Niamh Sharkey at Hodges Figgis

This time last year I was camped in the window of Hodges Figgis bookstore painting a seven foot canvas of the Ghost of Christmas Present. 
This year it is Laureate na nÓg Niamh Sharkey's turn.
I popped round to lend her a hand, but I think Niamh's lovely painting is nearly finished already.
It is derived from her most seasonal book, Santasaurous

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A Little Christmas Window Movie

Here is a little movie of me at work in the window of Hodges Figgis.
I have transferred this from FaceBook so I hope it will work here.
Happy Christmas everybody.

The Ghost of Christmas Present

I have finally made up a pretty good digital approximation of my big painting of the Ghost of Christmas Present.
The problem was that I could only get my camera three and a half feet away from the canvas and so I had to make this image up from lots of smaller photos pasted together in Photoshop.

The painting in the window was a very strange project to take on, but I really enjoyed the process and I loved meeting all those nice people who stopped by to say hello.
Painting this scene from A Christmas Carol in public was a very good way of getting into the Christmas spirit, and in a purely practical sense, it is good to know that, when pressed, I can finish a seven foot oil painting in less than a week.

Preparing A Large Canvas

Here is a short film of me putting together the canvas for the Hodges Figgis job.
I hadn't made a canvas that big before and it very nearly didn't fit down the stairs from the studio.
I'll post some video of the painting process later.

The Ghost of Christmas Present: Nearly There

MaryBrigid Turner bought me a coffee on Saturday afternoon when the picture was nearly finished, and we talked about the whole business of painting in public, the pros and cons. You can see the interview here at the Inís website
I reckon MB owed me the coffee as she was the one who dreamed up the whole idea of me as artist in residence in Hodges Figgis window.

The Ghost of Christmas Present: Help from the Punters

Here's a link to a story on RTE's News2Day programme about the painting in Hodges Figgis window.
The kids were from Griffeen Valley Educate Together School, and they had some great ideas that I was able to include in the finished painting.
I finished up yesterday and the picture will stay in the window till Christmas.
It's strange that it is all done now.
I was getting quite used to always having an audience behind me.
It was the weirdest week ever, but I really enjoyed it, and I got a heck of a lot of work done.
Many thanks to Conor, MaryBrigid, Stephen, Liam and all at Hodges Figgis for their help and hospitality.

The Ghost of Christmas Present: In the Shop Window

The first day working in Hodges Figgis window was certainly weird , but I got a bit done and all the people in the shop and those who stopped to watch were really nice.
If you come along, and I don't look round, please don't think I am being rude, it's just the only way I can get the work done.
Here's one of MaryBrigid Turner's photos.

The Ghost of Christmas Present: Blocking In

I got a lot done on my Christmas painting yesterday, which is a good thing because I have no idea if the conditions in Hodges Figgis window will be conducive to doing decent work.
At least it's a nice typical Irish overcast day, so the lighting should be OK until 4.30 at least.
Anyway, we will be shipping the painting (very wet!) over in the next half an hour if we can get it down three sets of stairs here.
I’m looking forward to getting to work in a bookshop.

The Ghost of Christmas Present: The First Steps

I got a good start on my big Christmas picture last night.
I got the whole thing scaled up on the 7’ by 4’ canvas, and I got a few hours of painting in.
It would be great if I could paint the whole thing in situ in Hodges Figgis bookshop, but there is going to be so much to do that I just have to get a start in the studio.
Also the light in the window is going to be very unpredictable and I will only have a four foot space to step back in, so I want to have my tonal values well established.
I am remembering too that the last picture I did of this size took four months and I am supposed to finish this one on Saturday.
Fingers crossed!

The Ghost of Christmas Present... in Dawson Street, Dublin 2

Here's the rough I have created for the picture I will be painting "live" in the window of Hodges Figgis bookshop in Dublin.
I thought you might be interested to see how I have constructed this from a mixture of mostly drawn elements with a few Photoshop images dropped in.
So much for my idea to have a scene with large expanses of sky that I might be able to fill in quickly.
This is a pretty busy scene and the canvas is seven foot wide........I'm going to be very busy until the weekend.
If you have a copy of my version of A Christmas Carol, you will know that this picture is based on my illustration of the Ghost of Christmas Present.
I always loved the design for that spread but perhaps I painted it a bit too dark or the paper in the book is overly absorbent, but anyway, I was never entirely happy with how it printed.
So I'm taking this chance to have another go.