Work in progressMy latest commission features Holywell Church near St. Ives in Cambridgeshire and is being produced for a gentleman who grew up in Holywell village. Initial reference photo This picturesque church is purched atop hill which rises gently from the fenlands and stream below. It is surrounded by trees. All paintings present an element of challenge, but as you will see from the original picture I took on my visit to gather source material in 2009 (see picture above left); the aforementioned trees provided a somewhat restrictive view of the main subject. Main reference photo after image manipulation I used a variety of pictures to create a montage view of the scene, ommitting as much of the foliage as I could as it was important to show as much of the church as possible. The customer asked if I could add elements of an old photograph showing him and his mother seated on a wooden footbridge which has now ceased to exist. I colour-tinted what was a black and white photograph and inserted this image into the main composition along with some cows which were 'digitally' borrowed from a field close by (see picture above left). Painting progress as at 1st February 2010 I am now quite well advanced with this new and exciting commission and the painting as it currently stands is show (above left). This picture shows some of the original pencil sketch still apparent. There is quite a lot of work remaining to be done, but I am aiming to have this piece finished in a couple of months.  NO THIS IS NOT A PHOTOGRAPH! It is in fact the latest stunning painting by Artist John Twinning, in his photorealistic style. John says "My most recently commissioned piece is an animal portrait for a family in Lichfield, Staffordshire of the their beautiful Golden Retriever, Molly. The piece is now finished. Prints of 'Molly's Portrait' are available immediately from the Gallery area of the site. Click the link to take you straight there. Molly's owner said "she was bred by Guide Dogs but sadly rejected by them at a very early age because of a problem with her legs. It was diagnosed as a rotational problem in her hind legs. Instead of puppy walking her, we kept her as a family pet. She has taken part in a few fund raising events." Molly, as you can see from the photograph below, is an extremely affectionate dog and I really enjoyed getting to grips with this lovable canine. I outline below some details of how I approached this work. Directly below is the photograph I used as my source reference for the painting.  Molly reference photo The main commissioned painting of Molly is now complete. However, the picture below shows the work at the earliest stages of development. When you consider the finished piece at the top of the page, you will see that the early stages were not really quite so appealing to the eye. The image below is in fact just the skeleton of the piece and needed to be considerably “fleshed out”. The initial drawing was sketched in using pencil and the painting was established with thin washes of gouache to mark positions of important features such as the eyes and nose etc. Concentration on positioning the eyes was particularly important as it is surprising how much information the eyes and their position give in identifying a subject - human or animal. Layers of thicker gouache were then added and the details built up. One of the reasons I rate gouache so highly is its ability to be over-painted. However, one must be careful not to work the paint too heavily or one can mix and drag up the colours underneath into layers above.  Molly painting in early stages of development.  Molly painting at about 38 hours of work. Below is the preliminary sketch which I completed earlier using a limited palette of black, white and grey pastels on a neutral brown/grey pastel paper. Prints of 'Molly - pastel sketch' are available to purchase in the Animal Portraiture section of the Gallery.  Completed pastel sketch. I'm also about to launch a series of framed photographs of some pictures I took on a journey to Paris in 1983. The first image Street Musician, Montmartre, Paris, 1983 is now available as a framed or unframed print. Please contact me for prices and ordering details.  |
The Lone Fisher  Original - gouache on paper © John Twinning 2006 & 2010 This seagull hoping for its last tasty morsel of fish that day nearly cost me a broken leg. I was visiting Lee Bay, part of the Lee Abbey Community's grounds in Devon. It was late one summer evening with the low, setting sun highlighting the wet rocks and with the tide crashing in quickly around the big boulders. The gull was a long way off and even with my longest telephoto lens I hadn't quite got the photograph I wanted. I started to pick my way across some wet, shiny and very slippery rocks with shoes that weren't strictly speaking up to the job, in order to get closer in. Of course the inevitable happened. I slipped and went down with an almighty bang onto one of the rocks, bruising and severely grazing my leg as well as being extremely winded and yes….a little humiliated - especially when the seagull didn't event flinch or turn around to check if I was OK. It was lucky I didn't break a leg or get my foot trapped or worse… as there was nobody else about and the tide continued to come in rapidly. All my equipment went everywhere and I still have a dented lens hood to prove it. Yes, you've probably guessed it, I work a lot from photography in my paintings and drawings. I was pleased that I took the risk as this is one of my favourite images. What a hero! Browse more images: Churches & Cathedrals | Topographical Studies  |