It took 6 weeks, a stepladder, 14 Spotify playlists and countless tubes of oil paint before I could finally call my 80×80″ inch peacock painting finished! I am ecstatically proud to have it signed and can’t wait to get it to its owners and installed in it’s new home!
SO CLOSE! But still a lot of fine details to go! This was a particularly fun session to have rounded the painting off with, involving music and stuffing my face with mini eggs. Black and white shows the detail well so I will save the full colour for the finished piece. For anyone looking to paint at a large scale be prepared for a lot of clambering around. Look out for the next post which will show the final, finished piece!
Until the bespoke made canvas was left at my door almost too big for me to hold up, it had not occurred to me the scale of the project I had just undertaken. As I write this I am in the final stages of finishing this piece, but just over 5 weeks ago I couldn’t have imagined having filled a canvas measuring 80×80″ inches squared. I was commissioned to create a peacock painting for an office space. Immediately I knew I was never going to waver on if I would take this project on or not. The symbolism behind peacocks played a large part for the company and its meaning was something that resonated with myself very clearly and personally. The imagery of a peacock in my eyes is one of the most spectacular natural wonders, a peacock feather alone fascinates me. The colours have always been my favourite palette and the elegance is just very ‘me’… I have documented the progress from the first session onwards and hopefully the scale is shown with justice to …
I love the way that a palette can never really be tidy. As an artist that does not have paint thrown everywhere, but has different liquids, brushes and materials all compartmentalised and all surfaces clean of paint, the one element that stays the same with all artists is that there is no neat way to maintain a palette of paints. The way I lay out my palette has become habitual rather than symptomatic of the colour palette or any functional order. I line the paints as a spectrum, originally because I thought it looked pretty. Take away the colour (greyscale photography) and I can see that different mounds have been more exhausted and spread around than others, I can see how little tone has to do with my arrangement and it makes me wonder what elements of my work might change if I were to pre-think my colour palettes and order the paints accordingly… Contemplating the palette gives a lot more away about the artist, and maybe about why their work in the way that …
I have a lot of new work on the go! A series of elegant and detailed wildlife work with areas of serene calm. Here are a few examples of the backgrounds of these paintings (looking for a more dreamy and opulent style)
I LOVE charcoal! It creates such a beautiful contrast between soft blending and sharp marks. I used to use charcoal in all of my mixed media pieces, which is why I decided to revisit this material. I have finished my first of a set of sketches of large scale charcoal studies. The charcoal can be so complimentative to create the tonal qualities and pick up on the minuscule detailing of the feathers. The geometric shapes just seemed to fit… I really like this idea to bring something new to the sketches and almost a bit of compositional framing and imbalance, which I love. I am excited to create the next two, I have them all set up and ready to go! I am still deciding on the subject. Koi carps are a favourite of mine at the moment and could work beautifully… Any ideas??
Wildlife Oil Paintings My wildlife work has been taken ever so slightly further this month as I have taken on even finer detail and chosen to practice embellishments with gold leaf. I am a true magpie with shiny and glittery things, and so when I read up on gilding my work I was very enthused to try it out. I am obsessed with embellishing my work with tiny and minute detailing in contrast with sweeping brush strokes and bold marks. I ordered the booklets of gold leaf online after researching how to apply them, especially to paintings! It is a small touch I will be applying to certain pieces where I crave that opulence and richness of detail and colour. It may take a while to master the scalpel and application, it is a lot thinner than I imagined! It can barely be felt between my fingers, it is so incredibly fine that as I pulled a leaf out of the booklet to look, my fan heater sent it whirling around my room. (Which I …
The collection of oil paintings I have been working on showing ten iconic women in colour and opulence, have lately been stepping into the light and starting to take form. It has taken a few months to make a good foundation on my collection, I have created the basic layers for each portrait, however whilst some are almost finished, others are still in their earliest stages. A few things I never knew to consider whilst creating a body of work that all related in style and form, is how much your work can improve/change within this time. This means that as I move onto the further pieces, I then find myself going back to the first few and making the edits to lace them all together. It hasnt been easy, however i have the first five close to finished (and now in storage so i can finish up the last five without being tempted with too many edits!) and seeing them together makes it worthwhile. Now I am more determined than ever to get the …
I have been working really hard lately on my collection of Iconic Women oil paintings for my series in support of Women’s Aid charity. Meaning while being featured in American magazine Cliche. Here are some screen shots of the feature, and a link to the magazine website to take a read! You can read the article online here! Or to buy a copy.
Here are a few photos of my work lately, some portraiture work, commissions and sketchbook work! All along the theme of psychedelic colours… I have started to understand colour better and as I usually do, I just in at the deep end playing with every colour. I’m starting to refine my palettes somewhat to enhance the richness of my paintings. Katy x
KATY JADE DOBSON 