Contorted Hazel

My apologies for the double posting, it won’t let me delete one at the moment. I also used newspaper print transfer, the area bottom of vase, top left, middle right and bottom right below the purple stripe. The piece on the right and top left is of a Chinese/Japanese lady walking under cherry blossom, the top left is more of the cherry blossom. This kind of transfer is quite effective for adding texture. If you would like me to explain how to do it, let me know.

Well Fiona I think you have invented a new way of painting called ( loose, semi abstract and SCRUFFY ) 😂 I think you are onto something here? Full marks for having a go and it’s no good me saying as I don’t understand abstract but it’s good to look at and fair play you will have a go at any style, good for you.😉

Well I love the colours and the composition. And would love to know more about the transfer method! It's a really lovely image.

Lovey piece of work

I love what you have done here.

It sounds complicated but a great result.

Great textures, I liked that packing paper but my imagination isn’t as good as yours Fiona! This is very good, I would like to know how you do the transfers please x

It's beautiful, Fiona. And the lemons are a lovely surprise. You are soooo imaginative. Please tell us how you did it.

Very attractive work Fiona. I like the splash of yellow against the near monotone very much.

My instant reaction was 'OH, that's fantastic!'

I totally love this Fiona!

Beautifully painted Fiona .

I agree with William - like it a lot

Fantastic, I love this Fiona. The change in style and the colours you've used are stand out.

Well I can live with scruffy any day Fiona, I like the semi abstract approach, its a winner for me!!

It’s great Fiona - lovely textures and mark making. ( I thought at first sight that you had used the imprint of a trainer on the vase!

I just love this, Fiona. Like you I use packing for mark making.....bubble wrap, polystyrene shapes, corrugated cardboard. I like the way the under painting shows through in places, or is that the print transfer? Fabulous.

Thank you all very much for your positive feedback on this, it wasn’t planned out in any way other than what I wanted to use in the painting. Even the newspaper print I chose was more luck that judgement. I appreciate your feedback.

I hope this verbal demo will make sense, for those of you who are interested in the newspaper print transfer technique. My art tutor (Davy Brown) demonstrated this way of adding texture to our work a couple of years ago when we did our term of ‘nooks & crannies’. It’s especially effective used for adding texture to buildings and walls etc. You will need newspaper, acrylic paint (lighter colours are more effective, white being the best I’ve found) your surface, ie paper, card, canvas, board etc. I’ve tried this method using white and black gesso too but the black doesn’t work at all and the white gesso isn’t as good as paint. Select the pieces of newspaper you want to use before you start, as you don’t have very much time once you apply the paint because of it drying out too quickly. You can use the print, or any pictures from the paper....I used pictures from the times travel paper for this. Okay, so you have your surface ready, your chosen cut out or torn pieces of newspaper, your acrylic paint and a brush. I use an old hog hair brush as it gives an added texture from the stiff bristles. Load your brush, you don’t want to spread it too thin but you don’t want it too thick either on to your surface....use horizontal and vertical strokes to get some bristle marks in the paint. Then place the newspaper print on to the paint, rub the back and smooth it in to the paint.....this bit will be trial and error, as you don’t want to leave it on more than 30 seconds to a minute. It will all depend on how thick your paint is, you want to be able to peel the newspaper from the paint before it sticks permanently. I usually lift a corner and star peeling it off, if I can see that it has transferred remove it entirely, if not, rub it back down and leave a little longer. It doesn’t take long, believe it or not different newspapers behave differently. The cheaper ones are usually better. I hope you can understand the above....good luck and have fun!

A master class on how to use shape and space to stunning effect! This is fabulous, Fiona - one of my favorites among your recent works!

Seok, thank you so much for your generous comment. Your comment means a great deal to me, thank you.

It’s a beauty! Top marks here for experimenting, a superbly well balanced and interesting piece!

Thanks Alan X

You are so brilliant Fiona

This, in my opinion, is superb.

Dennis and Gudrun....thank you! X

This is beautiful work, Fiona!

Thank you very much Anne.

Great combination of shapes, line and colour Fiona - great charm in this work.

Shaun, many thanks.