Monday, January 26, 2009

Weekly Painting Challenge


Dunluce castle—‘Dunluce’ meaning ‘strong fort’—rests on the edge of the clifftops between Bushmills and Portrush.
Originally built by the Normans in the twelfth century, Shane O’Neill’s army successfully besieged the castle in 1556, attacking from the land behind as it was impossible to scale the sheer sea walls. Underneath the fortification, a sea cave could hide several boats for a quick escape to Rathlin Island or Scotland.
Some of the walls of the castle have collapsed into the sea, and it has recently been discovered that the 30m high cliffs holding the foundations are starting to erode. Nevertheless, the roofless ruins of Dunluce castle on the north Antrim coast remain quite breathtaking.

He would not stand still .....


I tried and I tried to get a man to pose for me so that I could paint him but the men around North Antrim are all very shy you know. I even tried to get my hubby to do it but he wasn't in the slightest bit interested.. I mean I only wanted a five minute pose for goodness sake....... I've seen what some folks do with a five minute pose! Then eventually this big burly guy offered to do it and I was scared to say no to him ....well would you say no to him? Anyway the problem was he wouldn't stay still ....that explains why his right side doesn't quite match his left side and goodness knows what else you can see wrong with him .... So after a 48 hour pose this is what I ended up with ..... I mean I did let him have a few breaks for tea and buns and the odd nap .....thank goodness I was paying him for the pose and not by the hour!
OK so I'm kiddin' but I needed some sort of excuse for my bad painting ....I did this from a pic of the anatomy of a man that I found on the internet ..... I enjoyed doing it though and if I learned anything it was that it is extremely difficult to paint a figure ..... I still need to find a man brave enough to pose for me though .....now where did my hubby go ....I'm sure I heard him a minute ago .....