TOULOUSE-LAUTREC AND JANE AVRIL AT THE COUTAULD GALLERY, LONDON

BEYOND THE MOULIN ROUGE

This small exhibition is well worth going to see, open until 18 September 2011.

There are few works, but those that are there are so interesting and exciting. It is inspirational.  He is one of my inspirational artists.

PAINT TEXTURE

You can look at the paint, the texture, the brush strokes, closely without any officious gallery attendant telling you to step back,  this is a great benefit at the Courtauld.  

I made a lot of notes at the exhibition, unfortunately I have mislaid my notebook!

Also there was a few moments to do a sketch, of some girls, all of them dressed in black and one with auburn hair in a pony tail, hair colour very like that of Jane Avril.

 

You can get an idea of the pictures if you go to the Courtauld website.

Here Courtauld Gallery

After the exhibition we walked out of the river exit of Somerset House, onto the Embankman, and through the very pretty Victoria Embankment gardens, then along the river to the Hispaniola, that large ship where you can sit on deck and drink wine and eat olives.  Its nice there on a bland autumn afternoon, and you do not need to go to Paris to enjoy the urban life.  London can be good too.

DEXTRO TRIATHLON HYDE PARK PHOTO, AUGUST 2011

TRIATHLON IN HYDE PARK, AT THE SERPENTINE SWIM

Here is a photo I took at last Sunday's Triathlon on London's Hyde Park, just as Ali Brownlee was getting his clothes. He had just done a warm up swim in the Serpentine prior to the big event.

He was Number 8 which was printed on his arm.  I have not been able to find out who Number 7 is in the photo, maybe his brother, who came in third?

More photos are on my Flickr page

LONDON TRIATHLON IN HYDE PARK, AUGUST 2011

THE GE TRIATHLON HELD ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 6 AND 7 AUGUST

Yesterday we went to see the Elite Men's Triathlon event in Hyde Park.

The day started fine and finished with us getting drenched in downpours of rain.

It was very exciting and a great atmosphere.  Maybe a painting will result.

Some of my photos are on Flickr and are in the side panel of this blog.

The swim was in the Serpentine, and the cycle laps went out of the park, round Buckingham Palace.

The winner Ali Brownlee is the British contender in the 2012 Olympics.  Congratulations to him and his brother, who came third.

LONDON LIVES - EXHIBITION IN SEPTEMBER - BANKSIDE GALLERY

BANKSIDE GALLERY, LONDON, ON THE SOUTH BANK

My oil painting of Emmanuel Mutai, London Marathon Runner, will be on display in September next.

The competition is a joint effort from Network Rail, The Guardian Newspaper, Great Art and Bankside. It is the second competion with the title 'London Lives'.

One hundred artists are selected to show an art work.

Here is my entry.

I used as inspiration my sketch made near Buckingham Palace, during the 2010 London Marathon, the sponsor of which was Virgin Money.

You can see I painted in the red banners which lined the route.

This year the exhibition runs from 9th to 18th September 2011.

Here is a link to Bankside Gallery. It shows an image of the winning painting from the London Lives exhibition in 2010.
Bankside Gallery, London, London Lives exhibition

SHIP IN A BOTTLE, TRAFALGAR SQUARE

Ship in Bottle July, a photo by sportsportraitartist.co.uk on Flickr.

My pencil sketch of the Fourth Plinth sculpture in Trafalgar Square, was drawn during a performance of the opera, Madame Butterfly.
The open air operas are live performances by the Royal Opera House, London. There was time to sketch before the performance started.

HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA ART EXHIBITION JULY 2011

PAINTINGS TO HENLEY ON THAMES FOR THE ROYAL REGATTA

I am taking these paintings to the Royal Regatta for next week.  They will be on show with other art in the Steward's Enclosure.  If you are going along, please take a look

The paintings are 1. Muscleman, Henley Regatta
2. Pink Blazers, Henley Regatta and 3. Regatta Legs, Blazers

SMITHFIELD NOCTURNE CYCLE RACE, CITY OF LONDON

SMITHFIELD IN THE CITY OF LONDON, FOR THE SMITHFIELD NOCTURNE

This is an annual cycle racing event which starts at about 4.30 on a Saturday, and ends after it is dark.

I go most years and I went along last Saturday, 11 June.

Above are photos of two oil paintings I have completed last year, inspired by the men team races.
This year the penny farthing race was very exciting, they go amazingly fast. Some of my photos are on my Flickr page and they are blurred!

At Smithfield, where the old meat market is still located, there are lots of pubs and bars, cafes and restaurants, which are all buzzing during the Nocturne.  One of them, The Hope, is where we had a brief rest and a half of Young's bitter, and I did this sketch of the very effcient bar girl.  Also I did a couple of pencil sketches of the racing, but this of course was very difficult because of the speed.