“I enjoy painting both still-life and the figure and have recently started painting horses at the start of the pandemic (they have become my new figure/portrait subject).
No matter what my subject, I endeavour to achieve a good drawing followed by capturing the way that light and shadow fall over a face or figure to convey form. With still-life, I like the way light can convey mood and can transform everyday objects from the mundane to the beautiful.
My method of working… now this can depend on how I feel at the time. Sometimes I just want to get going with little preparation. At other times, I do a lot more planning and preparatory work. I might start with compositional studies/notans moving on to a detailed drawing. Sometimes, I do small poster studies to decide on the colour and value range to convey a mood. Although this sounds lengthy, it can ultimately save me a great deal of time on the finished piece.” Liz Balkwill PS IEA