Valérie Pirlot's Blog: February 2013

Saturday, 23 February 2013

Ride on the carousel

Last week end, I wanted to paint but didn't fancy braving the cold outside so I was looking for inspiration for a studio piece. I suddenly remembered a lovely carousel picture a friend of mine posted on Facebook (with her mother and child having a ride). I decided to have a go at it and obviously asked for her permission. I decided to have fun with the colours and keep it loose. Here is the result:

Ride on the carousel 9"x16" oil on board

Here is below the original photograph. What caught me eye was the combination of colours, the lovely lights of the carousel, the movement of the scene, the interesting composition, the presence of the people, and the light of the trees and sky shining through in the background. Quite unusually, I decided to keep the format as it is and didn't apply any cropping:

Original photograph

Before starting the painting, I decided to apply some photoshop filters to the photograph to try to simplify the colours, drawing and values. When working outside you are forced to make quick decisions, but when working in the studio it is easy to end up putting too many details so that's why those filters can help:

filter 1

filter 2

Afterwards I applied a grid to the photograph and reproduced the same grid on my canvas in order to transfer the drawing easily.

I then started blocking in the canvas with colours to quickly cover the whole canvas and define the values and relation between colours:

And here is the final result:

Detail

Monday, 18 February 2013

London Venice show

I have just got back my Venice paintings from the framer and they will now be sent to London for a special Venice show at [mine] gallery that will run during the whole month of March. I'm very excited and honoured to be a part of what promises to be a fantastic show!

Here are the details of the show:

[MINE] GALLERY

30-34 High Street, Carshalton, London borough of Sutton, Surrey, SM5 3AG

020 8647 1800

www.mineonline.co.uk

EXHIBITION DATES

Private view: 6-8pm Friday 1 March 2013 in Gallery 01

Open to public: 10am Saturday 2 March 2013

Closes: 4pm on Saturday 30 March 2013

Exhibition catalogue: Available to download during show

OPENING TIMES

10am until 5pm: Monday, Tuesday and Friday

Late night from 10am until 8pm: Thursday

10am until 4pm: Saturday and Sunday

Closed: Wednesday

Car park: Directly opposite gallery on high street

RSVP VIP If you would like to join the mailing list for the gallery

and receive invitations to our private views

Please contact Andrew at [mine] on 020 8647 1800

or click here to sign up to the mailing list online.

Click here to access the website of the show

Here are below my paintings that will be included in the show. Don't hesitate to contact the gallery if you are interested in a particular painting or if you wish the receive the full catalogue.