New Portraits in the Works.

I've been working on new portraits this week. The detail above is of one of these pictures and I will be including a short film of the picture as it develops here soon. I was trying to familiarise myself with the software when I realised I was spending valuable time on the video at the expense of getting the picture completed. So a quick priority check followed. More soon...

Slovenia and My Dead-Wood Easel.

This is one of the mountain ranges painted last summer. You can see a previous post on another in the series here. In some ways this picture triggered a new interest in limited materials. The river scene in Prince Caspian was shot in Slovenia on the Soca. The water is a beautiful green colour and the Julian Alps are breath taking. I had a lot of down time and began sketching. I chose to study the peaks rather than the set, the set was uninteresting from my position. The amazing thing about a film set is how it only really comes together in the lens. I would watch scenes being shot from one side of the camera, then watch the play-back. The same event from two positions, yet one result normal and the other epic. It is impressive to me how the cinematographer and director can guide this process. My sketchbook filled up and I switched to xerox paper. I used 4 x A4 paper to make the picture above on the dead-wood easel below.



I wandered down river and made a rudimentary easel from a dead tree and a sheet of wood one of the crew had leant me. I had oil, turps, and two tubes of paint and one hog-hair brush that had seen far better days. The quality of the image is low, I took it with my PDA, but it shows what can be done with a little determination. I could have set up a whole studio on the roots of that tree, it was a magical thing and I was really chuffed with the simplicity of it. in some ways it had better shelf space than my actually studio...and the mountain view was magnificent!

I will post more in the series soon.

Vin Vlogging.

I will be adding some video soon, in fact I hoped to upload a clip of my latest painting tonight via You Tube. But editing it was taking too long and I had to shelf the idea...at least for this week. I made a short clip / tour around the studio yesterday and will see how I feel about it next week, see if it's worthwhile. I've been distractedly working on a book project list last month or so and details of that will emerge on my Prague Sketchblog over the next while.

Kingship.

I'm not sure how this started but my friend Grant has been on a quest to find the cheapest 'drinkable' bottle of wine in Prague.
Ultimately it's a question of what you are willing to drink, but so far, all of my friends suggestions (that I have 'sampled') have been very drinkable. I've drank some great (and highly valued) wine over the years and tasted awful vinegar wines too. But what does it tell you when you find something of sensory quality going for a song?

Fine wine and fine art, both have been on my mind a lot this week with the sale at Sotheby's of a Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud to Roman Abramovich. for 120 million. Perhaps the first 2 of a wise and growing investment portfolio.

New Portrait of the Old Man.

It's been my intention from the get-go to paint a large scale picture of my grandfather in wine. In the first sketch I tested what I could do with wine alone to render a face. I like the result although I did not take it any further than washes. That picture took 3 rounds before I decided to stop, I liked the result, many people did...and anymore could be a step back. As usual I stopped at a pleasant location, the only trouble was it was not the destination I had in mind. The question then is always 'what is this?...and is this it?'

My intention with 'Boab' was to see how rich I could make the wine in layers with numerous washes, you know, at the risk of saturation, could I break through to a new depth of colour without ruining the picture?...it was an exercise but in the process I saw something perhaps more important than that.

With 'Nancy' I painted myself into a corner. In doing so this picture passed many stages and in that I saw the most amazing things happening on the paper. The wine seemed to remain maliable and could be re-worked long after it had dried. My eyes were close to the picture and I could see waves * moving across the paper ending in shores of the strangest kind. At one point I had the portrait I wanted, then I lost it, swallowed by a wave that didn't stop. One of those moments where you feel a cold sweat. Finding my way back was hard going.

There are two approaches, as far as I am concerned. In one you are looking for nothing in particular and if you find anything at all it's a pleasure. In the other you know exactly what you want and struggle, if you have to, to get it. They are equally impossible in their own odd ways.

Yesterday I laid out a new picture, closing in at a large scale and painting over 9 pages (3 x 3. 9 pages at 18 x 24cm each). In this case I am saturating a simple image of a man of great age.
He's 108 in a few weeks time. Vintage 1900.

*Red Waves ~ In the close up below one can see the blooms of wine in here hair. I like how it moves in the wet and like that it is unpredictable in how it settles.

Wine Ink ART Auction ~ Dates to be Announced.

I'm planning a new auction of sketches made with red wine, in some cases bids will begin as low as 99 cents. To be notified of the launch of this auction of original art created with just red wine and paper, drop me a line.

~ Booda

More Wine, More Pictures

As much as I would like this blog to be updated daily it just doesn't square with the chaotic way I have of making pictures. Having said that my consumption of wine has been as committed and determined as ever. So maybe I've just been lazy this while. But that's not it, really, I've been very busy making pictures...just nothing with wine.

I did draw some small sketches in wine at the end of 2007 but the new year has been 'wacky' to say the least and sometimes that kind of flux just knocks me off -track. Things are settling down now and I'll be posting more pictures painted with wine shortly. I started a series of small sketches on postcards a few weeks ago, they too will be available for auction soon, I didn't post them as they were un-finished. I've since decided otherwise. Knowing when something is done can be hard to know at the time.

I have a fridge in my studio, not for food, to keep materials wet (pallettes and oil paintings). I set aside some Tarapaca a few days ago to sketch with. Unfortunately I found it knocked over this morning, the container opened and most of the wine lost. I'll just have to open another bottle now...It's tough being a painter.

Nlemvo ~ Charity Auction.

Toward the end of 2007 I was asked to submit something to a charity auction here in Prague. The point of the auction is to raise funds so that children with hearing difficulties can be given a cochlear implant. I submitted 'Nlemvo', a reclining nude sketch drawn with pastel on deep blue Ingres paper. Nlemvo is a Congolese word meaning 'Grace' and as the auction had an African theme (not sure why) this study seemed apt. Another one of my pictures was auctioned for the same cause in 2006. Nlemvo raised 614 US dollars.

New Art March 2008

Oldest man (detail 2)

Click on title to see eBay auction of this artwork.

Click on title to see eBay auction of this artwork.

Oldest Man in Scotland (detail)

Click the title to view auction, new limited edition available.

New Fine Art print. 'Boab' edition of 10 only.

Click the title to view this auction on eBay.

Emma, a Sketch for a Portrait.

This is a close up of a small portrait made on a postcard, this detail is about an inch across on the card. It is a study, an exercise, and an unfinished sketch of a cheeky wee soul that we know very well.

A Hectic Business.

I've been very busy this last few months with work. I was unable to use the net for many weeks because of the move and have spent much of my time since re-connection catching up on various projects and promises. Earlier this month I played my part ('Garrick') in 'Solomon Kane', currently filming in Prague, with James Purefoy. Great fun, cold, but fun.

There is a strange feeling of unreality when you walk off a set. You've done your bit and you walk away and the set diminishes as if you are waking from a dream, a dream you are enjoying. I was familiar with the character from comics (misspent yoof!) and look forward to seeing the film.

I'm finally posting the little sketches I made in december...tut-tut, man.

Portrait in Full.

A portrait painted over 4 postcards with red wine. Total size A4. Sold.

New Portrait (Detail)

This picture was painted in wine and coloured pencil. This detail is about an inch across. The whole figure is painted over 4 A5 papers that together amount to the size of one A4 piece of paper ~ Booda.

New Paintings for 2008.

New images will come online over the next week or so, mostly work from December. I've had many e-mails asking why I have not posted new work. There was simply no way of getting a net connection in December...that's now solved and I'll be posting new work, pictures painted with red wine, as before.
~ Booda

Along the Right Lines.

I'm back online, fingers crossed it lasts. Not sure I quite believe it. I'm picking up the pieces now...downloading a months worth of junk-mail and will soon showcase new wine studies here as before. First off I'll be returning all e-mail enquiries that came to my Opipop address. My apologies to all who wrote and heard nothing from me.

Work

Ok, rant over. I have no idea when I will be able to easily post new work. I need to be able to monitor auctions with ease so I am not going to set any up until I have a connection in the studio. I will blog about new developments in the studio for the time being. After christmas I be¨gan gutting the studio, many boxes have piled up in the move and most of them have to be put in the loft. I have a much larger space now and office next door. So I am organising things today. I am excited abnout the new year and all the new subjects, mostly rural, that I will tackle. We are out in the country and I have several things in mind that I will paint in wine soon.

Telecomedians

What is it with these goliaths that makes them so impossible to work with?
British Telecom were a nightmare to deal with when setting up my parents internet. So bad they still have no way of using Ichat. I feel Apple UK are in part to blame, they should provide more info on how to establish Ichat Video over BT lines. But BT were outrageous, taking my folks money but offering no way to establish and maintain the video link connection, no help, none what so ever. Skype to the rescue. God bless ye Skype.

It may seem funny but I feel the many calls to BT via India contributed to my fathers stroke. A year later they still have no satisfaction.

Thanks BT, thanks Telephonica 02 for being so predictably crap. I hope you both go out of business because your rubbish.

Net Hell

Amazingly what I was assured would take 2 or 3 days has taken over a month. I still have no internet connection at the studio and there is no end in site. I signed a contract with Telephonica 02...and the salesman was clearly the most efficient operative working for the company...as the directive was sent down so was I. I found out nothing, no one returned calls ...and the last person I spoke with laughed it all off in a "crazy old world we live in" kind of way. If I can find any other way I will. Telephonica 02 - refined ordure.

I hope to be posting new wine drawings here sometime soon...
My apologies to anyone trying to reach me.

Please write to opipop at gmail.com

Moriarty or The Curmudgeon by S K Moore ~ Click here for Auction~

Not a wine painting, just something I turned up in the move and will auction over the next 7 days. This is the face that I would see every day in my first years here in Prague. I saw this face everywhere but not always on the same person....sometimes on whole crowds of bustling commuters. Very occasionally a smile would break it, but to look on the bright side, smiles so rare are all the more memorable.

Oil on wood, 32cm x 32cm / 12.5 x 12.5 inches. Original signed 'Moore'.
Click link above for auction or HERE.

Moving On Up.

This may be my last written post for a few days, possibly as much as a week as there is no internet in the new space yet. When I next post I'll be working out of a much nicer studio. With fresh air and great nearby country walks....and there is a stable nearby so I can get out on the horses more easily!...more wine ink studies coming up.

Studio Move.....

At some point in the next week I'll probably have to stop posting to Wine Ink. I'm switching studios and the new one does not yet have internet access. So if you don't see posts here or auctions on eBay it's not that I've stopped, in fact I have about 15 pictures to post, no, just the problem of moving.

My 2 current auctions are...

1View from the Studio on Vaclavkova limited edition, 1 available.

2Why Not Just Enjoy Yersell?Abstract, wine on paper sketch.

Studio View 4 days left...~ Click Here to View Auction~

New Wine Ink Auction ~ Click to Bid ~

Why Not Just Enjoy Yersell ~ Click to Bid ~

Red wines can look similar in the glass but reveal differing strengths of brown, purple or what one visitor to the studio termed 'old rose'. These differences are as much due to the wine as to the paper stock. To avoid disaster with new papers I will make a doodle on a piece before starting. In the case of my latest picture I doodled quite a bit more than normal.

I don't pencil in anything so I have no idea how the picture will look. The outcome is as surpising for me as it may be to anyone else, this is part of the fun. The object, the fun, comes from painting myself into a corner and then imagining a way to turn that corner inside out. While doing this I realised I was enjoying the process atleast as much, if not more, than on the other picture I was working on, for which this was initially a test piece, 'View from the Studio'.

I used a mini-bottle of Dourthe No.1 a 2005 Bordeaux from a British Airways flight. This picture is signed and titled with the vintage. The auction is 7 days long and has just begun.

View from the Studio on Vaclavkova ~ Click to Bid ~

Limited edition fine art print limited to 10 only of which 1 is available.

Wine Lover auction ending in 17hrs ~ Click to bid ~

Original sketch in wine, click the title above or visit the link below to place your bid on 'Oenophile Tasting'.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180179924489

'View from the Studio' Ltd edition $49.99 ~Click to Bid~

'View from the Studio on Vaclavkova' If you have been following this blog you'll know I have worked in the same studio for some years now and I am soon to leave. So I have made a few studies lately from my window, it offers an interesting slice-of-life and I want to capture it once more before I go.

I was planning to offer the following sketch on eBay like the others but I need to put together an exhibition. I will keep this wine and oil study for the time being and instead have produced a signed limited edition print on archival paper. The edition is limited to 10 only and printed by myself to the highest possible quality. Of the 10 printed one is on auction on eBay at $49.99. To bid click the above title. I will keep one and another will go to Londonart. The print is large at 17x22 inches (approx A2).

The rest will go to galleries I am working with in the US and here in Europe. If you would like further information or a reference of the print quality I can probably ask one of the collectors who have already bought my limited editions to give a critique.

New images coming. ~ Click to see current auction~

I finally have pictures of my latest study in wine. The title is 'View from the Studio on Vaclavkova' and shows part of my view over the railway line. The picture is made up of 12 multi-coloured pieces of Indian hand made paper. The picture was sketched in red wine. Over this, having dried, I have sketched in oils. Although the oil tends to dominate, the wine can still be seen here and there as a purplish or sepia coloured tint or under-painting. I will post images tomorrow, I had them ready yesterday but due to a crash I was set back.

'Oenophile Tasting' 2 bids, 4 Days left...click for details.

The current auction ends in 4 days time, there are currently 2 bids.

Studio view example ~ Click for current auction ~

My Oncoming View. ~ Click to see current auction ~

This is one piece of a multiple study of my view from the studio on Vaclavkova. It is a colourful and chaotic scene over railway lines, with roads, wires, tramps, trains, trams and Prague castle and St.Vitus. The lack of buildings across the street floods my studio with so much light, all year round, that I tend to long for a subdued day. Today is such a day. In the evening, as the sun rappels off the side of the world, beams delineate surfaces drawing a last glance at things all but lost in the gloom. I like this view because it is a perch, and by scanning back and forth you can see so much of the activity of daily life. It is also a jumble of architecture, it is a cross section of Praguer life. Not a tourist experience by any means, but a genuine slice of life.

'Oenophile Tasting' £19.99 ~ Click here to bid ~

I finished the studio view, I used wine as my sketching media over 12 pieces of Indian hand made paper. Over the dry wine colours I then used oils to quickly detail the shambolic Prague view I have from up here. In autumn, as the trees change it becomes very colourful and all the more unpredictable. It is a busy area, with trains and commuters running here and there.

Oils do take a while to dry if used heavily and I did get carried away in one or two places so I'll wait a few more days before I show the work here...it should be dry to the touch in a day or so.

In the meantime here is my latest auction. This wine sniffing oenophile was painted many weeks ago.
7 day auction starting now...

Work in Progress...

I have several sketches to upload but they don't fit the current autumn theme, besides this the upload time will slow me down and I have a lot to get done today. I am hoping to auction my new studio view mid-week. If there is interest in seeing advance examples (work in progress) leave a comment and I'll upload some here tonight. The studio view is again a multiple on Indian hand made paper. Autumn in Prague was a 4 piece and this is a 12 piece and the first to involve oil paint over dry wine sketching. I am eager to paint this scene as I am moving to a new studio in two weeks.
As I said, for work in progress samples leave a message. To view this work privately send me an e-mail and I'll forward them to you directly ~ opipop@gmail.com

My art prints are, as always, available in my eBay shop, click the title above to visit.

A Studio View

'Autumn in Prague' was a popular auction item on eBay and sold for over twice the starting bid. I painted it two weeks ago. I began another picture at the same time, this one is a view from the studio window, but I had to stop working on it. I hope to finish it by the middle of next week. Like 'Autumn in Prague' the studio view is also painted on multiple pieces of Indian hand made paper.

Autumn in Prague, auction ending today ~ Bid Now ~

This original wine on paper study will sell today, auction ending. Painted with two vintages of red wine on hand made Indian paper. Click title to view image details and place your bid.

Three Days Remain. ~ Click Here to View Auction ~

Autumn in Prague, an original sketch I made in red wine on hand-made indian paper. Three days remain until the close of this auction.

Archiving Now.

A big thank you to everyone who responded to my question the other day. It seems this site opens quickly enough for most who responded. Well almost everyone. I did get one bit of feedback indicating we were slow to load. So from now on Wine Ink will archive after 10 posts. I'd rather visitors could scroll right to the first post, but that seems to have slowed everything up for one or two, possibly many more, it is a graphic heavy blog. To view prior posts please just open the archive in the side-bar.
~ Booda