Congratulations to Chris Judge, winner of the Irish Children's Book Award.

Congratulations to my pal, and studio neighbour, Chris Judge, whose wonderful first book "The Lonely Beast" was awarded the Irish Children's Book Award last Thursday evening.
I was delighted to be the guest presenter who announced his win.
The full ceremony will be shown on RTE TV next Thursday evening.
Very well done Chris!

Some Sketches from "A Christmas Carol"

I've been looking through old studies from my version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol trying to get a suitable design for the seven foot painting I will be doing in Hodges Figgis window next week.

I find the drawings I do as studies have a freshness and immediacy that I can't often keep in the finished paintings.

I must do a book illustrated solely with drawings.

Artist in Residence in the Hodges Figgis Window

This is me measuring up the window of Hodges Figgis bookstore here in Dublin.
Next week I will be installing myself in this very window as their first ever artist in residence.
I have been asked to paint a huge new painting illustrating a scene from A Christmas Carol from next Wednesday the 23rd until the 26th or 27th, and at some point we will auction the original painting for charity.

I love the idea of working under that kind of time pressure, but the public spectacle aspect of it all might be harder to deal with.

Many thanks to my pal Conor Hackett for setting up this novel event!
And David Maybury who made this great little video, will be keeping an eye on my progress.

PJ Lynch plotting his Hodges Figgis Window from David Maybury on Vimeo.

The Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards

This Thursday I'll be dusting off the old tuxedo as I have been asked to present the Specsavers Irish Children's Book of the Year Awards at the Irish Book Awards Gala dinner in Dublin.
A few of my pals are shortlisted in various categories but I have no idea who has won any of the prizes. I will be as surprised as anyone when the envelopes get opened.
It will all be on the TV a week afterwards, so I'll hopefully be able to post a link.

A Fleeting Light Effect

When I was working on this study of Niamh, a stray shaft of light found its way into the life room and irritatingly moved right onto the model's middle.
I was inclined to ignore it and concentrate on another area of the figure whilst waiting for the sun to go behind the clouds again, but then I thought I'd take up the challenge and try to paint it in.
It was a difficult effect to catch as the light was moving so fast, (it only lingered on Niamh's middle for about fifteen minutes as I remember) but in the end I think it made for a much more interesting painting.
It got me thinking of the problems that al fresco landscape painters must often come across. Maybe I'll give that a go next spring.

Ireland of the Welcomes Article

Here is a nice feature that appears in this month's "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine.

A Portrait Sketch of Giuseppe

Giuseppe modelled for me for this portrait sketch. It took about two hours.
Notice how engaging the direct look from the subject is.
That look is something that is almost impossible to get in a life room situation, and it can be quite unnerving to paint it in a one to one sitting, but I think a portrait is generally the better for it.
We were both fairly pleased with the finished painting, but Guiseppe is a sensitive and gentle person, and I think he looks a bit hard in this one.
I will be doing a series of portrait sketches like this for practice over the coming weeks.
I have a number of sitters lined up, but if you are in the Dublin area and are interested in posing for me, drop me a line at info@pjlynchgallery.com