For this part of the assignment I’ve had Morandi in mind because of his absolute use of tone to separate elements of his pictures. No lines, just tone-based demarcations and shadings that suggest volume and shape. I decided to work … Continue reading Assignment 4, reclining figure
Task: a portrait from memory or imagination. Not so long ago I would have looked at this with joy and relief. Now, after struggling to make sense of what I see in front of me and realising the advantages that confers in terms of perspectives and all those unevennesses faces have, I’m glaring at the instruction with an expression somewhere between disbelief and horror. Someone I saw in passing? A person I used to know? A character from a book? Strange how that wipes every conceivable memory and drops my imagination through a trapdoor so that I can’t even remember … Continue reading Part 4, project 6, exercise 3 – portrait
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
Simple pragmatics. There are only so many A1 works-in-progress I can tape up to windows, doors, and easels at any one time (and when you have cats, tables and floors are not viable options!) which makes running two practical modules side by side impossible. I should be done with the Drawing module by early February and back to painting later that month. See you in 2020! Continue reading Short hiatus
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
This exercise requires the production of six poses and again I’ve used myself and mirrors. I did rather forget about some aspects of the task through focusing on getting the shapes as near to right as possible, and although I … Continue reading Part 4, project 3, exercise 2 – essential elements
Continuing from an earlier series of preparatory sketches, this is a tracing of the photo I took of the pose. My aim was to ‘feel’ the shapes and angles – head tilt and vertical neck line and how that is … Continue reading Assignment 4 – seated figure
Line drawing. Influences: David Hockney’s simplicity of line even in his paintings, and Henry Moore’s circular wire-frame marks. I am including Egon Schiele because of his expert economy of line although I abhor his subject matter; nevertheless he comes to my conscious mind enough to suspect that his techniques are woven into my impressions. Finally Paula Rego whose robust figures draw me for all sorts of reasons, including the volume she achieves with lines and marks. Hockney. This tiny clip of a clip illustrates just how simple lines can be and still suggest shape, volume, and texture. The pillow is … Continue reading Part 4 Assignment 4 preparatory work seated figure
Made by dropping puddles of water onto gesso-prepped canvas board, then dripping smaller puddles of ink into the water, then carefully dabbing and siphoning the excess from the puddles, adding some biro and some conte, and trying to keep the cat off it while I get a photo! Probably that branch is going to break so let’s hope the big guys already fledged! Cards coming soon. Continue reading Puddle owls
As an art trail survivor (with two more days to go I worry that might be fake news) out on a limb away from the centre of the action, I’m questioning again what it’s all about. There are two of us, we’re in a tent, and every time it breathes in, we throw ourselves at the collapsing exhibits to preserve their dignity. With just two venues in the village, we’re the Pluto of the town’s art trail/summer fair helio-centre and traffic is so light it may as well be helium. But there’s more to it than just distance, there’s display … Continue reading What’s it worth? The Banksy art dilemma
Strayfish Arts 