Two wildlife oil paintings accepted into the Sock Gallery Open

I entered the Summer Open Exhibition at the Sock Gallery Loughborough this year, and these two newly finished oil paintings were accepted. The gallery occupies the entrance of the Town Hall, and it is a beautiful building with great big rooms, high ceilings and big sweeping staircases, Like a theatre or cinema really. I am excited to go back and view the whole exhibition , which runs the whole month of August. These boys are: ‘Midsummer Messenger’ owl painting , oil on canvas size 60 x 60 cm, and ‘ Woodland Keeper’ deer painting at 60 x 76 cm, oil on stretched canvas.

Painting sheep - work in progress video

Oil paints are so 'squidgy' and nice to blend. Before I started videoing, I had already placed light and dark paint on top of the dry underlayer. Here Im doing some blending with a cleanish brush. Once Im happy with this layer, Ill leave it to dry and next time Ill add some more detail and textures.
Im using: Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, Cadmium Orange, Magenta, Cadmium Yellow Deep and Lemon Yellow and Titanium White. Cad Orange and Cerulean Blue mixed makes a nice sheep colour.

New work on show at White Dove Gallery

Yesterday I visited this lovely gallery on one of their open weekends, and took my new Highland Cow painting, titled ‘Highland Colours, to join my other paintings on the gallery wall. I had time to have a good look round at all the new work that I havent seen before, by some brilliant local artists.

The gallery is well worth a visit, they display a really well curated collection of beautiful wall art, sculpture and decorative pieces. Part of the space is occupied by a very welcoming cafe, complete with large and gooey cakes (vegan and gluten free options). They open Saturday and Sunday the first weekend of every month, 11-4

White Dove Gallery is at: The Old Village Hall, Shenton Nuneaton, Warwickshire

Where to buy art supplies?

I buy most of my paints, canvases, and solvents etc. from a company based here in the UK,

It feels like Christmas when my Jacksons Art delivery arrives! They hold in stock everything that I need, as well as luxury paints I can only aspire to and beautiful, massive easels that I hanker after. These days I prefer Michael Harding oil paints, and I also love the Williamsburg earth tones. I start with the small 37 or 40ml tubes and then when I find that I am using a lot of a certain colour, I start to save up to get a big 150 or 300ml tube of it next time, as they works out cost effective.

I paint on stretched canvases and I have tried a few brands but I prefer the Jacksons Premium canvases as they are very good value for money, beautiful canvases, nice and firm to paint on and very good quality. I generally buy them in boxes of 10 which reduces the single canvases price by a worthwhile amount.

The items are always packaged like the crown jewels, and this company offers speedy UK and worldwide delivery options as well as their free UK delivery over £40 which is their standard.

I have recently set up an affiliate account with them which means I receive 5% commission from any orders placed through my link to them. This is much appreciated as it helps me to replenish my own painting supplies! If you are new to Jacksons they will also give you a 10% discount through this link. Jackson’s Artists Supplies

Above Left: Some recent acquisitions. Permanent Orange, Indigo, and Quinacridone Gold from the range of Michael Harding Oil Paints. Above Right: Detail from an image painted incorporating the new paints.