Monday, December 05, 2011

Concentration I

Concentration I by Liza Hirst

Sorry about my long "absenteeism" from here, but daily life has been too demanding. Actually not only time has been restricted but also space is a slight problem. We have moved to London again for a while, now living in a TINY apartment, where painting is a challenge, if not even impossible. I'm ok with painting in a small corner but I can't really expect anybody to bear the odours of balsamic terbentine and oil paints on a permanent basis. Thus my plan is to paint more en plein air. Today was the first day I was going to tackle it..... Today though was the first day with quite cold temperatures and I must admit, I didn't have the courage to do it. Instead I warmed up with a few sketches of my husband working on the computer - a very common sight for me. First, here's a quick one I did a few weeks ago of him.

pen on paper, Faserstift auf Papier, crayon à encre sur papier
14 cm x 18 cm, 5,5" x 7"

Liza Hirston

8 comments:

Pam Holnback said...

Love seeing the sketch. You are Lucky to be in London! If you can't paint outdoors, jus t go out and enjoy the architecture and your surroundings.

René PleinAir said...

Liza, buy some odorless turp and have a look over here:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=338507/

I am looking forward to your PleinAir work, in the beginning it seems very hard but I have to warn you it's highly addictive especially now a days with the cold, rainy dark times ahead. But with the first snowfall you be hooked, ... take care!

Liza Hirst said...

Hi Pam, thank you for your kind comment. It is indeed a treat to be in this exciting, beautiful city and I enjoy it very much. Yet, work has to be done sometime and as always after a longer period of not painting, I find it a bit hard to get back into it.

Liza Hirst said...

Hi René,

That is a good advice! Hadn't thought of it myself. Thank you for the link - so interesting! I was definitely inspired by the posts about painting in a café and hope I will manage to overcome my self conciousness to be able to do that myself sometime.
Take care!

René PleinAir said...

You can drink wine to get the courage first ... ;-)

Liza Hirst said...

Another good idea! I'll do that. Hopefully my brushwork will then also be a bit looser.

Barbara Muir said...

Love the line drawing Liza. I sympathize. Before I took over the living room and dining room I did watercolours on the kitchen table. Sometimes I still do. Your work is great in any medium.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxBarbara

Liza Hirst said...

Thanks so much, Barbara! I still haven't been able to reinstall my usual routine - guess the busy Christmas bustle adds to it. Love your poinssetia!