I thought I’d have a go at painting some famous faces and as Independence Day was coming up who better than Barack Obama.

I had watched some videos on a technique called ‘Alla Prima’ and tried to paint loosely and in one session but didn’t get it right the first time and did paint over a few more layers after. Took me a few days to paint his face while the background and shoulders were done in a few hours at the end.

On my next painting I shall try to paint even looser with thicker paint.

Size: 50 x 40cm

Medium: Oil on Canvas

I love painting faces from slightly above or below – makes things a little more interesting. This was painted from a really badly taken blurry photo so a lot was made up :p I wanted to paint this as loosely as possible, with brush strokes and all and was tempted to work on it more but Maria told me to leave it and I think she was right.

I started this months ago and had painted an burnt umber under-painting and then left the canvas in a corner so much of the work had been done – it took me about 3 evenings to bring it to completion.

Size: 50 x 40cm

Medium: Oil on Canvas

This is the largest painting I have completed so far and took me a two months to complete – it should’ve taken 2/3 weeks but I’ve been busy at work and distracted when home. I also didn’t want to rush it, which is what I did when I painted the face and then had to repainted about 5 times.

I started painting this from life – but painted most from it from a photo. I intend to paint my next ones completely from life – if I can find sitters :p

I painted the boots and the guitar last and I’m most satisfied with how they came out. I could add more detail in places but I think its time to move onto my next piece…

Size: 100 x 70cm

Medium: Oil on Canvas

I bought some new brushes, some zinc white and linseed oil and tried to paint this as loosely as possible, but I’ve probably refined it a bit too much. I normally only use turps as a medium but have found it dulls the paint a little so decided to go 50/50 with linseed oil and turps and it worked really well.

Size: 50 x 40cm

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Painted from a photo from Katy and Andrew’s wedding. I did a few preliminary sketches on paper to get my composition right, then went ahead and painted the under-painting straight on using a small filbert brush and some burnt sienna. The next day I started on Katy, then Andrew but wasn’t happy with the skin tones, so I repainted over both faces a week later – that’s the beauty of using oils.

Size: 40 x 50cm

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Medium: Pencil on Paper (A4)

This old tailor sat by his sowing machine when Amir took the photograph in Iran a few years back.

Medium: Pencil (HB) on A4 Paper

Medium: Pencil (HB) on A4 Paper

I drew this from a photograph of a friend, who I’ve known for years but not actually met in person yet.

Medium: Pencil (HB) on A4 Paper

I wanted to start improving my drawing so I will be posting more of my sketches and drawings.

This was drawn from a photo taken last summer of an old high school friend of mine.

I finally finished (for now) this painting which was painted from a photo of us from a studio shoot after our one year anniversary. I had the original photo on my iphone beside the easel as I worked.

Started this piece at the end of August but got distracted with life I’m not sure who or what to paint next…

Size: 50 x 40.5cm

Medium: Oil on Canvas

I didnt make this easy for myself by sketching it out so small, but  was too stubborn to start again

I was quite happy with how it turned out and enjoyed experimenting with light and shadow intensities.

Size: 35.5 x 25.4cm

Medium: Oil on Paper

This was sketched from life and painted from a photograph taken on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

I had the most fun painting the reflection on the iphone screen.

Size: 35.5 x 25.4cm

Medium: Oil on Paper

This was painted from a photo taken on an early evening in summer. She said I captured her “knackered after a long day at work look”.

I was experimenting with light and shade and colour temperature.

Size: 35.5 x 25.4cm

Medium: oil on paper

Painted from a photograph… I took it while she was distracted with a toy…

you try getting a 2 year old to sit still!

Size: 35.5 x 25.4cm

Medium: Oil on Paper

35.5 x 25.4cm

25.4 x 17.8 cm