My Blog
June 2024
Well here I am in sunny Portugal, volunteering as a Whoofer, working on an organic farm. I have managed to produce three digital paintings which you can see here.
December 2023
Hi guys, Xmas is approaching but by the time you get to read this, it might be the new year. Well, happy New Year to you. I’ve had a hiatus with my paintings but I’m happy to say that I am now fully recovered and have uploaded my three recent paintings for you to look at.
I’ve changed my style somewhat- more abstract. The first Nature puts on a show is based on a sunrise near my home. I have deliberately left areas unpainted. Someone called me a fauvist at one time- maybe this is proof. A friend said he liked the Mae West lips which form the clouds. The next Nature puts on a show II is an interesting artwork for as you can probably see it is painted in oils- a very expensive medium these days. Anyway, I have used it sparingly and the branches of the trees are left to the imagination, although in the flesh you can see the grooves where
the branches would be. I like it a lot. The third is only in the embryo stage at the moment. Think I’ll call it The Long and winding road, another stage in my journey. I envisage it as blocks of colour- again in oils. It’ll be interesting to see how it turns out.
September 2023
Blog September 2023
Hi a lot and then not such a lot has happened since I last posted.
I had two major exhibitions but sold very little. The economic situation seems to have hit the art world particularly badly in Pembrokeshire and West Wales. I had to sell my car as I could no longer afford to run it. Everything came at once; the road tax was £330 ! My car insurance doubled and my car was such a gas guzzler that I decided to cut my losses and sell. Besides Europe was burning and I didn’t want to contribute to global warming. So now I’m getting about by public transport which I am quite used to as I only got my driving licence late in life. I went up to Cardigan which is at least an hour’s drive and got a bus eye view of the countryside. Well worth the long wait at the bus stop. We’re in the middle of a heat wave at the moment which I am loving as I used to live in Spain and miss the heat.
I’m having a bit of success with my digital prints which seem to be more popular than my oils and acrylics and am slowly recovering from artist’s block after such a dreadful summer. I finished my first print and have started experimenting with abstract art as I feel this is the way forward for me. I find it difficult to assess if it’s good or not and rely on friends Facebook and Instagram comments as a guide.
That’s all for now, I’ll try and keep you updated more regularly.
New Zealand
Blog Ten
Well into the festive season now and here is a bouquet to see you through. It is abstract in design and very popular in this festive season. Tones of burgundy offset with white for contrast add to its appeal. Just the thing to brighten up your lounge or living area. Still time to order before Xmas.
Blog Nine
Seasons Greetings
Seasons greetings with these two paintings I have made into greetings cards with ‘Nadolig Llawen’ Merry Xmas in Welsh on them. Taken from two Welsh landscapes “Garden’ and ‘Ode to a Grecian Urn’ which was based on a landscape in Colby gardens. Although not strictly Xmas scenes I thought there was a jollity about them and the white cascade of flowers could be seen as snow.
Blog Eight
Abstract digital landscapes after a walk to Dale Peninsula, W Wales
Two digital landscapes today, Dale Peninsula and Welsh landscape echoing the colder less clement weather. I have tried to capture the effect of the wind on the clouds and the unusual colour of the rocks and sand in the peculiar Pembrokeshire light.
Another of my abstract landscapes, this time in acrylics, can be found at the Oriel Q Narberth, Annual auction to raise funds for the upkeep of the gallery which is a not for profit local gallery run by volunteers.
Blog Seven
Abstract digital landscapes after a walk to Marloes Sands, W Wales.
These three Welsh landscapes, Marloes Fields 1 and 2 and Marloes beach have a more abstract feel to them and painted in a slightly muted palette with a bit of ‘pop’. I am reminded that we are but blips in the scheme of things like these passing clouds but I guess it’s important to make the most of our brief time on this planet.
Blog six
Meeting at Urban Thinkscape to paint murals and kiddies play areas in Tenby.
Meeting was successful. We have managed to get a £5,000 grant to create learning areas for children. We have to follow a scheme but outside of that we can do what we like. I plan to paint a Rousseau like mural based on my acrylic painting ‘View from Atlantic Hotel’, which itself was based on photographs of the foliage opposite the hotel in Tenby. Like most of my town paintings it has an urban feel to it and I like to show the nature that is all around us and goes unnoticed as we go about our daily lives in my townscapes. The climate is very mild here and we have tropical foliage including palm trees growing abundantly. The Welsh Riviera!
Blog five
Some figurative paintings after a Walk to Colby Gardens
Nothing much to write this week as I have an artist and writer’s block. Someone said throw a shark in but I don’t have one handy.
Just jogged my creative juices with a walk to Colby gardens. Took some photos for prints and had a lovely picnic at Wiseman’s Bridge back in my car. It’s too lovely a day to stay in the house. I have painted some digital landscapes; Colby gardens, Colby Walk and Colby café inspired by the Welsh views there. They have a contemporary feel and I have managed to get figurative too. Now, back home in Tenby and I’m going to have the remainder of my picnic and some leek and potato soup from the veggie box. Seems like the summer is just going on and on. I’m not complaining. Lovely weather for photos.
Blog four
BLOG WEEK FOUR
Had a brainwave this morning. I was running out of inspiration for my paintings and felt that I need to move to London for a change but then realised I could just spend a week there, get loads of photographs and come back here and paint them and try and sell them in an online London art gallery. Meanwhile, I have been inspired by a vase of gladioli that I got free from the food hub in Tenby. The flowers are gradually opening so I intend to do a few studies over the next few days. If it works, I’ll upload them here. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. I got an unexpected phone call today telling me that the introduction to photoshop course is happening after all. I hope I can improvise with the programme I already have as I can’t now afford to buy photoshop but I’m sure Edpixle is adaptable. Fingers crossed.
I’m off to the hub again to meet a group of artists to create murals and scapes for a children’s play area which should be fun AND I’m getting paid!!!!
I would like to start a Beryl Cook appreciation society and gain signature to have the art establishment officially recognise her. She did sell a lot of paintings in her lifetime but is seen as a popular artist because of the nature of her settings, namely fat people in bars and bowling greens for example but there is so much technique and humour, and as a friend pointed out the vibrant colour in her art. Her work is very similar to that of an internationally recognised Columbian painter called Botero. Methinks it might have something to do with her being a woman?
Blog Three
BLOG WEEK THREE
I have decided to get fit this week and started with a short cycle ride. I need to get up to North Pembrokeshire somehow to take photos for paintings of landscapes as I have somewhat exhausted South Pembrokeshire. Though not sure what medium to paint in, oils, acrylics or digital. Felt a bit low last night as I realised that I didn’t sell anything except a few cards in my pop up exhibition in Pembroke. Money’s tight at the moment and I have a large amount of prints and sketches as well as some larger paintings that I am putting in an exhibition in St John’s church in Tenby. It’s an annual event here. At least the weather is nice – sunny but a little crispy. I had to put my heating on for half an hour though this morning- so not so good.
I did go up to N Pembrokeshire today and managed to produce a semi abstract landscape painting. ‘Abstract art is easy to do but easy to do badly’, I’ve been told. I’m working on a triptych of different views of a lone tree, at night, in day time and with a turquoise sky.
A long day at the Oriel Q gallery in Narberth stewarding a photography and art exhibition. There was an interactive element and some visitors spent hours interacting so that was fun. A debate ensued about whether photography was the ‘death of art’ but I pointed out that is what some people are saying about digital art. Fortunately, I think there will always be a need for something other than lifelike reproductions.
On an up note, I was approached by an online gallery, virtualartists, in London and have sent them an image for an exhibition in October. Maybe this is the way to break into the London art market
Blog Two
My motivation this week has been mostly pecuniary. In that I photographed and digitally rendered the above illustrations of local houses with the sole aim of ‘hawking my wares’ and knocking on their doors in order to make a sale. Don’t try this at home as once the occupant of the house gets out from behind the curtains and answers the door, they don’t like being accosted in this way and it certainly doesn’t lead to a sale. However, I enjoyed painting the houses and found the interpretation of the windows challenging and have ended up with an aesthetically pleasing result.
Another gruelling week applying for membership of a craft collective. ‘Develop your work’ ‘make it your own’. I wish I knew what they meant. I am developing my work all the time and I think it’s unique, and get a bit disheartened when rejected.
To end on a happy note, I sold an original print at Oriel Q gallery in Narberth and some cards at a pop-up exhibition in Pembroke this week.. So, all is not lost. Winters approaching with lots of photo opportunities of stunning landscapes here in West Wales.
The Queen of England died yesterday and the world is in mourning. I have made a slight change in my painting and produced a blueprint for a pencil and watercolour of Pembroke main street in the rain. I very much like urban landscapes and find the most mundane scenes have their own beauty.
Blog One
Hi there
Let me introduce myself. I am Lizzie Tobin artist, which you will already know if you’ve got this far. I thought I’d let you have an insight into how I go about producing a digital painting to make into a print which, if all goes well, I will be able to sell. I am not one of those artists who think you should just paint for pleasure, although it is pleasurable. I mean artists have overheads. Even to produce one digital print, and I do not reproduce them interminably, I limit them to editions of ten or one off original prints, I have to pay for a broadband connection, a phone contract-I take photos on my phone and upload them to Google Drive after I have made a detailed sketch. I then upload this to my digital programme. I use a free package called Epixlr which I was kindly given at art college. It has all the basic requirements. I would like to experiment more but won’t at this point go into the frustrations of applying for college courses in Pembrokeshire where I live. I then colour in the sketch using the digital palette, which I find strangely appealing in its simplicity and uniformity of colour and tone. I then upload the image to my files and send it to a professional printer.
That’s all for today guys. I will be updating you on my progress as I am investing in online assistance to promote my art and trying to increase my social media following. Thanks for reading.
Lizzie
June 2024
Well here I am in sunny Portugal, volunteering as a Whoofer, working on an organic farm. I have managed to produce three digital paintings which you can see here.
December 2023
Hi guys, Xmas is approaching but by the time you get to read this, it might be the new year. Well, happy New Year to you. I’ve had a hiatus with my paintings but I’m happy to say that I am now fully recovered and have uploaded my three recent paintings for you to look […]
September 2023
Blog September 2023 Hi a lot and then not such a lot has happened since I last posted. I had two major exhibitions but sold very little. The economic situation seems to have hit the art world particularly badly in Pembrokeshire and West Wales. I had to sell my car as I could no longer […]
New Zealand
Hi there folks, Long time no see. I have been on my travels as you will see from my updated website. This time New Zealand where I spent a month attending my brother’s wedding and doing a road trip around the North Island. Amazing. I was fascinated by the houses there and did several illustrations […]