Saturday 7 June 2008

Moly McGurgan has landed!




Brian, what can I say? your sketchbook popped through my letterbox this morning, and what a delight to behold.

Your pastel paintings are just exquisite, I have so enjoyed looking at them today.

However, I'm now on the horns of a dilemma as to what I am going to do to S-T-R-E-T-C-H my creativity, to match up to what you have produced.

This may take a while...

9 comments:

vivien said...

this looks great :>) such expansive views in such a tiny book.

I shall be interested to hear how Brian managed pastel on the moley paper :>)

Did you use primer or anything Brian?

Brian McGurgan said...

Thanks Lorraine and Vivien! I'm glad the sketchbook made it safely, and now I have a good sense of how long the transit from New York to Northern Ireland should take. I'm hoping to work on Lindsay's book in the next day or two and am looking forward to building on her Maps & Destinations theme.

No primer, Vivien, although that might have been a better idea. The smaller sketches are in Conté crayon and this went on reasonably well but I didn't attempt much layering and also rubbed in the initial strokes of pigment with paper towel so there was very little loose dust. The larger drawing was started with Conté crayon, and I applied soft pastel over it. By the end of this one the greatest stretching I had done, I'm afraid, was in the uncomfortable amount of fixative I had sprayed on. On Lindsay's I'll probably stick to Conté crayon only.

Casey Klahn said...

It certainly looks like Vancouver BC to me! Makes me want to go to Squamish BC right now!

I am reminded of the little books of travel postcards - except of higher quality, here.

Lindsay said...

Brian, nice to hear about your technique. I'm not going to see this for a long time! Your use of conte and pastel is really beautiful and not a combination I would have thought about.

vivien said...

thanks for the details :>) I'll have to experiment with pastels in moleys in future

looking at them again - they really are lovely.

daviddrawsandpaints said...

Cool stuff Brian. Have you got any red or purple in your pastel box per chance?

Brian McGurgan said...

I do David - those are the colors my wife likes to comment on, saying it looks like they've never been used! She demands to know why I need so many of them if I use them so little. They'll come out for your sketchbook, though because when I think "dance", I think "passion", and that screams RED to me!

daviddrawsandpaints said...

My apologies for being cheeky last night Brian, but it was all Gesa's fault!
I went to the opening of her Eldon Group Exhibition and had one to many orange juices and the colour went straight to my head!

Is that your foot I can hear begining to tap and those snake-hips beginning to sway? Looking forward to your red-hot salsa!

ps: Gesa's show was great and her work undoubtably the best in the show. Well done Gesa!

Brian McGurgan said...

Not at all, David - that's useful feedback! If I'm truly going to stretch in my work than I've got to get beyond the tried and true palette I so readily lean on. Funny, just prior to reading your comment I had placed an order for some more Unison reds and purples (greens, blues, and yellows, too). Now I've got to use them more or I'll never hear the end of it from my wife. Glad Gesa's show was a success and that the orange juice was good, too!