This is my latest painting, lots of people enjoying a hot sunny morning in Portobello Road.

Portobello Road.  13" x 20.5"

I usually buy a pack of five full sheets of w/colour paper, then stretch two full sheets and six half sheets, I then spend a day doing pencils.
These are the pencils for my next eight paintings:

1 - Untitled 12.5" x 19"
A group of men having a chat in the sun.
2 - Reading 13" x 19"
Two couples reading on a bench, a paperback, a kindle and two newspapers.
3 - Wardleys Creek 20" x 12"
Lots of boats and jetties, it's quite near Skippool Creek where I've done numerous paintings.
4 - Portobello Road market. 13" x 20.5"
A crowded market scene, ref taken from a small video from our recent London trip.
5 - Untitled. 13" x 16"
A man reading his morning paper.
6 - Two girls. 9" x 12"
Girls talking on the quayside wall.
7 - Swans. 19" x 28"
A large painting of two swans, the challenge is not to make a chocolate box image.
8 - Untitled. 18" x 26"
This has been ready to paint for at least six weeks!

An early summer morning, a man rowing on the River Thames at Kew.

Rower  12" x 19"

Coffee to go. 14" x 9" Watercolor on Saunders w/color paper.
A young woman enjoying a coffee with her little Dachshund on her lap.

Coffee to go.   14" x 9"

Shoppers leaving the Arndale shopping centre, making the most of a sunny day in Manchester!
Just finished this painting, be careful of 'spoonerisms' when you say the title!
I will post a step-by-step later today.

City centre shoppers. 15" x 24"

This is my next painting, it's untitled at the moment, I will post the finished painting tomorrow, hopefully. I will also post a step-by-step demo.

Just finished this painting, I've been busy with my illustration work so not really had time to do much painting. I could only paint when I had a bit of spare time, this was on my board for well over a week!

Cards in the sun.  13" x 20"

I've just received my copy of Splash 15, looks fantastic, very pleased, this is my spread in the book.

Landau drivers waiting for fares on the promenade at Blackpool, this is from a series of photos that I took last summer. A Landau is a coach building term for a type of four-wheeled, convertible carriage, the Landaus generally operate between the Pleasure Beach and a point just south of Blackpool Tower.

Waiting for a fare.   12" x 20"

 

FASO Featured Artists: Artist Graham Berry

by Carrie Turner on 6/6/2014 12:53:43 AM

This article is by Carrie Turner, editor of FineArtViews. During her tenure as editor, FineArtViews has been mentioned or referenced by The Huffington Post, MLive, WorldNetDaily (WND), artnet, COMPANY, American Artist Magazine, ArtBizBlog, The Abundant Artist, EmptyEasel and many other publications and blogs. FASO Featured Artists (FFA) is a regular blog series on FineArtViews. Art critic Brian Sherwin is a consultant for the FFA series.  The FFA selections are featured prominently on the FineArtViews newsletter -- and are shared with over 25,580+ subscribers. You can read about other recent FASO Featured Artists by clicking here.

Busy Morning by artist Graham Berry
(Watercolor on Arches watercolor paper)

Artist Graham Berry is known for creating eye-catching watercolor paintings. Graham's art is marked by a vibrant use of color. His paintings of beach scenes and other social gatherings offer viewers a charming slice of life. Additionally, he paints coastal scenes and landscape paintings.


Sunbathers by artist Graham Berry
(Watercolor on Arches watercolor paper)

Concerning his watercolor paintings, Berry stated, "My paintings are inspired by the effect of light and shadow on our environment, creating dynamic shapes and colours. I especially enjoy painting people going about their everyday lives."

Art critic Brian Sherwin, Editor of The Art Edge, commented on Graham's watercolor paintings, remarking, "Graham Berry has an eye for capturing people at work and play. His paintings of social gatherings -- be it a market place or resort -- reveal the energy that surrounds us in daily life... reminding us that life is never truly dull as long as we learn to 'see'."


Crowded Bench by artist Graham Berry
(Watercolor on watercolor paper)

You can learn more about artist Graham Berry and his watercolor paintings by visiting www.grahamberrystudio.com.

This is the progress on my latest painting, I've got some illustration work to do so not sure if I'll finish it today. I'm using just 5 colours on this painting: Aureolin, Quinacridone Gold, Permanent Rose, Cobalt Blue and Cerulean Blue.

Waiting for a fare.   12" x 20"

This is what I'm on with at the moment, Landau drivers waiting for fares on the promenade at Blackpool, this is from a series of photos that I took last summer. 

A Landau is a coach building term for a type of four-wheeled, convertible carriage, the Landaus generally operate between the Pleasure Beach and a point just south of Blackpool Tower. I will post a step-by-step demo after I've finished it.

Waiting for a fare.   12" x 20"

  

This is what is on my board at the moment, I started this before our break in London, another in my google street view series, it's somewhere in Italy. It's on a heavy weight paper that I found in my studio, it's not a paper that I normally use, I don't even know the make of it. I will post the finished painting tomorrow.

Family day out.   10" x 10"

Another painting in my 'google. street view series, I liked the grouping of the figures and the way they interacted with each other. A good little painting exercise for me.

I've just completed this painting 'Afternoon nap, should I start another or should I watch the football? Decisions, decisions!

Afternoon nap.   15" x 11"

Another painting of a man sitting on a bench in strong sunlight, I loved the colors. I first did a little pencil tonal study, not a very accurate drawing compared to the one I did for the painting but it didn't need to be. I started the painting today but will probably finish it tomorrow.

This is a tonal study for a painting I hope to be doing in the coming weeks, some days I don't feel like starting a painting, so I like to do some drawing instead.

Normally when I start a drawing  I do a rough block-in to establish it's position on the paper. I begin to establish the main directional angles of the figures form to orient it correctly in the space of the paper.

A good system to use to is the clock system, I found this in 'Expressive figure drawing' by Bill Buchman, the clock system is based on the the same idea as the compass system but since it has six basic positions for the angles or axes, it offers more precision, an example is 6'o'clock to 12'o'clock ( vertical ).

One of the good things about the clock system is that it can be refined, depending on how precise you want your directional angles to be, so you can define the angles at half hours, as in 2:30 to 8:30 creating finer angles in between the six basic ones.

Once I've established the basic drawing I also look for the

negative spaces or little shapes throughout the drawing. The sense of movement in a figure study is conveyed by the angles, direction and dynamic shapes created by the pose. When drawing remember to check your angles constantly.

Constructing an image for painting.
On our recent trip to Liverpool we had a few hours of sunshine, it was during one of these brief periods that I took a few photos that I thought might make it into one of my paintings, I found a nice high viewpoint, giving dramatic shadows, and snapped a few photos of the people as they streamed into 'Liverpool One' shopping center. Now I'm back home I can look through the photos and see if any could be used for a painting, sometimes I can be lucky and find among my photos an image that will need little alteration but for a little cropping but most of the time some extra editing is needed. in this case I've taken elements from several photos and placed them in a more pleasing composition, all this was done in 'Photoshop' on my computer.
Sometimes if I want to capture a busy scene I will use the video setting on my camera and then I can grab screenshots when I'm viewing it on my computer.

Just finished this little painting, I really liked the laid back pose of the lad on the left.

Two lads   12" x 9"

I've just sold this painting, so glad, I was getting a bit worried. This is a Mother and her daughters paddling in the sea at Blackpool, something I used to love doing when I was little.

Paddling   16" x 10"

This is the painting that was on my board a couple of days ago, a little cherub fountain in Risco Bello gardens, located alongside the Hotel Taoro above the town of Puerto de la Cruz, tenerife. These extraordinary aquatic gardens provide water landscapes to rival a Monet canvas, and a genteel tea garden in which Agatha’s ghost wouldn’t look out of place were it to materialize. Steps, footbridges and hidden paths lead around and across lily-filled ponds, waterfalls and bougainvillea backed pools where nature and secateurs have reached a compromise. Exploring Risco Bello is like discovering a secret paradise and then being able to go for coffee and cakes by the lake afterwards.
This is from our recent trip to Tenerife, I posted a little sketch that I did while I was there.

Cherub fountain   12" x 9"

This is what is on my board at the moment, halfway through 'Cherub fountain', should finish it later today.

 

On the steps.   11" x 8"

These are the pencils for my next four paintings.

Another look.   12" x 10"

 

Just finished this painting, a striking image of a very glamorous lady walking in the hot afternoon sun.

Walking in the hot sun.   12" x 8"

A lovely image of two friends walking along the shoreline, stopping to look at something interesting, I think they are collecting shells.

Look what I've found.   11" x 9"

BoldBrush Painting Competition.

 My painting, "Doing the rounds", was an award winner in the April 2014 BoldBrush Painting competition.
"Doing the rounds" was awarded the honor Outstanding Watercolor by FAV Jury.

You can view my winning entry, along with the other winning paintings at:
http://contest.fineartstudioonline.com/winners/136

The award includes a feature article in http://informedcollector.com, will be scheduled to run in the upcoming weeks.
 

Just finished this painting 'Boats for hire' on Ullswater, in the English Lake District. Ullswater is the second largest lake at 7.5 miles long. on average 3/4 mile wide and with a maximum depth of 205 feet at Howtown. It has three distinct bends giving it a dog's leg appearance. Many regard Ullswater as the most beautiful of the English lakes. We stayed in Pooley bridge a village at the northern extremity of the lake, this is where I found this image to paint, lovely early evening light falls on these boats as they are tied up for the night.

Boats for hire.   12" x 18"

Just finished these two small paintings, 'Leaving port' and 'Boy, fishing in the sea'.

A beautiful sunny morning, the light and the color of the sea were incredible. A very strong breeze was blowing, which I hope I've conveyed by the way his jeans and jacket are billowing and the movement in the sea. I think he's trying to light his cigar!

Breezy morning fishing. 12" x 9"

Walking down the hill.   14" x 10"

I've just finished this little painting, people walking downhill to the lakeside, this is Malcesine, a little village on the shores of Lake Garda

Some more tonal studies for future paintings, not sure what painting to do next?

Two tonal studies of paintings that I'm planning to do, both are cafe scenes from our recent trip to Tenerife. The couple talking is going to be a full sheet painting and the woman profile is going to be a half sheet. Not sure when I will be doing these, hopefully in the next few weeks.

Finally finished this painting, a night scene is something I don't normally do, I can't wait to get back in the sunshine!

Carnival cooks. 18" x 28"

This is a painting I finished yesterday, it's from our recent trip to Tenerife, beautiful light.
A truck has the side opened and a red awning lowered to provide cover for the goods on sale. All kinds of cold meats, cheeses and wines are now on offer, lots of people gathering on this lovely spring morning.

Spring morning.   12" x 20"

A young couple sunbathing on the beach.

Sunbathers.   12" x 20"

This painting was done for a recent DPW challenge, from a photo supplied by Carol Marine.
Available through 'Dailypaintworks.'

Bikeman.   9" x 9"

Lunchtime at a tapas bar in Puerto de la Cruz, fantastic light and colors and lovely tapas!

Lunch in the sun.   10" x 13"

Another painting in my google street view series. Three men walking slowly along the sidewalk, too hot to go any quicker. I rearranged the men a little to give a more balanced composition, I really enjoy looking for people or scenes to paint using google street view, this is obviously not in the smartest neighbourhood but I just liked the cast shadows on the wall, also the men are light against dark and then dark against light.

Three men walking.   9" x 14"

Another small figure study, a young woman waking into the strong sunlight. In the background is a truck with the side open and shaded with a red awning, selling cheeses, hams and wine. I'm just warming up for a few larger paintings already drawn up!

Girl with pony tail.   14" x 10"

These three paintings have been selected for North Light Books’ latest watercolor competition Splash 16: Exploring Texture! The book should be published June 2015.

Couple walking in the sun.   12" x 8"

Dad and son fishing from the quayside, lovely early morning light.

Early morning fishing. 10" x 10"

Just finished this painting 'Girls walking by',

Girls walking by.   12" x 18"

I really liked the grouping of the figures, not sure if the two men are looking at the girls or not, what do you think?