Author: Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Project 3, Research & Reflection1 Comment

Brutalist architecture

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Vis a vis townscapes and my preference for lurking under concrete bridges rather than replicating the lovely-to-live-in-but-twee-to-draw local town and village scenes. I’ve been talking about brutal architecture as though I’d invented the term but it turns out I didn’t – it’s a whole movement! I grew up with it though; the science lab added to the side of my late 1800’s school, the motorways that began to plough huge furrows across the landscape – we saw these on the telly but they didn’t reach us in Yorkshire till the early 1970s – and the kitchen sink dramas that seemed … Continue reading Brutalist architecture

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Steyning Arts trail

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’ve a feeling this month is going to zip by at a rate of knots, like that time between October when Christmas is forever away and December 24th when you realise a black hole ate all of autumn. I’m pulling together my bits and bobs; paintings, prints, cards, and arty sundries, for my pitch at Jill’s in Beeding. There’ll be sheep, brooding landscapes, some things with Tin Pots Hill on them, and a ‘Winter is Coming’ snow globe because obviously. Also cats, there’s always cats. Continue reading Steyning Arts trail

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Part 3 project 5 exercise 3 – limited palette townscape

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Oh dear! Well, I haven’t got the perspective much (any) better but I’ve achieved a limited palette drawing of the townscape I struggled with in the previous exercise. This version at least delivered a bit of texture from the application of conte over dried watercolour pencil and I like that.   I strongly suspect that, if I set this aside and then drew it from memory, the perspective issue would resolve itself because it would be a processed and simplified image. Challenge? Well I said it so I’d better deliver! 3rd May – I’ve done my thing with a monochrome … Continue reading Part 3 project 5 exercise 3 – limited palette townscape

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Part 3 project 5 exercise 2 townscape

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Another dreaded attempt at forcing buildings into a proper line on a page. This time I’ve used a soft 7B pencil so I don’t get too involved in sharp corners and points. It’s a little childlike but better than I’d expected, particularly as one of my cats settled on my knee while I was drawing. This is our car park, conveniently empty of vehicles. This may not be strictly ‘line’ but I think it may be close enough. There are many points of variance from real perspective but I’m relatively confident that anyone local would recognise it so that’s a … Continue reading Part 3 project 5 exercise 2 townscape

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Palimpsest

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Came across this word in an episode of The Verb broadcast on April 26th 2019 and still hadn’t quite got the meaning by the end so had to look it up. Suddenly then thought there might be a case for palimpsestic art – painting over old prints from boot sales but without quite obscuring the original. Suddenly also discovered that my made up word, palimpsestic, actually exists and that I’m well behind the curve with regard to palimpsestic art! This is from Artopium, accessed 2nd May 2019. I think in my mind I was seeing an old image, maybe even … Continue reading Palimpsest

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Perspective – a re-blog from The Conversation

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Four ways in which Leonardo da Vinci was ahead of his time Leonardo da Vinci had a seemingly inexhaustible imagination for innovation. Hywel Jones, Sheffield Hallam University; Alessandro Soranzo, Sheffield Hallam University; Jeff Waldock, Sheffield Hallam University, and Rebecca Sharpe, Sheffield Hallam University Leonardo da Vinci is generally recognised as one of the great figures of the Renaissance and one of the greatest ever polymaths. As the world marks the 500th anniversary of his death, it’s important to look at some of the ways in which he showed that – as well as being a painter, sculptor and engineer – … Continue reading Perspective – a re-blog from The Conversation

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Perspective – a re-blog from The Conversation

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I was looking for something handy to say on perspective; preferably something that might also illuminate my approach to a technique that foxes me, visually, every time I try to complete a perspective-directed exercise; then this article rolled up right on cue. The Conversation permits re-blogging on condition that the article is not edited, so here’s the whole piece. Comments when I’ve read it properly, but here for reference too. Four ways in which Leonardo da Vinci was ahead of his time Leonardo da Vinci had a seemingly inexhaustible imagination for innovation. Hywel Jones, Sheffield Hallam University; Alessandro Soranzo, Sheffield … Continue reading Perspective – a re-blog from The Conversation

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Part 3 project 5 exercise 1 townscape

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’m using my own photos for these as standing still or sitting in unsuitable seating is problematic due to a back injury, and keeping hold of items such as drawing implements and sketchbook tricky due to Dupuytren’s contractures in both hands. I also need glasses to see the page and sunglasses in bright light which is an incompatible combination. These are largely inconveniences most of the time but, in these circumstances, comprise an impediment to on-the-hoof sketching. Luckily, I often take photos and I have quite a few suitable ones. This first sketch though, is from a paused dashcam video … Continue reading Part 3 project 5 exercise 1 townscape

exercises, Research & Reflection1 Comment

Part 3, a perspective on perspective

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Throughout the perspective exercises, I’ve been haunted by Escher and his impossible stairs and landings. I’m fascinated by them but they make my eyes ache and the thought of trying to do anything comparable brings on a mild panic. Why don’t I find it possible to keep track of lines and angles when I’m quite capable of interpreting them both in images and the physical world? Clearly, that information is available to me in a form that allows me to make sense of what I’m seeing (step back, Escher, you’re different!) so why is it so difficult for me to … Continue reading Part 3, a perspective on perspective

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Part 3, project 4, exercise 3 – aerial perspective

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Almost missed this – slip of the page or my head telling me only what I wanted to hear, that there was no such task? Anyway, after establishing I wouldn’t need to risk assess myself for sketching while strapped to a chimney, I had a look through my google photo store to see what I might have in there that would meet requirements and there was a fab little snap of a section of Brighton beach, the lower promenade, where construction was taking place and the sea and sky and the pier took up most of the space. Not a … Continue reading Part 3, project 4, exercise 3 – aerial perspective