Thursday 11 December 2014

Dec 2014 paintings

Recent oil on board paintings:


Val at Gaomei Wetlands



Summit of Jade Mountain



Noodle Man on Yongching St.



Entrance Pot Plant

Sunday 2 November 2014

Limited palette and other experiments

Having amassed more colours than were genuinely useful I decided to experiment with simplifying my process and painting some pictures with a limited palette.

One of my teachers a few years ago had our class paint self portraits using paine's grey, burnt sienna and raw sienna, an exercise I found instructive.

After some experiments I decided to roll with the "Zorn palette" named after the Swede Anders Zorn. (He was known as the Swedish Sargent - check out his self portrait in red, it's a real ripper). The combination is similar to my teacher's, but with a punchier red. The palette is ivory black, yellow ochre, and vermillion red (a middle red containing mercury... highly poisonous... ancient tubes still obtainable at my art store here in Taichung!)

 A surprising array of colours can be attained with only red, yellow ochre and black (and of course white). The red I used was a mix of alizarin and cadmium red light. The black was a mix of ivory black and ultramarine blue, the blue helping to attain greens when mixing with the yellow ochre.


Self portrait - my first foray with the Zorn palette
This palette is great for skin tones and portraiture but not so great for landscapes - I had to cheat and add some blue to get a greener green for the landscape I attempted.

There is a lot to be said for simplifying the palette. By making colour decisions so easy it frees you up to concentrate on other aspects of painting. It unifies the painting as almost any colour on the canvas will contain the same ingredients as any other. It makes life easier. I've enjoyed the experiment greatly and while I wouldn't use a limited palette exclusively, it seems to me a great way to make a sketch or lay out a painting that can then be expanded on with more colours.


Serious artists eat their eggs with a palette knife.


 I added some blue to the palette with this one to get stronger greens. This composition is successful but the sky could do with some livening up, and I could sure use some more practice painting trees!


I cheated by adding some blue for the tie on this painting of my parents in law.


After all that limited palette stuff I felt like busting out the cadmiums for this one. I was going for the Margaret Preston type black outlines... not sure if it was too successful... but it was certainly fun.




I had fun with the lurid green on this one too. Meet Claire and Jason's wounded puppy!!




I am still fooling around with this painting of an everyday Taiwanese scene. I was surprised at how difficult it was to get the colour of lamplit ashphalt. The board is a little small for a lot of detail so I might not do much more...




Val's beautiful smile



Friday 31 October 2014

Copies

Since completing the last exhibition series I've had been painting a variety of things on smaller boards. The pictures below are small copies of paintings by some artists of the past that I particularly like. It's been instructive in terms of colour mixing and paint handling - without having to worry about original composition it is much easier to concentrate on those things. The dead guys can teach you stuff!

The artists are Levitan, Sorolla (detail on canvas), Repin, Seago and Neel. (I don't claim to own the copyright to these images so, y'know, go easy on me...)











Thursday 30 October 2014

"Shadows" Exhibition

The "Shadows" show has been up at the wonderful Lei gallery for all of this past month.  We had a brilliant opening and the show also served as the backdrop to a very fun album launch concert by local outfit Vicious Cabaret and friends.

Vicious Cabaret

Yours truly!

Here are the images of the paintings shown. All are oil on canvas except for Yellow Slicker (acrylic).




Four Scooters (91x72cm.)


Around the Bend (72x60cm.)


Old Guard (91x72cm.)


Shadows (80x60cm.)


Demolition (91x65cm.)


Yellow Slicker (91x72cm.)


Yellow Slicker 2 (35x27cm.)


 Dusk, People's Park (35x27cm.)


Statue (35x27cm.)


Xitou View (80x60cm.)


Sunday 21 September 2014

Upcoming Exhibition at Lei Gallery


I'm excited to be doing a show with my friends at Lei Gallery. I will pics of the works posted here after the opening.

If you're in Taiwan please come to the opening on the 4th October! Details on flier above.

Thursday 31 July 2014

Commissioned Paintings and Pastel Sketches



"Amy" - commissioned portrait
Oil on Board
30 by 21 cm




"Taiwan Blue Magpie" - commissioned for FYE shoe store
Oil on Board
42 by 30 cm




"Bananas and Apple on Blue Plate"
Soft Pastel




"Bottles"
Soft Pastel

Wednesday 25 June 2014

"Min Sheng Bay Loo" Print Series

"Min Sheng Bay Loo" Print Series 

A series of six linocut still lifes from around the apartment on Minsheng Bei Lu.



 Bedside



Chair



Helmet



Kitchen



Shower



Tatung

Tuesday 24 June 2014

Misc. paintings and sketches


Eating Fish (2014)
Oil on Board
30 by 21 cm


Helmet and Shoes (2014)
Oil on Board
42 by 30 cm


Paint Tubes and Tea (2014)
Oil on Board
30 by 21 cm


 Riders (2014)
Oil on Board
42 by 30 cm


Sesame Oil and Apron (2014)
Oil on Board
42 by 30 cm




Sunday 27 April 2014

"I Can't Read" Exhibition, Taichung

In March 2014 I opened my first solo show at Galerie 239 in Taichung, Taiwan:

Leigh Hewitt
I Can't Read: Four Months a Foreigner
Bang, Snap, Shut Up!


Galerie 239, 15th March to 14th April 2014 (Extended until 17th May)

    Leigh Hewitt (Australia) is a painter and printmaker. As a newcomer to Taichung, "I Can't Read" (2014) records some of his first impressions of life in a new city through street-scapes, still lifes and portraiture. The show's title refers to a foreigner's sense of regression into a child-like state in an environment of symbols, sounds and customs he does not understand.

    Shown alongside "I Can't Read" is the artist's book of prints "Bang, Snap, Shut Up!" (2013): a series of prisoner portraits that reflects on issues of identity and privacy in the age of instant information.


The Works:



1. Chin Yen in Blue 穿藍色洋裝的沁嫣 (2014) 
Oil on Board
100 by 75 cm



2. The Cynic 憤世嫉俗的人(2014)
Oil on Board
100 by 75 cm



3. KL Runway 吉隆坡機場跑道(2014)
Oil on Board
60 by 90 cm



4. On Xiangshang 向上路上(2014)
Oil on Board
60 by 42 cm


5. Grocery Run 買菜去(2014)
Oil on Board
45 by 30 cm



6. Pink Self Portrait 粉色的自畫像(2014)
Oil on Board
41.5 by 29.5 cm



7. Office 辦公室(2014)
Oil on Two Attached Boards
42 by 60 cm



8. Taiwan, Asahi and Nandi Flame 啤酒瓶與火焰木(2014)
Oil on Board
30 by 42 cm



9. Apple and Brick 蘋果與磚塊(2014)
Oil on Board
22 by 15 cm


The Show: