My Artwork

Quick automatic drawing study on my iPad, I found this helps me get creative before a new piece of artwork and helps me loosen up, being less of a perfectionist with my drawings.

I recently went shopping and bought caged hen eggs by accident. This gave me an idea for a painting of a hen to express the feeling of being trapped. I would like to include lots of symbolism in the artwork too. This is my first sketch on the idea. I used a photo I took of a chicken whilst camping as a reference.

I created this drawing on procreate on my ipad, it shows lots of tagged chicken legs.

This is a sketch of an idea for a painting I had. It shows lots of symbolism, such as a rug made of feathers, and a giant chicken on a lead like a pet.

This is my final idea for an oil painting. I put the images together using procreate and photoshop. I found most of the images online on sites such as Pinterest, and I took the photo of the chicken myself. I come across the woman in the gold dress and crown and pinterest and thought she would be great for this painting. I have made the chicken giant and on a lead in the small room to symbolise how caged hens feel with no space to move. The woman wear a crown she is meant to be a queen, she holds the chicken on a lead and the chicken is bringing her a baby in a blanket. There is also a baby on the floor hatching from golden eggs. The chicken symbolises fertility and it is bringing the queen baby boys as she feel pressured to have an heir. There is also giant bees carrying fried eggs into frames. These are also both symbols of fertility.

I struggled with the background quite a lot on this painting. I didn't like how it was looking as i felt the contrast between the chicken and the background wasn't dramatic enough. I decided to scrub it off with a cloth and then took a photo of the painting so far to upload into procreate and paint different background on digitally to see what colour would look best.

These are various edits I made of the painting on my iPad.

I really like the simple effect of a subtle shadow and a plain green background. I decided to do something similar on the painting.

'Caged'

This is my first finished piece using oil paint. I like how it turned out and I really like the simple bright background with subtle dark green shadows. I am also really happy with the realism I have achieved in the chicken and figures. If I were to paint this again I would put the gold foil on for the crown and egg first. This was the first time I had used it on a painting and I messed it up slightly on the woman's crown. I would also like to practice painting backgrounds and different textures .

iPad painting.

This is a painting I created on procreate on my iPad. It is based on an idea I had for a painting showing various versions of me getting ready in my bedroom packed with lots of personal symbolism. On the nightstand you can see an alarm clock going off as I am always late, there is also various cups of coffee dotted about the room as this is also the case in my own home. I am forever leaving empty coffee cups on different tables and nightstands. You can also see my dog has my slipper between her paws on the bed, she carries these everywhere.

I was largely inspired by Alice Herbst's colourful figurative paintings for this piece. I added a lot more colour than I usually do and tried to relax and not focus on getting proportions correct or the realism of things. I really like how it turned out and I plan on printing it to be a part of my exhibition.

This is my idea from my previous sketch that I created on procreate and photoshop. I took various photos of myself getting ready in different outfits. I plan to create on oil painting based on this scene.

Photos for reference

'Getting Ready'
Size A1 oil painting

This is my idea for a new painting. I took various images and put them together on procreate. My aim was to create a domestic piece of art packed with symbolism, it was also inspired by the great surrealist artists such as Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. The image shows a giant cup of coffee posing as a bath, with me perched on the edge ready to get in. My husband Jack is also in the coffee cup floating on a giant ring, the ring is my dog Milly's favourite toy and we take it to the coast with us on a walk every day. The cup of coffee also has my dog swimming towards my slipper, which she brings to me in her mouth every time I get home.

Photos I took for reference for my next painting

'Put the kettle on'
Size A2 oil painting

This painting is inspired by my life and lots of personal symbolism. I am always drinking coffee and I wanted to portray this in a surrealist way, which brought up the idea of the giant coffee cup as a bath/ swimming pool. My dog loves water and would be straight in after my slipper, which she carries everywhere with her. The large orange and blue ring that my husband is lying on is milly's favourite dog toy.

I am really happy with how this painting has turned out. I tried to keep the background simple and minimalist after struggling with the background on the last two paintings. The style of this painting reminds me of David Hockney in a way too. My favourite part of the painting is jack lying on milly's dog toy, I am really happy with the realism of this section.

If I were to do this painting again I would make it a lot bigger as I struggled with the proportions on my face at such a small size. I would also like to add much more detail, for example more symbolism and things going on in the cup of coffee, for example a large splash as the dog jumps in inspired by David Hockney's 'A bigger splash'.

Digital edits using Procreate

Inspired by the effects of too much caffeine