Jim Trainer's Page

Thanks Jim - same for you!

How's it going?

Glad you like the iPod miniatures Jim, but I've only just started using it - I was hoping to find others who use it.
How's things with you?

Thanks for lovely comments!!

hello Jim,thanks for your kind comments re the paper,scissors picture...should have a few new images to upload soon as the new studio has really got things flowing...thanks again...neil

Hİ Jim, nice to meet you!

Ayse

Hello Jim,

Write an instruction book?!! Quite an idea, but I guess there are reasons why those on the market are poor, or publishers wouldn't publish so many of them.
Though I did find a good one about twenty years ago which I've just dug out of my shelves:"The Materials and Techniques of Painting" by Jonathan Stephenson. I found that very helpful, though he's a "colour man" (pigment specialist paintmaker) not an artrist, because - gawd knows - they taught me nowt about painting at art-school!
One day I would like to make a book about this project I'm working on, because it's turning out to be quite a story - maybe that would be "instructive"?

Cheers, Mik

Hello Jim,

Thank you for your comments on the paintings – I’m glad you liked them – I always appreciate a bit of flattery!

I can see from your work why this strand of work would interest you – you’ve got some promising figure drawings and portraits. I like the fact that you experiment with different media and approaches – something I always encourage in my students. That’s how you learn – how you get to “measure up”, even though it takes a while. Even Van Gogh got pretty good – and he was hopeless when he started!

Actually, I think experimentation is what I most enjoy – I get a ‘buzz’ from finding out what will happen, surprising myself – often preferring it if I can’t predict the outcome, trying this-and-that in different versions. Why not try working on two or three simultaneously, just to explore differences? Maybe working on more than one will stop you over-working them? Maybe one or two will work out? It seems to work for me.

Having said that, it’s also good to find out what happens if you keep pushing on a work – a learning experience, even if that particular piece ends up in the bin – it’ll improve the next ones. That’s what I keep telling myself too – plenty of mine are abandoned, sometimes too many, but that’s part of the process.

Keep at it!

Cheers, Mik

Thanks for the comment on my drawing. It was one of those cases where I thought I had screwed it up so bad that I just didn't care and it ended up looking pretty cool!