In 1979 I was in a group of Aussies that patronised “Finots Wine Bar in London. It was the first time I’d seen a bench mounted corkscrew and I’ve never forgotten my first impression of it. Later I would see them in action in Hong Kong, Los Angeles and a few other bars. When I saw one in an op shop, I couldn’t resist buying it with a view to painting a version that played to its artistic strengths.
This painting is a “preliminary painting/study/artists impression”. For me art has been a challenge to continually improve myself. Each painting is an attempt to improve on the last as I seek my ultimate goal to paint hyperrealistically. This comes with the additional challenge to also try to paint more complex compositions. My original plan was to include at least one bottle, cork/s, glassware and more, however, I wasn’t sure that I had the requisite skills so decided to do a preliminary painting. The painting was completed beyond my expectations.
While this painting is a preview of what I hope to achieve, it is still a very strong, and for me an important piece. All the hallmarks of a polish piece are incorporated into this work.
For interest, I painted this piece mainly using a 10/0 brush. These brushes are about 5mm long and about 1mm wide. Needless to say this art took some time to complete. One of the brushes I used in creating this painting is included.