Thursday 27 September 2012

Very Naughty Little Lovelies

Nearly Nude -
Untying Pink Panties

Nearly Nude -
Untying Red Panties

These very naughty little lovelies have just found a new home.

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Swapped, for Oil

I sold a drawing today. Well, I swapped it. For a tank of oil.
What a glamorous life I lead.


It's my blog profile picture.

Monday 18 June 2012

Barnhill, Isle of Jura

I went up to magical Jura last week for a few days. It took as long to get there and back but was completely worth it. I did some sketches, some good, some atrocious. I was too busy marvelling at the beauty of the island, all in a deliciously hazy Stongbow dream. Bliss.


There were sea eagles, goats and seals - oh my!
We spotted the odd unicorn too, but that might have been the Strongbow.


Friday 15 June 2012

Flirts

A while ago I did a drawing for a Singles Dinner and now I've some more little lovelies flirting their way onto Leonora Draws for another evening of relative debauchery, held last night in London. 



Tuesday 29 May 2012

The Independent Lady

So I guess I ought to share that I've been coat-tailing Lux Fix's fabulousness. And it rocks.
They were in The Independent in print and online last week, with their accompanying little lady of mine. 

Blink and you'll miss her, but there she is, rocking along with lovely Lux Fix.
And on line... 


This is what they said about Lux Fix - 


We love: Getting our fix
Lux-fix is a new members-only boutique that's free to join and brings customers pieces direct from the studios of 50 designers courtesy of a weekly email and pop-up shops as well as a common or garden online shop.
lux-fix.com



Monday 28 May 2012

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Sharing my Sunset

The rather apocalyptic sunset from my studio window last night.
Not a bad place to work.


Monday 23 April 2012

ja event management

Argh... the lovely Jeremy of JA Event Management has tweeted and posted about my invitation and place cards he saw last week. He does properly fun and super swanky parties. I'm pretty enamoured by the graffiti house party on his blog, it looks so much fun. I wish I'd been at that one, I'd have felt like an extra in Skins. The Venetian rooftop dinner is definitely better than a kick in the teeth too. Sigh... What a dude.




Thursday 19 April 2012

Mustique

I went on the holiday of a life time a couple of years ago to stay with a friend on Mustique. It was seriously spoiling and beyond amazing. It really is as wonderful, and bonkers as you hear.

Wednesday 18 April 2012

The Tannery


This is one of my earliest, and probably favourite diary drawings.
It is at the Tannery, synonymous for me with adventures when I was little.

Monday 16 April 2012

Pretty Place Cards

I did some place cards for a 'Singles Dinner' over the weekend.
They were fun to do, although my neck hurts something rotten from bending over all day (yikes that sounds wrong - obviously in a completely unkinky way!)







I also did a little sketch for the email reminder on the day.
I think she's appropriately sexy for the party...


Thursday 12 April 2012

Studio Oil Paints


I'm going through my paints at a rate of knots at the moment.
I had a little break from painting this afternoon and sketched some of the tubes of oil paints on my desk. I am in love with my Zecchi and Old Holland ones.


Wednesday 11 April 2012

Fellow Travellers

I went up to London for Easter and as I got on the train in the remotest of Welsh stations, I realised I'd forgotten my laptop, iPod and book. Urgh. In fact, over five hours of urgh. So I surreptitiously sketched some of my fellow travellers when I thought they were't looking. Please take into account that they all seemed to have ants in their pants and didn't sit still, and the jiggliness of the train (especially the Welsh Arriva line).

This man lady (left) scurried on and smelt of curry 
& this lady (right) manically chewed gum (but sweetly pointed out I'd dropped my headphones)

I peeked between the seats to sketch this voluptuous Indian girl
clutching her Louis Vuitton handbag at Birmingham.

The man (left) was terrified of missing his stop
& this lady (right) on the way back to Wales had an enchanting bull terrier at her feet.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Sera Monastery, Tibet

I've been wasting hours of my life on Pinterest of late. It's shameful. I can't seem to tear myself away from images of South East Asia. So while I am away from  internet access and joining the land of the living over Easter, I'm scheduling this post of another little oil painting. This time it's of the debating monks at the Sera Monastery outside Lhasa in Tibet. It is a rare moment of calm for them, they're quite lively! Anyone who has been there will know what I mean.

Sera Monestry, Tibet
December 2010

Saturday 7 April 2012

Pa-Oh Girls, Inle Lake

Full of hope for Burma's future, I'm posting a little oil sketch of a couple of Pa-Oh girls selling fish at the market on Inle Lake. They couldn't seem to stop laughing or chatting.

Pa-Oh Girls, Inle Lake
November 2011

Thursday 5 April 2012

Jamie Routley In The BP Portrait Awards

My very talented friend Jamie Routley has submitted a beautiful triptych of Tony Lewis to the BP Portrait Awards and has rather a flattering write-up in The Guardian. Clever Jamie.

Tony Lewis - Jamie Routley
Triptychs in portraiture are not uncommon. Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641) painted Charles I's face and profiles so the sculptor Bernini needn't travel to England to sculpt the monarch. The triptych provided all of the information he needed, such was Van Dyck's brilliance. Don't be fooled by his dates either. The elegance with which he approached painting had a monumental impact on portraiture in England for hundreds of years.

Charles I - Anthony Van Dyck 1635 - 1636
The Royal Collection
Van Dyck's work still resonates. Time and time again, Il Maestro in Italy would hit my canvas with a mile stick asking where I'd put my 'Van Dyck Zee', an expression he coined for the shadow that runs across one eyebrow, down the nose and under it. We spent hours scouring books and visiting galleries to see how Van Dyck had positioned hands in his paintings. They're a tricky business and I loved that his were a little camp, very au fait. At the Van Dyck exhibition at Tate Britain in 2009, the show could have been a very fancy dress night at G.A.Y. Yet they are also incredibly elegant and you never really notice them until you specifically look. Perfect. Il Maestro could be a little antiquated in his tastes but it ran true none the less.


My mega crush Sargent (1856 - 1925) uses some of Van Dyck's approaches to portraiture. In each of the Miss Vickers faces' there are strong 'Van Dyck Zees' and just look at the relaxed elegance of the hand positions.

The Misses Vickers - John Singer Sargent 1884

Do go see the BP Portrait Awards. It starts at the National Portrait Gallery in London and tours the country. And it's free. Please do look out for lovely Jamie's paintings, all elegant fingers crossed he wins.

BP Portrait Awards

Friday 30 March 2012

Spring Magnolia

The magnolia down by The Boat House.


It was one of three planted by my parents for a friend that died.
Rather wonderfully every time we look at it, we remember him and smile.

Thursday 29 March 2012

Elisa by Citizen Couture

What a flurry of posts today! I'm so honoured though that I had to tell you straight away. The super glamourous Citizen Couture posted a little sketch I did of Elisa Nalin on their tumblr and twitter. I sketched Elisa last week when I saw her photograph on Citizen Couture and loved her use of colour. Properly popping and fun.


Thank you a lot Citizen Couture!
(definitely check out the site... it's dreamy).


Diary Drawing

Occasionally, mostly when I'm feeling a little bit mental, I draw some rather peculiar pictures.
They're a sort of diary, and are a release of how I'm feeling (obviously not literally, my rib cage isn't exposed, nor do I have a butterfly as my pelvis!) I drew this very last night when I wasn't quite ready to pack up the studio.
They seem to scare the bejeezers out some of my friends.


The Wicked Witch at Harrods

Best window display EVER? Well done Harrods.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Monday 19 March 2012

Anthropologie Drawn

I so loved the floral print of this dress from the Anthropologie look book I did a little watercolour of it.
I can see myself getting carried away with design again.

Baripada Necklace in Blue £58
Scattered Stellata Dress £98
Ever-Orange Bracelet £116


Anthropologie

Full of the Joys of Spring

Oh Instagram, how you bring out the joys of Spring!
It's bursting all around me here in Wales as I hop, skip and jump about like the goon that I am.

There are daffodils, lambs (I've turned into such a townie, my family would be horrified) and longer days. I love it. My father has just bought the tiniest little fishing boat and we took it out on the water for the first time last Friday. The sea was like glass, not just in the estuary where the swans were... swanning around, but properly out at sea, beyond the bar. It was stunning. And freezing.






This local honey ice cream is the nectar of the gods (well, in the valley at least) and is the reason for the rather large thighs wobbling about, mine included. It's the world's best ice cream, and that's a bold statement from someone who was addicted to gelato in Italy for a bunch of years. There's something incredibly spoiling about going for a walk on the beach eating ice cream.

Sunday 18 March 2012

Word Clock

This word clock is so cool.

Paolo Roversi at The Wapping Project

Well that wasn't such a difficult decision then.
I've been umm-ing and argh-ing for a couple of weeks now about whether or not to shlep up to London again in a weeks time. Then I heard that my most favourite photographer, Paolo Roversi is showing at The Wapping Project until March 31st. How on earth did I not know about this until now?? Crazy. Suddenly a remarkably easy decision to make. These are some of his hauntingly ethereal images.

 Roversi's Muse, Guinevere van Seenus
 Guinevere van Seenus
Kate Moss (1993)

Amber Valletta
'Rainbow Warriors' Vogue May 1996
Natalia Vodianova
Vogue Italia
Natalia Vodianova
'Morning Beauty' Vogue Italia October 2010

& a short interview with Roversi by Dazed Digital...

DD: How closely did you work with the gallery on image selection?
Paolo Roversi: We worked together. We chose images from my book Studio, a selection of my nudes and then it’s about Guinevere, one of my favourite muses.

DD: You spent over 15 years working with Guinevere. Why does she inspire you?
Paolo Roversi: She’s a beautiful creature! Beauty is very important in my work, it’s the most important engine. Guinevere is a mysterious girl. She is feminine, masculine, fragile and strong. She has a lot of different characters, a lot of different levels of beauty. She can stay in front of the camera like a statue. She can then become like a dancer, a ballerina. She is a performer. She can really light up my imagination and my creativity. It’s very important for me.

DD: Your portraits suggest an admiration of classical painting and photography. Are these equally important to you? 
Paolo Roversi: Absolutely. I have been been influenced by a lot of painters, a lot of photographers. I think it is good to be influenced. The masters give you inspiration to do your own work.

DD: Is it the process of taking portraits that you enjoy?
Paolo Roversi: Yes. For me it is a very slow moment. If I took your portrait now, it’s not one, two, click. It is an intense moment, between you and me. I want you to give me a lot, as much as you can. And you feel that, and when you feel that you want more too. You live a special moment together, an emotion together. Without this, the picture is boring. If you don’t live that moment together, the picture will never be strong.

Just one thing... where's Wapping??