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Sketch book: tone and Morandi

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I should number these. Maybe. Anyway. After a tutorial and the advice about practicing tone, I’ve taken to an H grade pencil and a piece of conte. For this first exercise, I’ve made horizontal lines first then gone back and made vertical ones. The top two rows are H grade pencil and the bottom two, black conte. The texture of the paper comes through, which I like. This one is just conte and capitalising on the support as a medium in its own right. The top is an attempt at a graded sweep across the page, and the middle a … Continue reading Sketch book: tone and Morandi

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Videos, documentaries

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This is likely to be a constantly updating page of listings and reviews. I’ve taken it from my Drawing blog and will probably run them in tandem. Abstract: the art of design. Abstract: the art of design. Netflix 2017. This is a documentary series featuring designers/architects/artists operating in different commercial arenas. It’s easy to imagine that slick, polished adverts, stark photographic portraits, or magazine front covers, just get there through some act of private genius. But even though extraordinary talent is clearly a factor, so also is a work ethic that requires constant exploration of what’s required, rehearsal of skills, … Continue reading Videos, documentaries

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Self portrait

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Flipping through the drawing course folder I came across the horrifying prospect of having to deliver a self portrait. I’ve never drawn anyone else before, other than the life models at art college over 50 years ago, so the idea of drawing myself turned me cold. At least I knew how to keep myself still – a photograph. But heck, that meant a selfie and I detest those too but it was going to have to happen. I decided to get some practice in so naturally I went for a large-ish canvas and slapped a layer of gesso on it. … Continue reading Self portrait

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Self portrait – is this it?

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Whatever else, I may have found a better use for cling film than wrapping cucumbers. Here we go, what do you think? What’s the cling film thing all about then? In a selfie-obsessed world I hate them; possibly because however I hold the phone, I always look like a witch. I haven’t got round to applying filters though, instead I go old school and aim the camera at a mirror where at least I can keep a bit of distance between me and the eventual image. So I took a photo of a reflection and then made a painting of … Continue reading Self portrait – is this it?

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Not quite ‘last’ – painting revisited

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Art is a lot like writing, an ongoing process of edits, revisions, and the murdering of darlings – who knew? This is where I left off a day or so ago, thinking that’s it, no more, it is what it is. But no; it sat there looking heavy and lacking while at the same time seeming to have some potential, even if of the sort that only its creator could love. I’ve gone for the ‘edit-by-gesso’ strategy under the dubious influence of BST jetlag (one hour forward and I might as well have flown to New York, I’m that discombobulated) … Continue reading Not quite ‘last’ – painting revisited

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Sketch book: outdoors with fish, cats and a tree

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Out in the garden in the sun so a bit of opportunity for the odd sketch. The first is the rump of one of my cats peering into the pond. It’s the view I’ll have for much of the summer. Plain old willow charcoal. This is a fairly awful sketch of one of the fish using coloured conte crayon. It had started out very fluid with shadows of its movement in the water but ended up rather static and frankly a bit grim. Still, learning curve. Finally my cherry tree and some pots. Charcoal smudged towards the left then detailed … Continue reading Sketch book: outdoors with fish, cats and a tree

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Assignment 2, response to feedback

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Years ago, when the words ‘reflective’ and ‘practice’ began to enter the vocabulary of our clinical trainees, those of us longer in the professional tooth thought it a little fanciful. After all, reflecting was what mirrors do and mirrors are passive so what was the point? As time passed, it became evident that it referred to the process we understood as consideration – a thoughtful balancing and weighing up of events retrospectively in order to learn from them. Latterly though, and seeing it here in this different context, I’d be inclined to expand that understanding to include something more transactional … Continue reading Assignment 2, response to feedback

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Follow that painting, day last

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I may have killed it. On the other hand, it may have more life in it than before I decided on a background to make it ‘pop’ then began fiddling around with the figurative elements. This was yesterday, a fairly ordinary portrait with not much to recommend it. And here’s today’s version which, to my surprise, looks better on-screen than out there on the easel. There’s more gouache (also some white watercolour because I ran out of white gouache), oil crayon, conte and charcoal, a calligraphy pen for scratching out top layers to reveal lower ones, some paper towel dabbing, … Continue reading Follow that painting, day last

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Follow that painting – day something-or-other

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’ve been picking over the detail and adding/removing parts of the background and figure elements to bring out the main features. This is where we were at close of play last time and that wrist was bothering me, along a bit of a Herman Munster forehead. So here we are after the application of some ‘pop’ colour (the orange) and an adjustment of the background with more gesso, half-dried then scrubbed with a grout brush to make texture. I think the wrist is better but now I can see that all that vigorous scratching has dislodged a patch of colour … Continue reading Follow that painting – day something-or-other