In my weekly art class they’ve been making collages on top of a sheet of patterned wallpaper (so that in theory the negative space is already filled), followed by figurative paintings and then abstraction. I’ve missed one or two classes, so I went straight in for the collage and then abstraction.

Whilst I enjoy flicking through magazines, predominantly House & Garden in this instance, I find it quite overwhelming trying to decide which images I should cut out, so more often than not I just go with what appeals and worry about how it’s all going to work later on. I think that I’m a ‘Ready Steady Cook’ kind of person – I feel much more comfortable being given a red or green bag containing an odd assortment and being asked to make something out of it.

Anyway, it was whimsical and light hearted, and I couldn’t resist the image of Sean Connery.

I then selected a couple of areas of interest.

And then interpreted them using oil pastels and paint.

I enjoyed the process. I can honestly say it was pure play and experimentation. I used a mixture of layers of thin and thick paint. I particularly like the two large green areas in the first one – I used a fan brush to create texture in the lighter section and drew into the lower section with the end of the paintbrush. I really like the interaction between the pastel and paint, how the pastel bleeds into the paint and how some edges are lost, whiting out some areas and tickling in bits of colour, scratching out.