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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

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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

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

Steyning Arts, Where to find work for saleLeave a comment

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

exercisesLeave a comment

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

Miscellany, Research & ReflectionLeave a comment

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