The latest in the Glastonbury Festival series. Oil on canvas 36 x 36″. I usually work at the festival with the recycling crew and thoroughly enjoy the week but this year it’s sadly not on, so instead of going i’ve painted. This is a commission piece but hopefully the new owner will allow me to run off some prints. Al
Completed oil painting of a reflection seen in a Braunton art shop window. In North Devon we’ve had an incredible summer, for a change, and this painting hopefully depicts that warmth and optimism. Painted on canvas and measures 36 x 36″. Actually a painting of me returning from a cycle ride around Crow Point and the Great Marsh in Braunton. Al
A venture into limited edition prints. 400 x 400mm overall page size, giclée prints. I’m very impressed at the quality, colour and sharpness of these prints so perhaps will consider supplying suchlike editions of my work from now on. This edition of Red Pyramid will be of thirty, £50 each signed and numbered, excluding postage! Al
Just watched this being talked about on the Antiques Roadshow. ‘Oh this is an oil painting from many years ago painted by a rather odd painter from the west-country called Al Brown. Perhaps 1977ish in what is known to be his rather manic blue phase. I know we shouldn’t but let’s talk price, you say you purchase this for £2.50 at an auction in Exeter? Well you’ll be pleased you to know that you‘ve got a rather good return for your investment. It’s actually worth now, and we’re talking today’s prices, a breathtaking £2.55!’ The BBC camera pans away as the audience gasps!
On a more serious note I painted this oil in my mid teens and it’s resided in an old room. I discovered it today and took this picture. Well I quite like this and perhaps I’ve not really travelled on much! But who knows….Al
A painting of a wave made in the beautiful weather we’re having at the moment. I decided to produce a timed study to try and loosen up my work. Hassled by horseflies and heat I came up with a partially successful composition. Sadly I decided to make a few adjustments a few days later and managed to lose the spontaneity and freshness. It was discarded, the canvas broken and thrown away. You win some you lose some and you learn! It’s all part of the stressful and creative process that people don’t consider when they purchase your work. Al
A Sunday spent on Woolacombe Beach and as the sky changed colour the humidity seemed to rise and there became a closeness. As the sky became dark the sunlight shone through the waves and illuminated them from within. Taken on my pocket camera and later finished in the studio. Acrylic on watercolour paper 470 x 620mm.
Leaving Tavistock. When you leave Tavy and head back towards North Devon you approach a stretch of road with chimneys of old tin mines in a valley to your right. On a trip back from a weekend in Plymouth I glanced into my car mirror and glimpsed this view. I quickly pulled into a layby and with just a biro sketched this image and made a few colour notes on a scrap of paper. This pure watercolour was painted in July 2003, fifteen years ago, and still remains one of my own favourite picture for which I’m immensely proud. It is still in my own collection. Al
With the new ecological worries of plastic in our oceans where will the likes of these wonderful species be in another few years? Watercolour & bodycolour. A painting from way back when. Al
An acrylic on panel 610 x610mm of a sunny day on Woolacombe Beach with a stormy sky. Painted from a photograph taken last Sunday.
A large canvas 48″ x 30″ acrylic. The third in my Glastonbury Festival pictures. A large composition for my room. Love this image from Matt Cardy the photographer of Coldplay in full action on the Pyramid Stage. This painting was photographed on my iPhone although titanium white becomes too pronounced and other subtle colours lost. A useful lesson learnt here was Paynes Grey; it varies greatly from company to company! I usually use Liquidex but ran out and used Cryla instead. Wrong…Cryla’s colour was brown and looked quite dirty compared to the blue/black of Liquidex, see below for colour comparison. You live and learn. For prominent colours don’t change mid painting! Al
Al Brown Artist. 