8 by 8

I am a big fan of the Courtauld Gallery. It has a wonderful collection of Impressionist and Post Impression painting but on a recent visit I was particularly taken by the Seurat Sketches in Gallery 11b. There are half a dozen oil sketches all about 8 x 6 inches, mostly done as studies for bigger work. I found myself drawn to them, going back again and again, to study them. In these sketches Seurat is experimenting with techniques and working with a limited palette. I found them very fresh and exciting as works in their own right.

And it got me to thinking about setting myself a project; to create my own series of small oil paintings with a restricted palette using no brushes, just a palette knife.Using a palette knife stops me fiddling and allows me to work the paint impasto in an almost sculptural manner. I also opted for a square format, measuring 8 x 8 inches (20 x 20 cm.). The square format presents its own compositional challenges but opportunities too. So far I have got two paintings which cut the mustard, at least in my own terms, "Le Jazz" and "The Show Must Go On!". With Le Jazz there is a lot of scumbled and glazed colour. The physicality of the paint is more apparent with heavier impasto in The Show Must Go On! There are others, works-in-progress, and I am enjoying experimenting, very invigorating. Another six to go for my little "8 x 8" series. Watch this space!

Down came the rain

"The Show Must Go On!"

oil on canvas

8 x 8 in. / 20 x 20 cm.

Open air jazz festivals are always going to be somewhat problematic in this country given our wayward weather. I remember trying to sketch a group of jazz aficionados huddling under umbrellas during a July thunderstorm, while I was holding an umbrella and my sketch book in one hand and drawing with the other. Not ideal! That moment is commemorated in this painting with the audience watching on under their umbrellas while the girl in the yellow dress tries to shelter the trumpeter and sax player under her umbrella.

A couple of the original moleskine sketches

Le Jazz

oil on canvas

8 x 8 in./ 20 x 20 cm.

Based on a series of sketches of the Dutch Swing College Band which I did a couple of years ago at a jazz festival. Using sketches of Marcel Hendriks on piano and Adrie Braat on double bass, to which I have added the singer in the red dress to suit my composition. I often work listening to Jazz, particularly a French internet radio station called Jazz Radio , "La Radio de tous les Jazz". Hence the title of the work, "Le Jazz"! Done just using a palette knife to stop me from fiddling with the detail.

Two of the original moleskine sketches

Note : the painting is not up on my web-site yet..