David Cresman - A nightly painter..

A couple of small london paintings

2012-03-01T04:17:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of small london paintings completed recently using limited 3 colour pallette - pyrole (winsor) red, ultramarine, and naples yellow.

London Thames - Approaching Dusk - Oil 6"x14"

Light through mist - oil 8"x 8"

The Gondolier

2012-02-22T02:17:00.000-08:00

The Gondolier - 10"x7"

A few small studies from past few months

2012-01-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

Bend in the Road 6x8 oil on panel

Monet's steam train 6x8 oil on canvas

Caught in a snow blizzard 8x12 oil on canvas

Parliament Moon 10x12 Oil on Canvas

2 of my small Houses of Parliament "HOP" series

2011-12-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

Here are two paintings from my small series of studies of the Houses of Parliament in London.

I was just sent the framed images from the person I sold them to, and seeing as he did such a good job framing them I thought i would share them on a blog post whilst I continue to do battle with current work in progress...

The paintings are 8x10" oils.

New work - finally!

2011-10-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

Well the time it takes to complete a painting is not an exact science and its taken a lot longer than i ever imagined on this particular one. I actually started it back in February this year, altho i did have 4 month break from it in the spring and early summer before i figured out how i wanted to develop the painting.

San Giorgio Morning Glow 16"x20 oil on linen

I am also pleased to say the painting has been accepted for the Venice in Peril 2012 exhibition at WH Patterson Gallery in London, along with 2 other paintings.

Hopefully it will still be 2011 by the time of my next post...

slow progress but new stuff on the way

2011-08-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

I can't believe 16 days have passed since my last blog entry. Incredibly busy at the moment and have not had many opportunities to paint over the past 2 weeks.
Plenty of work in progress and one or two nearing completion, so new work is on its way in the next week or two... all going well

Jury's Fav 15% in July Bold Brush Art Competition

2011-08-03T03:16:00.000-07:00

My painting 'Salute Sunset' in the previous blog entry received a jury's top 15% award in the July bold brush art competition.

http://faso.com/boldbrush/fav15/60

Weekend progress

2011-08-02T02:12:00.000-07:00

At the weekend I messed around a little more with the Salute Sunset painting posted 2 blog entries back.
The main area of refinement was on the pavement leading up towards the Salute. I think the pavement is more integrated with the rest of the painting now, but I guess I will have to live with the painting for a while now before deciding whether to put this one to bed.

Salute Sunset 16"x16" Oil on Canvas

A new painting (signed but nor necessarily finished!)

2011-07-31T03:47:00.000-07:00

Im working on another blog post about a couple of artists that have inspired me, but in the meantime, I thought I would post a new painting, Its signed - although I've been really trying to develop my technique the last 2 weeks, so I may just pick this one up again and apply a few more touches! I heard that Edgar Degas used to knock on peoples houses that had bought paintings of his and ask them for the paintings back so that he could do some more work on them (I guess i'm not quite that bad!) but I have to live with my paintigns for a long time before I can decided whether to leave them alone for good.

Well this one is a Venice painting, that follows on from a few smaller pieces I have completed of similar views:

Afternoon sparkle, San Giorgio - 20"x24" oil on linen panel

Salute Sunset study and larger piece

2011-07-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

I completed this small study (6"x8") about a month ago fairly quickly as a saturday morning warm up. It sowed the seeds for a bigger idea, which I guess is often the point of the small studies. I often fall into the trap of overworking these small studies, wanting to convert them into more developed paintings rather than using them as a springboard. This time, i managed to leave the study alone as a quick sketch and move onto a bigger piece...

Salute Sunset 16"x16" Oil on Canvas

Having completed the 16"x16" version, I feel ready to tackle this on a much bigger scale, either 40"x40" or 40"x48" - it may take a while before I post this one, as I've never worked on this scale before, and having prepared the canvas, it looks intimidating! Looking forward to the challenge tho - 4 inch brushes at the ready..

A round up of some of the weeks paintings and work in progress

2011-07-01T02:02:00.000-07:00

I started off Sunday with a very quick warm up painting simply to get my eye in:

Early Evening on the Grand Canal 6"x8" oil on canvas

On Sunday evening I made a start on a 16"x20" canvas, of a not too dissimilar view to the quick study above. This time though, its going to be a cool early morning atmosphere with a sense of tranquility and calm just before all of the hustle and bustle of the daily activity that goes on on the Grand Canal, what with all the gondoliers and tourists and local fishermen going about their daily routines..

The painting is work in progress and I hope to develop it further this weekend

Work in Progress 16x20 Oil on Canvas

I had a go int the week at painting another version of a painting I produced back in May 2010, partly because I love the view and also out of curiosity to see how (if at all) my technique and eye have changed over the past 14 months. I am not quite happy with the painting yet but feel its almost there.

Salute Approach 2 (work in progress) 8x12 Oil on Canvas

The version I completed back in May 2010:

I think there is some cross over between the two, although I feel there is a slightly more abstract quality to the handling of the shapes in the latest version.

So I have a bit of fine tuning to do on some of the work in progress this weekend, as well as developing a 16"x16" painting also started this week, which is currently only at the block in stage.

Blog intro

2011-06-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

I paint mostly at night time (and into the early hours of the morning on occasion), at least during the working week in any case. I am a full time qualified chartered accountant working in the carpet industry. In some ways an unusual combination, and I am yet to come across another accountant/ artist, although it has been said that there are a lot of creative accountants!. So in the day time I give the analytical side of my brain a fair workout, and let the creative side takeover at night.

One thing is for sure, both are demanding in their different ways and both require hard work and dedication.

I started painting in 2005, so I stilll consider myself to be fairly inexperienced as 6 years of painting in the background of a demanding full time job is not really a lot of paint time when you think about it. Nonetheless, I feel like I am making good progress at this early stage and have had work accepted into highly reputable galleries in both London and America. I even had the honour of receiving an award in a major international show in Texas, which has given me further belief and confidence, and a desire to continue to work at it.

As Royal Academician Ken Howard (and a personal favourite living painter of mine) says,
"painting is rarely easy, you have to practise every day, just like a concert pianist". He is of course right, I know what a struggle it is trying to paint after not picking up a brush for 5 or 6 days, it takes a while to get your eye back in. With that quote constantly at the back of my mind, I try as far as possible to paint every day, even if time only allows 20-30mins if its been a long day at the office.

At this stage of my development, it felt like a good time to start a regular blog entry, as much for myself as anyone else. to serve as a reminder of things I am experimenting with, and notes on what is working well and not so well, to hopefully avoid making some of the same mistakes over and over again! In the process, I hope some of my thoughts and observations may provide useful insights into your own personal art journey.