Thursday 29 September 2011

Lonely Hearts: Pink Dragon

The Wimbledon Art Studios Pink Dragon
...sleeping rough in the car park
Often seen wandering in the car park of Wimbledon Art Studios, lonely and frankly quite desperate Pink Dragon seeks fun, bright and fireproof soulmate. To be perfectly honest, anyone would do…

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Sea, Mice and Sun

It's behind you!!
Graphite sketch by Estelle Rocca-Serra
Estelle has been working flat out on the new series of Shueya paintings, it was the perfect time for me to treat myself with a little holiday! It was so much fun!

Back at work now.

Stay tuned...

Friday 16 September 2011

Did you know?... Vine Black

Oh dear...!
Graphite sketch by Estelle Rocca-Serra
Vine black is thought to be the oldest of all black pigments; the ancient Romans had a name for it that sounds almost like a magic spell: Atramentum!

It is an opaque blue-black which was originally produced by charring dried grape vines or grape skins.

Despite the fact that its reliability has been proven for over 2000 years it is rarely sold today and is nowadays mainly produced from charring nutshells and fruit stones.

More grapes for the wine! I’ll drink to that!

Stay tuned…

Source: The Materials and Techniques of Painting (Kurt Wehlte)

Thursday 15 September 2011

Hot from the Easel

Portrait commission. Oil on panel.
by Estelle Rocca-Serra
Exclusive: Hot from the Easel.

Just finished! You get the first sneak peek.

This portrait is a commission from a collector. It's an oil painting on panel, 80cm x 60cm, and is just getting ready to be framed.

Feel free to contact Estelle directly (email) for  information regarding commissions.

Thursday 8 September 2011

A Shueya a day keeps the doctor at bay

How to Handle a Wedgie: The Casual
Oil on canvas
Today, a little demonstration on how to handle the etiquette of the wedgie with style... well Shueya style.

How to handle a wedgie: The Casual

Stay tuned...

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Exclusive: Fashion Fall Winter 2011

Fall Winter 2011 trend
Indian ink and watercolour
With Fashion Week just around the corner, The Daily Mouse has an exclusive on the studio fashion trend for this coming Fall Winter 2011 season.

To make it brief, the key pieces for this season are: warm, loose and frankly quite stained!

Actually anything that might keep you warm is good enough, let’s hope this winter will not see a repeat of last year cheese freeze incident!

Stay tuned…

Saturday 3 September 2011

Did You know?... Indian Yellow

Marguerite, the Cow
graphite sketch by Estelle Rocca-Serra
Did you know that the Indian Yellow pigment was originally produced from cow’s wee…?

The cows, from Monghyr in India, were fed on mango leaves and little water, their concentrated urine would be collected on the earthy ground, made into balls and let to dry. 3 liters of urine are said to have yielded 35g of pigment.

In 1921, this very cruel treatment of the cows was banned, and since then we are using a synthetic pigment instead.

Marguerite approves!

Stay tuned…

Source: The Materials and Techniques of Painting (Kurt Wehlte)