Serpa – 6 – (Travel Sketches Portugal 2009)

Some other people from Serpa, hanging around on cafes (You can see a firts series of Serpa people sketches here )

You can read the funny story connected to this sketch, “The tiniest Coffee in The World”,  in Cafe Crem

I hadn;t really time to finish this sketch. The guy left suddenly his contemplative position, got up and went away, I guess his beer was finished. I can’t remember what all the stuff on the right side is, it looks weird to me, but it was certainly there 

Th tiniest coffee cup in the world (from the story above) reappeared in another cofe, as you can see it. i guess Portuguese drink such kind of awful stuff…

If you wonder what the lion and the rosa elephant and the blue hippopotamus are doing there… they were little toys hanging to a baby pushchair. I have no idea though if there was a baby in the chair, I haven;t seen him all the time these people were sitting there. Sleeping probably..

These art works are available directly on-line as Giclee print in many different dimensions, on paper or canvas, and also as greeting card. Just click on the widgets below to access my FAA store

 

And more generally you can see what else I paint by going to my gallery “Miki’s Enchanted World”

A quiet moment on the balcony

A short time ago we  finished watching the American series

“Boston legal”

and I must say that it is one of my favourite series all time, perhaps even THE favourite.

I love the humour in it, and more than anything I love the friendship between the two male main characters, “Alan Shore” and “Denny Crane”.

As the series was finished, it was really sad for me, as if I was losing some friends of mine…

So, the best way to get them back now is to spend some time with them, making their portraits. I wanted to catch them both in this wonderful moment they were spending on their balcony, smoking a cigar, at the end of each episode, and sharing wise thoughts about themselves and the world. I started with Alan, Denny will follow soon.

My God, how I miss these

quiet moments on their balcony!

The Queen of Hearts

Princess Diana, by Miki - pastel & colour pencils, 65 x 50 cm

and not only that:

she was Kevin’s Princess before he met me!

But then I took over…

Portraits for Life

Hugh Laurie, by Miki - Brown Pencil and White Pastel, 60 x 50 cm, 2009

My last portrait… I hope you recognise him!

Unfortunately there are not many artists making portraits, I find, and I feel quite alone here in WordPress with this art. If you feel like discussing with me about the art of portraying, or about anything concerning portrait paintings, or simply love this art, please join me at

Portraits for Life

I would be very pleased about that. I present there regularly my last works in this field, “classical” portraits in different techniques as well as caricatures.

The Power of Daydreaming

Ink & Watercolour

For about 6 months now I have been in the process of moving.

Moving from one house into the other, from one art gallery into the other.

I hate packing. And believe me, the amount of painting materials and paintings I have is gigantic, so to move only this part of my past life is already a life’s work. This is why I decided to do it gradually, taking it easy. The Housing market in Spain being at a standstill, nobody is rushing to buy my lovely house, so I can take as much time as I need.

The other day I was there, about 260 kilometres north of here, and I wanted to bring back my big new canvasses, which I ordered there before I left last Summer, but unfortunately they are so big that they don’t fit into the car. Frustrated, I decided to bring back some of my older sketch books, and other little things.

Today, a little bit bored and without any energy to start some new stuff, I had a glance at some of them, and found sketches which I of course had totally forgotten. This happens to me all the time by the way: I normally paint so fast and so prolifically that my paintings have no time to get recorded in my memory! Anyway, this is how I found this one. As I saw it, I remembered every detail again. A young girl had posed for me at that time for a fast sketch, and I remember how, a little bit annoyed by the boring position I had started to imagine things around her… and especially the cushions on the armchair, under her bum and behind her back had more and more taken the form of wings which seemed to grow from her body… and I even saw lots of butterflies flying all around her head!

A typical example of what suddenly happens to my brain when I get bored… I see things… bananas things…

some might call it the power of daydreaming!

Barack Obama -4-: Taking it easy!

(Pastel & Colour Pencils, 65 x 50 cm – 2009)

I just was in Obama mood again these days…

Cafe Life

Ink & Watercolour, Mojacar Playa, Andalucia, Spain

Asking Kevin a title for this sketch he answered:

“Master of All He Surveys”

A Summit Meeting in Spain

Quite regularly I go to a Cafe by the Beach, and sketch people spending their time there. It is a great way for me to practise live sketching. Well, people are quite still sitting on a Cafe terrace in the sun, but they still move quite a lot and it is a wonderful (but sometimes frustrating too!)  exercise to try to catch them in some position or expression. I much more prefer this way than to go to some figure painting meeting, where the models stand still, almost dead… this does not inspire me at all, and neither does their nakedness I must admit! I much more love to draw the stuff which people put on, sometimes they are such a funny mirror of their souls… no funny clothing on this one though. In this case it was the contrast between the Macho with the black hair and the other people which inspired me…

Anyway, this is the last one I drew, some days ago… I normally don’t put these sketches here, because I have created a special site for portraits and caricature art,

“Portraits for Life“,

some months ago. I just wanted to remind you that it exists. You might like to go there, if you enjoy this kind of art…

Mother and Son

Pastel & Coloured Pencils, 50 x 65 cm – 2009

Finished it today.

I wanted to emphasize the impression of light, and this is why I didn’t put too many details.

Concerning children:

we have just opened

The MiniBar

in Cafe Crem. It is about our children, their art, their words and their dreams. You are all invited to take a drink there and have a look!

Pointing at You

Kevin being in the U.K. at the moment, I played a little bit around with my other favourite subject of the moment…

Just wanted to try another kinf of portrait, in watercolour, and in impressionist style.