ACF canvas - first trial

 ACF canvases are a new company offering terylene canvases - the sort of cloth you can make trousers out of.  And although I've only used the one so far, I entirely recommend them - terylene is a long-lasting material, and offers a very smooth surface, for a cloth.  I was pleased with the way it handled oil paint - and the paint I used for this one was from several manufacturers, notably Rublev, Michael Harding, Daler Rowney, and Cass Arts own brand - all of them well worth your attentioon.

The painting is a 12" x 14" oil of part of Knowles Farm, a National Trust owned slice of land near Niton, Isle of Wight.  The only thing I have against it is the proliferation of cows with explosive digestive systems: you can have too many cows, I find.....  They make walking a hazard....

This one is for sale, at around the £200 mark.  

 

An 8" by 10" oil - I wish I could remember where this is, but I didn't make a note of the sketch from which I painted it: an omission of which I'm often guilty.  I've broken a rule here: the tower is bang centre, and normally one would place it to one side, to comply with the Golden Section: but there it is, I thought it was probably best placed dead centre, and hope the small building to its right helps to balance it.  Cremnitz White, Lemon Yellow, Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine Blue Red Shade, Viridian, Buff Titanium - and probably other colours I've simply forgotten: there's almost certainly Burnt Sienna in there somewhere: we try to keep the palette limited, but in practice all sorts of colours get thrown in, in normally tiny quantities.  Should anyone feel like buying it, well - don't hesitate to tell me.  Prices always negotiable. 

 

We all have to have a play sometimes - this was one of those plays: very loosley based on King Henry VII: an acrylic which I could see as being a portrait for a film set - should anyone wish to buy it, and if they do - well, here I am, poised to receive wads of cash.  It was fun to do - of course I could have refined it, but play is play, and I was playing!  If all portraits are really self-portraits in some degree, as I believe they probably are, well.... I hope it's not too much of a selfie.. I don't have that much hair to start with..