I am in the ROI show with two paintings and many friends have managed to 'get one (or more) in' this year but I barely had time to check where mine had been hung or view any friends' work before the bun fight began. This year it seemed more crowded than ever. Because I was ill when I might have remembered to book I thought I would just be watching but as luck would have it some booked places were not filled so I paid my £10 and found a place among the easels. There were three models: Yvonne, Sophie and Lewis.
Lewis is a lovely lad and although clearly not a professional model was brilliant at holding the pose. I really enjoyed painting him and in the end the small format (13x10 inches) did not really affect the portrait. In fact I seemed to have a lot more time this year and as the wine and mincepies were only available towards the end of the session my head was a lot clearer!
'Lewis' 13x10 Oil on board
It was a great evening, with some lovely work, nicely capped by Haidee-Jo Summers winning the first prize for the best non-member painting (of Yvonne) and Pauline Hazelwood winning the runner-up prize (for 'Sophie'). Pauline's son took the third prize (for another 'Yvonne') and I was particularly chuffed about that because I was able to lend him my spare dipper as he had mislaid his.
I felt very rusty on the afternoon session with Michael but as my recent chest X-Ray indicates 'all clear' I was just glad to be outdoors again after 2 weeks of inactivity.
Lansdowne House from Green Park 10x7 inches
I am now looking forward to many more 'en plein air' sessions and in the studio I am working on some pastels based on the Venice trip so will try to post some next time.
Let us all remember the homeless at this time of the year and give what we can. A very Happy Christmas to everyone.
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