Author: Suzanne Conboy-Hill

art course, work in progressLeave a comment

Outdoor landscape

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’ve been working up to my third assignment in the Drawing module of my OCA course and, after going a few rounds with townscapes and statues, may have found a home under a flyover again. First there was this, albeit rather more painting than drawing although those seem now to be interchangeable, a scene I pass by quite often along the river bank. Then these A4 sketches (the first of these three is the monochrome photo – mine – I used to map out the shapes)   And then, much larger A2 sized monochrome and full colour versions. You can … Continue reading Outdoor landscape

Research & Reflection1 Comment

‘What are you looking at?’ by Will Gompertz

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Subtitled 150 years of modern art in the blink of an eye, this is not for the purists but it is for me. So much so that I have all three versions – audio, kindle, and paperback; one to listen to while mooching around, one for its search, links, and notes facilities, and one to flick through when neither of the others will do. I have the kind of memory that places something on a page – bottom left, middling-ish on the right, that sort of thing. I can do it with ebooks so long as the font stays the … Continue reading ‘What are you looking at?’ by Will Gompertz

Research & Reflection, Uncategorized3 Comments

What are you looking at? by Will Gompertz

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Subtitled 150 years of modern art in the blink of an eye, this is not for the purists but it is for me. So much so that I have all three versions – audio, kindle, and paperback; one to listen to while mooching around, one for its search, links, and notes facilities, and one to flick through when neither of the others will do. I have the kind of memory that places something on a page – bottom left, middling-ish on the right, that sort of thing. I can do it with ebooks so long as the font stays the … Continue reading What are you looking at? by Will Gompertz

AssignmentsLeave a comment

Assignment 3 – an outdoor scene

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

The brief includes straight lines, elements of perspective, and some natural objects. I’ve chosen the scene under the Shoreham flyover – an area above which roads and slip roads curve and swing, their huge struts with their feet in land used sometimes by keepers of horses but more often left to its own devices. There are other bridges in the distance, and tall shrubs between them and the concrete posts. It reminds me of a scene from Metropolis, the 1927 sci fi film directed by Fritz Lang. My sketches are quite stark, reflecting what I now understand to be brutalist … Continue reading Assignment 3 – an outdoor scene

Art from words, Steyning ArtsLeave a comment

Literary artiness

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Some of the prints on sale at The Basement are from my book, Not Being First Fish, which is on sale at Steyning Bookshop. Also on sale there is Fat Mo, the cover of which I painted at school when I was about seventeen. I’ve manipulated the colour in Paintshop Pro and added the text (obviously, or that would have been well prescient!) Fat Mo is alternatively available from here where all the revenue goes to a charity, Respond, that supports adults with learning (intellectual) disabilities who’ve experience sexual abuse and exploitation. As you might imagine, Fat Mo is not … Continue reading Literary artiness

Research & ReflectionLeave a comment

Aphantasia – absence of ‘mind’s eye’

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Nothing to do with never having seen a Disney cartoon, and everything to do with mental imagery, aphantasia is a newly described condition in which people are unable to exercise their ‘mind’s eye’ or ‘get a picture’ in their heads. Typically, they’ve thought other people were speaking metaphorically and, when a range of neuropsychological tests became available through a research project, were surprised to find this wasn’t so. Rather like colour blindness, you have no concept of the missing colour and so no way of knowing you can’t see it unless you come across someone who can. One of the … Continue reading Aphantasia – absence of ‘mind’s eye’

Research & ReflectionLeave a comment

Aphantasia – absence of ‘mind’s eye’

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Nothing to do with never having seen a Disney cartoon, and everything to do with mental imagery, aphantasia is a newly described condition in which people are unable to exercise their ‘mind’s eye’ or ‘get a picture’ in their heads. Typically, they’ve thought other people were speaking metaphorically and, when a range of neuropsychological tests became available through a research project, were surprised to find this wasn’t so. Rather like colour blindness, you have no concept of the missing colour and so no way of knowing you can’t see it unless you come across someone who can. One of the … Continue reading Aphantasia – absence of ‘mind’s eye’

exercises, Part 5, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Part 3 project 5 exercise 4 – statues

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’m not a fan of statues. Too often they represent a defunct empire, colonialism, and men men men men men (to quote Mary Beard in a documentary some time last year). That or delicate flower women, often with a naked breast or two on display if not actually totally in the buff. I make an exception for the ones that move if you shut your eyes … From Dr Who episode 10, Blink. BBC 2007 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByPrDPbdRhc accessed 28/04/19. There are some beauties though, or at least the detail and the skill that went into the execution of them. I’m thinking particularly … Continue reading Part 3 project 5 exercise 4 – statues

art courseLeave a comment

Drawing – some exercises

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This is about perspective (angular) which, left to its own devices, seems to materialise without too much need for explicit attention. Unfortunately, these exercises require actual focus on actual lines which really throws me. My solution was to use photos to stabilise the scene (anyone else find those intuitive lines behave like a ball of string after a kitten’s been at it once you try to pin them down?), then mark out the lines in charcoal to get the feel of them. I did that with two versions of my photo of Brighton prom (aka vanishing railings), one monochrome, the … Continue reading Drawing – some exercises

Research & Reflection1 Comment

Brutalist architecture

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I find I’m duplicating research and ideas across my two level one blogs. Copying the whole piece over from one or other side is possible but, with the editing interface differing between the two and other idiosyncrasies of WordPress, I’ve decided to post an introduction and then a link instead. https://conboyhilldrawingone.wordpress.com/2019/05/04/brutalist-architecture/ Continue reading Brutalist architecture