Getting Back to Blogging...

Spring... a time of renewal.

It seems that cycles of writing regular blog posts interspersed with weeks/months of being incommunicado affect many bloggers, and unfortunately I am no exception. Apologies. It is not due to being inactive on the art front... in fact the pause often happens initially because of a very active phase and not having the time and energy. Then it becomes harder to get going again. So a very quick update and then I will move on and re-commit to this blog as I do love the way it can act as an online diary and record of a life in art, while at the same time inspiring others, hopefully.

If you pop onto my page for Art Events & Teaching you will notice that I am running regular classes and workshops throughout this year at Norfolk Creative Arts, an exciting new venue in Grimston, West Norfolk. There are a wide variety of tutors, subjects and media so if you wish to investigate visit www.norfolkcreativearts.co.uk and there is sure to be something to tempt you!

Spring Term Wednesday Weekly Mixed Media Classes
at Norfolk Creative Arts are now in full swing! 

Aside from all the planning for these classes I am also busy with personal artwork as a joint exhibition with another artist is looming on the horizon in May. More details will follow in the next few weeks but we are both creating mostly new work for it and the beautiful village hall in Thornham is quite spacious, so the pressure is beginning to mount.

Some images of work that may be included in the upcoming exhibition...

Woodland (North Wootton) in compressed charcoal & white pastel © Tod Evans

Barn Owl, using limited watercolour palette and charcoal pencil
- a quick animation here to show you how it built up...

Close crop of Teasels in pencil, white gesso and acrylic 

© Tod Evans

Views of seascape in watercolour, gouache & Inktense pencil
as it built up © Tod Evans

Roydon painted in acrylic with palette knife
© Tod Evans

The beach at Old Hunstanton in acrylic © Tod Evans

So a little sneak peak at some of the contenders to be included, there are works still in progress (not shown) and I am excited about work yet to be created! Will keep you posted on new developments but if you are in Norfolk over the weekend of 14th and 15th May, 2016 we would love to see you at our exhibition Into the Woods & Beyond to be held in Thornham Village Hall, PE36 6LX.

Sketchbook work continues as well, and possibly may be included for perusal...

Sketchbook work continues...

Finally, a recent exhibition visited by myself and family was Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse at the Royal Academy in London. There was (and is) a close connection between many artists and their gardens and it's natural that they wished to explore ways of depicting the colours, shapes and features, often working in them as outdoor studios. Monet is the key artist in this fine exhibition but there are examples by Caillebotte, Pissaro, renoir, matisse, Van Gogh, Klimt, Bonard etc. Also some artists I had not encountered before, Joaquin Sorolla being one and I plan to research more about him. It is Monet, however, who resonates the most and the work inspired by his lily pond is sublime. Despite over exposure on packaging and household items over the years, to see the paintings in real life is to fall in love with them all over again. The fusions of colour, the abstraction of motifs and the free brushwork is totally absorbing. The finale, the triptych, in the last room is breathtaking - the sheer scale - so that as a viewer you are compelled to move up close and study the fragmented textures and colours before stepping back right back to appreciate the whole again. Like a little dance forwards and backwards we go repeatedly, drinking in the artwork with the senses. I really did not want to leave that painting and having visited Monet's garden in Giverny it is as relevant today as it has ever been.

Superb exhibition, well worth a visit.

The exhibition runs until April 20th so I encourage you to go and see it if possible!

Plein Air - Old Stable in the Paddock

Attempting plein air painting with water mixable oils again
 

After my disastrous attempt at plein air with water mixable oils in France I didn't want to leave it too long before having another go.  A bit like falling off a horse - get back in the saddle asap!  I have fancied the old stable in the paddock as subject matter for a while, and in the sunshine it looked very inspiring.  I loved the leafy shadows cast by the overhanging willow branches onto the old weathered wood.  

A very busy scene

As you can see by the photo there was a lot of detail that would need simplifying - I was definitely going for an impression.  It is very different attempting a scene like this from life compared to working from a reference picture.  Everything seemed high definition yet in a constant state of change as the sun kept disappearing behind clouds and there was a frisky breeze.  Mistake number one - the sun was very bright and very strong.  I should have used my easel umbrella to shield the canvas board, then paint colours could have been assessed more accurately.  Mistake number two - I probably needed to either work on a larger board, or, considered the composition more carefully and made the old stable a bit smaller to allow for more context to surround it.  A quick value sketch would have organised this.  Anyway I started brushing on a diluted wash of ultramarine blue mixed with burnt umber feeling very optimistic.

As I wanted to keep everything loose I decided against any detailed drawing and opted to lift out the pale shape of the old stable with kitchen towel from the damp wash.  

Mid tone wash with pale shapes lifted out
(apologies for the dark photo) 

A slightly more concentrated wash of the same colours was used next to block in and define the main dark areas.  At the time I was quite happy at this stage but with hindsight I would definitely have preferred more room for the foreground grasses.  This canvas board is A4 size and I have found these proportions tricky in the past, if I am working small scale my eye prefers the 8" x 10" ratio (20 x 25cms) for some reason.    

Main dark passages blocked in

My strategy was to have thin darks and thicker paint for the light areas so the work progressed through various shades of green (all made from blues and yellows, sometimes toned down with burnt sienna) and pale neutrals for the weathered wood.  I had to try and capture the cast shadows when the sun blazed, but tricky as they constantly swayed and danced.  By now I realised that this would not be a masterpiece... my heart sank a little.  In frustration I utilised a palette knife to apply linear marks with naples yellow to suggest some of the long blonde dried grasses and finally dotted in the pale blue 'skyholes' in the trees.  At least both these actions gave the work a little boost! 

 

The Old Stable, water mixable oils on canvas board, 21 x 29.5cms

So there it is.  I spent an hour and forty minutes out in the open air, totally engrossed, and although I ended up with a painting that will probably just get stored away somewhere I thoroughly enjoyed the process and learned a few valuable lessons along the way.  Somme, the Labrador, had a whale of a time.  He was either charging around the field or taking shelter in the shade, accompanied by several balls of varying sizes from his collection!

There is still something I find inspiring about this scene and I may try it again with my soft pastels, either working from life again or maybe directly from the photograph.  Perhaps this is an exercise you might like to try - work on a subject you have tackled before but in a different medium?