Pastels in the Park.

 

Weather was fine enough to visit Thoresby Park. I needed a bit of an art reset. So, oil pastels on large, cheep brown wrapping paper was the challenge of the day.

All artworks copyright ian gordon craig.

Creative Collaboration.

 I’ve never either accepted commissions or chosen to do portraits of people I don’t know. For me, using a model is a process based on a level of collaboration rather than instruction. And the nice thing about collaborating with other creatives is it brings out different ideas, encouraging experimentation.

Above: “Under the Bridge” was both a joint venture and an experiment. Outsize masks were made in advance of taking photographs at Lady Bay Bridge, Nottingham, and also on a small pier beside Thoresby Lake. The painting is about how most of us can have two sides to our character.

Above: This large oil pastel drawing was originally intended as a study for a painting, but I thought I’d never capture again the spontaneity of the drawing. The collaboration involved a story-board  communication. I suggested poses via sketches, she provided images to work from. The result is one of my personal favourites.

  

 All text, photos & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

Robin Hood’s Stride.

 

My ill-fated adventure to see the Nine Ladies stone circle, could have dissuaded me from venturing back to Derbyshire in search of Robin Hood’s Stride, another bronze age monument. Happily, it did not.

Much easier to locate than the Nine Ladies, though no less a test of one’s fitness, I reached the tip of Robin Hood’s Stride with no mishap, and set about gathering resources with sketchbook and camera. It’s only afterwards that one looks back at the video and thinks “What if I’d fallen? Who would have found me?”

Video: Robin Hood Stride.

I am pleased with the pastel sketches I made. Perhaps there’s a style / technique here I could return to?


 All text, photos, & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

 

Newstead Abbey, first attempt.

 Newstead Abbey, one of my first locations as a subject for painting after leaving full time employment. I am struggling with colour.

The oil pastel studies below (one showing the view from behind the waterfall), were more successful.

All text, photos & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.