Category: Fern Smith

New window exhibition at FernArtz studio – artworks by Fern Smith

Fern Smith made the oil paint from pigments and ochres. The pigments are all ‘safe’ by the ASTM standard. No solvents were used.

If you would like to to make a batch of your own oil paint book in a workshop.

To get your work ready to show takes quite some time. You need those words that describe your work;  what it is, what medium, when you did and why you did it. I just finished applying to the Kilgour portrait prize the artwork image is in the last post. Here are some opening line versions. The two hundred and fifty word statement took as long as the painting itself.

Draft 2 – ‘Councillor Sue Bolton’ by Fern Smith is an opaque watercolour on cotton. Smith’s work repositions old art technologies from Asia, turn of the twentieth century banner art and the iconic Chinese revolutionary poster art to create an interpretation and synthesis of Councillor Sue Bolton…’

Draft 3 – ‘Fern Smith has created a portrait of ‘Councillor Sue Bolton’ that is both contemporary and traditional with an international flavour. The portrait is an opaque watercolour on cotton, eighty six centimetres wide by one thousand and thirty centimetres high….’

Day 5: Tightening lines, firmed up demonstration, added woman in shadows – I think its done- this is the walk away time.
Day 4: Adding colour and lines
Day 3: Adding colour today.
Day 2: The sketch and a layer of white opaque water colour
Day 1: The gesso is down,  – its around 86 cms wide x 1100 cms  high.

Its is exciting I have been putting off doing a portrait of our ward Councillor Sue Bolton for about a year it was going to be a digital print maybe that will come too now –

I like the darker jumper  – think I am almost there a bit of tightening up.

Its great having Photoshop – took the other photo in and tried on different colours for the jumper  – then could go straight back to the painting with colour and tint in mind.