Hussarettes: the most complex painting yet

Regular followers might be wondering why it has been nearly two months since my last post. Apologies but I've been distracted by my two-dimensional art rather significantly. Fans of the Hussarette genre, however, should be pleased as the latest commission has allowed me to rejoice once again in the theme of lovely ladies and gorgeous uniforms. You might have seen it in process in the background of my  post on the Battle of Lobositz .  Here is an overall view of the completed painting "Hussarette Aides de Camp in Spain c1810" and the story of how it came about.

Oil on canvas 80 cm x 60 cm. "Hussarette ADC's in Spain, c1810" - Nicole, Therese and Margueritte 

As an artist I'm always on the lookout for inspiration and I wander, camera in hand, ready for an opportunity. The Duchess and I went on holiday to Andalucia, southern Spain, just over a year ago. We spent a couple of great days in Seville and much of one of them was spent in the Alcazar Palace and exploring the exotic gardens. This was originally a Moorish Palace but taken over in the Reconquista and adapted and rebuilt over the centuries to meet the needs of Spanish nobles. There are grand buildings in the grounds with elaborate architectural details and clad in classic Spanish tiling. With the wonderful trees and plants and fountains it is an assault on the senses. 

While walking through a "summer house" which was like a mini-palace, I was struck by the posing of three lovely young tourists who were wrapped in conversation and completely oblivious to their surroundings. But I was able to snap a few photos and begin to wonder how I could put the moment in time and place to good use.

One of several photos taken as the ladies made minor shifts in stance

Later in the holiday another amazing photo opportunity presented itself. On the road between Cordoba and Grenada we stopped at a roadside cafe and as I sauntered round the back through a  fairly unkempt yard looking for the loo, I saw an old bullock cart that looked as if it could have been used to carry supplies to one of Sharpe's Peninsular War garrisons! Here is just one pic from my 360 degree photo shoot of that piece

In the Alhambra Palace in Granada the Spanish tour guide, quite bitterly, told us how the Spanish palaces had been ransacked by Napoleon's soldiers and a lot of works of art stolen.......ideas began to take shape

Classic view of the Alhambra Palace on a rather dull day in March 2018

When I got home I tried these photos on one of my muses - Ian Allen. Ian is one of my most ardent patrons and always willing to allow me to bounce ideas off him.  It took a few emails and false starts but between us we came up with the following little scene for the latest in my theme of empowered women in an imaginary "blackpowder period" universe.

It is around 1810 and the French are rampaging through southern Spain. The Army has just taken a city by storm and three Divisions have temporarily come together to share the spoils. To decide the next moves their three Generals are having a meeting in one of the palace buildings. The door is guarded by dismounted dragoons (or dragons as my French-born former miniatures-painter window cleaner called them..... dragons?? it's imaginary but not fantasy!). As it happened each general has a lady Hussar as personal Aide de Camp (well, who wouldn't, given the chance?). These French ladies all know each other from earlier campaigns but rarely meet. So what better opportunity for a catch up when their bosses are engrossed in military plans for an hour or more and they have free time to call for wine, bread and cheese, and oranges, and munch away while discussing the news from home.  

Margueritte surrounded by food and drink sustenance
(based loosely on Penelope Cruz)

It's hot, they've discarded their dolmans and pelisses, sabres and sword belts, sabretaches and cartridge boxes and headgear. Ian likes his ladies sexy but respectable so he came up with the idea of "peasant-style" blouses and I took them as far as my model would allow. I looked at references of Sir William Russell Flint's Spanish ladies to give her inspiration. 

The high-level meeting has disturbed the looters and the girls sit amidst looted cases, sacks of fabrics, carpets, copper and brass vessels and candlesticks, weapons, beer barrels, and a painting in fancy gilt frame. Ian's sense of humour suggested I make it one of my own paintings, so the large print of Natalie came down from my studio wall and posed sideways in the cart!

All these objects, with one exception, are artifacts I own either as antiques or reproduction art props and I set them up as large "still life" groupings in the studio. The exception is the very fine brass mounted double pistol holsters in the foreground which were taken from an internet photo.

The detail of uniforms for the Hussarettes was left to me except in colouring. Ian loves light blue and yellow, and together with the red, he specified the colours. I looked at some older paintings of individual officers or ADCs (such as below) and made sure I gave all three ladies distinctive gold or silver lace, with designs on sabretaches etc inspired by actual examples on the internet.

My actual art prop is black leather
 and home made,
 based on a Young Guard
 infantry officer's design

   

Imaginary shako decorations.

All this planning took place nearly a year ago and I was busy acquiring and making some of the props I would need. Loads of work took place using Photoshop to adapt my Spanish location photos and come up with a planned composition, subject to arranging all the artifacts.  I was keen to line up Marianne to model for me as she is my go-to French first choice, but one thing after another got in our way and so the photo shoot did not take place till January this year. Although I would not use her face (see later) I still wanted a "latin" lady to set the mood and atmosphere.  I painted in the background buildings, the cart and the basics of the mini-palace arches and doorway  so we had a good idea on the spot of what was required   For the shoot I had to put the wargames table to one side, dress the room to give me a fair representation of the stone/tiled bench and upright wall and get all the stuff Marianne needed to handle and wear and we were set to go.

Many hour's work later I came up with a Photoshopped layout to get Ian's approval

This looks pretty stark because it is just cutouts with no shading or artistic effects other than resizing objects to fit. However, this gives those who have asked me a fair idea of where I'm coming from to get the final compositions. Marianne wore three distinctly different sets of blouses, leggings, scarves etc and different hairstyles and we tried each character in many positions so I had about 100 photos to choose the three that suited me best.

Here is one I did not use just to give you a flavour. I decided I wanted poses where all three girls interacted with one another, it makes a much more coherent "story".

We had to decide what sort of features Ian would like for these fictitious Aides de Camp as it gives me something to aim at, though we are not after celebrity portraits. He chose Latina type actresses, Michelle Rodriguez and Penelope Cruz, and I stuck with his theme and went for a Panamanian fashion model blogger-influencer, Pam Hetlinger, for the third. I did not achieve great likenesses but he seemed to like what I came up with fairly quickly.

Therese enjoys the chat
(based on Michelle Rodriguez)

Nicole holds forth
(based on Pam Hetlinger)

It's a tradition of my Hussarette series that the lady's name appears
somewhere in the painting. Sabre scabbards are a favourite way I can
make it look engraved in the metal or leather.
The cast shadow on this side of the painting helps throw the main attention on the girls

We felt some background figures would add realism and finish it off nicely.
Dragoons look after the ADC's horses, and up on the balcony a general is receiving a
 despatch while an aide spies out the city through his telescope

I hope you've enjoyed this rather different blog post. Something for the military equipment  enthusiasts, the Hussarette fans and the painters among my readers. Any thoughts or questions welcome in the Comment box, thank you for visiting.  (Oh! -  the obvious one - 72 hours on the canvas over three months, but countless hours in preparation, and the cost is north of £750).  And if you want to discuss a military - themed commission without obligation please email me  Chris Gregg

PLEASE NOTE: it's flattering to see my art work shared on the internet just by people who like my work and want others to see it, but the artist still retains the copyright. I own the copyright of all these images except the 8th one - paintings of three hussars, and I'm sorry I don't know who to credit for those. So if you post or copy elsewhere please credit me by name and preferably make a link back to this blog post, thank you.  I'm currently posting all my new work on Instagram as @chrisgregg173  or here's a link www.instagram.com/chrisgregg173/

The Count's Christmas Treat

Giselle toyed with her golden ringlets as she contemplated the arrival of her Christmas gift from Count Gregorius von Grunburg.  

She had been the Count's "companion" since the victory of the Imperial troops, of which the Grunburg Contingent formed a large part, over those of Savoy at the battle of the Chambreuse Valley on 30th May 1760.  Bored of her mundane existence in Chambreuse, and hearing in advance of the Count's reputation for looking after his lady friends, she had put on her most alluring outfit and appeared at his headquarters on the night of the battle. Not surprisingly the Count was delighted to share his looted wine with such charming company.  Shortly afterwards she accompanied him to Grunburg and so captivated the Count that she acquired an apartment in Grunburg Castle.

It was not long before the Count realised that this narcisistic poseuse would provide entertainment for him by modelling the prototypes of uniforms for the growing Grunburg army. In was now December and she was currently enjoying the soft white fur of the pelisse and the snug fit of the breeches that the Count had in mind for his first Hussar Regiment. She liked the way the silver lace caught the light and the red woollen material reflected in her lips. The hat was a bit odd but Greggy had told her it was based on fur hats of the original Hungarian Hussars of some 50 years earlier.... hers not to reason why........hers but to model and try.

Now that sounds like her footman coming up the passage.......What will her gift be this time? The layered necklace and the silver heart sword belt buckle were nice but maybe, for Christmas, a lavish ball gown to go to the New Year Ball?

After a considerable time without painting any Hussarettes I was keen to find an excuse and this Christmas seemed like a good time to take up the cause again.  Looking at my archives for inspiration I came across the lovely Ukrainian, Ella, looking suitably enigmatic during our photo shoot at the end of 2012.

You can learn more about Ella from my blog posting at that time  new-model.

I found a piece of 2mm board approximately 8 x 9.5 inches which I had prepared some time ago with a soft grey ground which would take acrylics in a gouache type of treatment. For those interested in the way I go about creating a painting in this sort of technique here are some of the highlight stages in the process.

I squared up a copy of the original photo so I could transfer in the correct proportions to my painting surface.

Pencil sketch showing adaptation of shirt, pelisse, head.
No attempt is made to render the face properly

The pencil sketch is outlined in thin burnt umber acrylic
and then a tonal version made to fix the main areas
of light and dark

The tonal painting forms a good basis to build
up to full colour in translucent layers using
the acrylic thinned only with water and no medium.
Not much shading in yet.

Gradually more detail is introduced, and shading as well as a
warm flesh colour

By now Giselle is pretty much finished
and will be "touched up" later :-).

Now I could consider how to put the young lady into a suitable context for what was to become one of my 2015 Christmas cards, as if the red and white fur trimmed uniform hadn't given the game away by now!  The internet came in useful and it didn't take too long to find a suitable interior for Giselle's apartment in Grunburg Castle with the archway I required for the context. I was also delighted to find a choice of re-enactor footmen with livery of complimentary hues and a useful pose.

Using Photoshop I was able to try out Giselle and the footman
within the context of the photo of the panelled room. The size
and perspective was not perfect but for a fun painting to please
myself I was satisfied.

This was then rendered into my painting, suitably adapted and simplified.

Here is the first stage which resulted in the finished version shown at the
 top of this blog post. I lowered the escutcheon over the door to give me
room to post my "Merry Christmas 1760" message as if pinned up.
This had the effect of making the door more like a panelled cupboard!
The GR cypher is Gregorius's little joke to disguise his true ambitions.
For more on that please see my post on the Grunburg-dragoons

To finish off here is a close up of the casual flicking of hair off the brow.......

....and assurance that no footmen, females or white furry felines were harmed or exploited in the making of this painting.

Some of my readers might have received Giselle as a Christmas card, if so I hope you have enjoyed my slightly tongue in cheek seasonal gesture. If you didn't then here it is for your pleasure.  Either way the original of "The Count's Christmas Treat; Giselle of the 1st Grunburg Hussars 1760" is for sale, unframed,  at just £50 plus postage.

Please email me  Chris Gregg if you are interested, or if you wish to discuss any other type of military painting commission as I will be well back into the 2 dimensional art world in 2016 after the distractions of moving house and the Waterloos.

For those awaiting part 4 of the La Haye Sainte game, thanks for your patience it won't be long now.

A Real Hussarette?

I'm currently reading Captain Kincaid's memoir "Adventures in the Rifle Brigade" and was astonished to come across this cryptic entry in the diary for early 1811.

Gosh, this gets the artist's juices flowing and all sorts of questions spring to mind. What a dramatic painting it could make having a body of 95th Riflemen, led by a dashing pelisse wearing officer taking prisoner a French uniformed aide-de-camp, and the "Hussarette" wife standing by looking rather shocked but "handsome",....err, well that means sexy to me, and what my Hussarette project started out for.

So does anyone have any more information on this? What kind of uniform would a Portuguese wear who had enlisted as an aide to a French General, and I think we could use a lot of artistic licence for the wife. Does anyone know their names?

Any patron of the arts out there care to commission me, and have a big say in the painting design.

Of course you could read the English differently to mean that it was the ADC dressed in the hussar uniform, but that would rather spoil the vision. I think an ADC would be likely to have a splendid hussar uniform and therefore not so worth remarking on as a woman wearing one.

All comments welcome, but please not anonymous ones.

Hussarettes celebrate 25,000

Well you did it, and in record time! Six days on from my celebrating over 24,000 page visits and you've made it 25,100 . Thanks to everyone who has supported me since the beginning and to all those who have joined since. Whether you come back regularly or just find my blog by chance I hope you find something here of  use, interest , or to just brighten your day. The posts about the Hussarette paintings are consistently featuring in the top five favourites so I promised you some more after the 25,000 mark, and here is the latest work.

This was commissioned as a companion piece to "The Twins", which for those who can't remember it, is here
This one is called "Hussarettes d'Oriente: Suzanne et Suzette,  of the 22nd Chasseurs a Cheval and the 7th Hussars bis, in Egypt, 1798"

This is their story:

Suzette was born in 1775 and Suzanne in 1777  and, as they grew up, they were inspired by the role models of their twin aunts, Francoise and Francine, who started a trend for ladies of standing to take up military careers and joined the French Legion Etrangere. This admiration was embodied in the "Twins" painting of 1780 that took pride of place in the family Chateau in Gascony, and Suzanne and Suzette later leaned towards military interests themselves. 

Then came the Revolution of 1789.  However , although some Royalists fell foul of the guillotine this family was good to their servants and farm workers and were able cleverly to espouse the Revolutionary cause and rise up the new hierarchy. Thus these girls joined the army when they were old enough as young officers. Now aged 23 and 21 respectively they find themselves on Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. They are off duty and doing what tourists in Egypt do. They have hired camels to see the pyramids.  They've brought their swords playfully to scratch their names in the sand and pose as victors, and Suzanne, who is the more audacious,  steals the show while her slightly older, more reserved, sister Suzette looks on, trying to smile sweetly but not quite succeeding. 

In the background the bored camel driver awaits their pleasure in the shade of his camel while another tourist party is assembling in the distance.

This is another oil painting on gessoed canvas, size 20 inches x 16 inches, and the technical details of its creation are much the same as in the Twins painting referenced above.  The decisions on uniform details though did initially pose some vexing emails between me and the client.
- Did the 22nd Chasseurs wear fur lined pelisses at this time?....but wouldn't they be too hot in the desert anyway? The client loved my model "Ella" in her pelisse so it had to stay, but we discarded the dolman as both together would  definitely be too hot. 

- What colour green was the 22nd's uniform? We settled on  mid green for the pelisse and bright green for the breeches. 
- 7th Hussars bis did not seem to be the same regiment in 1798 as the later 7th of Empire fame and uniform guides varied between dark blue, dark green (maybe black?) or a more normal French Imperial green. I argued that, artistically, the mid to dark green shown would compliment the greens of the 22nd as well as maybe relate to the later 7th Hussars more faithfully.

The design of the gold lace on the breeches came from a source dated 1800 but it was just so gorgeous, and challenging to paint, I couldn't resist. Besides, the client had asked for ringlets in her hair and the lace followed that motif wonderfully.

My 1803 style three-bar sabre hilt was too late for this date so I've given them the single bar style of the 18th century.

 Subsequent research into Egyptian swords led me to discover French sabres "a la Mamelouk" and  I realised that some of the later exotic sabres beloved of rich officers were influenced by the original swords of Napoleon's Arab enemies in Egypt. I've acquired a lovely reproduction version which I intend to feature soon in the possession of a "Chasseurette" of the Imperial Guard.

And, Legatus, if you are reading this, don't worry, that pyramid background is not ripped off from your personal profile picture! 

Now my client's idea for these two further French military ladies and our joint venture to connect them in a historical family context got my imagination racing as to where things might lead if Hussarette (or Chasseurette) paintings began to connect in a series. Here's an illustration to get the creative juices flowing.

It is a detail from a painting by Jack Girbal showing Lasalle, as a Squadron commander of the 22nd Chasseurs in Egypt about to save General Davout's life by cutting off the hand of a mameluke who is attacking him.  I got to thinking that maybe my audacious Suzanne could became a female Lasalle in my parallel empowered women Napoleonic history - Colonel Suzanne at the head of her Regiment; later General Suzanne leading a fine Brigade, then Division, of Light Cavalry,....;being decorated by the Emperor for ever more daring exploits.........I've had other ideas too, some of which will see our Hussarettes shedding their uniforms, which is how it all started really!  So I'd be interested to hear any views of readers on what they think might make good paintings with female alternatives in the place of our hero regiments and characters. You can comment here or if you wish a more personal discussion please contact me by email  Chris Gregg 

And that's also the way to follow up this next point. Anyone fancy commissioning more from my model Ella?. She is coming back to the UK  for a few weeks in July and may be willing to do another photoshoot. Here is a  reminder where can read more about her in a previous post. So email me soon for a chance to customise your painting - Hussarette or any other theme, absolute discretion guaranteed .

Francine et Francoise de la Legion Etrangere de la Marine

I promised in my last posting  Hussarettes a new model that I would reveal the latest painting in the Hussarettes series and so here it is, or, here they are.

The client for this one is pretty keen on light blue uniforms and particularly Lauzun's Legion in the French contingent in the American War of Independence (aka Revolution, for American readers!). Originally he wanted a Hussarette of the First Legion Etrangere de la Marine to go with his existing painting, Lucille, who represents Lauzun's (Second) Legion, but when I showed him a selection of photos of my model, Ella, he wanted two, one from each Legion,  and he made up a background scenario in which to set them.

The Hussarettes project, of course, is more Fantasy Art than History and we can take it anywhere we choose, but the historical military theme is compelling for gentlemen like some of my supporters who love the concept of combining gorgeous uniforms with pretty women. And for me also who likes those two elements but with the added challenge of coming up with decorative art in a plausible setting.

So Francine of the First, and Francoise of the Second, are twin daughters of a French Noble family, who have joined a prestigious organisation for foreign adventures. They are from rich families and natural officer material, and sibling rivalry such as it is, have decided to ply their military trade with different, but related, regiments. Besides which,  Francine's favourite colour is yellow, and her twin sister's red!   So my client, wondering how to get them in the same place at the same time, wrote:

"I’m thinking that the two have visited a painter to have a studio portrait painted while taking a break from occupation duties in a town that is unscarred by the ongoing war. They have met up in a tavern while their respective sections are detached from their parent Legions for an escort duty or some such. Perhaps the artist met them in the tavern and suggested the idea?"

Can't imagine where he got the idea of an artist persuading random women to pose :-).....but at least it gave me the basis for the composition. Two wine goblets stand drained on the bar of the tavern.....it's so hot in America that naturally the ladies don't wear full hussar uniform of shirt, waistcoat, dolman, and pelisse, but their own comfortable, yet flamboyant, combinations. Inhibitions lessened by the wine, and naturally confident in their status, they loosen their clothing and are determined to give our artist the benefit of their best assets for his art.

Sadly the photographic medium just can't do justice to Francine and Francoise, and only the owner of their painting, and his guests, will get the full lustre of the oil paint rendering the gold and silver officers' lace. But for you, dear blog follower, here are some close ups which might give a better idea.

Now a bit more information about the painting itself. It is on stretched, gessoed canvas, 20 inches x 16 inches and I used a limited palette of 9 Winsor and Newton Artisan water-based oil colours plus Titanium White, they were:

Paynes Grey (my "secret" ingredient for sympathetic shading)

Cerulean Blue

Cobalt Blue

Burnt Sienna

Raw Umber

Naples yellow Hue (a basis for skin tones and gold lace)

Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue

Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue

Cadmium Red Hue

After the underpainting is done with thin paint I use an awful lot of Artisan Quick Drying medium which is very rich and glossy and allows juicy effects with good detail. The background was done in a sketchy style though with very little medium and is deliberately muted in tone and detail in order not to fight with the gorgeous uniforms. When it's properly dry it will receive several coats of varnish which will unify the surface sheen.

And that question I always get asked - "How long did it take?" The answer is about 6 hours in the planning and computer mock up stages and another 30 hours in the execution, over about 10 days. And because I'm cheap (at the moment!!) it cost my patron less than half the price of one of Phil Olley's 28mm 18th Century infantry battalions.  So it's not just a rich man's obsession to commission your own Hussarette painting. Just email me for a quote without obligation Chris Gregg

It seems appropriate to give some credit to an artist who has been a great influence on me over  the last couple of years, James Gurney. In particular Gurney's book "Imaginative Realism" gives great insight into how to concoct artificial scenes and characters and then put them in an imaginative situation for a painting. If you think my methods, costumes and use of amateur models seems a bit "cheap", then take a look at this book which is honest and practical and you'll see that even the "greats" do it that way.

Imaginative-Realism

Just a final smile from Ella, and if you've liked this posting please give her some supportive comments and she might model for me again :-) ....but keep it clean, chaps!

Hussarettes: a new model

What with all  the packing, selling on EBay and moving house it's been some time since I've been able to do any oil painting. Additionally, I had a big and  complicated commission to do illustrating a scene from one of Ian Allen's "Chronicles of Umpopoland", and that took me about a month last Autumn. That's now safely framed and up on his wall and you can see a picture of it at my website chris gregg paintings. If you want to know the background to it please comment and Ian or I will reply.  So the Hussarette project took a back seat after my "historical research" before Summer had faded away last year; here's a reminder   can-blackpowder-era-cavalry-really-fire-mounted.

But when I least expected it along came a commission for a Hussarette to be a companion piece for Lucille of Lauzun's Legion. Since these posts have become my most popular over the months I thought the least I could do was to bring you the story of how I found and employed my latest model, whom I will call Ella.

It was on a sunny day last Summer when I was stewarding at an art exhibition. Exhibitors at this show have to volunteer to steward in pairs and the artist colleague on my session was having trouble to commit to the whole 4 hours. So she persuaded her sister, Ella, to do an hour's duty. And what a pleasant and helpful companion she turned out to be. Ella is Ukrainian and just happened to be over in England to stay with her sister. Not only is she pretty but intelligent too, and studying for a post graduate scientific qualification in France.  I always tend to have my camera with me as an artist never knows when inspiration will strike, and I had been collecting photos of likely ladies for handmaidens in the Umpopoland commission mentioned above. Eventually I plucked up the courage to ask Ella if I could take some photos of her, and she willingly agreed. She had to go back to France that day but left with the thought that she would be back at Christmas and would like to earn some money modelling for a photo-shoot for paintings.

After the exhibition I had shown her photos to one of my patrons who said, as she was Ukrainian, I should ask her to pose as a female Cossack. This seemed like a good idea and I kept it "up my sleeve". However, not long before Christmas I got the next commission in the shape of a request to do a Hussarette emulating a pose from an existing miniature of a futuristic or steam punk female fighter in tight breeches. When Ella got in touch on her return to England I just knew she'd be great in that guise.

So it was that on a very wet day shortly after Christmas I found myself in a light and airy conservatory in a southern suburb of Gloucester having to spend 3 hours with Ella and her sister while she got made up and dressed, and then undressed, for the camera. It's a hard life, but someone has to do it for the sake of our European cultural heritage :-) 

Her artist sister was a marvellous help, organising all sorts of outfits, jewelry and hairstyles for my various ideas. The commissioned Hussarette was the main item on my agenda since the client would be subsidising her fee. But I had also asked for any "authentic looking" Ukrainian gear, and among the leading items was a superb fur lined jacket just right to do duty as a Hussar's pelisse but without all the lace.  In addition Ella had high boots, which although they had stiletto heels, gave a very sexy edge to the idea of hussar riding boots. Also equipped with my cobbled together belts, sabretache, ammo pouch, and fur colback we applied the French Napoleonic-style weaponry in various combinations.  So, hundreds of photos later I had a great variety of poses to choose from for my commission and many more options for other paintings. Here are some examples:

I had a vision for the tough "Cossack lady" with a floppy fur hat but we did not have one between us, instead what I got was a sexy version of a sweet Ukrainian traditional maiden, with addition of weaponry - like this:

Cossack bandit girl?

I had to try to get Ella to laugh - with a sabre dance.
As I said, it's a hard life directing females!

Not only flowers in her hair but a bunch of them too - very chaste.

And just for variety - one of the bi-products of the Ukrainian culture was evidently the black clad secret police! There were quite a few leather-look coats and boots to choose from in the dress-up box so we made full use of them.

A focus group I tested last year for pin-up subjects suggested posing ladies with classic cars and motor bikes, and so the leather gear seemed perfect. I've got lots of reference material for Harley-Davidsons but just needed the girl, so my Ukrainian beauty posed for them too - but,  like acting for CGI with a blue screen, we had to imagine the motorbike!

Within a week or two I'll show you the finished result of the Hussarette painting, and the best news on that is the client loved Ella so much he wanted two of her in one painting, and in the gorgeous combinations of colours of  the French Legion Etrangere in the American War of Independence. So look out for that soon.

I hope you've enjoyed this taster of one side of my work but carrying it on depends on the support I get. So please comment on this blog, or email me Chris Gregg if you have ideas or want to commission me with a painting yourself. Complete discretion guaranteed.