Jewellery Quarter at Dusk: Sunday 1st November 2009

Just started to paint in some of the detail at the bottom of the picture.

uploaded via my iPhone

Paintings

I’ve put some time aside this week to paint and spent this afternoon working on all three of my new paintings.

The first is a view of the Jewellery Quarter (where I live and work), the other is of some union flags against a bright blue Belfast sky, and the last will be a view from the top of the Malvern Hills. They’re all a bit autobiographical, and inspired by some of my favourite places and happiest memories…

Uploaded via my iPhone

Time to finish off some old paintings

I started working on this painting in 2006 but have never quite got around to finishing it….

It’s the view of the Jewellery Quarter from my office window.

Playing with colour

Here are the colours that make up my standard palette:

My Colour Palette

I’ve begun to experiment with these colours and how they work against each other, or rather how they work together based on my colour defect and how I see colour. All of my paintings to date have been made using colours that I know work together – and I’m really keen to make paintings based on what looks ‘right’ to me.

Here are some initial experiments:

These colours really don't work for me. I find it difficult to make out what colours they are when placed next to each other. The green and red circles become blurred. The brown almost disappears into the green and the turquoise becomes grey when placed next to the blue.

These colours sit together much better. They are clear and vibrant

Robert Rauschenberg – Erased De Kooning

Rauschenberg discusses one of his most controversial works. For more on this the significance of this painting:

Allotment Update: 12 July 2009

My first bumper crop

My regular bike ride route around the city’s parks and canals

I often go for bike rides around the city’s canal system and parks. It’s amazing how easy it is to get around without touching the main roads. I sometimes cycle back to Tamworth from Birmingham down the Birmingham Fazeley canal, which I join about 100 metres from my flat and exit 22 miles later. My parents house is conveniently 100 metres away from this point.

I’ve got a regular 16 mile route that I take around the canals and parks. It takes about 80 minutes on a good day. I’ve mapped it out here:

I decided to try and take a different route this morning and stayed on the canal towpath a few stops longer than normal on the first leg of my circuit. I had my iphone with me so I thought I’d send regular Tweets with my map location so that I could see where I’d been when I’d made it home. I hash-tagged my entries with #jbbikeride. I hoped to upload a photograph with every Tweet – but my ride got cut short with a torrential downpour making it impossible to negotiate the flooded tow paths and I had to turn around after 5 miles. Still, it was a nice idea, and something that I might try again.

My Dad, originally from Birmingham, wants to go on a bike ride around the backstreets of Brum to take in some of the more unusual sights; old architecture, urban decay, hidden gems etc, so maybe I’ll use it then. Any suggestions of cool places to visit on our adventure?

Spade and fork?

Here’s a good example of what it’s like to be colour blind:

I can’t see either fork or spade…that’s assuming that there is a spade and a fork in this example!

I’m working on my other blog…

I’ve set up another blog to look at the work I have produced over the past eleven years. You can find out more by visiting www.johnathanbransonarchive.wordpress.com

Flower Painting Update: Sunday 28 June 2009

I’m not really sure why I’m painting this. I think I just wanted to try and paint something a bit twee…

I’m going to stick with it for a bit longer and see what happens. I guess it’s good to sometimes put yourself outside of your comfort zone.

Flower Painting: 28 June 2009