A cottage near Cookham church.

The tonal underpainting in acrylic and just a touch of colour going in on the sky and cottage walls. 

I don't like the colour green much, especially dark, sombre greens so this scene may turn out a bit garish. You have been warned.

I like the composition though the lamp post is a bit of a tricky thing - a bit twee. The glass and its reflections might be a way of diverting attention from the jokey aspect of the shape and I have a horrible feeling that I have painted it leaning over to the left.....

A bit of a delay.

This is a painting from a photo I took of an approaching male swan, intent on food.

The fetching swirls on the right are the remnants of a stormy sky from an awful harbour seascape I did in class.

I spent a lot of time trying to portray the bulk and muscle tone of the bird.

The beak here was flat and lacked definition.

This beak is a great improvement and the body looks downy.

I have beefed up the legs but don't want them to become too much of a feature.

I have badly placed the bird on the canvas board - it is too low or else just too big.

 I forget I have to allow for a frame.

Perhaps nearly, possibly the final version of the portrait....

I have canvassed the opinions of family members on this portrait and they think it is best to leave it alone now.

 I am still worried by the Ninja Turtle mask effect around the eyes, making the subject out to be a heroin addict.

Ah yes, I have even forgotten to crop these photos .

This landscape is coming along. 

The foreground grassy field will give me cause to think. It's just green, isn't it?

Two landscapes

This is a familiar view, based on a watercolour sketch. There is to be a large diagonal shadow spreading across the field upwards from the right.

This painting is based on a photo I took during a walk recently over near Hungerford. It is almost abstract in the stark quality of the shapes.

Lots to do here.

Is this the final version? Who knows?

Now, what do we think?

The face shape was not right: too narrow, so I moved the ear further to the right and expanded the jaw line . This caused colour matching problems with the cheek , which has to be rectified but I am happier now with the face shape.

Stage 274 of the oil portrait

Where am I going with this?

The proportions are becoming distorted as I struggle with details.

Eyes are yet to be mastered, the background is undefined, the end of the nose is too pinched and I think the chin has become too small - but I can fiddle on with this for ages yet!

Rubbisher and rubbisher

The top portrait is stage 1, the bottom portrait is after I'd refreshed my palette and come up with an unflattering orangey hue, that I will now have to go over, thus putting out all the tonal values. I will have to start again from scratch, in effect. In real life, the orangey tone is not so pronounced -  it's more a result of poor photography.

I altered the nose - to its detriment - and generally played about making things worse.