Author: Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Research & Reflection1 Comment

Part 4, project 6 – research point #2

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Historic and contemporary self portraits. I chose Rembrandt and van Gogh as my historic examples (then read that they were recommended) because of their very different approaches. I particularly liked Rembrandt’s honesty with regard to his image when he was older; the unvarnished truth of it and the lack of glamour. His style is very much about realism, these were the instagrams of the day, the selfies, and many of his clients paying for commissions were likely to require a very positive image of themselves and their surroundings. Van Gogh, an insular man with some enormous troubles, painted fractured images … Continue reading Part 4, project 6 – research point #2

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Part 4, project 6 – research point #1

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Contemporary and historic artists working in different ways on the head. See in particular Graham Little and Elizabeth Peyton. Extraordinarily, Little has no Wikipedia entry and doesn’t appear in any of the books I have to hand. An internet search brings up gallery reports, blogs, and news items, with The Guardian in 2010 introducing his Artist of the Week slot thus: The women in Graham Little’s virtuoso drawings inhabit a world of sumptuous beauty. Realised in a muted Merchant Ivory palette, these long-limbed belles recline gracefully in designer interiors. This is an 80s world of midnight-blue suits and earth-coloured bed sheets, of … Continue reading Part 4, project 6 – research point #1

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Moving figures, research point Angela Edwards

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

A local gallery has sent out notifications of a forthcoming exhibition of cityscapes and I’ve seen for the first time the works of Angela Edwards, a contemporary artist. This is a short video of one of her pieces as she puts it together.   The gallery is Kellie Miller Arts in Brighton which I visited earlier in the summer and which I intend to visit again to see these pictures close up. The link leads to the gallery’s page showing thumbnails of Edwards’s work. Also showing is a selection of Marco Minozzi’s atmospheric townscapes in which there are no figures … Continue reading Moving figures, research point Angela Edwards

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Part 4, project 5, exercise 2 – groups of figures

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I have posted these elsewhere although I had this exercise in mind when I made the sketches. This first group of sketches is from the live web stream provided by NASA/JPL of the teams building the 2020 Mars rover.  This is conte/charcoal and less a group as individuals within the group. The build takes place in a clean room, hence the suits and masks. The teams move slowly and carefully, as you might expect, which is ideal for me. I’m quite fond of this central figure, leaning on the arm of a ladder. Less so the one on the right … Continue reading Part 4, project 5, exercise 2 – groups of figures

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Part 4, project 4 – research point

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Historic and contemporary artists whose work involves the underlying structure of the human body. Two strike me immediately: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) for his methodical and systematic observational studies of anatomy, some of which must have involved dissection; and Gunther von Hagens (1945 – ) who used the bodies themselves in his controversial art/autopsy exhibitions. This 2006 (revised 2011) review by Gareth Bate describes the beauty of the “athletically posed specimens like The Soccer Player or the piece called Elegance on Ice featuring male-female pairs ice skaters, or the stunning head composed entirely of red blood vessels which creates an exact structural likeness.” but also … Continue reading Part 4, project 4 – research point