Sans Pencil

Sans Pencil

 Oil on Ivory mounted on Rosewood

 $100

This one was actually painted before the last one I just posted. I like this one better too, I've got a backlog of paintings I havn't gotten around to posting. It's always difficult thinking up titles and I try not to be too twee. But I remember thinking of the Shakesphere quote from the "all the world's a stage" soliloquy... well, sans teeth sans eyes sans pencil...

Finger

Finger

oil on ivory piano key

 $120

I thought it would be fun to paint a finger on a piano key. It was!

Short Stubby Pencil

Short Stubby Pencil

oil on ivory piano key

 $120

Faber

Faber

Oil on ivory mounted on Sapele wood

 $120

A Vertical Match

A Vertical Match

Oil on ivory mounted on rosewood

 $120

Tortured Match With Ember

Tortured Match With Ember

Oil on ivory mounted on rosewood

$120

Point of Tradition

Point of Tradition

Oil on ivory mounted on rosewood

 $120
sold

Five Live Matches

Five Live Matches

Oil on ivory mounted on rosewood

 $120

Mars Point

Mars Point

Oil on ivory mounted on rosewood

Approx 60x52mm with mount

 $120

Live Match on Lapis Lazuli

Live Match on Lapis Lazuli

Acrylic on ivory piano key mounted on rosewood

 $120

I thought I'd try grinding the lapis lazuli pigment in acrylic medium, reasoning that the acrylic is colourless compared to the yellowish oil and so perhaps lending more clarity to the subtle colour.

Burnt Match on Lapis Lazuli

Burnt Match on Lapis Lazuli

 Oil on ivory mounted on Rosewood

 $120

sold

While I was in london I visited a wonderful art supply shop, Cornelissen's , which has apparently been in buisiness since 1855.  I wanted to get something I couldn't get normally and so I got some genuine lapis lazuli pigment. Lapis lazuli has always been a very rare and expensive pigment and was one of the earliest permament blues that artists could use before they had modern synthetic pigments such as ultramarine. It is a very beautiful and subtle blue and was most often used as a thin glazing colour in draperies and robes. I have heard stories that it was so precious that artists would save the sediment from turpentine they washed their brushes in!  This was my first try out, using it thinly in the background for a match painting on ivory.

Dead Match on Minor Key

Dead Match on Minor Key

Oil on ivory piano key mounted on ebony

 $120

This was painted on one of the smaller narrow strips of ivory piano key.

Three Matches

 Three Matches

Oil on ivory mounted on ebony

image 50x22mm

Wooden mount 56x33mm

$150
sold

I was rather pleased with the way this one turned out.  When Dale saw it she said it looked very sad, like the Ages of Man.  I just saw three matches.

Single Burnt Match

Single Burnt Match

Oil on Ivory and Rosewood

image is 58x22mm

Rosewood mount 58x30mm

$150

sold

I've started to mount the ivory piano keys onto wooden mounts made out of offcuts from my guitar building projects. This one is rosewood and a veneer of oak I think.

Dead Crossed Matches

Dead Crossed Matches

oil on ivory piano key

28x21mm

 $90

Moss Green Point

Moss Green Point

Oil on Ivory Piano Key

47x22mm

$100
sold

I thought I'd try something a bit bigger today, so I painted this on an old ivory piano key. It's a beautiful surface to work on for miniatures. Note that no elephants were harmed during the making of this. Well... not recently alive elephants....  I used mongoose brushes which is another endangered species.  I covered my hands in white lead just to appease my guilt.

The Lost Button

The Lost Button

Oil on Ivory Piano Key
$100

For purchasing info click here

sold

When I decided to paint this subject I remembered some old ivory piano keys I'd been given. I had been meaning to try them as a painting support for a while and thought this would be an ideal opportunity. Miniatures have long been traditionally painted on ivory. I must admit feeling a bit guilty about the long deceased elephant, but it is a wonderful material to work with. I painted directly onto the ivory after sanding and cleaning it, and left the ivory showing through within the actual button. It was quite a test for my aging eyesight this one..! The photo is larger than life size.