Going as Far as You Can to Find Your Way Home.

Many of the people who follow this blog support my work and I feel an explanation is in order for the sudden silence of the last few weeks. In collecting my work you support my efforts and I appreciate that more than anything. Thanks to you I don't stamp a time clock. Artists with patrons are a privileged lot.

We are free thanks to you. Because of that I think we have a duty to explore and to bring things out that few others get a minute to even think about. It demands a very deep involvement of the mind. That's why I'm writing this now, because right now I don't feel involved at all.

You see I try to maintain my updates as best I can, but things happen and unsettle my efforts, it's just the way it is. I float my boat but every so often it is over-turned, run aground. A few weeks ago my fathers illness worsened and I returned to Scotland. He passed away soon after I arrived. I'm not sure this has anything to do with the feeling of pointlessness I felt when I returned to Prague but I had been excited about my work before leaving. However on return I felt like someone else, the usual sense of drive to make pictures and series and to explore new things was gone. I couldn't care less. This is not like me at all.

An hour or so after we learned of my fathers death my wife called to tell me my son was in hospitable with a broken arm. I had only been away a few hours, he'd fallen from his bike. I felt I should be in 2 places at once.

I feel too many of us are shackled to things we don't need, poisoned by practice. I began thinking a lot about 'now' and what 'now' is. Well that was then and this is now and now I can't be bothered. I'm suffering from some kind of 'miasma'...and I have to get off my asma. I have the flowers to paint and the neck to cast in brass but no drive.

To be honest I did make ten new images last week, but they are not related to wine or my current projects and I'll likely never show them.

They are very different and I don't really know where they came from, I was just drawing. Today I tried to get started on my flower series but now I'm updating this blog. I still couldn't care less. But that I'm doing this, at least, is a positive sign I suppose.

I've realised that if one does ones level best 'now' the past will take care of itself. Perhaps the burden of raising my game is what I am shying away from. It's that river analogy again, somehow I will have to adapt to my new position or fight the stream.

Who knows.

Models, Springs & Top Brass

The weather has been so good lately and after what seems like 6 months (and may well be!) of dark cold skies we suddenly have warmth, colour and new life. This has me thinking of organising a new show and this time the subject will be flowers and landscapes.

As for the brass neck series we, the models and I, have finally arranged to meet this Wednesday. We postponed last week because of the holiday.

Over the weekend I did a few drawings with 'Brushes', a new IPhone app. I've been drawing on phones (A Sony P910I) for about 5 or 6 years. I made my first Iphone sketch about 5 months back. But this new app is better than the one I used before. The sketch of Obama is a painting I made on my IPhone. This is not a manipulated photo, it was started like any sketch only not on paper and I used my fingertips. Although I nearly gave up on this picture I found that with patience I could render in a way that pleased me. I could have continued but stopped at this stage. The trouble is I had already built up a good likeness of the President and lost it so I did not want to go through that again. After all, this is essentially me goofing around with a doodle on my phone and it had already taken up too much time. I may try and take a version of this image closer to likeness later. I feel it is a little on the angelic side, but the risk is great and I could have easily made him too harsh... the risk of undermining good work with a wrongly placed fingertip or colour could have pushed me back a long way and I was tired and knew I would dump it if I blew it. So I stopped here having proved a point to myself.

Prints may be available for this kind of work soon, the flowers and blossoms for instance. Leave a comment or email me if you would like to know more about the prints.

Action & Painting

Last week, toward the end of the week, I hesitated about how I would set the scene for the next stage of the brass neck series.
I've made numerous sketches and feel that to continue at this stage without models is pointless, I made some efforts to turn up other studio options, to no avail. Yesterday I took a day out, the weather was lovely and I needed to run. I ran or jogged 15km in the forest and back along the Vltava, it was a glorious place to be. The colours seem to become more intense when I'm running.

I find that exercising sets off my imagination and I tend to find a whole new series of creative directions open to me when I stop. This week has been slow yet I have been filled with new ideas for projects, so to paraphrase a master, perhaps I have been working at my hardest as the ideas are the most difficult things to create.

I have, in the last few days, seen years of my work stretched out before me. Finance is the question now. Some of these projects are relatively inexpensive but time consuming. Unfortunately some of the most exciting are going to be costly.

Friday I hope to meet with the models for this current project.

Neck Brace Topsy Turvy (detail) White Pencil - Brass Neck

Vintage paper this, the drawings are on a pad I discovered in Scotland last I was home, purchased and hidden away circa 1989. Good paper too, pad looks brand new.

I need to sell 14 more sketches at 50 pounds each to cover my sculpture costs. When the brass neck is cast I'll auction it for a UK charity (suggestions welcome!). Goodwin is a disgrace and it's shameful that while he is rewarded for failure many people lose their jobs and the value of their savings. For this reason I'm casting him a brass neck.

All sketches that remain after I have covered costs for the sculpture will also be used to raise funds for charity. So help me get there and reserve a sketch. When they are completed I'll send examples and you choose the one you most like.

If you don't like the sketches, no obligation to buy.

Email now to join the waiting list ~ opipop@gmail.com

BTW - The image above has not been altered. Sketched with purple pencil, white chalk on green paper.

NECK

I have the model I'll use for the brass neck sculpture. New sketches online tonight. To support this project email me here ~ opipop@gmail.com

See previous post for full details / links.

14 Sketches Remain, Buy One!

'Royal Vanitus of Scotland' (Sketch) or 'Objects May Appear Larger in Mirror Than They Actually Are'

I need to sell 14 more sketches at 50 pounds each to cover my sculpture costs. When the brass neck is cast I'll auction it for a UK charity (suggestions welcome!). Goodwin is a disgrace and it's shameful that while he is rewarded for failure many people lose their jobs and the value of their savings. For this reason I'm casting him a brass neck.

All sketches that remain after I have covered costs for the sculpture will also be used to raise funds for charity. So help me get there and reserve a sketch. When they are completed I'll send examples and you choose the one you most like.

If you don't like the sketches, no obligation to buy.

Email now to join the waiting list ~ opipop@gmail.com

Going for the Jugular

I'm collecting the neck brace tomorrow, I found it Friday in the drizzle of old town Prague. I thought it would be harder, things can be oddly elusive here. But then you also have days like Friday in which everything just falls into place. Three models, 2 human, one plastic.

'Royal Vanitus of Scotland'

A detail from my sketch 'Royal Vanitus of Scotland' or 'Objects May Appear Larger in Mirror Than They Actually Are'.

Models.

A more detailed example of 'Objects May Appear Larger in Mirror Than They Actually Are'. I'll add the full image shortly.
I met with both models today and located a suitable brace to work with. More soon.

Hand in Detail

A detail from my latest sketch. This hand measures just 3.5 cm across on paper (click on the image to see it at greater magnification) and so I was unsure I could render the detail as I wanted to. Tones are manipulated with my pinkie, not the most delicate thing being nearly half that in size. The pastels are very soft and crumble easily and so it's very difficult to maintain an edge to the block.

I'll post the full picture tomorrow.

Artist Models - Brass Neck for Sir Fred.

I've been speaking with a couple of people who model this week and will meet them tomorrow for coffee. I began sketching a few weeks ago to rough out what I have in mind, I then started looking at Prud'hon, now I'll have real people to study. How they appear (I've not met them yet) will most likely shift everything in other ways. You can see those images here in coming weeks.

If you have an interest in my drawings, join my waiting list and get first option on new drawings.

Type 'Waiting list' in the subject heading and send me an email.

Write to ....
opipop@gmail.com

~ Stewart

Nude Study After Prud'hon

Another sketch, this again based on a sketch by Prud'hon. With male and female models I'll produce more detailed drawings, in the meantime I'm sketching based on...found images. I may also begin working at a much larger scale. This pastel is roughly A3 size. Click on the image to see a (more or less) life size version.

To further understand my reasons for making this series look here and then here.

New Pastel for Fred Goodwin's Brass Neck.

Click the image to see a detailed version.

A new version of the brass neck in pastel. Roughly A4 in size. This image, among others, will be shown to sponsors of this project in the next few days.

King Fred

An article on the extravagance of Fred Goodwin...

Hole In the Wall Your ******* Brass Widows

'Hole In the Wall Your ******* Brass Widows' based on 'Fountainhead' by Pierre Paul Prud'hon. Sketched a few minutes ago...

Oil paint, red wine, pencil and pastel on 4 pieces of white paper. Approx A2 size.

Click on the photo above to see a fully detailed image.

BTW - here is a handy explanation of ISO paper sizes.

Scroll down to read more on why I am working on this series...

Aloof In The Grubber

Oil sketch on 4 pieces of black card. Approx A3 size.

Click on the photo above to see a fully detailed image.

BTW - here is a handy explanation of ISO paper sizes.

New Sketches - Oils

New sketches, this time I included oils. They'll take a few days to dry. I'm now working on a PDF document for the supporters of this project each of whom has reserved a sketch or two.

Once my supporters have seen the current selection (and decided if anything in the set takes their fancy) I'll be making the remaining work available on Londonart.

Contact me to add your name on the reserve list for the 2nd set of sketches. Full price details on contact.

To read more about this project look here. or simply roll back 15 or so posts and read up on the work.

News Unrelated - Graphis

Some work I did last year in which I used wine for texture (what can I say, any excuse to open a bottle) has been selected for inclusion in a 2010 Graphis annual. It's good news to me, especially as I didn't submit anything. I just heard about this and will post more as I learn more....

A Few Days Off

I've been away the last couple of days in Germany. I should have worked today but was too tired after the long drive back last night. More tomorrow. I have to try and locate models for the new painting....that's my next step.

New Brass Neck Sketches

Tomorrow the first of my collectors to support this work is visiting the studio. Thanks to him and 9 others I will be able to afford the cost of casting a neck in brass for Sir Fred Goodwin. This latest sketch, very simple I know, is the pre-cursor for how I want my model to stand for a painting on the same subject. The sculpture will be auctioned for charity.

My sketches are 50 pounds each and when the 24 set is complete and sold I'll have what I need to visit the foundry.
I have 14 yet to sell. Contact opipop@gmail.com if you are interested in this collection.

Learn more about this here.

To Gee or No to Gee...(that is his question.)

Today two conflicting views emerge on Goodwin either considering or not considering on giving back his dinosaur sized nest-egg. The chairman of RBS is quoted as saying Goodwin ' is thinking about it'...but The Herald suggests otherwise.....this could suggest they are trying to force him to commit. But if so they haven't accounted for his 'brass neck'. More likely an effort to pacify shareholders at their meeting today...

RBS to face angry shareholders

"Royal Bank of Scotland shareholders arriving at the bank's annual meeting in Edinburgh have expressed their anger at its past and present directors."...

Wine Writing...

I've long thought I should write more on my favourite wines, wine-making etc. But as my knowledge of wine is limited to my taste-buds (and what I can do with it with paint brushes) I've shied away from doing so. Also, there are great sites out there that cover the subject far better than I ever could. So from here on in I'll be including wine related links to stories I think may interest the Wine Ink reader.

Here's one I thought interesting today that is on similar ground to my current artwork..."The wine world needs a Jon Stewart"

Pouring & Staining - click photo for detail

I was asked yesterday if I pour the wine on as I work. Not usually, but this example was established in splashes. With wine its quite to build layers as each time I wet a dried area it all comes live again, but it can work and some of the results are beguiling. There are ways around the problem of course. Also wine pictures tend to begin as rich reds and purples and quickly settle as more a sepia like value. In layering here I did however begin to lose the picture and had come to the opinion that it was lost. SO - I did what one just has to do and hid it from myself and started new work. After a few days I saw it with fresh eyes and did what you see here.

Painted first in wine I established several layers and then tinted in oils. There is also some red pastel in the bottom portion.

I am close to starting with a model, that will be interesting work. A fusion of these drawings and whatever I learn by studying the model. The finished painting may take many weeks. I am thinking of creating a series now but I better watch I don't get too carried away. One thing at a time and stick to schedule!

Stages & Theatre

Today I gave demonstrations on drawing technique to 2 classes at ISP school in Prague. I also talked to students in 3 other classes about my work and the realities of living as an artist, I hope it helped them. Later I'll post examples from the demo's.

I was reminded today that this stage (of sketching) is just part of a process. It would be easy to forget that for me when sketches are made in number (like here) that nothing is fixed, finished or as it will be completed. I forget that it is not always obvious to visitors that something is being shaped at this stage. It's easy to see the work here as finished yet nothing here took more than 15 minutes ( in the brass neck series). It is not precious but it is crucial. Sketching has brought many new things to this project.

it always feels independent of my plans as though the process is informing me with new options, independent of what I want or thought I was planning. It's very strange and seems paradoxical. How can I be learning something from something I'm making? This is similar to something about dreaming that I mentioned a few weeks ago.

But in looking here remember most of the work took only a few minutes and the pictures are just plans, doodles, notes. It may go no further or may become something very time consuming. Just can't say at this stage...

The sketches are available at £50 (GBP) and their sale will directly support the making of the sculpture. The sculpture will cost me 1200 pounds to create and will be auctioned for charity on completion, so support me in this work and buy one if you like what you see.

Isolation large

Adjustment - Brass Neck series

Red wine on a single paper, coloured pencil & Indian ink.

Close in to the Void.

There is real shame in what Goodwin and people like him have done. He is not alone and in fact must be wondering what the fuss is about. There have been many at the top of business to make millions for real failures of leadership/direction. These same fools have at the stroke of a pen jeopardised & destroyed the careers of many many people without much thought. But then it seems they have near destroyed the companies under their stewardship too...so what does that tell you.

At least some at AIG, feeling shame (or heat) have begun to give back, but not Goodwin or many like him.

So where is the Pied Piper to lead these rats away from the market?

Shadows in Wine

In this version I used a lot of wine in the darker places but did no drawing to begin with. I just tried to paint the shadows as I imagine them. A lot will change when I have my model...whoever he will be.

*This is one quarter the size of the image in the previous post. Painted on one piece of paper, the previous sketch is worked over 4 pieces.

'Large Standing Figure with Brass Neck' - sketch

This sketch, shown at the start a day or so back, is on 4 pieces of paper ( Each piece is 9" x 12") and is painted with wine on pencil and charcoal. I do not have a model as yet, but this is how I imagine the figure standing.

A Standing Figure with Brass Neck

The first sketch last week established a close figure with neck and no head. I then decided it should be nude and 'in the spotlight' or near as. In some ways this image is beginning to move toward 'Living Room Theatre', a series started in the early 90's and completed around 2000.

These sketches are made to support my brass neck project this summer. The sketches are £50 each. There are 16 available sketches. Enquiries to...opipop@gmail.com

Burden - Brass Neck Sketches

I'm now posting the sketches from yesterday. They range from the very notional and simple to more detailed work. At this stage I'm fleshing out some simple ways to make the painting.

I wasn't going to paint a picture, just a sketch series to raise funds for the casting of the sculpture. However I have become interested in making a painting too. I will be seeking a model for this at some point but until I have a model I'm going to play around with possible compostions. I'm imaging a male figure with an un-spectacular physique. In fact an old and tired body most likely.

So here are some of the things I have been playing with in the last few days. I tried to explain at the school talk today that it is difficult (even pointless) to think too much about the relative quality of a sketch. It's a working study and not a finished piece of art. Also some very finished and powerful sketches are too controlled and therefore limit what you can learn by making them.

I'm showing this image first because it is one I really like now, but I didn't like it at first...in fact I chucked it. Painted sketches take time to dry...but they also take time to settle in the mind.

Enough yap-yap.

Ideas & Value

After the talk I visited a new art materials store that I have found. Well new to me anyway. They had a nice series in notebooks, some of the prices did seem lower than Zlata Lod (The Golden Ship) my usual store.
I love notebooks. One child in class today asked me where I get my ideas and I think the answer was two-fold. On the one hand I spoke about my asking that very question of Jim Baikie, an artist in Orkney who very generously let me work in his studio many years ago now (on work experience from college). Jim suggested carrying around a little notebook so that when an idea comes you can log it. He suggested it should always be within reach because many ideas are fleeting, at 2am when you spring awake with some stunning reverie playing in your mind, it should be there. In this way you build a catalogue of notions and possible directions that you will otherwise forget.

The second thing I said to the kids was that you have ideas every day that you accept as happening to you but do not keep or see as important. They have a value and it is the artist in you that recognises the value and notes the thought. Knowing the value of a thought in and of itself is a step in that direction. Like lucid dreaming, you can be aware of this as its happening and assert some control by bringing it to life.

But the more you do this the more you find ideas just start coming. The struggle comes when you have to raise your physical, artistic skills to do justice to whatever fantastical thought is playing in your imagination.

Talking About Why...

I gave a talk at a local school this morning. The art teacher wanted the children to get a sense that there are artists working in the community. After a brief intro I spoke to the children about my work and they told me about a project they are working on.
One child asked me when I started painting and I told him I just never stopped. I hadn't thought too much about that before but it's true. Most of the kids in the class will stop drawing at some point and maybe one or two will continue. But for some reason most will stop doing something that comes naturally to them now. Art is a means of expression, a valuable form of communication, that will for some reason become irrelevant to them.

I'll return to the school again tomorrow and in this case I'll give some practical tuition (hopefully) in pen & ink line art.

8 Sketches sold, 16 available.

I made several sketches today, but scanning has taken too long. I will begin posting them tomorrow evening. But as a taster here is the smallest that I made today, postcard size - Isolation.

7 Pictures Sold. Brass Neck.

Two Iphone snaps of work on the drawing board right now. This image is wet at this stage and will be dry in a few minutes.
I'll upload quality scans soon.

6 Brass Neck Sketches sold...

6 Sketches of the set of 24 are now reserved. 18 remaining and they are 50 pounds each. Any that don't sell will go to auction later this year.

Each sketch is made with wine on paper. Reserve one, if you don't like the finished artwork you can tell me to get stuffed.

Read about this project here... and here.

5 Sketches Sold - 19 available.

Five of the sketches are sold, or reserved. The folio I'm working on now has 19 pictures unreserved. If I can sell them all I can afford the cost of casting my brass neck for Sir Fred. Original studies at 50 pounds each. For more info see this.

Read this news clipping for full details...

First Wine Sketch of Brass Neck Scanned

This sketch was made days ago, so it's not new nor one of the 'In the Neck' set. However I've just scanned it so I'm including it now for the wine sketch record. The previous image was a shot taken with my iphone and not very sharp.

Painted with Undurraga. The colour is lovely and rich on paper.
This original sketch in wine is £50. Buy it now and support this project.

The Young, Blue, Victoria - Brass Neck

This clipping is from the same day in The Evening Express. I'm including it because of the error concerning the review of 'The Young Victoria'. Is that Victoria?? Albert?...This must be a very modern take on her story...
Click on the image to enlarge.

News Clipping - Brass Neck

A clipping from the Aberdeen Press & Journal featuring the Brass Neck artwork. Click on the image to make it larger and legible.

Keeping Wine Fresh

A Washington Post article on some of the ways one can tackle the thorny issue of keeping an open bottle of wine fresh. I don't seem to suffer from this particular problem as I store all of my open wine in my stomach. But for those who need a solution here are 3 ...

Sir Fred Goodwin - Home Attacked

Vandals have attacked the home of Fred Goodwin and seem to be prepared to strike again. That was dumb. In fact it was down-right stupid.

Thursday, yesterday I caught up on sleep. Today I'll begin what I wanted to start on Monday - the sketch series that will hopefully cover the cost of making a Brass Neck in honour (or dis-honour) of the shamelessness of this victim of vandalism.

Does a good wine make you feel uplifted?

Some say wine goes to their toes or that they get light headed. Well if you feel a certain levity when you have a glass check this out.

"Built by Janick Simeray, of SimerLab PARIS, this levitation device uses a sophisticated electromagnetic system to enable an object to float in mid-air -- the rotating platform can support up to 2-pounds (about 1 kg)." or so it seems.

In The Neck, sketch folio.

Quick update. I have reserved 4 of the sketches now, 20 remain. I had work to complete last week and sadly It dragged on into Monday. Very disappointing and today it lingers. So my plan to begin the brass-neck sketches moved back and now won't start until at least tomorrow as I am still not done. I try to make the best I can of my work, I tweak and I put it away only to tweak further. The deadline is open...so none of that sharpness of mind that Dr Johnson spoke of can be utilised. Not recalling it exactly but it was an apt description of the creative ability that everybody draws on when deadlines loom 'The knowledge that one is to be hung in the morning greatly sharpens the mind.' Actually 'gallows' was probably in the original quote.

Wine Sketch of Brass Neck.

A sketch made today with a glass of Underraga red wine, taken with my Iphone. The 24 sketches will be larger than this approx A4 study. I'll begin them on Monday morning. I'll work on them in groups, moving around the room, from one to another. If you are interested in a sketch contact me, prices are to be seen in the previous posting. The sketches are to cover the cost of producing the sculpture. Read about the project here.

Visit the Underraga website here...

In The Neck - A Folio of 24 sketches. (2 sold already!)

The cost of producing my sculpture is over 1000 pounds. To cover the cost of production I am working on 24 wine sketches (of the work in progress) and offer the sketches here at £50 each. That's 72 dollars, 53 Euro or 1423 CZ Koruna at the current exchange.

I have now sold 2 and 22 remain. The sketches will be posted next week and collectors who are first to contact me with an interest will have first option on which of the sketches they wish to own. I'm looking to have the set sold within a week.

The finished product will be sold for charity, so by supporting this you help me to create something unique in an effort to raise money for a good cause.

Future sketches related to this project will be auctioned at the value set here for the 'In The Neck' folio and you will be notified of the results.

Support this and contact me, I'll give you first refusal, there is no obligation to buy if you do not like the work.
~ Booda

Tartan Lined Brass Neck with Light Patina of Serpent.

Found a Foundry

I just had a chat with Farquhar Laing at Black Isle Bronze in Nairn, Scotland. You can visit his site here.

His reaction to trying brass instead of bronze was positive. This is good news, not least because I would have an excuse to work in Nairn again, walk the beach...now to the nitty-gritty.

2nd Foundry

I'm awaiting a reply from a second foundry - this time in Scotland. It would be more apt to forge a brass neck there.

Foundry Search ~ Brass Neck Project

A sculptor friend of mine, Karen LaMonte, gave me a good lead on a foundry a few hours drive from Prague. Unfortunately they work with only bronze, not brass. I'm surprised, both are alloys of copper (with zinc for brass, tin for bronze), and I would have thought either equally possible for a foundry. Witness, dear reader, as another magnificent assumption on my part goes bye-bye.

Incidentally you can view some of Karen's startling glass sculpture here. Beautiful work.

Why Design a Brass Neck?

I used wine in the base colours of a picture recently. It's not a typical Wine-Ink drawing. But here it is with an explanation of why it was made.

"reward for failure"

There has been much said in the press in the UK over the vast pension that Sir Fred Goodwin, as former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, receives. It's a grotesque sum for anyone but especially someone who was seemingly a high rolling incompetent. Ironically had the government not bailed out RBS - Fred's pension would not have been supported, his failure in other words has made him a very wealthy man. The government, it seems, has now threatened legal action to retrieve some of the money because Sir Fred has refused to give back what is now considered a "reward for failure".

How, I wondered, do you hold your head up having been rewarded so much having done so poorly?
The answer is simple, you need a brass neck.

In the UK a person who is impudent or disrespectful (and or arrogant with it) can be described as 'having a brass neck'. I realised that this is one thing that Sir Fred probably doesn't own so I went about designing one.

I would like to create a brass-neck sculpture and auction it in the hope of raising £703,000 pounds, Fred's annual pension. The 'good winnings' will then be divided between people or groups that have done exemplary work for the common good in the United Kingdom.

Winter Work and How Things 'Gang aft Agley'.

Imagine you are swimming in a river and although you may be swimming with the stream you have the aim to a reach a particular part of one river bank. Perhaps there is a bottle of wine there and a brush and a piece of paper. It is a struggle but you know you can do it. At some point you go under the water and are pulled deeper and your mind turns to other things, this is a struggle to escape an undertow, maybe, or to collect something you see glinting on the river bed. When you return to the surface the bank you had earlier aimed for is far away and perhaps now impossible to reach or the stream too strong to swim against.

This is exactly what I think of when I find myself finishing up a commission and making a return to my private or personal work (such as Wine Ink). Things that I aimed to create have been pushed aside for a commissioned project and seem so far away now, even pointless. Something has been requested and must be completed to a deadline and in the process everything else in the studio has been abandoned. So at the end of the process I come back to that work that I find I had so many other thoughts and plans for, in this case, the end of the year. There is also a slight sense of fear that if I try and head back against the stream I'll be again halted in some way. This is when it starts to work against the mind, when you realise there is a good chance you will not complete the work and all that time will have been wasted by what becomes a sysiphean task.

So the only answer is to try and do again what you planned before on a new bank and in a new way. Otherwise you risk everything.

I wrote this waiting for an art file to open, a massive file on my old work-horse G4. Now that file has finally opened and I have to delve again under the water and lose myself in work. I'll pop my head up again here soon I hope...and perhaps with something painted with wine. Merry Christmas.

OPEN HOUSE by Appointment.

The house show of 73 pictures is now open to the public for viewing by appointment. Prices begin at 1000Kc ( $50 ). Prints and paintings are on show. If you are looking for an unusual and unique gift contact me below.

Those who cannot come will be able to view an online version shortly with price-list. In this case payments can be made via PayPal. Details to follow.

To arrange a viewing email...

x.painter.x@gmail.com

On the day...

The event began at 2pm and was to end at 6pm. In the first ten minutes I sold 5 pictures and by the end of the evening I think I sold 12 pictures all together. I say I think because the wine was in full flow toward the end. I haven't had a chance to contact everyone yet as I received an unexpected commission with an urgent deadline...I'm starting to like the 5 AM start!

Open House

On Saturday the 15th we opened our doors to show 73 pictures hung through out the house and studio. The range of the work reaches all the way back to 1993 and includes pencils, oils, prints and wine ink pictures.

We had a great turn out that led to 15 empty wine bottles next morning. I had planned to film the event and considered giving the jobs of photographer and videographer to the children. In the end I was too busy meeting guests and answering questions. I did have an opportunity at one point but by then there were so many children at play that I thought it decidedly unwise to hand out my cameras.

I sold 12 pictures...possibly more. You see as the night went on the balanced reverent atmosphere turned into quite a party.
I didn't touch a drop for the longest time...but the later sales were decidedly foggy.

RSS Wine Ink.

I'd like this blog to be a chart of process and progress and life and whatnot but it's not going to happen, I'm too erratic. So if you come here and like the work and want to see it grow add me to your RSS or Twitter or something. That way when things happen on Wine Ink ~ you will see it.

Example, yesterday I set up the video camera and started to film the painting I was working on. It'll take another week or so and so I planned to edit the tapes to show a rapidly developing painting. An hour in I heard the tape click off and knew I ought to change the tape. I looked for a tape and they were all full. I had an option, stop painting for thirty minutes and upload the current tape (to clear it for use) Or forget about it.

I kept painting. There will be a tape of the work in progress at some point but I'm not sure when. When you have so little time a thirty minute stop can mean not getting back to the easel for a day or so...I guess I'm taking no chances now.

BTW ~ I have a show coming up, details to follow.

Line work...not wine work.

The landscape took a back seat to a new portrait drawing in line (see detail), just line no wine in this one. Next week I hope to be finishing the wine landscape I spoke of last time. So it always seems to go.

Papers.

Last year at this time I used coloured papers in a series of autumn pictures. A few days ago I bought 36 pieces of coloured paper to start a new picture, it will be the largest of this type yet. Just like last time it will be a mixed media series and I hope to get it underway in the next few days. The trees are turning now and the leaves have not yet fallen so the colours of the forest are now at their most vibrant and varied. This will be a river scene...I think, one can never really tell.

Future Flurries.

I must admit to not being a very good blogger. It's been put to me that you must blog 'regular and often'. I suppose this isn't a blog then, more a public storehouse of occasional flurries.

In future, perhaps the very near future, I'll be popping open a bottle of my favourite red and painting something before the wine evaporates down my gullet. It does that you know.

In the new series some of the subjects may include...

The old quarry, turning leaves of Suchdol forest & sketches of that dreadful 12th century incident I mentioned some weeks back.

Yep, same old song ~ 'One of these things is not like the other...'

~ Booda

Postcards Painted With Wine (Click Here)

Two Postcard auctions have just 2 days before closing. Details click here. Bid now.




Two Postcard auctions have just 2 days before closing. Details click here. Bid now.

Hello Sunnyvale California

I find the map on this page quite amazing. Sometimes I open 'Wine Ink' and the 'who's-amung-us' map is alive with red glowing dots, each one a visitor from somewhere out there across the globe. I hover over the dots and the location springs up, not just the country but small towns and cities across the world. Lately I have had one consistent visitor from 'Sunnyvale California'. It's so consistent that I wonder if it's a glitch in the system or some ISP junction box. Well hello to you Sunnyvale, human or not.

I have 2 auctions running currently, just sketches and you can see them here.

Wine Ink on Facebook

I made a new gift application on Facebook for Opipop, my original site designed in 2003. Anyone can use this gift app when exchanging gifts on Facebook.

The range includes a variety of pictures that I've made over the years in pastel and oil paintings. It also has one or two Wine Ink studies. So if you use Facebook and want to pass on some unique gifts use 'Opipop Art Gift'.

I am upgrading Opipop now and will notify when the new version is online. In the meantime some of the work can now be seen on Facebook. The current version of Opipop is problematic. Fixing it is next on the cards...

~ Booda

Summer Sunset Over Tursko (Click here for auction)

Summer Sunset Over Tursko (With distant rain shower).

Another wine sketch, using wine I made this small study on a postcard of the sky as the sun set over Tursko, a small town near Prague. It is signed on the back and also very faintly on the front. This is my second UK eBay auction and it also starts at just £9.99.

I know, bargain. But consider this ~ if I keep all my sketches I'd be pushed out the door in no time by a cascade of paper. Worse, if I keep things they can't all be framed and I've lost many fine pictures due to damage / neglect / loss. So I'd rather they found a home and gave me room to work and money for more paper. Anyway, I decided last year that my new studio would not become cluttered and I would offer all my sketches for auction as a means of support for my oil paintings.

That's the plan, so bid on this picture and keep me in wine / paper / coffee.
All the best,
~ Booda

'Thoughts of a Moribund nature' Click for 1st UK Auction.

My first auction on eBay.UK and one of the last sketches made in wine in the old studio. A curious man, crossing the railway line, he stopped and turned and looked my way. He was bald and at quite a distance and it looked like he wore a simple mask over his eyes.

10 day auction starting at just £9.99.

Travel.

I've been away, so no posts of late. So maybe it's time for a new auction, maybe it's long over due...

A Wine Ink Book...

'Wine Ink' is popular, it seems I have many interested viewers / readers and have been paid a few very fine compliments. Because of the interest I've decided I may publish a book of my wine paintings in the autumn, it will show the work as it has developed and include new pictures not yet shown on Wine Ink. I will publish more details on this subject as the book is created. In the meantime I can say it will be a full colour square format soft cover book. Drop me a line if you have an interest in owning a copy.

opipop@gmail.com

More details to follow...

'Fandagido' ~ Wine on Paper. Click image to enlarge.

Emma ~ full A4 sketch.

This is the full study of Emma. It is painted on four small pieces of paper, essentially the size of four postcards. Together no larger than an A4 piece of paper. Painted in wine.

Seeing the Joins

Looking closely at the intersection of the four pieces of paper on this latest picture of Emma I found an abstract wee grouping of lines and washes. In working close to the canvas you can't help but fall in love with the abstract things. The topography of every painting is a random place of collisions and groupings of paint media that would stand as pictures in themselves.

I made the marks above and should be familiar with them, but I did not know I made them until I was scanning the picture. I would not recall them on their own. On close-up I realised this section was just as interesting to me as the image as a whole. I think it doesn't matter that you have a subject or a reason, as long as there is liberty in the act. I sometimes think my pictures should be, in sentiment and application, like when one is coming in and out of a dream. Like those dreams in which the protagonist changes appearance, but not identity, remaining the same individual, but very different from place to place, moment to moment.

'Emma, Okor' (a small picture painted with wine.)

This detail shows an area about 6 cm across. It is a small picture of Emma, in total the whole picture is no more than the area of a single sheet of A4 copy paper. This picture was painted yesterday. You can see another study of Emma HERE.

New Portrait Status...and I may stop right here...

Portrait...

Tomorrow night I will load a sample showing my progress with the new portrait...

Balducci Performance (click image 2 enlarge)

A new picture completed today, still wet. It is painted in red wine over 9 pages and is set on Karlova Street, Prague 1. There will be a signed print available, most likely limited to 1/10 only. Please direct enquiries to ~ x.painter.@gmail.com

More information and further details of the pictures will follow here soon.

To What Extent Does the Path Lead You?

I'm recording the development of this painting because it's very likely to be destroyed in the process. There is a peak with anything we do and a new medium is like a peak shrouded in mist. You're never quite sure when you have reached the point of best observation and often enough that is realised only once you've begun a swift descent. Working back to where you were is a slog and the best you can hope for is to remember on the next outing where the limitations are.

In this case I am aiming for a ruby ~ a resonant red portrait made up of hundreds of washes. Hard to do when one too many wine washes can undo the layers beneath leaving a lighter pocket area. But that itself can be used to advantage, if used to open secondary shadows within shadows. So in one of the mediums limitations I find the opening to another of it's problems.
So it goes.

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

Autumn Colour ~Auction Link~

So far, in this series, I've used only red wine. Certain reds are richer in colour than others, obvious when painting but one would be hard pressed to note a difference between glasses. Look at the branches in the image below, I have something akin to purple on some branches while others appear more brown. The differences intrigue me enough to send me back to the wine-rack again and again in a committed, selfless, even feverish, search to find new colour. It's all work and no play.

Wine Painting ~ Auction Ending! ~ 'Three Trees, Autumn' (click here to bid)

Three Trees is one of the largest wine paintings I've auctioned, the auction ends in a few hours. The original, painted in wine, is $99.99 dollars. Ebay tip ~ If you load an item at $100 dollars the listing fees are much higher than if you load it at $99.99, who knows why...

Size A2/420 × 594cm or 16.5 × 23.4 inches
Media Wine on Paper, Chilean Concha Y Tora 'Carmenere 2006. Signed 'Booda 2007'.

Paralax View ~ Are we too slow?

On my Mac Wine Ink loads easily, but a few days back I was told it was loading very slowly. It could be the PC of the person who made this comment or it may be the blog itself. If so I'll have to sort it out. I would love your opinion...is this blog loading poorly on your end?. Please help me build up a picture and leave a comment here.
Thank you.
~ Booda

Autumn in Prague, original wine on paper study by Booda

'Prague in Autumn'. This is a new wine on paper study on 7 day auction. Click the title above to view the auction and bid.

Using Sunrise Carmenere I painted a view that I see from my studio every day, that of St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague. The picture is made of four pieces of A6 Indian hand made paper. Forgive me if I've had one too many wines tonight, what can I say, it's thursday, and we had a real hoot with our get together at Bachus...

A Portrait for All Seasons.

I had this idea. When you visit a national portrait gallery you expect to see a lot of mugs. Many, if not all, beautifully painted. The subjects national heroes, villains, writers, actors and artists. Well, actually, few artists tend to feature as subjects, but the paintings are more than representative of them. These are the famous people of a nation and having visited the National Portrait gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland, some years back, I had wondered if it would be possible to have a painting of an anonymous individual. A few days ago I suggested it to James Holloway, the director of the Scottish National Portrait gallery, that there be a place put aside for a painting of an average person. This painting could be on rotation, after a short period, perhaps a season, switched for another unknown subject and perhaps by an unknown artist. This would be a way to bring new people to the gallery, to feature new artists and most importantly foster portraiture...something of a dying art. If such a scheme exists I didn't see it on my visit.
I made the suggestion after it was pointed out that only the greatest subjects of the nation feature in the gallery. Certainly the most famous are on show at the SNPG, national celebrities, many of them perhaps great, but not all.

Sold. 'The Wine Lover'.

The following picture was auctioned and sold today.

The Wine Lover and Three Trees. Current Auctions

My two Current wine art auctions are Three Trees, Autumn and Oenophile or The Wine Lover.

Autumn Greetings Card.

While the original is on auction I have produced new greetings cards featuring the work at Red Bubble.

Buy the original A2 size painting at just $99.99.

Imagined Perspective (Click to View live 7 day Auction)

When painting with wine I usually begin without drawing, they are immediate. I just imagine something and begin painting on the blank surface. My previous multiple 'Man Pushing Man Pushing Man' was painted over four pieces of card as they were placed in order on my table. It's quite a complicated picture so it was a challenge to have everything line up or to think of a way out of an impending paradox that I might see coming as I work. It turned out to be quite easy. So with this new multiple I increased the challenge by working on one piece at a time and not putting them together until all 4 were finished. Again it was not too hard...but this time I ended up with a curious accident.

I somehow imagined the horizon line in two places, I mistook the level of the horizon on the right side of the main tree, so when I placed the four together one of the trees suddenly appeared out of perspective and because of this looks like a Bonsai.
This happened because I worked on one paper at a time and did not compare. I was delighted, it was completely unexpected.

This was an accident due to a challenge I had set myself. But there is a very famous painting in which the artist has purposefully re-set the horizon line halfway across the picture plane. Do you know this painting?

Fall 'Three Trees, Autumn' painted in wine by Booda

I loaded a new 7 day auction, I've been watching the leaves falling and this is my first forest view painted in wine, another large 'multiple' (A2/ 16.5 x 23.4 inches). For further details contact me on Skype or by e-mail. To bid on the picture below click here

Free Halloween Mask ~ 'Garlogie Mudman' by Booda

A new sketch in wine of myself in costume, it reminded me of the 'Garlogie Mudman', our childhood bogie-man in the North-East of Scotland. Since it's nearly Halloween I have made a mask of this drawing for anyone who wishes to download it, it's free. It can be printed any size, but it is optimized for 17 x 22 inch papers. There are insructions on the mask, for best results paste it to card before cutting it out.

To download the PDF follow this MUDMAN link.

Download Instructions...
1. Do not open an account, select 'free'.
2. Scroll down and await your 'download ticket'.
3. Type in the security code or 'ticket' and the download begins.

BTW ~ I'd be delighted to see any photo's of the MUDMAN in use, send image links to opipop@gmail.com, thanks!

'Portrait of the Artist as A Garlogie Mudman'

The Earliest Swirlings (Click for live UK auction)

I was across at Bacchus, in Prague 6, making notes, trying to put things in order. It became an impromptu tasting, I tried a fine Chianti and something else...and something else. I had been asked to produce a show of paintings by Alex, the proprietor. I doodled a wee, lonesome man, lost in a reverie as he mulled a fine wine. A tiny version of myself, dreaming as I drank. In that moment I reasoned I could paint with wine and dipping my finger in my glass, made a mark across the page.
I remembered the words of an artist that I had read as a boy as he dismissed the need for expensive materials, what better challenge is there than self-limitation? 'Mud and and a broken match is all a true artist needs' ~ Gary Leach.

The little doodle, 'the wine lover', and my first wine mark can be seen HERE
The sketch on auction today was made not long after that...auction ends in 6 days. Click the title above to view image details and to place your bid.

Oenophile or Wine Lover ~ New Auction (Click 2 Bid)

My first UK listing. I have listed previously only on eBay.com (US), this time I am offering my work on the UK version. This work is auctioned in British Pounds. Starting bid £19.99. Click title above to bid, details below.

Oenophile or The Wine Lover.
Original painted by the artist. Size ~ 17.5 × 19cm
'Oenophile' or 'The Wine Lover' is an original sketch painted in red wine. Signed 'Booda '07' and with the vintage stated on the bottom as 'Sunrise Merlot 2006'. The picture has the distinct coding of the wine ink series - 'WI/7-2-9-07' ~ This means it is the 7th picture signed in the series and was created 2/9/07.

Art in the Frame.

Sending art abroad framed is no trouble, but my wine paintings are like watercolours and should be framed behind glass, and that makes it difficult. I once sent a painting* like this to the Nederlands and had packed it well. I had also applied tape across from corner to corner, a trick that has worked for me in the past, as it seems to temper vibrations across the glass before it leads to a crack. But not this time...the glass arrived broken. The mailing service compensated for damages...but it was a pain in the neck.

So with my wine studies I have decided to forward them un-framed and arrange framing near my clients wherever that might be. In doing this last week I located 'Artists Frame Service' in Chicago for the buyer of 'Apple Cornered'.

They have an informative site that creates a great impression and I felt immediately comfortable. I contacted the collector and suggested this service as a good choice...she agreed, I was surprised to learn she has been using them for years. So if you have a picture needing framed and you are in the Chicago area, try these guys, they were the best I could find ~ Artists Framing Service

*The painting was 'She Was Definitely Me'. One of my 'Living Room Theatre' series (1996 / 2000) ~ See Wildebeest Convention

First Wine Framed.

The first pictures I painted with wine are now framed and back in the studio (photo below), all three were sold prior to framing.

Saatchi's Clunky Design Competition.

Last week I posted a link to my entry to the latest Saatchi site 'showdown'. I had been prompted by an e-mail announcing the new competition. Once loaded (and that took forever) a titled button appeared above my picture 'RATE THIS ARTWORK'. I decided not to rate my own work and just announced the competition on this blog.

I was later sent an e-mail from someone who had tried to rate artwork...no dice, the competition hadn't started yet. Good site design has spoiled us, I've come to believe where there is a button there is also a function. Not like the old days when many sites hosted buttons leading to pages showing anims of workmen and text reading 'Under Construction!!'. But there it was a button that did not do what it offered, amazing.

Perhaps it's just on my Safari and Mozilla but the Saatchi site is also very clunky. It takes forever to do anything like open a link. Besides this it seems to want you to log in repeatedly...surely one log-in is enough?

Life is way, way, way too short. That said, the competition supposedly opened today, anyone wanting to visit and vote on art can do so by clicking this posts title.

But to be honest, I don't think it's worth the visit. It's actually painful to look at. It does no art on its pages any good, everything there seems cheapened by the way the site hosts the images. I'm amazed that a patron of the arts like Mr Saatchi didn't invest in a site design that shows the work in a better light.

It looks like the site was designed years ago...most art sites today make for a far better, more illuminating, more pleasant visit.

Q ~ Is it my browser or is the Saatchi site as clunky as an old clock?

New Autumn, New Auctions Soon...

'Boab' is off to the Saatchi Gallery

I sent 'The Oldest Man in Scotland' to the Saatchi Gallery tonight. I received an e-mail this morning announcing the new 'Showdown' and sent 'Boab' to see what it was all about.

If you would like to follow Boab on his mission and take part in the vote click the title above or copy and paste the link below.
Voting opens 22-10-07

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/showdown/index.php?showpic=84907

Sold, Sold, Sold...Everything Sold.

Every original I have posted on eBay has sold. Each of them painted with red wine in a series only started a month or so ago.
I have new work now in the pipeline and I'm putting together a waiting list. Join the list and be the first to see and buy new paintings before they go to auction.

Join my waiting list here ~ opipop@gmail.com

For those who have invested interest in my work you can know you are not alone. Information on documents of authenticity and a new collectors club...coming up.

Thanks for all the support!

~ Booda

One Day Left ~ Dunk for this Apple ~ Bid now...

My painting of an apple is painted with red wine, an original on auction for a song...

As Above, Not So Below.

This week I had several requests for art prints, I completed them today and will post to the US over the weekend. I print them with an Epson Pro 4000 large format printer and pack them myself. The Pro 4000 is simply incredible, great colour, detail and speed. To add to that you could have heard my monocle pop when I first realised the prints come out of the machine bone dry...and un-smudgable. So if you're thinking of making your own prints and posters you ought to consider this range. The print quality is truly outstanding. So called 'giclee' print should have a standard, if it did, it would be of this Epson range and above. Unfortunately many 'giclee' fall far short.

My large art prints are currently just $39.99 from my eBay store.
http://stores.ebay.com/Art-Opipop-Booda-Originals

Wine Ink art cards from Red Bubble ~ Click to View ~

I am offering a range of Wine Ink art cards with Red Bubble. Look for 'Opipop' on Red Bubble or follow my link. Available in Dollars, Euro, Sterling or AUD.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/opipop

My eBay store...
http://stores.ebay.com/Art-Opipop-Booda-Originals

Three Trees ~ Click for current auctions ~

Yesterday I started a new picture, perhaps the first of a series of autumn landscapes.

Man Pushing to California.

The A2 size study for 'Man Pushing Man Pushing Man' sold on eBay. Tomorrow it will be packed flat in thick card and bubblewrap before shipping to Santa Cruz California. I also quickly located a framer in my collectors area. I always organise this for local sales in Prague and will do so in all of my international sales too, if it is required. Sorting out a good frame is important and will add to the longevity of my work.

Auctions Today! - 1 ending.

Today there are 4 of my Wine Ink auctions running on eBay, the following lists current bids and closing times.

$49.99 - 'Man Pushing' Original A2 ~ 10hrs.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180165445292

$0.99 - 'The Monkey's Paw' ~ 2 days, 4hrs.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180165956888

$0.99 - 'Alpine Peak' ~ 5 days, 3 hrs.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180166937128

$5.50 - 'An Apple Cornered' ~ 6 days, 14hrs.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180167424983

Blue Apple. ~ Click here for Apple Auction ~

My father could draw, he was talented that way but never encouraged. It was impossible for a kid of his background to somehow find a place at art school in the 40's and 50's. It would have been Glasgow school of art had it ever been thinkable.

He seems to have had a strong natural drawing skill and he once told me of his delight at the reaction of a teacher who discovered him drawing a 'Sunderland Flying Boat' in chalk on a blackboard. I believe he said the teacher brought children from all over St Columbkille's school to see his picture and he was astonished.

He was astonished again when chalk was hurled at him in art class when 'Daddy Dolan' discovered he had drawn a blue apple. 'Apples urny blue Moore!' Dolan thundered. This was his introduction to Dyschromatopsia - colour blindness. The apple was the colour it was and it was only years later in the Navy that he discovered that most people didn't see it that way.

My apple (below) started out red. It was painted with red wine but wine settles in a different way on the card I am using this evening. It doesn't matter, an apple is an apple is an apple.

An apple a day upsets your sense of proportion ~ Bid ~

I just painted an apple. Two actually. But the first looked like an apple only until I painted the second, the first no longer looked like an apple by comparison to the second. I wondered, as I always do at times like this, "If I paint a third apple will the second then look as unlike itself as the first did compared to it?". This is a fairly good example of how thinking can interrupt the otherwise blissful thing of painting. It also reminds me of the old line about the golden ratio "The shorter is to the longer as the longer is to the whole.' If I were to paint a series of apples receading in a spiral across a rectangular universe I could call it 'Golden Delicious'. If you don't know the golden ratio you ought to. Find it here :-

(But beware, you'll begin to find it everywhere...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

.99 cent auction, bid by clicking the title above.

'Alpine Peak Above the Soca'. .99¢ auction ~ Bid Now~

'Alpine Peak Above the Soca'. Original study painted in red wine over two pieces of A4 white card - Each card is 8 × 11 inches (210 × 297mm).The painting is signed 'Booda '07' on the lower left with the wine vintage stated on the back. The picture has the distinctive coding associated with Booda's wine series - 'WI/13-2-9-07' (Wine Ink No 13 followed by date of execution). One of several sketches made during filming in the Julian Alps on the forth coming Narnia sequel.

Winter Scenes of Prague ~ New Art Prints $39.99

A new series of vibrantly coloured winter reproductions are now on sale in my eBay store. The first 3 images are scenes of Prague. All are printed and packed by myself on 200gm A2 paper. Click on the title to visit the Opipop store.

Christmas orders should be made as soon as possible - especially if framing is needed.
I can arrange framing in most cases.

'The Monkey's Paw' ~ Original in red wine. ~99¢ Auction~

This is the fifth sketch I made with wine. It is a quick life study, I was unsure how versatile a medium it could be at this point and was trying to establish a method. Only 'Boab' has any preparatory drawing to it, everything else is immediate, straight from the glass. This picture was painted on the 31st of august this year.

Click the title above to bid...

'Man Pushing 3' $49.99 (Size A2) ~bid now~

Original Booda study in wine on 4 cards, over all size A2.

A Busy Thursday.

I had to cancel our usual wine on thursday due to family commitments and atrocious weather here in Prague, it wasn't all that bad - I had a bottle in my kitchen.

In the morning I met with an actor friend of mine, David Bowels, who very kindly agreed to pose for the last 'Man Pushing' sketch. We drank Arabic coffee, it had a taste like ginger, delicious.

Today I worked on a larger version of my grandfathers portrait but it was unsuccessful. I'll have to start again. The problem was the card...I must have bought the wrong kind by accident. The same wine can appear remarkably different on cards that look much the same.

On thursday morning I also managed to pick up new ink cartridges for my large-format printer - I have some requests for art prints. Just before lunch I picked up 4 framed prints from my framer, excellent work as always, and delivered them to a gentleman in another part of old town. It was raining hats and frogs and oddly enough I noticed my framers name was also on the buzzer of this chaps building, it must be his home address. How strange to walk all that way and find the same name on both doors. Somehow all the more irritating in the rain. When Prague is not Kafkaesque it's Pythonesque.

Oldest man in Scotland - auction ends in 8 hours...(Bid Here)

Auction ends in 8 hours...current bid 86 US dollars. Portrait of my grandafather, painted in red wine.

Booda river landscape Auction ending ~ Click 2 Bid ~

Original river landscape in red wine, auction closes in 7 hours. A sketch of the Julian Alps, Slovenia. This sketch is based on one of several notebook sketches made while I was on leave from Narnia this summer. There were many scenes to be shot before mine so I was given time off to wander around the mountains. I painted in the day time in the hills and forests around Kobarid.
I also visited lake Bled and then Venice. I rented a wee green Peugeot and drove all over to find art supplies...no way. Just Mercator shops...and scant art supplies.

I worked on photocopy paper when my sketchbook filled up. In Venice I bought an excellent notebook from an art shop that then seemed to vanish. I know because I went back after a few minutes to find it had gone, eventually realising that I had just caught him before he closed ( Explains his rude impatience!). And when he closed the whole shop seemed to vanish under numerous shutters and plates...like a mercantile art-madillo.

'Wildebeest Convention' ~Booda's Store~

The 'Wildebeest Convention' was created in the year 2000 and has been exhibited once. To be free again to paint to this scale, this is my reason for offering my sketches for such low prices on Ebay. I know the value of my work and will not sell it short but my sketches are never visible, hidden in sketchbooks, often damaged because of a lack of space. I hate to see that.

So, to better support the big stuff, and to make room for it, I am offering the sketches on Ebay. That's pretty much it in the nutshell. They fuel the fire. And the collectors can watch what they support come to life.

Opipop-ad-wild, originally uploaded by booda.

What I am doing on Ebay. ~Visit my new store~

I have been asked if I will auction oil paintings on Ebay and the answer is no. My objective with Ebay is to offer my sketches and paintings made with wine. These pictures are preparatory and in selling them at such low prices I will cover studio costs usually incured with a large picture or otherwise time consuming project. So by collecting the sketches you are a supporter of my new paintings in oils and I am no longer beholden to commissions. A little like freedom.

Art Opipop

I just opened a store on ebay, click the title above to visit the page. There is a lot yet to do, I have to 're-decorate' for a start...

Compare and Contrast ~ Click Here for Auctions ~

Here is a good example of how the same red wine on two types of card, both white, can react in an entirely different way. One produces a pink-lilac line and the other a subdued bruised purple. My scanner can, occasionally, produce some strange results...especially where there is some subtlety of colour. This happened with 'Sky' and it took many goes on the scanner to replicate the delicate tones I see here in the studio. Anyone buying my work should consider that what they see on thier monitor may be different from what I see here. I have two monitors and I move the scans across from one screen to the other and in one it is more blue, a blue cast. My main monitor is Mac and I think shows the colour as close to reality as can be expected.

'Man Pushing' sketch 3 ~ Click Here 2 Bid~

This is the third sketch for 'Man Pushing Man Pushing Man'. I'll take the same subject over the next few days and approach it in a very different way. I'll post the new sketches to show the changes I adopt and for easy comparison.

Man Pushing sketch 2 ~ Click Here 2 Bid~ 99cents

'Man Pushing 2' is a larger sketch with more detail. The image is tending toward caricature although I imagined it as a realistic picture. I suppose, as this is developing here, I could call this a 'painting in blogress'. One more to come in this direction, next week I'll take it in a different direction.

Opipop-ad-copy-4, originally uploaded by booda.

Painting from the imagination ~ Click 2 Bid~

Sometimes when I see a thing that I think will make a good picture I wonder why I am feeling that way. I recognise the idea of it and then look again. Often times these subjects are for a moment not themselves and it's this that makes them special.

For instance I saw a bag the other day, a bin-liner, that appeared to me very different for a moment and looked nothing like a bin-liner. I'll be showing a sketch of the bin-liner here soon and you'll see exactly what I mean. But this is easily explained as a trick on the eye.

But the most inexplicable thing is the idea for a picture that seems to spring up fully formed in the mind. Where does that come from? 'Man Pushing Man Pushing Man' came in that way. Without a thought and yet it seemed to have a deeper idea behind it. I sketched it quickly as a rough (see below.) and then as a larger rough and then as a multiple of 4 ( a very very big rough). Although I know I can paint exactly what I saw, I always sketch these things first in a quick rough way.

The oddity a simple sketch can bring can make a picture vastly better, I think the fusion of convincing and unconvincing methods will act longer on the mind than a picture solely devoted to either approach.

In the following series I go one direction. Next week I'll take the same idea back in the other direction. after that I might take the best of the two methods and create a mash. I'm pretty sure that is the way to paint from the imagination...because the results will be as bizarre as the thought that started it.

'Sky' - .99 cent Auction (CLICK 2 BID)

My first wine pictures were based on what was in front of me, a chair and a bottle. I then began making a picture of my hand and then as I became comfortable I began working naturally, as I normally would, by roughing out ideas for new paintings.
The following images and this cloudscape are roughs for paintings I hope to create soon.

Soča River Landscape, Slovenia. ~Click 2 Bid~

On location this summer...I had a lot of time on my hands. I made about 15 pictures of the Soča and surrounding alpine peaks.
It is a stunning part of the world.

'Boab' - Auction ~ Click Here 2 Bid~

Opipop boaby, originally uploaded by booda.