Category Archives: Part 1

I think I’ve worked out what’s eating me. I have not been taking fully on board what I have learned so far on the course.​Instead, I persist with my old approach of “drawing outlines and filling them in”. My partner has fetched me some brown paper. I shall use it to draw Assignment 1 withContinue reading “Critique: Attempts at assignment 1”

Ok, so I work from 6am to 12pm. In theory that gives me the entire afternoon in which to draw. However, once I’ve eaten, unwound from my morning’s activity, and practiced violin for a minimum of ten minutes, there is precious little light left. (As I type these words a little voice whispers “procrastinator” intoContinue reading “Warm up to Assignment 1”

When creative endeavours fail to produce anything that one deems worthy it can have a devastating affect upon one’s morale. My mood was not conducive to being creative. However, I had hoped that the focus of drawing objects close to my heart might add a bit of zest to my general outlook today. Sometimes itContinue reading “False start on assignment 1”

I am currently reading Sandi Toksvig’s memoir “Between the Stops”. Coincidentally she mentions the half Danish artist Pissarro and the Franco Prussian war – touched upon in my post regarding Odillon Redon – where both artists were deeply affected. Pissarro’s studio in Paris having been ransacked by the invading army. Just 40 out of 1500Continue reading “Research Point: Franco Prussian war”

Did this exercise in two 20 min sessions. I’m rather pleased with my decisive charcoal strokes. I thought about their placement for a bit before making the committment of drawing them. Even armed with the cleanest of erasers, it’s difficult to reverse it once it’s been done. I’m very happy with the result. It’s notContinue reading “Part 1 : PROJECT 2: EXERCISE 4: Shadows and Reflected Light”

Odillon Redon.  Two Trees. c 1875. The Atmospheric potential of tone. First impressions.  The image, two trees standing as though one were leaning forward to whisper into the other’s ear, uses tonal contrast to great effect. The contrast in tone lends the picture a deep sense of foreboding. The path one imagines leading through theContinue reading “The Atmospheric potential of tone”

”Chris” M Walker 2019 Chapter Two: Ornament and Crime Toward Decoration In this chapter there is a quote from Adolf Loos  ”Weep not…we have vanquished decoration and broken through into an ornamentless world.” Later it goes on to refer to Laura Owens, a Californian artist who uses decor  ”cheerfully and knowingly” in spite of whatContinue reading “Reaction to drawing now: 8 propositions”

I enjoyed this exercise. It forced me to rethink my approach to drawing. Instead of outlining everything and then filling it in, I was encouraged to look at the objects as light and shade rather than distinctly independent entities. As I drew I thought about the nature of the supposed separateness of things and howContinue reading “Part 1: Project 2: Exercise 3: Creating Shadow Using Lines and Marks”