Flying Tackle (Upside Down One-Liner)

Wow Thea, very skilled! And upside down? Amazing work.

Thank you very much, Carole. It is actually easier upside down as you just following the lines and shapes. If I had tried to draw the legs and contorted bodies normally I bet I would have been rubbing out and getting the lines all wrong. I was watching Sky Portrait of the Year the other day and the artist who won the heat said that he just gets going with the painting, making lots of mistakes and then he decides as he goes along which mistakes to retain. This surprised me but I could see that some of the 'mistakes' he said he had made actually enhanced the painting. Just goes to show, eh?!

Wow! Fantastic work Thea

Love the action and the flow through the air that you've captured. Only one quibble, I'd have preferred him to be in a RED shirt !! [Come on Boyos] LOL

So full of movement, they're almost throwing themselves off the paper! You've managed all the body twists and turns here, feet, knees, hips, shoulders, the lot. Extraordinary result as well as it being extraordinary that you've sat down and tackled this particular subject of the 'flying tackle' which is a first for you and totally out of your comfort zone. Isn't it wonderful that we're trying such different subjects now and yes, mistakes are good and add so much life and personality to a painting!

Thank you Petra, Debs and Louise for your positive feedback. Goodness knows what I will feel confident to tackle (no pun intended, lol!) next - the drawing world is now our oyster! Debs, is the red shirt Liverpool? I ought to know that as my grandson likes that team but didn't know you were a supporter. Anyway, this is rugby - do Liverpool play rugby as well? I know I am showing my total ignorance of both games!

Fantastic result Thea! The players are flying in the air and as Louise said, everything is there! Have you tried flowers yet? Or trees? I had ago at my orchid but it went completely wrong and in the bin.

Wales Thea... Must give this a try now.

Thank you, Satu. No I haven't tried flowers. My daughter has just requested a cow's face - wow - that might be a challenge. I will try anything and everything because (probably erroneously) I think I can now draw whatever is put in front of me!!

Thanks, Derek - is it a Wales/England game? I know nothing about rugby although my mother used to be passionate about it and used to scream at the telly when a game wasn't going her way. My brother also managed to break his leg during a rugby match - he was a spectator and the scrum fell on him!! You have to laugh, don't you (not that he did at the time).

Great movement, really captures the game, and all the better for not being accurate as makes it a more interesting.

great movement - the style really works so well - nice one Thea

Being married to a rugby player I've tried that sort of scene several times myself but failed to produce something as good and as full of movement as this. Brilliant Thea.

Thank you very much Kevin, Michael and Val for such nice comments. I always feel a bit guilty about accepting praise for these one-liners as you feel that someone else is guiding your hand and producing them and I do feel that (apart from the painting bit) I didn't have much to do with the outcome.

It's all been said Thea, your enthusiasm shines through and the results are so good!

The Red Shirt was a reference to Wales Rugby [ thank you Derek] but as it happens we are all Liverpool [football] fans so well done to your grandson for having such good taste, even though we haven't won anything for ages! lol

Great one liner Thea fantastic

Wonderful work, Thea! Just the right amount of detail, full of movement and super composition to boot!