Painting with Ki

I'm an artist and I just had to check how you spell 'easel'. I think it should be changed to eezil but there you go. So! Fresh off the eezil today is 'Tweet'.

This is the first non-commissioned painting I've done in a while. I had a real fight with her - the nose and the lips would be perfect - then I'd go in to accent one tiny detail and boom! The whole thing was messed up. Much under-the-breath swearing would ensue. However, I went to an Aikdo Ki class last night  - Aikido is a Japanese martial art and Ki - well, how would you sum up Ki? 'The unseen life force in your body and the universe', according the internet. We did some interesting exercises to help tune into Ki, and I tried doing this again while I was painting today. I'm not sure yet how much of a difference it might have made to the final piece but I can say I was a lot more relaxed while I was working on it! Perhaps the painting is now infused with the unseen life force of the universe. I'm not sure what she's looking at - maybe it's a horse race... or perhaps it could be someone in very tiny pants? Whatever you think, you can find more details about 'Tweet' here.

Meanwhile I've been back at the opera house, sketching at rehearsals for La Traviata...

This is part of the auditorium. It won't be in the final painting - I just drew it during a break, while the house lights were up and I could actually see what I was doing! 

In other news, I've been having a lot of fun talking to Brighton businesses, cooking up some ideas for a new project...

Hopefully I'll be able to reveal more in the near future - check back soon!