Watch the birdy

We are off on a big expedition to Oxford this week; we haven't had a day in town for years. It's a bit of a palaver, with our limited rural bus service (which bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Stagecoach advert we saw on TV last week). Although thank God we have one at all (she said, hastily crossing fingers). Like Cindrella - but without the frock - one has to return at a certain time before the Sun goes down, (eg when the last join-up 6 o'clock bus leaves) or fork out for an expensive taxi home. However it can't be avoided: I have frames/mounts to pick up. One has been custom made for Party Food -

- which will be hung (appropriately) in the client's dining room - and smaller ones for forthcoming paintings I have been itching to do. So I'm doing a lot of Moleskine scribbling, as until I actually have the frames and mounts in front of me I can't start planning what size the artworks will be. And I have a 'bread and butter ' job to continue, which I must knuckle down to. Not as much fun as this chap -

Frankly the idea of a day in town scares the bejabers out of me, I might just go and hide in the Ashmolean.

Finished Painting and a cockchafer

'Party Food' was finished today...not entirely sure about the colours though.

A few weeks ago, we found a huge beetle bumbling about the kitchen, whirring like a miniature helicoptor. It was a cockchafer, eater of ceral crops and danger to small children. He was kind enough to settle, so that I could take his portrait.

The country name for him is 'May Bug'. The Italians call him 'maggiolino'. Which is what they also call Volkswagens - known as 'Beetles' in the UK. They have a three year life cycle, which seems a long time for an insect. Their shape gives away the fact that they are a member of the Scarab Beetle family.
Scarabs are still used today as 'living jewels' - held by a tiny chain as a brooch for some vain dunderhead.

Perched on half a sheet of A4 paper - a sizable beastie and handsome with it.

Today's picture

Today I start the final stage of a new painting. This is the first in the series of designs which hopefully I can sell to a card company. My studio is the smallest room and crammed with books, reference material, shop cutouts, toys, and general Stuff. There is just enough room for me...and Peter Rabbit.

My workspace. Chad is the official studio bear, to the left.

The original idea for 'Party Food' came from a page of doodles. This is often how the best images are started, when you're relaxed and having fun with a pen.

The first informal scribbling. At this stage there is no food.

To make the image more 'commercial' - that is, to fit it into a season or celebration (which is a top consideration for most card companies), I added festive food. This is the last sketch, with jottings to remind me if something needs moving in the actual painting.

Finally, I think about what colours I'll be using. Every year there is a new industry standard collection of colours and the trends for clothing, accessories, cards etc tend towards them. I try to veer towards what I believe are the 'right' kind of colours, but obviously I have my own personal palette and paints that I use frequently. To help me get the right balance, I keep special scrapbooks, full of clippings from magazines and papers. I've got 40 now and they are my most valuable reference tool.

Chad helps me decide which colour scheme to choose.

Now for the scary part...I always use Arches 140lb cold pressed paper - it is smooth, stretches beautifully and will take quite a lot of punishment. After the first light base wash of a yellow tint, I continued with a wash of a lovely new watercolour from Winsor and Newton - a nice dirty rose called 'Potter's Pink'. It is almost like a goauche and I used it for the background wash, with a drop of ox-gall to keep it smooth. But it streaked badly, and I ended up mopping it all up - at first I thought I'd have to write the whole thing off and start again, but then I realised that the sponged/weathered finish (where the paint had stained the paper) was actually rather nice. Now I'm using the same technique in other bits of the work. Here we are halfway through the painting. I'm still nervous at this point, in case I choose the wrong colour.

I am obsessively tidy...the little bit of paper with squares on

is the experimental palette I develop as I go along.