Cut Loose Art

Make Room For Art

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Category: Work in Progress

Cut Loose Art work in progress.

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Painting a Torso

Gaddi Torso Wall Art by Kim Curtis

Painting a Torso

Gaddi Torso Painting in progress first stage
Gaddi Torso Painting in progress second stage
Gaddi Torso Painting in progress third stage
Gaddi Torso Painting in progress final stage
Fragment Series of Wall Art Prints

Included in our new range of printed Wall Art panels is artwork featuring the Gaddi Torso. Painting her interpretation of this classic sculpture in oil paint, Kim shares some technique tips. 

Pushing Through

We have had many visitors to the Art Shop over the years who have been very worried about how to transfer a drawing to a painting surface. There are many ways of doing this, of course, and we have mentioned some of them in previous posts. These include using a prepared transfer paper or tracing the image onto tracing paper. The image can then be pushed through by carefully drawing over the linework or ‘pricking’ along the lines and dabbing powdered pastel or pigment through the holes to leave the outline on the painting surface. Of course it will depend on the media you are using as you don’t want to apply too much material to a surface if it is not going to be part of the artwork and the the paint is not going to cover it. For instance, a hard pencil that transfers less graphite to the surface is preferable when plotting out a watercolour.

Freehand

With oil and acrylic, though, I prefer to draw free hand onto the painting surface with the paint. The  beauty of both these media – especially with 0il – is that you can paint over and over correcting and perfecting any issues with the linework. Painting the Gaddi Torso, the starting linework was very rough. It is at the point of painting in the background  that I zero in on the preferred line using the negatve space to define the form. Roughly plotting in areas of light and shadow ensures that the drawing is sound and the layers of colour can be built up.

Diving In

I might have mentioned that I just love working in oil – it is just so forgiving and, if you simply dive in, there is no need to ‘faff’ around pushing through!

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Introducing Robby

Robby by Peter Taylor Ward

Introducing Robby

Here’s one for all you sci-fi fans out there! 

Those of you who know your robots will already be familiar with Robby. But, if not, allow us to introduce him…

Robby had his big breakthrough in the 1956 Science Fiction film classic, Forbidden Planet. The film was seen as being loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Robby’s character had much in common with the part of Ariel. 

He was the first filmatic robot to have a distinct personality and it was his dry wit and loyalty that made him quite the star of the film. Although portrayed as a maniacal machine in the film’s posters, Robby was actually a very intelligent and benevolent character. 

He went on to ‘star’ in many other films and tv shows either as himself or as a generic, unnamed robot! 

And now he is celebrated in acrylic paint with Peter’s fantastic Wall Art panel available at Cut Loose Art.

Robby by Peter Taylor Ward
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Painting the Unicyclist

View of The Unicyclist by Kim Curtis

Painting the Unicyclist

This post is about me painting my Wall Art piece called The Unicyclist. I’m at my happiest when I’m painting. I particularly love working in oil and larger pieces allow me to really slap it on and have fun!

First stage of the Unicyclist by Kim Curtis
Second stage of the Unicyclist by Kim Curtis
Third stage of the Unicyclist by Kim Curtis

I always start by defining the tonal values with thinned oil – very much to the ‘fat over lean’ principle. This is the practice, when using oil in layers, of ensuring that lower layers are thin – diluted with turps – to dry quickly and allowing thicker layers to be applied. Thicker layers consist of either oil paint straight from the tube or paint mixed with oil, painting medium or Liquin. I tend to use Liquin as it really does speed up drying times.

Painting the Unicyclist
Almost finished painting the Uncyclist

Before starting to paint, I had drawn out the figure onto a board and cut it out using a jig saw. You might notice that I wasn’t entirely happy with the line I had taken with saw at the bottom of the wheel. That was easily sorted with the jig saw after the painting was complete.

The cut out panel was then primed with gesso and off we go!

The thing I like best about oil is that you don’t have to be precious about it. The drawing is roughly sketched out with thinned oil. If I think that the drawing is just too off, then I can gesso over it and start again. If it gives me a rough idea, then that’s fine to get with the painting. I’ll be painting over the linework and correcting anything that is totally out as I build up the layers anyway.

This is just one of a range of cut-out Wall Art pieces that Peter and I have produced. We are inspired by anything and everything. The only criteria on subject matter is that it just has to have the potential to look great hanging on a wall as big piece of art! Watch out for bananas, five feet fish, robots and can-can dancers. 

These are sold as one-off originals but you will also see them in our shop reproduced on our lampshades, cushions and  prints. 

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Venetian Style

Venice Tint Series by Peter Taylor Ward
Chair featuring the artwork of Peter Taylor Ward

A lost cause?

A Venetian Style makeover on an extremely battered, old chair. This unimpressive piece of furniture looked like it had stood in a 1970’s school staff room for years and then left there as the school was demolished around it! On arrival, it was covered in resin, paint and plaster dust and had rather wonky legs.

The fabric did not have much going for it either. It was a very course, utilitarian material in an unappealing colour and covered in stains that didn’t bear thinking about. The padding was thin, the hessian ripped and the springs sagging. In all, it was in a sorry state.

The most obvious place for it was the bin and, to be honest, once all the unusable bits were stripped away, there was not much left. In fact, there was just a wooden frame. But I loved the curve of the arms and the tapering supports between the back and arms. I could see a lovely chair and knew just the artwork that would suit it. However, this was going to be not so much upcycling as starting again!

Chair in need
Stripping the Chair
The rebuild starts
The back is completed

The Artwork

Peter Taylor Ward has taken inspiration from the architecture of Venice for much of his work. He has used it as a subject for detailed pencil drawings, large-scale oil paintings and digitally coloured pen drawings. He has also executed a number of loose charcoal drawings featuring scenes from this elegant city. It was to these digitally coloured charcoal drawings that I looked for a suitable fabric.

Venice II Tint already appears in a range of resin-finished prints and is the piece that was chosen for the chair. Printed onto a hard-wearing twill upholstery fabric, the image was to be used in three separate sections. The skyline features on the backrest with the arms seeming to extend from the buildings like architectural features. The seat uses the foreground of the artwork with the dark waters and forest of mooring poles. More poles are depicted in an almost abstract style on the back panel. 

New seat for an old chair
Chair seat taking shape
Not quite ready to sit on

A Transformation

Although the wooden frame still has its quirky assyemtric lines, it is now stable and has a smooth, charcoal grey finish. The colour was chosen to mirror the original media of the artwork.

It is now a far cry from the battered, old chair it was with a stylish new look. 

Venice Tint Series by Peter Taylor Ward
Venice II Tint Chair by Cut Loose Art
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A chair for Mother’s Day

Mother's Day Chair

Nan's Old Chair to Mum's New Chair

This Nursing Chair had stood in our Nan’s Living Room for many years. She always sat in it to do her crosswords, knitting or reading. It also became a favourite comfy place for the dog! So, when mum inherited it, there were scratches and scuffs, saggy and punctured fabric and a fair few dog hairs. But, even if this state, there was no way that Nan’s Old Chair was going to the tip.

Just a little makeover was required and it seemed like a great project to hone my re-upholstery skills! And get some extra Mother’s Day Brownie Points!! Deciding not to make it look exactly like it did when it was new, this gorgeous fabric and Prairie Blue paint was chosen. 

After stripping it right back, work began putting it all back together again. Here are few photos that show some of the processes it went through to become Mum’s New Chair…

Nan's Old Chair
The chair that mum inherited
Looking very sorry for itself..
The chair stripped bare
Taking Shape
A new seat for the old chair
Sorting out the Buttons
Getting the back ready for the buttons
Buttons secured
The hessian back with the button cord all tied..
The back Panel in Place
The wadding and fabric is finished at the back
The New Chair is complete
With a finishing of grey cord, Mum's New Chair is complete.
Previous slide
Next slide
Nans Old Chair
Nan's Chair Stripped Bare
New seat on Old Chair
Sorting out the buttons
Tying off the buttons
The back of the New Chair
The finished new chair
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What is a Giclée Print?

Side view of Venice Building I Tint by Peter Taylor Ward

What is a Giclée Print?

A giclée print is a type of digital print. It differs from a normal inkjet print in that it is produced on an eight-colour (or more) printer using archival, pigment ink for greater depth, longevity and quality of colour on specialist, archival paper. This ensures that the colours will stay true and that you will have a beautiful print.

What is Resin?

The resin coating that is applied to our prints and some originals gives further protection so you can enjoy your artwork for many years to come. 

Resin is an epoxy polymer coating that can be applied to artwork. It dries to a high-gloss, crystal-clear, hard finish that protects and enhances paintings and prints. It is derived from museum conservation-grade materials including a UV stabilizer which will protect against yellowing.

Check out our Printed Artwork section

Side view of Venice Building I Tint by Peter Taylor Ward
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Venice Charcoal Drawing

Printed artwork entitled Venice IV Tint by Peter Taylor Ward

The charcoal drawing of Venice IV Tint takes shape. 

So, as you would expect, every print starts as a drawing. This short film shows Peter using charoal sticks, Conté Crayon and an Eraser Pen to create the monochrome image which is later scanned and digitally coloured. The charcoal is used to fill in large areas whist the crayon picks out low lights. But it is the eraser that does most of the drawing. 

Find the finished print in our shop – Venice IV Tint

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Doing the Can Can

Dancing girls finished

Doing the Can Can

Troupe de Mlle. Eglantine by Toulouse Lautrec

Doing the Can Can

Troupe de Mlle. Eglantine is one of the famous images produced by Toulouse Lautrec whilst he was living in the heart of Paris  – not only living through its Belle Epoch era but shaping it too. At roughly the same time, Thonet Bentwood chairs began to be all the rage. The two designs were meant for each other!

This particular Bentwood chair had been a much-loved piece of family history but now didn’t quite fit in with the decor. It last got a face lift when commercial paint was thick, glossy, oil-based and made to stay on! However, with a bit of elbow grease, I got to a workable surface.

Stripping also revealed that the paint was the only thing that held various bits in place. Nothing too serious though so I was able to get it steady on its feet again. 

I am sure there are those that would have liked to have seen the chair restored to its rich, glowing, polished wood finish but years of paint had not been kind to the wood. Besides, I’m a painter so paint had to go back on!

In preparation for an eye-catching orange, it was given two coats of yellow ochre primer. This was carefully sanded between each layer to achieve a a smooth, flawless base.

The transformation was well on its way…

Thonet Chair in white gloss paint

Stripped Bare

A Little TLC

Primed & Ready

The original dimensions were, of course, not based on a circular canvas so a little tweaking had to be done to ensure the ladies were all present and correct. Once the drawing was in place, it was simply a case of blocking in the colour. To tie in with the vibrant orange that I wanted the frame of the chair to be, I turned up the colour volume on the image just a little. The deep yellow became an orange and the feathers in their head dresses became a strong, complimentary blue.

Troupe de Mlle. Eglantine copy drawn out
Dancing girls finished
Thonet Chair painted a vibrant orange
The finished artwork with text

Thonet Chair with Lautrec design by Kim Curtis
Click the image for further details

Probably the most nerve-racking part of the piece is the free-hand squiggles and swirls that suggest the netting and frills of their stage outfits. Too much and it would fail to capture the efficient use of Lautrec’s marks. Too little and it would fail to capture the movement of the dancing girls! The brush hovered a lot, plotting out each flourish in my head before committing it to the surface! 
The bold, bright decoration is now finished with  the addition of the text. Again, hand painted and in a gorgeously vivid orange. Finally, two coats of acrylic varnish and the chair is complete!

The Can Can Chair

Thonet Chair hand painted by Kim Curtis
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