Big lift

My father Tom O'Driscoll just died so I've started this painting of some engineering works of his, a multi crane lift for an exhaust stack that he planned and directed for Simon/Carves on a BHP site in Whyalla around 1964

Tom on a swing as 15m pipe section dangles from 2 cranes behind him at a BHP site in Whyalla

 

The colour is still pretty flat, even if Whyalla is pretty much in the desert. I'm wondering whether to put dad in on a swing in the foreground

 

. Now there's a ground I might try and fit a portrait of him in - there's a nice shot of him on a swing around the same time

Angry cars (on a rainy day)

I was painting a canvas of this scene which someone stole off my easel on the front porch in March 2018. So I started another larger version 

This is just about finished I think after we had a bit of rain over the last day or so - earlier versions are below

I'm still waiting for rain to finish. But anyway I've started to put some green into the trees etc

Thick cloud came over this morning so the light was right finally to work on this(and not on the sunny aqueduct I was planning on getting on to)

There hasn't been any rainy weather so I've been filling out the ground with a bit of guesswork, late in  the afternoon or when a bit of cloud comes over

I've been trying to fill out the composition before it all changes too much. Cars move a fair bit of course

 

 

I was painting a canvas of this scene which someone stole off my easel last weekend. So here's another version 

 

This is the one that got pinched

Balsa Eagle

 

And now for something completely different...

Have you ever wondered what to with the funny little bits of wood that come with cheap(and not so cheap) stretchers and canvases? 

Please don't tell me what they're really for;)

Sabrina on the Couch

 

Sabrina dropped in for a bit last night so I put some lipstick on her mouth and generally brightened up the pinks

Sabrina on the couch in my studio with a bunch of shirts and jackets hanging above

 

I'm thinking of painting some portraits so I'll start with the people who visit and sit on my couch.

This is Sabrina talking and texting and tweeting

Aqueduct

 

An old aqueduct where it crosses the creek/stormwater channel between Glebe and Annandale near the end of Wigram Rd.

I keep getting there a bit late, so I can only do so much each time

AA lighting Rig

 

Close to finished, I just want to fix the Kombi

Kombi van, mercedes and generator

 

A view from the corner of Short and Arundel streets in Forest Lodge - a mechanics shop and the back of NSW coroners court. This is just the ground, I'll try to complete over the next week or so

 

Tom at the Mission

 

Tom is one of the stalwarts at the mission, here he's having a smoke and a chat outside. I've been painting muralsthere (Newtown Last Supper, and with Grace Woods, the Australiana Billabong) over the past few years. You can find them on the Newtown Last Supper blog where I'll crosspost this image