of this image is coincidental with the date of the Scottish referendum, might I offer my condolences to my Scottish friends who voted yes (or aye) today (or yesterday as it is in Scotland now, but not in Australia).

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Monday 15 September 2014

Copper Jug and Garlic Bulb

Oil painting of a small copper jug casting a shadow on a garlic bulb.
While this jug pun is very pour, it's the terrible garlic joke that means this website really should be cloved down.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Sunday 14 September 2014

Royal Park Train Station at Melbourne Zoo

This was painted from near the second tee of the Royal Park Golf Course, and it was somewhat disconcerting to hear sundry golfers teeing off behind me.  You might say it was good training in the art of remaining stationary, which is rather appropriate skill to have when painting a train station.

Oil on canvas board, 5" x 7"

Saturday 13 September 2014

Saturday Afternoon, Royal Park, Melbourne

Oil painting of two figures sitting in the shade of a eucalypt early on a sunny afternoon.
Royal Park presented a royally pleasing scene on a royally agreeable afternoon, while the two figures represented in the painting (the blobs below the tree) had well and truly parked themselves in the shade.

Oil on canvas board, 7" x 5"

Friday 12 September 2014

Pear and Ginger Beer Bottle

Oil painting of a pear and an earthenware ginger beer bottle with Rowlands written diagonally across its front.
Ginger beer bottle and a pear beside.  Not quite as fun, however, as a ginger beer and pear be-cider.

Wednesday 10 September 2014

Portrait: Man in a Hat

Oil painting of an older man in a light-coloured wide-brimmed hat wearing sunglasses and a blue shirt.
Single session portrait of a man in a hat wearing his sunnies.  The light looks bright, but this was painted indoors and therefore the glasses and hat serve no practical purpose.

Oil on canvas board, 12" x 16:

Tuesday 9 September 2014

Zucchini with Jar of Barley

Oil painting of a zucchini lying beside a jar of barley with a red lid.
A zucchini is a two-piece swimsuit for animals; one which barley covers their bodies.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Monday 8 September 2014

Apple with Silver-Plated Jug

I found another small jug in the second-hand shop; I now own three small jugs.  This unstoppable accumulation of jugs could perhaps be described as a juggernaut, though a juggernaut might also describe the condition where one owns no jugs at all.

Sunday 7 September 2014

Manna Gum, Rosebery Hill, Pipers Creek

Oil painting of a Manna Gum in strong afternoon sunlight, with trees and a hill in the background.
This is definitely not a Mannerist painting, but it is Manna Gumist.

Oil on canvas board, 5" x 7"

Saturday 6 September 2014

River Red Gum, Royal Park, Melbourne

Oil painting of a River Red Gum with other Eucalypts in the background, and late afternoon shadows in the foreground.
I reckoned this Royal Park River Red Gum of respectable reach would be resplendent if rendered with the rays of the late reign of the refulgent sun.  In other words, I thought the afternoon sun looked good on this tree.

Oil on canvas board, 5" x 7"

Friday 5 September 2014

Wooden Artist's Model Hand

Oil painting of a wooden artist's model hand, facing away from the viewer, with the middle finger extended.
Here the artist is inviting the viewer to join him in his existential crisis by sharing his cathartic response to the modern world.  Actually, to be honest it's nothing more than the forty-year-old artist demonstrating his juvenility.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Thursday 4 September 2014

Female Nude: Back Study

Oil painting of a female nude sitting on a chair, facing away from the viewer with a green cushion under one arm.
Painted over two class sessions (28th August and 4th September).  This particular model has an exceptional ability to keep still; she is, in fact, the very model of a model.

Oil on canvas board, 16" x 20"

Wednesday 3 September 2014

Teacup with Lemon

Oil painting of a lemon (retaining part of its stalk) alongside a white Queen Anne teacup decorated with a yellow rose.
This is actually a painting of two lemons: the citrus fruit, and the failure of a teacup.  In order to see the highlight on the inside of the teacup, it was necessary for me to sit up straight; however, the inevitable slouch took over and I wound up painting the bottom of the cup from a different perspective.  Multiple viewpoints are all very well if you're a Post-Impressionist named Cézanne, but I am not he, alas, and this is supposed to be an exercise in Tonal Realism.

Oil on canvas board, 6" x 4"

Tuesday 2 September 2014

Glass Vase with Yellow Daffodil

Oil painting of a yellow daffodil lying beside a glass vase.
This flower was picked a number of days earlier and was beginning to wilt.  I can assure you it was no shrinking violet, because clearly it was a shrinking daffodil.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"

Monday 1 September 2014

Daffodils in Blue Castor Oil Bottle

Daffodils from my folk's garden.  Unusually for me, not only have I painted real flowers, but I've also taken the novel approach of placing them inside a receptacle rather than beside it.

Oil on canvas board, 4" x 6"