Painting Professor Sir Godfrey Palmer OBE

This year I had the honour of painting a remarkable gentleman of a moral calibre which is becoming rare nowadays. A good man, modest and unselfishly great, whose life experience is one of the most inspiring ones I have encountered as an artist. Our conversations, the trust he gave me and the human kindness he radiates will be among the memories I cherish.

Prof. Sir Godfrey Palmer OBE, Oil on linen, 2015

Professor Sir Godfrey (Geoff) Henry Oliver Palmer OBE (b. 1940) is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and a human rights activist. He discovered the barley abrasion process while a researcher at the Brewing Research Foundation from 1968 to 1977. In 1989, he became the first black professor in Scotland, becoming a professor emeritus after he retired in 2005. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by Abertay University, the Open University and the University of the West Indies.

In 1998, Palmer became the fourth person, and the first European, to be honoured with the American Society of Brewing Chemists Award of Distinction. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2003. In 2007, the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire, Professor Geoff Palmer was named among the "100 Great Black Britons". He was knighted in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the human rights, science, and charity.

Alongside his academic work, Professor Sir Geoff is also a prominent human rights activist and is involved in a considerable amount of charity work in the community. In 2014 I got to know about him through his involvement in Social Housing. This painting was completed during two long sittings which took place this year at The Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) where the Professor serves as the Honorary President, and many more sessions alone in my studio.

Prof. Sir Geoff and me. Preparing for the second sitting at ELREC.

Brushes that are more than brushes

Rosemary demonstrating the process of handmaking artists' brushes

Last Friday I visited the Academy of Realist Art in Edinburgh which is, as far as one is aware of, the only Atelier-based academy in Scotland. This is the only educational organisation in which one can formally study to draw and paint realism the way it was taught at the French academies during the 19th century.

I went to see Rosemary, from Rosemary and Co. the best maker of handmade brushes in the UK. As she says, her brushes are more than brushes, they are an experience. Not surprisingly she sells them all over the world and since I discovered her brushes I have not painted with anything else. It was an important day, this was Rosemary’s first time in Scotland on business.

I arrived at midday when Rosemary was about to start her lunch and she left everything to answer my questions and gave full attention to my wife and my inquisitive under 3-year-old boy (I like to include him in my activities as much as I can. Children learn a lot from watching). Rosemary was one of the friendliest and warmest persons I have ever met and, in addition to demonstrating the process of making different brushes, she arranged for me to have a tour of the Academy with Ewan McNaughton, its director.

I left extremely happy. It was the highlight of my week. I returned with a handful of new brushes, nuggets of knowledge on the craft of brush making and a wonderful feeling, that which comes from having met a caring human being and a master craftsman.

Please see below a link to

Rosemary and Co

The Academy of Realist Art

My lovely modern apprentice

As I get ready for a short painting session "en plein air" in beautiful Earlsferry, Fife (after a great beach day with the family) Valentino, my sweet boy joins me. He watches everything carefully, takes everything in, tries to help without obstructing my work, sits with me for a while and then goes off to build sand castles. He's always been so good! He is my little apprentice and as he grows up he may be ready to take on the more serious jobs... such as cleaning my brushes!

A memory to share

Tidying up my studio I found a nice surprise; a little oil sketch I painted after the first time I visited the Kingdom of Fife, during my first trip to Scotland. I think it was the year 2000. My friends Michael and Kevin had taken me to Ravenscraig Castle (Kirkcaldy) one cold and limpid afternoon of January. What a wonderful view from the castle across the Forth estuary towards Edinburgh! We walked down the beach and I paused a few times to take mental notes of the view. I put it on paper later and then from those notes I sketched it in oils, back in Argentina. 

When I see it now, I remember that tranquil afternoon and the love and generosity of my friends. I remember another special friend, Ann, who invited me to come to Scotland and who is no longer with us. An immense feeling of gratitude and fondness fills my soul. How fortunate I have been! The sketch is simple, and quite fitting really, as it transports me back to that happy moment. I painted a memory, my interpretation of Ravenscraing Castle as one would see it walking towards it from Dysart Harbour. Today the painting re-creates an emotion, a piece of history, my history, which lives within me. Thank you Mike, Kevin and thanks to Ann.

Ravenscraig Castle, Fife (Oil on canvas board 2000-2001)

Check the Grip Fast Journal!

A note of thanks to Stuart Morris of Balgonie and the publishers of the Grip Fast Journal, the official newsletter of Clan Leslie Society International, for featuring one of my paintings and mentioning my work so kindly.

Please see a link to the Grip Fast Journal online here. 

"En plein air"

St Andrews is one of my favourite towns in the coast of Fife and there, we spent a wonderful weekend. With my beloved parents, my wife and my son in such a splendid location I could want nothing else.

The static caravan where we stayed was high above the beach in the outskirts of the town, overlooking the Old Harbour. From this vantage point in our sitting-room we were delighted with wonderful views of the ancient cathedral and the coast further away across the water.

After a nice stroll down the beach with my parents and my little son, I began a quick oil sketch during the Friday evening so I was able to sketch the main landmarks. The summer light in these Northern places is wonderful for painting outdoors. Even as late as 9 pm one can see clearly outside… but the wind is another story. It could have blown my canvas away with me included!

It would have been impossible to paint sitting outside with the gales reaching almost 50 mph. Behind the glass I was sheltered. So technically I was not painting “en plein air” as I had hoped. Saturday was sunny but the winds had worsened so again I had to complete my painting indoors, having to steady my hand a few times to counter act the shaking effect that the wind had on our not-so-static dwelling!

Calmer weather finally arrived on Sunday. The commanding wind had relaxed and turned into a gentle breeze, quite refreshing actually, so we ventured out; my painting was finished. Looking at it now, as the paint dries, reminds me how fortunate I am to have so much love and splendour around me. Love and beauty, truly gifts from God.

The Importance of Composition

ARCHITECT, ARTIST and mathematician L. B. Alberti in his book On Painting explains that composition is the second most important element of painting (drawing being the first). The design systems of the past were based on the profound study of nature, and nature’s obvious and efficient patterns which can be translated geometrically.

Pythagoras (560-480 BC), Greek philosopher and mathematician, was especially interested in how numbers connect to physical reality. His investigations led him to discover the pleasing tones which we call “harmonics” . Pythagoras’ discoveries of the harmonic proportions had a tremendous effect not only on music but on Greek art. 

Every part of the ancient Greeks’ major buildings, down to the smallest detail of decoration, was constructed upon this proportion which became known as the Golden Ratio or Golden Section.  The oldest examples of this principle; however, appear in nature’s proportions, including the morphology of pine cones, sunflower seeds, starfish and sea shells. The Golden Section is thought to offer the most aesthetically pleasing proportion and rhythm.

During the Renaissance the revival of interest in Classical work, led to profound studies of geometry and proportions. The work of Alberti was particularly important for artists of the time. Artists developed different techniques and geometrical design systems and tools to achieve harmonic or aesthetically pleasing compositions. For example, many artists used callipers to calculate and measure the golden section in their designs.

Of course, the use of the Golden Section or any other geometrical system does not guarantee that one’s work will be divinely inspired. Nature, behaves in a logical way and follows precise rules predetermined by its Creator. However, nature tempers the application of these rules with organic and skilful balance.  Thus, the study and application of geometry can contribute to well thought and pleasing compositions. A good knowledge of these rules enables the artist to break them carefully to achieve a sought after effect, rather than painting haphazardly. 

Before I think on the colours and even dare touch a brush, I consider the composition, looking at the placement and size of each element. I play about with sketches and try different options, using a variety of geometrical grids that help me see what the underlying structure, the lines that run through the composition guiding the eye, unseen but yet perceived by that part of our brain which is concerned with harmony, aesthetics and balance. Two of the grids I often use are shown below.

Variation of the Golden Ratio

Diamond armature of the rectangle