Thursday 24 December 2009

A Girl and Her Horse


The preliminary drawing in biro as bled through a layer of acrylic sealer. Top picture ; the same with the lines painted in in Paynes Grey acrylic paint and a small brush.

Thursday 3 December 2009

The Last Life Drawing Class of the year 2 12 09

I did some drawing on this, the last night of Life Drawing Class. I had seen on an art blog a style of drawing using a red quick sketch under-drawing and then the finish dark pencil lines with the red showing through. I used a red chalk pastel and then a sepia watercolour pencil on prepared paper; glossy magazine paper with jewellers tissue glued on to it with ochre tinted varnish.


Friday 27 November 2009

Classic Etching Press Manufactory

Etching Press Sale Enquiries: johnnymulvay@vodafone.co.nz








I now have three buyers waiting for their new presses and two engineers making and adapting the various bits that convert antique mangles into wonderfully geared robust etching presses.

Wednesday 25 November 2009

Commercial Art

I was asked to make some illustrations for a counsellors resource booklet designed to help teenagers understand their raging emotions.. Good job for Sisyphus that one if you ask me but of course every generation must be taught or helped to fit into this strange and wonder full life.

Wednesday 11 November 2009

Musician Drawings

Penny 2008

Depressed and hating my own paintings I have gone back to drawing and finishing building the printmaking studio.
This feeling came upon me after the last exhibition, the last frantic deadline. I am fed up with all that.
A very welcome change was heralded by an invite to attend musician friends Penny and Paul's house warming last Saturday. They have recently purchased a few acres of orchard with house, guest house and music studio. Many musicians were there and all played in an organized out-door concert.

I drew first some plant that grew in front of where I was seated and later the star turn played, a couple who do gypsy jazz a la Stephan Grapelli and wow were they good, absolutely absolute friend... I was blown away and the charcoal pencil danced in time on the sketch book and I did the portrait above that I am very happy with and two more that are not quite but up there, you know, up there too.
Fuck Painting!! Back to graphic art and printmaking, at least for a time, a season..



Saturday 31 October 2009

Musician Portrait

Last night I went to Michael's birthday party. Mike is a musician and almost everyone there was too. This is my music, a portrait of Alison at her keyboard.

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Double dipping

To tonight's life drawing class I took two paintings I had been working on all day to ready for delivery to the Waikino Spring Art Exhibition tomorrow morning.
They are both unfinished and I had to ignore my class and do some work on them when I should have been mentoring....
The annual Waikino Labour Weekend exhibition is my favourite exhibition and I never miss it, it is the highlight of my year and heralds the start of Summer and the tourist season and stirs me to produce at least 3 new paintings for exhibition there every year.

Tuesday 13 October 2009

The Art of Rolling Pastry



I was watching with bored detatchment a piece of a B grade American movie, a comedy, and a guy pretending to be a chef was in the kitchen of a mansion attempting to make chocolate surprise without the least idea what he was about. The camera panned right and there was a funky old wooken roller laundry mangle, the same as my funky tubular and coil spring model that I am converting to an etching press, there in the kitchen and the guy cranks chocolate and nuts through it to crush them..
I was thrilled and reached for the remote to go back and study this mangle - bugger! Broadcast television, can't go back!
So our hero serves chocolate surprise to the dinner guests and everyone is happy and I turn it off and put on a DVD.
Got me thinking though, I've a wooden roller mangle converted to an etching press out in the print studio, it's very clean with varnished rollers, food quality for sure, so tonight I am making a bacon and egg pie and take out the pastry and flour and put it through the press.
Works a treat although would be better with unvarnished rollers as the pastry sticks a little to the rollers as they are too smooth to hold flour.
Like some more ink with your pie? Perhaps a wee tad of turpentine sauce? No? O you sure are fussy, don't know what you're missing.

Sunday 11 October 2009

Sunday School of Art


I like to share the studio with other artists every Sunday. Sometimes nobody comes, no matter it's my day in the studio doing art stuff regardless of all other demands on my time, with company or not.
Today was a sunny spring day and Bill and Janice were here painting and my new flatmate Theresa was working on some ink designs. I worked on the painting below.

Monday 28 September 2009

Works in progress


Both these paintings in progress started as chalk pastel drawings on prepared canvases

Two paintings worked up from life drawings


These began as chalk pastel on prepared canvas. Acrylic medium was brushed into the pastel and a little paint also, I tried to keep the freshness of the original pastel drawing while making finished durable paintings.

Stretching Canvas


On Sundays I have "Sunday school" where I am working in the studio and anyone who wants can come along and work there too. Or just hang out. This Sunday Janice brought a bunch of old framed pictures which she disassembled and I showed her how to stretch canvas over the old picture frames. The bevelled edge of old frames makes them perfect for this.
Bill came too and brought Russian slice and did a pastel still life.
I put tools away and swept the studio floor, not too creative but made me feel better and it's still time spent in the studio which is a grown-ups toybox..

Wednesday 16 September 2009

New paintings begun at the Life Drawing class


To the life drawing class last night I brought two prepared canvases and drew on them in chalk pastel. Our model was draped in a white crochet quilt. These I will make paintings of.

Wednesday 9 September 2009

Life Drawing Class 9 9 09

I did this pastel on canvas last night at life drawing class. Mother and daughter models, I imagined a she-wolf in her lair with a cub. Don't get too close, is she sleeping or just being still?


Wednesday 2 September 2009

Life Drawing on canvas


Tonight at the life drawing class I took along two canvases prepared with colour washes and sketched the model with chalk pastel. These will be made into paintings

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Early Days


Etching Press Sale Enquiries: johnnymulvay@vodafone.co.nz


Engineering completed, the new press awaits weld cleanup and paint and construction of the wooden press bed runners and the bed and shelving



The new press will end up looking something like this one which was made from the mangle used by my Grandmother on the Mulvay family farm.


The new steam punk etching press! Won't be selling this beauty, it's a keeper..

Monday 24 August 2009

New Paintings readied for an exhibition

Chalk pastel and acrylics on canvas

Chalks and acrylics on a prepared canvas

Pastels and acrylic medium on prepared canvas board

Acrylics on a prepared canvas

Old Paintings renewed for an exhibition

Portrait, watercolour pencil on prepared paper

Two portraits, acrylic paint on canvas