Winter Charcoal drawings 2023

When I really need to focus for a show, I set myself a tight set of parameters, I think this is one of the main things an artist can do to make large project seem achievable. In April this year I set such a goal for my second outing of the year at the 'fishslab' gallery in Whitstable. I'd spent the colder months gathering reference material. Bone like trees, swollen rivers, reflected woodland ponds, tangled out of the way places. I felt these spaces leant themselves really well to black and white drawing. Below are some of the pieces from the show. All drawn in charcoal pencil on cartridge paper at 40x50cm.   

 

Blean Woods Pool

A recent smaller oil piece on panel, working quickly to capture the essence of this particular time of year. Painted in situ and fine tuned in the studio. 32x32cm, Sold. Similar works available soon for around the £200 mark.

Ripe Figs

There comes a time in the year when fruit appeals to me as a subject, late summer. There's a simplicity to painting still life, a modest subject can really allow you to explore colour subtleties. These ripe figs were begging to be cut open and captured. Two slightly different ways of painting here, in the second I'm trying to dissect up the painting surface into more graphic shapes, something I think pushed me forwards with subsequent work. The upper piece sold quickly but the 'figs in a bowl' are still available.  39x32cm (framed), oil on board.

Wild Monstera

'Wild Monstera' 2023, oil on canvas 50 x 50cm. Painted recently on return from a trip to Sicily. Using simple scenes like this to build my new collection and refine my style. This is one of a series in development in the studio currently. Email inquiries to phillhosking@yahoo.com.  

Blean Wood Pools

During recent months I've been pushing my painting style in a more graphic direction and while painting landscapes, switching my focus from obvious scenes, towards the abstracted and textural. Above are two reflected canopy scenes from Blean Woods near Canterbury, bringing the canopy above into the composition. I loved how I was able to use the reflections to describe the scene in much more depth.  I painted these for a submission into a group show, both oil on canvas at 42x30cm. Available for purchase here unframed.