Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

Artists & Illustrators 87

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AchiEve chromatic effects with underpainting

in three colours and white. Morgan PenN shows

you how with his characterful new painting

EFFECTIVE

UNDERPAINTING

DEMONSTRATION

A Twickenham street was evacuated when a

cache of weapons, including a working

submachine gun, was discovered in an old

lady’s home after her death. It emerged she

had been a Cold War spy. This lady was my

neighbour, and inspired the portrait of the

allotment gardeners: I was convinced the

older generation had a secret and colourful

world they were not letting on about.

I contacted the Richmond and Twickenham

Times about my project, and they kindly ran

an article calling for gentlemen gardeners

over the age of 80 to take part in an oil

portrait. The response was huge. I set up a

marquee in the garden to create a diffused

summer light. Ping pong balls were used as

substitute snails for the guys to yell and

shout at, and a cardboard box was used as a

stand-in wooden crate. My wife, Julie, laid on

sandwiches, cakes, scones and lots of

brandy. A photoshoot is the only way to

capture fl eeting moments and expressions,

and is also the best way to quickly try lots of

ideas. Traditional sittings are arranged after a

composition has been completed. I had a

long checklist of things I wanted the guys to

do, such as waving beer bottles and wads of

money, ripping up betting slips and so on.

The brandy bottles were emptied.

http://www.morganpenn.com

THE PHOTOSHOOT

I sifted through 4,000 photographs and

reduced them to 20 images per person.

I created two possible compositions in

Photoshop and printed them out actual

size to pin on the wall. I also emailed

images to friends to get opinions, and

everyone was in agreement on the best.

Artists &&& Illustrators Illustrators 87

LEFT

A Snail’s

Pace in

Twickenham,

oil on linen,

100x100cm

87 Morgan Penn Portraits.indd 87 06/04/2017 14:46