Birmingham Open Studios 2024
We had decided a few months before that we would have a “paint off” over the BOS weekend! A couple of weeks before I popped round to see Janice and took a few shots as we caught up. After a few days of looking at set of photography I realised there was one thing missing - Her beret! If you know Janice, you’ll know she has a wardrobe of fantastic berets!
Getting the shot…
Last week, the day we had that almighty storm, I dashed over to the new photo company in kings heath to collect some print work and as I walked in Janice was at the back talking with Paula who oversees the print work. She had said that she was sheltering from the storm, after nattering for half an hour, Janice asked to take a photo of me for the weekend and I so I decided to do the same as she was wearing her iconic beret! I commandeered the photo area at the back of the studio and snapped a few photos - I am so pleased that I did, the composition, stance, everything about this pose felt right to paint… it felt like Janice!
Pre-sketch work
I scamped some sketches prior to getting stuck in with the painting, prepped the paper with my usual Raw Umber and worked on the composition before heading over to the Moseley Exchange for the weekend!
I’ve painted this slightly larger than usual - 50cm x 64cm - bigger brushes (which I forgot I had to think about 🤣) thankfully had some on the day!
Final Work
The detail:
Title: Riders of the Storm
Oil on heavyweight paper
50cm x 64cm
Part of the continuation of “The Wonder Series 2024”
