The wee ones III. Saturday Night
Acrylic on wooden panel
This piece began by accident when I looked over one Saturday night and saw the wee ones reading under a light in the sitting room. The light and shade and colours wouldn't leave my head until I started painting. Normally perspective is something I have to get right, but in this instance the play with perspective on the floor really brings the piece to life. The blue outline keeps a simplicity to the composition. All in all I really like this piece, but it may be a while before I attempt a double portrait again.
Privately owned.
Sinéad
Oil on canvas
Studying how others do portraits I am always amazed at how some colours blend, other stand out as light dances across a face. I also try to see how portraits capture more than the obvious and where the personality comes through. This portrait of my wife Sinéad was my chance to play with these elements. I think this painting mixes these elements really nicely as well as capturing a good likeness. BTW, I also like the scarf.
Privately owned.
Daddy
Acrylic on canvas
After my father passed away photographs kept his image in my mind. However, something was missing. He was quiet and thoughtful and really got pleasure from simple things. Most photographs were posed and like most of us, at weddings etc.
I painted this portrait in an evening surrounded by a tornado of photographs and cherished memories. As the paint began to work on the canvas daddy's look appeared. I stopped immediately and was happy. I didn't aim for a finished photographic piece, I aimed for something else and the loose brushstrokes and subtle colours captured that. This now sits up at home on a shelf in the sitting room.
Privately owned.
The wee ones II
Pencil on paper
I never learn and this double portrait was particularly challenging. Thankfully, the line work went my way and a little dot of missing pencil on an eye gives a sparkle to the drawing.
Privately owned.
Wee fella I
Pastel on paper
In school I loved pastel. I used it for a lot of works that make the most of this medium and probably more where it did not. Sure, that is part of the learning process and someday I might put some up.
I discovered that portraits can be a great source of inspiration when working in pastel. This is the wee fella.
Drawing your child for the first time is one of the rare pleasures in life. His eyes sparkled and the dribble down his chin was a permanent fixture for a good while when teething. A little stroke is all it takes to bring these to life once the base colours are working.
Some day I will go again at the pastel portraits and include the blues, reds and other unlikely colours that I love to see now in a portrait.
Privately owned.
Wee fella II
Acrylic on paper
I was into acrylics for a long time and had set a target for myself. No piece should take longer than it takes to listen to a Desert Island Discs. The wee fella had got his first Dublin GAA top and to mark the occasion I decided to do a sketch in acrylic. I like that the swift (more like blind panic) movements come across in the final piece and that I captured his happy 'I've got a new top' gaze.
Privately owned.
The Nephew
Pastel on paper
As a Baptism present I did this piece of my nephew. I some how was in a 1930s vibe at the time and this comes across in the palette. As I write this he is sitting on the couch watching YouTube with the wee fella. I like that, although he has grown up a lot, some elements in this piece still flicker through. Sometimes my portraits although good can lack a place in space. As I look at this there is still a pleasing three dimensional feel to the colour work.
Privately owned.
Wee ones I
Oil on canvas
I was watching a John Myatt programme on the TV many years ago. Watching him gave me a hankering to paint. I hoked out the oils and got going on this piece.
I kept a simple dark background to make the colours stand out. It was a challenge to work in oils for my first oil portrait. I erred on the side of caution and tried for natural skin tones. The arm arrangement nicely avoided painting hands.
Privately owned.
Eamon's Greenhouse
Oil on canvas
This is a piece aimed at capturing an era. Eamon sits in his greenhouse surrounded by things that he admired and picked up over the years. Each one has a story and was chosen for a reason. I exaggerated the size of the greenhouse to make it seem like more of a gallery. The pieces sit where they are arranged. Each one with a story. I decided to create an impression of Eamon and the pieces rather than a literal representation. This is how I see the greenhouse when I think about it.
Privately owned.
Seamus and Finn
Acrylic on canvas
This was another piece inspired by a glance and light. I was up in Enniskillen at my uncles garage one summers evening at dusk.
The light, shadows, colours and atmosphere stopped really appealed to me and I had to paint the scene. I like this piece as it is a painting within a painting with two separate palettes. The blue in the garage draws one in and ties the painting together. The sky goes on forever and the garage has limited depth and I enjoyed playing with this. Seamus is looking out. I think he is waiting on something.
Privately owned.
Brody
Acrylic on canvas
A good friend of mine took us on his yacht around Ireland's Eye. I started this painting and realised early on that a white dog on a white canvas would end up mainly be a background with two black eyes.
I painted the canvas red and from then on building up colours was a fight against this colour. A translucent while gave me the opportunity to build up lots of layers and give Brody a nice presence in the piece. Although there is a lot of blue I feel the warmth and personality really shone through.
Privately owned.
Sam
Oil on canvas
This is Mr Puss and took forever to paint. I was harder than most human portraits. I was getting to grips with oil but the dark shapeless mass that makes up most of Sam left it hard to get proportions and a look that was Sam.
It was Sam who demanded the flounce and grandeur in the background. I think it draws out the green in his eyes quite nicely.
Privately owned.