Long Peppers and Painting Prices

Purchased a couple of those long red sweet peppers which are surprisingly difficult to paint, not the shape but the texture, and started them last night, so they are 'in progress'.

I may cook the models tonight with some minced beef and onions. I shall study the onions to see if I fancy painting them first. Haven't seen any kiwis.

About fifteen years ago I used to sell small paintings for £50 - £100 and larger ones for about £300. Once or twice I sold groups of small paintings for £1000.

Nibby recently sent me a website of an artist who is selling small paintings from £1800 to £3000, the oils being the most expensive. However, since he is a full-time artist, and apparently they are selling, good luck to him. But everyone thinks they are very expensive indeed.

Someone told me that her friend, an artist, told her that a particular painting cost £400. After much thought she decided to buy it, and to her surprise the price suddenly increased to £500. She said she thought her friend would know she would be too embarrassed to ask about this increase and she rather reluctantly bought the work. I am inclined to think that, like most artists, the friend was a bit vague and had forgotten the price. I certainly would have queried it. Pricing work is always difficult. Art seems to be priced by size conventionally, but how much to charge? I can't remember whether it was Whistler who said he was charging 'for the experience of a lifetime'.

Having seen some young artists 'encouraged' by greedy agents to keep churning out a particularly financially rewarding type of work, I have always been fascinated by the relationship of art and money. In fact, I decided to write my dissertation on the subject at college, but was rather naively surprised when this was refused by the college authorities, presumably based on their relationships with well known galleries and artists. I had to hastily think of something else and wrote a rather dull treatise on art teaching in London.

Vic Again

Vic turned up again to return some money she had borrowed the other day and stopped for some tea. We chatted for quite a while so no painting was done. I have now run out of fruit to paint so will raid Sainsbury's on my way into work tomorrow. When I graduate to fresh fish I shall have to paint fast in order to eat my models, but this won't be for a while. I quite fancy cutting some kiwis in half and painting those. And of course the compulsory halved lemon, since I have already done whole ones.

More Eyebrows

I have discovered you can buy a kit with several shapes of brow stencil, some pencils and brush and powder for filling in, so when I have received and tried these, I may or may not appear in public with beetle brows. We shall see.

In America they sell much more of this kind of stuff, including false brows made of human hair. However I think these are probably intended for people who have lost hair due to medication.

I never cease to be surprised.

Love Eyebrows

In between all this painting I managed to purchase the first copy of Love, a new 'fashion and fame' magazine, which seems to mainly consist of ads and puffs. However, on page 287 there is a pic (no you don't have to buy it, just browse it) of someone called Sara, 22, who could only be a fashion design student at St. Martins. I quite liked the retro specs, was amused by the Isabella Blow lump of blue hair stuck on top, but what really caught my attention were the deeply wonderful eyebrows. Either you can now get eyebrow transplants, or she has made a kind of stencilled eyebrow and filled it in with either brown powder or paint. However it has been done it has marvellous sharp edges and is definitely worth imitating - beware of an old bat in SE1 appearing with heavily stencilled black eyebrows. It WILL happen.

Painterrhoea

I just don't know when to stop. This morning, (before I eat the models, apart from the pineapple which is unfit for human consumption) I decided to have one more go at the remaining fruit, so put it in a small bowl and painted it fairly quickly.

Pineapple Progress

I bought a rather manky pineapple for £1. It was really too drab. That is it, sitting on the chair to the left in the snap. I painted it looking drab, then got a bit carried away and made it completely unlifelike but rather jolly, I thought. Actually the real one looks a bit off, so it is one model I shan't be eating.

Fruitless Day

Had a strangely quiet day. Chicken green curry in Lye Torng, chatted a bit, then back home to veg out in the afternoon. Painted a rather daft slice of watermelon in a primitive kind of style, but fun to do.

I must attempt to purchase some more fruit today - I seem to paint my models, then eat them. Must purchase a real watermelon and paint it some time. I am hankering after a pineapple at the moment, but doubt my chances of finding one in the local Tesco. We shall see.