I like this artist’s work. I like her spare and delicate minimalist style, her technical ability is in evidence. I liked ”Windows” as it reminds me of the above reductive lino print I produced. However, I have included figures behind the window panes. They are subtly lit, slightly secretive and furtive characters: perhaps lovers in a tryst, a bored child during the long summer holidays, ladies of the night, the sad, the lonely and the ignored.
References:
I get the impression that in looking at any of David Musgrave’s art online, it would be best viewed ”in the flesh”. Having said that, I also get the feeling that his work is heavy on process and in tying oneself in knots by intellectualising outcomes. Representational art requires some appreciation of process, but it is not absolutely necessary in order to enjoy the result. But perhaps I am wrong to compare all art to Representational art. Perhaps that just singles me out as a Philistine. Or am I just falling into a not-so-clever trap? The more I read about contemporary art the more confused I become. But I’m also aware that it is an even worse trap to be called out for faking an understanding one doesn’t posses.
Resolution No 1) To draw 7 sketches (one per day) in my sketchbook each week (even if that means scrambling them together on Sunday afternoon/evening) and blogging about it at the end of the week. This is a repeat of the resolution written on the inside cover of my sketchbook.
The one with the guy in the hat is my least successful attempt so far at drawing my friend Chris. The one annotated ”Reading Bill Bryson” is my favourite for the week. I think this is because of the minimalist use of white crayon and pencil to give suggestions of highlights and lowlights to the image. It is for this very reason that I like to draw on kraft paper. Also, the pose is much more interesting leaning forward on one elbow.
My initial response to Anna Barriball’s wrapped ”window panes” was to wonder how I ought to be responding? What did the artist intend as an ideal response, if at all? How did other people respond? Where was my response in the scheme of individual responses to these pieces of artwork? I went on to decide that mine was one of cool detachment. I felt neither a strong nor a weak response. Yet indifference was too negative a description. I then embarked upon a journey in my mind which took me way back to the days of being a bored child during the summer holidays. I had often lent up against a cool window pane in my bedroom and counted all the red cars that passed by. It was the 70s. There was far less traffic on the roads back then. I realised that making a game of ”I spy” was something kids did before the Internet arrived on the scene. I wondered whether they still did this.
By the time this last thought arrived in my mind I was already well on the way to being fast asleep.
The first artist on my tutor’s list that caught my attention was Anna Barriball. This was mainly due to the photo in the Independent of her studio space. It put me in mind of my own converted sitting room.
I’ll look into Ms Barriball’s creations soon. But right now it is Boxing day. And though I am currently solo, I feel a celebratory cup of something heartwarming coming my way!
Happy New Year All and Everyone!
I found this ”still life kit” in a charity shop for £1. I’ve been looking forward to having the time to sit and draw it. The study above uses coloured pencils on cheap cartridge paper (later pasted into my kraft paper sketchbook). Using frottage from a textured leather notebook cover, I used colours to represent tones as outlined in the exercise brief. Later, I shall have a stab at a finished piece using similar textured frottage on a larger sheet of white cartridge paper.
Earlier I did some DIY textures in air drying clay.
I’m very pleased with the textured effect on this finished still life. It may require more contrast and depth. Perhaps I shall complete on Boxing Day.
And there it is: completed. I could have added more frottage in the foreground of the finished piece. Or, better still, added a rebellious object having rolled out of the dish – a berry or a tomato perhaps.
Further depth was achieved by more blue shading beneath and between the pots and the dish. This grounded them more satisfactorially. At first they appeared to be floating in pastel space.
Overall I am pleased with the arrangement of objects as well as the execution. The use of colour is welcome and in no way a hindrance to expression. Colour = emotion. Contrasting (or is it complementary? I confess there are holes in my colour terminology that I need to fill) colours purple/yellow, blue/orange work in pastel harmony to establish outlines to the objects without necessitating the use of line. In fact, I erased working lines after using the colour. This was enjoyable as what remained, I felt, was greatly improved. A friend said that at the point I shaded the interior of pots with blue pencil the image was ”brought to life”.
For me, the introduction of colour combinations to the equation opened up many doors to expression. It made this drawing more pleasurable than the previous exercise, where only lines were in evidence. This is a new state of affairs for me as hitherto I have found colour use challenging. I put this down to not being aware of the ”rules” governing successful colour use.
The line drawing below, I found difficult. This is curious as I have been accused of being too dependant upon line as opposed to creative use of shading techniques. At least that is what I learned at the last life drawing class several years ago.
The use of colour saw me pause regularly to choose the right colour pencil. It softened the effect by using coloured pencils as opposed to oil pastel etc. If I had been going for an impactful ”fauvish” quality then perhaps more vivid colours would have been my choice. But I’ve always enjoyed using pencils due to being able then to increase density of shade by degrees – titration of colour upwards to a point rather than attempting to remove excess colour intensity post-application.
The textured effect on the dish came about by using a DIY textured surface made of air drying clay. The swirls in the background were frottaged from a carved wooden Klimt-inspired picture frame.
I’m aware I’ve written at more length on the colour composition than the line drawing. The main difficulty I had with taking the line for a walk was in feeling I was achieving my aim to express how I felt about the objects depicted, in this case, wood carving tools, and their ultimate raison d’etre. I did my best, but admit to feeling pleased to be able to move on to the tonal/colour exercise.
So far in this course, I have grown in confidence using colour effectively. I would not have come up with this piece without having first embarked upon this Drawing Skills course.
References:
M Walker. (2019) Still life Using Line [fineliner on cartridge paper]
Walker. M (2019) Still life in tone using colour [pencil crayon on cartridge paper]
Right now, I must sleep
“Still Life” in Tone Using Colour
Actually, as you can see, I’ve been a rebel against the still life police.
Here’s my friend Chris doubling as an inanimate object for the benefit of this exercise. I shall return to some actual objects soon. But for now I felt like doing something different. Again, like the negative space exercise, I feel I have drawn something I would not have done without having first embarked upon this course. I really like the effect produced by using different colours for tonal contrast. I feel ready to tackle an actual still life using this technique. This will leave Chris free to play seasonal religious tunes on the keyboard in true hypocritical heathen fashion just like any other self-respecting atheist at Christmastide.
Perhaps it was due to too many vodkas and coke the night before, but I reemerged this morning from the John Soanes Museum feeling quite depressed. The reason for my low mood could be due to an unfortunate conversation taking place the night before between myself and my partner. But it could just as easily have been due to the subject matter depicted in the Hogarth exhibition. These paintings and etchings illustrative of social falls from grace; The Rake’s Progress and A Harlot’s Progress, remind me how we are not so very far removed from the times in which these images had been produced. Without the safety net of Social Welfare, the likes of Boris Johnson -fresh from his visit to the Queen in order to form a majority conservative government – may yet see a ‘joyful’ return to those days of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. That is, if we have not arrived there already. Is it any wonder that I feel a little low in mood? 😐
References:
(Date of access 17/05/20)
I began the day by looking at something arty on YouTube to get my creative juices flowing. I looked at Dan Tyrels, an artist who uses found objects to produce monoprints. Printing and drawing are not so far removed from one another. I have chosen printmaking for my elective course. It doesn’t hurt to look ahead. The carrot rather than the stick is my prefered motivator.
…then I drew the above in my sketchbook whilst waiting for the following to dry: It is my very first attempt at setting up a frame for silk screen printing. I intend to apply it to some fabric shopping bags and T shirts for Christmas. Go me!
…then I drew this, somewhat half-assed attempt at the line drawing of the title of this post…
Hopefully it’s clear what they are. But whether I’ve successfully met the brief of communicating the relationship between the objects, I’m not sure. I found it a tough brief as, unfortunately for me, I have a rather literal and linear way of thinking. I tried to show that they were tools for cutting lines and so drew lines like the ones I imagined I’d make using the same tools. Hmm. At least that’s what I was thinking as I drew it. Not sure it’s worked all that well.
Maureen Walker's blog: An Artist's Journey