Steve Greaves Artist's Blog  

An artist's occasional diary covering painting ideas and plans 

as they take shape - giving some insight into the artist's methods 

of gathering reference photographs and making plans for paintings

(and some other stuff that might only be vaguely related).

10 Aug 2010 - Mon

Over 1,000 Steve Greaves Photos now available via Getty Images

I add new images to my Flickr photostream on almost a daily basis.

All my uploaded photos are now available to license through Getty Images.

Simply go to my Flickr Photostream and click on the Getty Images

"Available for Request to License" button underneath any image.

My Photos include birds, animals and bonsai trees, motorcycles, insects etc...

Robin (Erithacus rubeluca) Singing in a Rowan Tree - Photo by Steve Greaves

Here is a link to my Flickr Photostream:

Steve Greaves Getty Images on Flickr

26 April 2010 - Mon

Visit to see Les Randall, Mr Wales 1950's Bodybuilder

It was great to see Les Randall again after more than 25 years on a visit to

Wales over Easter. I used to do bodybuilding weight training in Les's Gym

in Carmarthen, South Wales when I was an art student at Dyfed College of

Art in the 1980's. Les was NABBA Mr. Wales in the 1950's and is now 85.

He is fit and healthy and still weight trains occasionally.

Les was good enough to let me take his photo in the kitchen of his house

where he still lives in Carmarthen. He is now retired after working for years on

the railways, and owning his own removal business. Les lent me a photo of

himself age 19 showing his classical style physique which I will post here soon.

He was a friend of the great Steve Reeves, bodybuilder and film star in the 50's.

For more info see my bodybuilding page here:

Steve Greaves Bodybuilding

2 April 2010 - Fri

Bird Photography Book by Andrew Zuckerman

It was my birthday a few days ago and one of the things my girlfriend Penny bought

me was a new bird book by photographer Andrew Zuckerman. It is simply called

Bird and features super-detailed shots of birds photographed against pure white

backgrounds. The amount of detail captured is simply amazing and the white

backgrounds using softbox lighting brings out the natural colours of the plumage in

ways you just don't see when birds are photographed in their natural surroundings.

This publication follows Zuckerman's successful Creature book which features

animals portrayed in a similar manner and Wisdom, containing portraits of artists,

actors and statespersons such as Chuck Close, Andrew Wyeth, Billy Conolly,

Clint Eastwood, The Dalai Lama etc.

portraits.

You really need to check his work out, these are more than your average photo

books they are works of art:

Andrew Zuckerman Bird Photo Book

23 March 2010 - Tue

Tree Sparrow Photo Published in Italian Bird Book.

One of my bird photos has just been published in an Italian bird book.

Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) in the rain at The Butterfly House, Sheffield.

The book is Monitoraggio Dell' Avifauna Umbra (2000-2005) which is a 390 page

A4 size book written completely in Italian and full of interesting graphs and diagrams.

Authors: Francesco Velatta, Giuseppina Lombardi, Umberto Sergiacomi, Paulo Viali.

I don't read Italian but I guess the book is a report of population distribution, and

movement of the birds of the Umbra region of Italy.

ISBN 88-904627-1-9

19 March 2010 - Fri

Steve Greaves Collaboration with Qoro

American print company Qoro have contacted me with a request to publish

some of my paintings as limited edition prints. Qoro produce reproductions

for the Wyeth family of painters (Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth, N.C. Wyeth)

along with other big names such as Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper.

They also work alongside a number of American museums and galleries.

It has been several years since any quality prints have been made of my

paintings and after checking Qoro's info pack which arrived this morning I feel

we can do business and a series of new prints should be available soon.

Qoro brand giclee prints are of the highest quality and are almost

indistinguishable from the original artwork. They are extremely fade resistant

and damp proof. Qoro prints will be replaced free of charge if they become

damaged for any reason.

Here's a link to their website:

www.qoroart.com

Watch this space!

15 March 2010 - Mon

New Look Steve Greaves Website

The Steve Greaves Photorealism Paintings website is currently being re-

designed. I am changing the look and feel of it to make it lighter, brighter and

more user-friendly. The dull grey pages are being replaced by a turquoise and

white colour scheme and the ordering process for buying original paintings and

limited edition prints has been much simplified.

Hope it meets your approval - only another 300 or so pages to go!

5 March 2010 - Fri

More Steve Greaves Photos on Getty Images

25 of my photos are now available to license exclusively through Getty Images.

These include birds, animals and bonsai trees.

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) peering around a tree trunk - Steve Greaves Photo.

My photos are part of the Getty Images Flickr Collection.

Here is a link to my full set:

Steve Greaves Getty Images on Flickr

20 Nov 2009 - Fri

BBC Autumnwatch Featured Bird Photo

One of my bird photographs is currently being featured in the BBC

Autumnwatch Blog on the official Autumnwatch website in their

"Guess the Bird" Quiz.

Here's a link to the BBC Autumnwatch blog revealing the answers!

A number of my photographs have been featured on the front page of the

BBC Autumnwatch website. They were favourited by the BBC in their official

Flickr photo group and were then fed through to the Autumnwatch site.

14 Nov 2009 - Sat

3 Photos Published in AVA Academia Architecture Book

Swiss book publisher of art and architecture AVA Academia Publishing

have used three of my photos of Magna, the groundbreaking Science museum

in Rotherham, South Yorkshire in their Interior Architecture book titled:

Basics Interior Architecture: Elements / Objects written by Graeme Booker

and Sally Stone. RRP £17.95.

The finished book looks superb and I am pleased to be associated this high

quality project.

Water Pavilion From Raised Walkway, Magna Science Adventure Centre, Rotherham.

You can get your copy of the book from Amazon

by following this secure link:

...and here's a link to the AVA Academia website:

http://www.avabooks.ch/

30 Oct 2009 - Fri

Photo of the Week at GlobalBirdTrekkers

My photograph of a male Pheasant was Bird Photo of the Week recently on

the GlobalBirdTrekkers.org website.

Click on the image below to view the image on Flickr.

Click on this link GlobalBirdTrekkers to visit their website where my bird

photos often feature on their Flickr bird photo page.

20 July 2009 - Sun

Steve Greaves joins Getty Images

Earlier this year Flickr (Yahoo photo-sharing site) joined forces with American

stock photography giant Getty Images. A number of photographers were

chosen by Getty Images to submit photos to the new Getty Images Flickr

Collection. I was lucky enough to be chosen and have successfully submitted

19 photos of subjects such as birds, animals and bonsai trees. These are now

available to license exclusively through Getty Images.

Young Swallow (Hirundo rustica) Being Fed by its Parent In Flight.

Photo by Steve Greaves

1 May 2009 - Fri

Photos to be Published by AVA Publishing

Two of my photos are to be published by Swiss publisher AVA Publishing in

one of their educational architecture books called 'Elements + Objects' which

is be published in August 2009. The two photos are of Magna Science

Adventure Centre in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The authors are Graeme

Brooker and Sally Stone.

Here's a link to AVA Publishing website:

http://www.avabooks.ch/

I will add the images here shortly, meanwhile you can check them out in my

Magna Photo Set on Flickr:

Steve Greaves Magna Photos

Water Pavilion at Magna Science Adventure Centre.

Photo by Steve Greaves

11 March 2009 - Wed

BBC Wales Nature Photo Of The Week

One of my Red Kite photos has been chosen as the BBC Wales Nature

Photo Of The Week and currently has a place on the front page of their

wildlife and nature based website.

Click on the Red Kite photo to visit the BBC Wales Nature website.

11 January 2009 - Sun

Collecting Photographic Reference for Paintings

I bought myself a Nikon D300 Digital SLR camera last summer and have spent

more hours out and about collecting photographic reference for paintings than

at the drawing board. I'm very pleased with the results from this pro quality

12.3 mp camera - you can see some of my latest Photos on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegreaves/

Over the Xmas holidays I visited two Red Kite feeding stations in Wales at

Gigrin Farm and Llangadog. I hope to produce some artwork from these shortly

starting with some loose watercolour studies to get back into the swing of things.

23 July 2008 - Wed

Arnie the Giant African Land Snail has a bath!

I just cleaned out my Giant African Land Snail tank and gave the Snails

a bath to freshen them up and brighten up their Shells.

Giant African Land Snail Bathing

The Snails seem to love being held under a lukewarm running tap, Arnie moved

his head around under the water to get a good soaking. Surprisingly, the Snails

also seem to like a good soak in their water dish which has to be topped up

everyday.

Here's my Giant African Land Snails page

14 July 2008 - Mon

Rotherham Open Art Show 2008

I have had two Paintings accepted into this year's Rotherham Open Art Show.

They are David Beckham Keyring / Keychain and Rutt Moose.

Both are Photorealism Toy Paintings:

David Beckham Key Chain

Rutt Moose - Watercolour Toy Painting

Exhibition runs from 12th July to 6th September 2008 at:

Rotherham Art Gallery

Central Library and Arts Centre

Walker Place

Rotherham

South Yorkshire S65 1JH

Tel: 01709 336633

Email: cliftonparkmuseum@rotherham.gov.uk

18 June 2008 - Wed

Steve Greaves Photos on Flickr

I just opened an account on Flickr, the Photo sharing site and started to

upload some of my Photo collection. So far I have added a few bird Photos and

some photos taken on a trip to Paris. I plan to add many more sets of Photos

over the next few months whenever I have a few minutes to spare...

Here's a link to my photographs on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegreaves/

15 June 2008 - Sun

First Steve Greaves Airbrush Painting

Japanese Bonsai Maple Leaves

I recently purchased a Simair AB60A Airbrush which I used to paint

the background  of this painting of Japanese Bonsai Maple Leaves.

I used gouache to airbrush the background and the leaves themselves

were painted using transparent watercolour and fine sable brushes.

I hope to use the airbrush in future Photorealism Paintings.

You can see how this painting was done by clicking here:

Japanese Bonsai Maple Leaves Painting

22 April 2008 - Tue

South Yorkshire Open Art Exhibition 2008

The Cooper Gallery, Barnsley, South Yorkshire

I have had two Paintings accepted into this year's South Yorkshire Open

Art Exhibition. They are:

Rutt Moose                         Tankersley

The Exhibition is held at The Cooper Gallery, Barnsley

The dates are:

Friday 25 April - Friday 13 June.

Contact the Cooper Gallery:

Tel: 01226 242905

25 March 2008 - Tue

Painting Nature Exhibition - The Bridge Gallery, Llandeilo

My Oil Painting of a welsh Common Buzzard will be on display at The

Bridge Gallery in Llandeilo, South Wales in their "Painting Nature" exhibition

which opens on Monday March 31st. The exhibition will include predominantly

Wildlife Paintings but also Landscapes and Seascapes.

Here are their contact details:

The Bridge Gallery

133 Rhosmaen Street

Llandeilo

Carmarthenshire  SA19 6EN

www.bridge-gallery.co.uk

wpj@bridge-gallery.co.uk

01558 822183

13 November 2007 - Tue

Watercolour Painting Master Class at the Cooper Gallery

I have been invited to lead a Watercolour Painting Master Class at the

Cooper Art Gallery in Barnsley. Details are vague at the moment but the

date should be Saturday 23rd of February 2008 from 9.30am - 2.30pm.

There will be up to 15 places available for the class and the cost will be

around £25 for the day.

More details will be posted as they become available.

In the meantime please contact the Cooper Gallery - (01226) 242905

7 October 2007 - Sun

Borneo Orangutan Survival Charity Art Auction

I have been approached by the charity Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS

UK) with a request to donate some prints of my Orangutan Watercolour

Painting to be auctioned at the two following venues:

Otterburn Hall, Newcastle, Sat 1 Dec 2007 - POSTPONED UNTIL 2008

(New auction date to be posted when details become available).

Flemings Mayfair, London, 16 Dec 2007.

I will be donating a number of Signed Prints of the Orangutan Watercolour

Painting along with some Signed Greetings Cards and also button badges.

You can check out the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS UK) website at:

http://www.savetheorangutan.org.uk

18 September 2007 - Tue

Giant African Land Snails

In the summer of 2007 I was given an adult Giant African Land Snail.

I named him "Arnie" after the Bodybuilder and action film star Arnold

Schwarzenegger. The big Snail is now about 4 ins long. "He" promptly 

laid a clutch of around 60 eggs, two of which survived and are thriving. 

A month later came the second batch of 70ish eggs - most of which 

hatched. A third clutch was laid about one month after that. Surprising

as Arnie has been kept in a tank on his own. Giant African Land Snails

are hermaphrodites i.e. have both male and female reproductive organs

(although you need two snails to breed) and have the capacity to have 

produce clutches of eggs in installments. I'm currently looking for homes

for the baby Snails and the third batch off eggs is soon to be posted off

to an animal sanctuary in West Wales.

Pictures of Giant African Land Snails

10 September 2007 - Mon

Website Re-design

I have decided to alter the whole look and feel of the website by changing 

the dark backgrounds and light text to a more readable and traditional layout

of dark text on a light coloured background. I hope that everyone finds this an 

improvement!

With well over 300 pages the re-design of the site is going to take several

weeks to complete - please bear with the random style of the site for the time

being and keep checking back for new additions of Artwork and info. 

23 August 2007 - Thur

English Heritage Festival of History at Kelmarsh Hall

I spent the weekend of 11th - 12th August as a guest of Penny Robinson's

Foure Fryendes Medieval Re-Enactment group, living in their authentic 

Medieval campsite at Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire during the Festival 

of History which is English Heritages's biggest event of the year.

The massive event covered events in history from the Iron Age to World War

Two and included Roman Army camps, and many Battle Re-enactments.

Click here to see:

Photographs of English Heritage Festival of History at Kelmarsh Hall 2007

I may use some of the Photographs as future reference for Artwork. 

14 August 2007 - Tue

Exhibition Offer

I have just been offered an Art Exhibition space in the Art Gallery of 

Swinton Lock Activity Centre close to where I live in South Yorkshire. 

Once confirmed the Art Exhibition should take place some time in the 

spring of 2008. Watch this space for details.

28 July 2007 - Sat

Ian McMillan Portrait Painting seen on TV

Ian McMillan The Barnsley Poet

I occasionally have my hair cut in Mad Geoff's barber shop in the village

of Darfield where I live. I was in there yesterday and Geoff told me a TV film

crew had just been in the shop filming with Ian McMillan for the Yorkshire 

news program Look North. The cameraman had zoomed in on my signed

greeting card on the counter which features a portrait of Ian McMillan. The 

card had also been signed by Ian and given to Geoff as a souvenir.

The camera shot was one which had appeared on TV.

Ian McMillan has just been the subject of a documentary film for ITV's

The South Bank Show with Melvin Bragg.

14 July 2007 - Sat

Steve Greaves, Bodybuilder

Steve Greaves, Bodybuilder 1983

As mentioned in the Biography section, I have been Weight Training 

on and off since I was in school. I've just started to add a Bodybuilding 

section to the site which includes some of my contest photos from the 

early 1980's. I haven't competed in a show for 23 years but the lads at 

Damon Brown's Temple Gym in Wombwell where I train are trying to 

get me to enter a Natural Physique Association (NPA) Bodybuilding 

Competition 2008 (Yorkshire area) next year in Holmfirth. 

Will I get into shape in time? Watch this space....  

23 June 2007 - Sat

Bobby Hatfield Charity Golf Classic,

Dinner Show / Art Auction for Lupus Charity

A set of my Limited Edition Prints will be auctioned for the charity Lupus

International at Newport Beach Country Club on Monday 9 July 2007.

Host for the event will be Linda Hatfield, wife of the late Bobby Hatfield  

of legendary singing group The Righteous Brothers. You may be familiar 

with the songs "You Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and "Unchained Melody".

Linda Hatfield bought a set of my Limited Edition Prints at the recent 

Savor The Night event held by Lupus 

International - check out the entry below for 7 April.

Lupus is an incurable Autoimmune Disease.

For more details about the event or about Lupus see their website:

www.lupusinternational.org

or contact: (888) 532-2322

12 May 2007 - Sat

South Yorkshire Open Art Exhibition 2007

I have had the Watercolour and Ink Painting 

Garrick Theatre, London accepted into the 

South Yorkshire Open Art Exhibition.

The Art Exhibition runs from Sat 5 May - Sat 23 June 2007 at

Cooper Gallery

Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire

England, UK

To Buy the Painting please contact the Cooper Gallery:

(01226) 242905

Please note this painting is now SOLD

7 April 2007 - Sat

Lupus Charity Wine Tasting / Art Auction 

I was contacted on 4 April by the Charity Organisation Lupus International

in California USA requesting me to donate a piece of Artwork to be auctioned

for Charity at their forthcoming Savor The Night event.

The Original Painting to be auctioned is:

New Street, Barnsley - Acrylic Painting

Impressionism Style Townscape / Landscape Painting.

I will also be donating a number of Limited Edition Prints

Details of the event are as follows:

Date: Thurs May 3, 2007

Time: 7.00pm

Location: Summit House Restaurant, 2000 East Bastanchury Road,

Fullerton, CA 92835

USA

Lupus is an incurable Autoimmune Disease.

For more details about the event or about Lupus see their website:

www.lupusinternational.org

or contact: (888) 532-2322

26 March 2007 - Mon

David Beckham Key Ring / Key Chain Painting Update

Here's what the David Beckham Key Ring / Chain Photorealism Painting

looked like a few days ago. The metal Chain is beginning to look 3-dimensional

and I'm pleased with the way Beckham's forehead and facial features are starting 

to take shape. The South Yorkshire Open Art Exhibition opens on the 24th 

April so I need to get a move on to finish both this Painting and the half-

finished Dock Leaf Photorealism Painting.

21 March 2007 - Wed

Steve Greaves.com Affiliation with Allposters

Steve Greaves Photorealism Paintings is now affiliated to Allposters.com.

Links and banners are being added throughout the site allowing you to purchase

Posters and Prints from your favourite Artists. Their product range is huge and

includes a large selection of Prints by Famous Photorealist Painters such as 

Richard Estes, Charles Bell, Ronald Kleeman, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close,

Ben Schonzeit, John Baeder, Tom Blackwell and Audrey Flack, 

Click on the banners or use the Allposters search boxes 

to find Posters and Prints by specific Artists and Art Movements:

Click Photorealism Art Prints  to see their Photorealism Prints page.

13 March 2007 - Tue

Testing the new Daler-Rowney Sapphire Series 85 Brush

I've been trying out a new Paint Brush on the David Beckham Painting 

for the past few days. It's a size 2 Daler-Rowney Sapphire Series 85.

Not sure whether its 100% synthetic or a synthetic/sable blend but It 

is coping pretty well with being scrubbed around on the gesso surface

and is managing to keep a good sharp point. It is showing no signs of

splaying or wear yet which is good. So far I would highly recommend 

this Paint Brush for use with Acrylic Paint.

As you can see from the photo I'm using both Daler-Rowney and

Winsor & Newton Acrylic Paints - these Artists' Quality Paints are both

excellent. Straight out of the tube they have a thick buttery 

consistency and can be diluted down with water to a fine transparent

watercolour-like wash.

If any Art Materials Manufacturer / Supplier would like to supply samples 

of Art Materials, I would be very happy to try them out them and write a 

review on this site. (and of course add links to their site).

Contact the Artist to Supply Art Materials

7 March 2007 - Wed

For the past few weeks I have taken a break from painting and spent 

time adding new content to the site and improving the quality of the 

images, particularly the thumbnails which were a bit small and blurry.

I started painting again just a couple of days ago and have been working on

David Beckham Key Ring - Photorealism Portrait Toy Painting

Been trying out a New Paint Brush which I will review in a day or two.

4 March 2007 - Sun

I called in at the Cooper Gallery in Barnsley yesterday to enquire about

the dates for the forthcoming South Yorkshire Open Art Exhibition. Found

out that it will be held at the end of April which gives me about 7 weeks to

get some new Paintings finished and framed. 

Here are the 2 Photorealism Paintings I am hoping to enter this year:

David Beckham Key Ring Painting         Dock Leaf Painting

The David Beckham Photorealism Toy Painting is about two-thirds finished,

and the Dock Leaf Photorealism Painting is approaching the half-way mark.

There are still a lot of hours to be put into both Paintings. Check out their progress

and how they are being painted by visiting the Photorealism Painting Techniques  

page.

You can see the 3 Paintings I entered last year on the Steve Greaves News page.

3 March 2007 - Sat

The Steve Greaves Photorealism Paintings website is now just over 

7 months old and has 300 or so pages. It has had over 10,000 visitors 

from over 70 countries viewing over 26,000 pages. Google has been kind 

enough to give it a Page Rank of 4 which I am told is pretty good for a new 

site.

This time last year I knew nothing about website building so credit

has to go to my website mentor Kev Randall who has lent me books

on the subject and tolerated my endless questions as I built the

whole thing from scratch.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to check out the site -

please keep checking back, as new stuff is being added all the time.

Thanks also to everyone who has exchanged website Art Links with me!

p.s. Had porridge this morning for breakfast (that bit's for Penny).

Click here to buy  Steve Greaves Original Paintings

Steve Greaves

Photos on Flickr

www.flickr.com Go to Steve Greaves' photostream

Steve Greaves uses

Nikon D300 Camera.

You can get yours here:

Photorealism 

Paintings Books

Photorealism

Art Prints & Posters

Bird

Photo Book

Wildlife

Photographer

Of The Year

Photo Book

John Salt

Photorealistic Painter

The Complete Works

Richard Estes

Photorealism Painter

Richard Estes

Photorealism Painter