The landscape painting I had originally planned did not work at all, I ended up painting a whole scene of the entire team, net and all and it was very strange, it didn’t work with the Portrait, it was too detailed, too figurative and a bit static.

I had a re-think about what would compliment the portrait and had already got an alternative canvas ready (un-primed), slightly narrower version as the portrait but the same height.

I have ended up making quite an abstract rendering of Martine’s powerful serve, using the same colours as the portrait but using thick swooping movements in oil as a celebration. I have linked both pieces using the ball as a motif and I have applied 23.5ct gold leaf to the ball, substituting the yellow. I think the sparsity of the bare canvas as a complimentary colour to the blue painting works and it is almost as if the paint I have scraped off the portrait has been applied to this, this was by accident, but it looks intentional.

The gold leaf is a celebratory element and a way for me to say to Martine go for gold!! I have also applied a very small slither to her hair in the portrait which catches the light.

I deliver the work to Clifford Chance on 9th June, I am hoping the thick oil paint will dry to touch in time for the framers on 26th May (both pieces are having a white tray frame and will hang together side by side).

CC Private View is on June 21st. There will be remarks by The deputy Speaker of the House MP Nigel Evans. CC also have 4 other MPs attending (from all the major parties). I am really looking forward to Martine and Nick seeing the work displayed on 21st and hope it has the celebratory element I wanted to achieve to represent this amazing woman, who in my book, is just about as inspirational as they come!

I will post photos from the PV after 21st, so don’t forget to subscribe to my blog (see left-hand side of main blog listings page) to get the update.

Cathy

These ladies are incredible athletes and are all very talented and skillful players. The spirit of the team is an uplifting experience; they all support each other, have a laugh and egg each other on to get the best from one another.

I did some sketching to work out the composition for the action painting, which will be a celebration of Martine’s team and their sport.

Apart from getting a volleyball smack in the face (inevitable!), it was a superb experience and highly entertaining. I am going to try and get some tickets for the games as soon as they are released next month.

It has been a challenge working from one drawing, however, I have persevered and hopefully have put my own stamp on it.

The mediums I have used are Acrylic and Oil on canvas and the piece is 800mm x 1070mm. It will be framed along with the second canvas and will hang to its right. The action painting is the same height x 1370mm width and I have prepared the canvas for painting.

I will be attending one of Martine’s training sessions this coming Sunday, so I can get started on this.

I emailed the painting to Martine yesterday and just heard back from her today to say she loves it – what a relief, I am so glad. Also emailed the final version to Michael Petry too and he loves it too, so all good, now I am spurred on to enjoy the rest of the work.

Very happy!

I have now gone back to more familiar acrylics, which I have been interrogating over the last few years, so I feel more at home. I have tried various sizes of portrait composition and have finally settled for a big impact with Martine’s face filling the canvas – a direct copy from the drawing which seems to be taking a life of its own.

I am still not totally happy with the current results and need a breakthrough. However, I am going to try not to erase what I have done yet again (Sian, my partner loves it), so instead, I will be stretching up an alternative canvas this weekend so I have two portraits to choose from. I am not ready to share work in progress just yet, so will post some images hopefully next week. I have a deadline for the portrait part, as I need to have something ready for the catalogue by the end of the month, so there is a bit of pressure, maybe this is the problem??

I also heard back from Martine that unfortunately Lis is too busy for the work, so plan B it is – a portrait of Martine  (in portrait format) and an action painting to celebrate her sport (in landscape format), which I think will work really well.

Here is the canvas making process (I use traditional techniques and rabbit size glue, primer and Gesso ground):