Author: Suzanne Conboy-Hill

exercises, Project 41 Comment

Part 4, project 4, exercise 1, structure – mouths and eyes

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Again, there’s video help for this.   These are HB pencil, as per the demo but only the top one is from the demo itself, the other was a drawing by the demonstrator briefly presented to show where light falls on lips. Mouths are clam-shaped. These are ‘invented’ mouths using the same principles, this time with pastel and charcoal pencil (top) and HB pencil alone at the bottom. 31st July – may have added this to an earlier post. More invented mouths, one of them with an invented face and nose in slight profile which is not too successful. Charcoal … Continue reading Part 4, project 4, exercise 1, structure – mouths and eyes

exercises, Project 44 Comments

Part 4, project 4, exercise 1 – feet and noses

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Best foot forwards! Both charcoal pencil on gesso-prepped cartridge. I thought having to abandon close vision glasses for this (flicking back and forth between even the short distance foot-to-sketchpad is tricky) might be problematic but actually it seems to lead to looser drawings as there’s no way to get tangled up in detail when you can’t see detail at close range. These sketches are preparatory, non-specific practice pieces not, as far as I see at this stage, a formal exercise. But given my lack of models, I can at least use myself and make a start on various limbs and … Continue reading Part 4, project 4, exercise 1 – feet and noses

Research & ReflectionLeave a comment

Figure, form, and light: Rego, Vermeer, Lautrec, Schiele, da Vinci

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Not yet a research point but as I came across it via the drawing module, I’m including some of the material here. Toulouse Lautrec – before the simplified nature of his posters (necessitated, I understand, by the printing process), his drawings were quite loose and almost cartoonish. There was a great deal of movement and energy, often with large numbers of characters and a focal individual. ‘La Danse au Moulin Rouge’ looks to me like a picture of spontaneous uninhibited fun. Egon Schiele – I envy the economy of line, and suggestion of form, but I am less keen on … Continue reading Figure, form, and light: Rego, Vermeer, Lautrec, Schiele, da Vinci

art course, ExhibitionsLeave a comment

Review of Brighton university MA show: Fine Art, Inclusive Arts, & Digital Arts July 2019

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

‘Podcast’ review via collage. The internal geography of the Grand Parade campus has changed since I was last there (1967-68) and so, inevitably, has the premise upon which art is made. At that time we were being psychedelic, free spirited, and often quite intensively introspective but to little purpose. Politics didn’t enter into our thinking.  But in this show, politics permeated everything that made its purpose clear; some of that personal, some social, and some encompassing global issues. Some gave us clues as to the raison d’etre of the work, the artist’s motivation or inspiration, their process and how it … Continue reading Review of Brighton university MA show: Fine Art, Inclusive Arts, & Digital Arts July 2019

Research & Reflection4 Comments

University of Brighton MA Show

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

‘Podcast’ review via collage. The internal geography of the Grand Parade campus has changed since I was last there (1967-68) and so, inevitably, has the premise upon which art is made. At that time we were being psychedelic, free spirited, and often quite intensively introspective but to little purpose. Politics didn’t enter into our thinking.  But in this show, politics permeated everything that made its purpose clear; some of that personal, some social, and some encompassing global issues. Some gave us clues as to the raison d’etre of the work, the artist’s motivation or inspiration, their process and how it … Continue reading University of Brighton MA Show

Art and artists: building a vocabulary, Research & ReflectionLeave a comment

Howard Hodgkin 1932-2017

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

One of his works features in the course materials, a vibrant and energetic piece that uses sweeps of complementary colours to evoke mood. The Bay of Naples is a 1980-1982 piece with a flattened perspective and expansive brushwork that makes the result anything but flat. It seems more abstract than figurative and somehow brighter than I would have expected, given it is painted on a dark ground. This one is similar; brilliantly impactful, a red frame bordering the ebullient fields of intense colour within. This image is from Mary Acton’s 2009 book, Learning to Look at Paintings, published by Routledge. … Continue reading Howard Hodgkin 1932-2017