(500mmx 230mm) Out for a cycle ride along the Tarka Trail and took this picture with my crappy broken camera. It’s held together with plasters and glue. Later I completed this pen & ink drawing and I wasn’t sure about it; should it be banished to the bin? But gradually it’s grown on me. Funny what you personally think and when you hear other’s opinions you see it from a different angle. AL
An odd thing happened with regard this painting. I saw it on an old friend’s website who teaches surfing in North Devon and liked it so much I asked if I could paint it. I asked if it was his photo he said it was and I completed this picture in my own Bideford Black Pigment. Later I had a message from the actual surf photographer who took the picture. He is a local surf photographer called Rob Tibbles (check out his pictures they’re awesome). A bit red faced I explained what happened and he was quite a chap about it. All the same I withdrew this picture from my site because I hadn’t asked the right person permission in the beginning. Rob liked the picture and said he didn’t mind if I kept it but for me that was not good. Hence this is no longer for sale just in a dusty drawer in my studio. The original photo was entitled Puff The Magic Dragon, hence the sky! By the way check out the original photo my picture certainly doesn’t do justice to it. AL
Saunton beach painted in pigments found on Fremington Quay. These include Bideford Black. Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber and an unusual grey/ white pigment called Poor Man’s White. Al
Painted using hand ground Bideford Black. Took this on my mobile on the way to the Reform Inn Pilton. Just the usual Friday night of real ale. (370mm x 390mm).
In search of the elusive Bideford Black Pigment otherwise known as Biddie Black. Running alongside seams of anthracite across North Devon is a black clay-like material that was mined for 200 years in Bideford for its uses as a strong black pigment. The unique ‘Mineral Black’, or ‘Biddiblack’ as it was known, was commercially produced for applications in the boat building industry, for colouring rubber products, for camouflage on tanks in WWII and was even bought by Max Factor for the production of mascara. The mines were closed in 1968 when the production of cheaper oil-based blacks and the depletion of the seam made the operation financially unviable, but many locals still remember the ‘Paint Mines’ and have tales to tell of using the paint or going into the now defunct mine shafts. Today it’s revered by artists who love it’s inky black non reflective properties. It first has to be dried, ground and then mixed with a medium such as PVA or Gum Arabic. Looking forward to making my own now and seeing what images I can produce. AL.
ps most of the information was from a website called The story of Bideford Black.
Cycling along the Tarka Trail from Braunton to Barnstaple. As you near Chivenor there is a small nature reserve. I just loved the reflections and highlights of the late afternoon sun. This is a small composition for me (250mm x 300mm) Acrylic on canvas. Al
Jack Russell enjoying a run in a field. Acrylic on canvas 20″ x 16″. Just holding an old frame over the picture to get some idea of what it would look like finished. Al
Acrylic on canvas 20″ x 16″. View of Croyde Beach. Titanium White always looks a little stark in photograph but in the original the white certainly isn’t this vivid. Although gives quite a nice effect. Al
Quite a large composition for me (830mm x 60mm) mixed media entitled Storm With Rainbow. Quite a few overlapping glazes and tones creates a look that I’m seeking. Pity the camera loses the details and colour. On the whole I quite like the direction my paintings are going in. Al
Well Glastonbury 2016 proved to be an ordeal. In other words, I fought the mud and the mud won! I work every year at the festival and this year was my last. I think that everyone should go at least once. It’s a little oasis from everydayland where the straightest people can paint their faces and dress up in costumes and escape the confinements of their lives. For me this year’s highlights were The Savages, Richard Hawley the Showhawk Duo! So now it’s time to move on the festivals new! Al
Al Brown Artist. 