Year 2012

My first resolution for this new year is to improve my painting, publish more often, and show more of my work!

So here is my Happy New Year Card to wish you a successful and creative new year.

Squashes and blue bottle

The squashes have reappeared on the market, their strange shapes always attract me and I love the way a green colour can very sharply without transition  become a bright orange or yellow!

Les gourdes ont fait leur apparition sur les marches et leurs formes étranges m'attirent. Je m'étonne toujours qu'un vert puisse devenir sans transition un brillant orange ou jaune!

Apples and stripes

This is another work in acrylic, done much faster than I would have done in oil and and the brush marks stayed where I had put them, not disappearing after a  few hours...perhaps I use too much medium when working in oil.


Un nouveau travail  fait rapidement grâce a l'acrylique. Les marques du pinceau restent bien en place et ne disparaissent pas après quelques heures comme c'est le cas a l'huile, probablement ceci est du a l'emploi de trop de médium.

Back to acrylic paint after 4 years !

This is an acrylic painting done over two days , the painting after the first day is underneath.I am not used to this medium but I have enjoyed it as it dries fast and therefore allows immediate correction.

C'est une peinture a l'acrylique réalisée sur 2 après-midi et la version intermediaire est ci-dessous.Je n'ai pas beaucoup d'experience en peinture acrylique mais j'y ai pris plaisir car elle seche vite et cela permet de faire des corrections instantanement.

Pears and grapes

This is the final version, it took me many more hours than I thought but I am quite pleased with the result. For the final effects - mostly high lights - I used a small brush and worked with range of colours all very close in tone.
This had the effect of softening the contrast - which I usually have a tendency to over-emphasize.

Voici la version finale qui m'a demandé beaucoup plus d'heures que je ne pensais. Je suis satisfaite de mon travail surtout en utilisant un pinceau fin et une technique de hachures pour révéler les volumes, je suis parvenue a un travail plus délicat que de coutume. J'ai en effet tendance a sauter trop rapidement d'une couleur a l'autre et avec de trop grands écarts de valeur.

I think the values on the left are better, the basket is more in the dark there are too many grapes on the right and I prefer the sharper green on the left. All in all I think I have probably  weakened the  picture. So there is more work to be done !

Les valeurs sur la gauche et couleurs des raisins sont meilleures, de plus trop de raisin  sur la droite .Je me demande si je n'ai pas affaibli l'ensemble. Donc encore du travail !

Pear and grapes in basket

This a new painting for which I have put already six working hours ! I  thought of putting it on this blog in order to see the development of this picture hoping I wont destroy it as  I am quite pleased with it till now...



Voici ma nouvelle peinture, j'y ai passe deja 6 heures ! Je l'affiche pour reference et voir sa progression esperant ne pas detruire ce qui est fait
car jusqu'ici j'aime le resultat.

Chardin - Glass of water and coffee pot,1760

I have found an old copy of  Chardin that I did 3 years ago when I was so sure I only wanted to work with oil I have started to go to an Art class where we can only handle acrylics. It seems so much easier because the paint drying fast you know what you want to keep and work only on the area which need more attention.I recommand it for anybody who find oil going everywhere.

Je viens de retrouver une copie que j'ai faite il y a 3 ans et a l'époque  je pensais vouloir ne travailler qu'a l'huile!
Je viens de commencer des cours aux Beaux-Arts de Cherbourg ou on ne peut que travailler a l'acrylique.  Je le recommande  a qui "patauge" dans l'huile car le travail est bien plus rapide puisque la peinture sèche vite permettant des corrections et des décisions immédiates .

Three Comice Pears

It is Autumn, apple and pears have arrived in the market. The light source - grey day, is coming from the left of the pears.

C'est l'automne les pommes et poires ont réapparues sur les marches. Celles-ci sont éclairées sur la gauche,lumière faible par temps gris.

L'oeuf et la baguette - SOLD -

The egg shape is the most beautiful and challenging form. Not an easy subject despite  its apparent simplicity!

La forme de l'œuf est la forme la plus belle et stimulante. Pas un sujet facile, malgré son apparente simplicité!

Back to Chardin (French painter 18th century)

I have gone back to a painting which I had started 3 years ago and never finished as I was not happy with the fruits. Having spoken with Julie Ford Oliver about the virtues of copying the Old Masters I decided to finish the Chardin painting call "Seville Orange,Silver goblet,Apples,Pear and two Bottles, 1750" and there it is my second painting on my blog!  It seems to me that this kind of work needs to be worked the same way as it was done, I mean by that it has to be done layer by layer and time to dry in between. Retouching it made me aware that I always put to much medium and maybe this explains why my brush marks seems always to disappear...

my first weekly painting

Two terracota pots on my garden wall

I have at last managed to post a picture (learning the language as well!)
This was painted a la prima with oil in few hours as I wanted to enter the challenge on Daily paintworks.

Well I am going to try to keep a blog although I have never written a diary. This must be implying organisation,creativity and reasonable thoughts which are worth reading. I mostly count on my paintings which should speak for themselves as we say!
In fact this should be an autodidacte painter blog giving tips about the kind of painting that I do and maybe helping along my readers.