Painting still life - Clementines in Acrylic

Classes this week have been very enjoyable.  Every term I like to include a session working from life and the mixed media group were asked to bring fruit or veg to set up a simple still life.  I had specified acrylic as the media to work in, and encouraged members to try small canvas boards which are lovely to paint on.  I had painted an example myself and photographed the stages as a suggested method of working...

Stage 1: Create mid-tone and sketch composition

Backgrounds can be a problem with still life, so I advised painting a diluted acrylic wash of colour over the whole board to create a mid-tone (and to get rid of the 'scary' white canvas).  This is a preliminary layer but can be left to play a major or minor role later...  Once the wash has dried sketch out the composition, either with pencil, pastel, or directly with diluted paint and a brush.

Stage 2:  Block in base colours

Block in the basic colours of the subject - go for generalised light, mid, dark tones to start to suggest the form.  Cast shadows are important, get them in early!  They are part of the design process and can be used to create drama, interesting shapes and / or can act as a linking device.

Stage 3:  Scumble background colour

I find people often set off painting the objects to a high degree of finish, sit back and then think "oh, what shall I do with the background?"  In the class situation there isn't room to create elaborate 'sets' with draped fabric for each individual still life arrangement.  Backgrounds are really being invented.  For this next stage I suggested they might like to try scumbling a paler, thicker paint mix over the mid-tone background to create some interest and texture whilst keeping it simple.  I like to use a big flat brush for this and use my brushstrokes in an almost criss-cross fashion allowing some of the first wash to show through .  I paint right up to the objects and around the cast shadows.  Apologies for the cool tint of the photograph, it was getting dark and I forgot to take another picture before carrying on work the next day.

Stage 4:  Bring the painting to life with subtle colour, tones and detail

This is the bit everyone enjoys - working with a wider range of colours and tones and gradually adding detail to bring the painting to life.

Clementines, acrylic on canvas board, 8 x 10 cms

I really enjoyed working on this little painting in acrylic.  The warm limited colour palette is certainly uplifting on a chilly February day.  I find the orange / purple colourings exciting and more pleasing to the eye than a true complementary pairing of orange / blue.  In fact with the addition of the green in the leaf this colour combination is known as a triadic colour harmony.

If you have never tried painting from life, look for some fruit or vegetables in the fridge (or next time you're in the supermarket treat yourself to something you would like to paint) and have a go.

Observational Drawing - Pot Plant

My classes are back in full swing this week.  Hats off to all those who braved the ice and snow to make it to the studio above Henderson Art and Framing in Gaywood.  Every term I like to include a session working from still life, the challenges of 3D and how to translate this on the paper or canvas can teach us so much.  The pastel class on Wednesday will be looking at a large pot plant that I will bring in.  It has been in my front room for the past week and on Sunday I made several drawings myself.  It has the most 'mobile' leaves.  In the dull evening light they tend to close up and during the day they relax and fall more open.  Let's hope they behave in class!

The first drawing was getting to know the subject.  I used charcoal as it is such an immediate material and the class members may enjoy trying it for a change.  Then I tried conte on white cartridge paper and established the difference between the top and underside of the leaves.  Finally I looked at the negative shapes between the leaves.  These can be fascinating in themselves but can also help with accuracy in the composition stage.  I decided to leave this drawing at this stage to demonstrate this concept to the class, but will encourage them then to continue working to a more completed piece of artwork.

Charcoal on cartridge paper.

Conte sticks on cartridge paper.

Pale blue pastel pencil, white conte stick on blue Canson paper.

Making several drawings of a subject is a great way to get to know how to portray it best and is ideal preparation before going on to do a more detailed drawing or painting.  Or even to understand essential components before doing a looser expressive piece of work.  Why not give it a try? 

6 New Year Art Resolutions

Yes, six New Year resolutions - a tall order I know. 

Hard at work

 

1.  Work smaller scale.  I do seem to naturally work larger scale - I enjoy making big gestural strokes.  Whilst working in the large airy studio spaces during my degree course that was fine, but now I am in my garden studio at home storing large works can quickly become a problem.  Smaller scale works on paper can be stored in a browser or portfolio.  Smaller framed works and canvases are more 'user-friendly' in the current economic climate too.  This strategy may help me to become more prolific.  I plan to work on a series of very small paintings based on the local landscape around my village.  Watch this space...

 

2.  Work more from life.  I believe that working from life creates many more opportunities for a personal style to develop.  Responses to subject matter are more immediate and experimental in the process of mark making to capture what is there in real life.  Incorporated into this resolution is the desire to use my sketchbooks as much as possible and to utilize small snatches of time creatively.

 

3.  Close Inspection - Initiate a series of work.  For some reason I take a lot of photos of close-up textural surfaces - rust, tree bark etc - and when I review them I love the abstract qualities.  So far only one of these images has been a basis for a painting.  I plan to do more but that first mixed media painting titled 'Close Inspection' is the start and lends its name to what I hope will become a visually exciting collection.

 

Close Inspection, mixed media on canvas, 30x30cms



4.  Seasonal - Initiate a series of work.  I really enjoy painting still life based on fruit and vegetables.  Maybe being a vegetarian has something to do with it!  So far the work I have done has been initiated because of class preparation but I really would like to do some more for my own pleasure.  Tracking seasonal produce would be an ideal opportunity this coming year.

 

5.  Act on opportunities and interests - don't put things off...

 

6.  Website.  I have at last got this blog back on track but the same can't be said for my website.  I read somewhere that an unfinished website 'under construction' is worse than not having one at all.  My poor website needs finishing.  The problem is I am not quite sure whether to have it just for my animal artwork or to broaden it out to include other genres.  This dilemma is compounded by the fact that I work across a lot of different media but I do think an artist website is stronger with a tighter focus. 

 

So, my resolutions are out in the big wide world; reviewing them in December will be interesting!

 

What do you hope to achieve in 2013? 

  

Art Review 2012

I have been reviewing my 2012 art year, and tomorrow will add a post about plans for 2013.

2012 has been a more focused, productive year for me, which was what I had hoped for.  My classes at Henderson Art & Framing continued for the usual three terms (of eight weeks duration each) - see www.hendersonartandframing.co.uk for details about upcoming classes.  I started this blog in May, hit a long slump but have rallied, with new resolve, to end the year.

 

Outside of my regular classes the year kicked off when I organized a Sketchbook Evening for the West Norfolk Artists Artists (www.westnorfolkartists.org).  Members were invited to bring along some sketchbooks for an informal evening to give people a chance to look through and chat about sketchbooks - their uses, different ways of using them etc.  It was (thankfully) a rip roaring success, very inspiring.  I had already made a resolution to do more sketchbook work in 2012, and although I did make much more use of them, in all honesty, I could have done even more.

 

Water Mixable Oil Painting

  

In March I held a Water Mixable Oil Painting Workshop at Henderson Art & Framing.  These workshops are always enjoyable and cater for 10 - 12 participants.  They are marvellous value too as all materials are provided and in this case each student went away with tubes of paint, brushes, plastic palette and finished work on two small canvas boards!  Sue provides a delicious lunch and refreshments mid morning and afternoon.  If you live nearby and haven't tried a workshop before 2013 could be your chance.

May was a very busy month with 2 exhibitions and I participated in Norfolk Open Studios as part of the West Norfolk Artists at South Acre Church.  I was absolutely thrilled when I sold a painting in each venue! 

'Beauty of Charcoal' Workshop

July is the annual West Norfolk Summer Exhibition.  This year I was one of the three selectors / curators and opted not to show any work.  This is the second time I have taken on this role and find the whole process fascinating.  From the initial daunting task of being faced with a sea of artwork, to gradually whittling it down a selection of work that showcases the Association and its members to its best advantage takes several hours - and the following morning there are often additions as the exhibition takes on a life of its own.  During the exhibition the Association puts on free 2-hour workshops and I ran a 'Beauty of Charcoal' Workshop.  Participants worked from simple a still life each based on peppers and mushrooms and were led through a variety of techniques to get to grips with the possibilities of this marvellous expressive medium.

'All About Artbars' Workshop

Before my classes resumed in September I ran another workshop 'All About Artbars' at Hendersons.  These new triangular water soluble wax bars burst onto the art scene in the Spring and I had plenty of time to experiment and get to grips with them.  The workshop tackled using them as a drawing medium, diluting the colour with water to make luminous washes and then working back into them.  In the afternoon they were used thick and enabled scratching through juicy layers to get interesting textures.



 

 

Reductive drawing, willow charcoal, cartridge paper

 

Compressed charcoal on watercolour paper

 

Also in September there were two more exhibitions, both at the King's Lynn Art Centre.  Again I was delighted to sell work.  Finally in November I did my first art demonstration - at Park House, Sandringham.  I was given free rein so chose charcoal again as it is quick and expressive.  I had a two hour slot and decided to do a reductive drawing of a foal (lifting the lights and adding darks) before the teabreak.  I used compressed charcoal to do a quick head study of my old pony, Danny, after the break and used water to dilute and create inky washes and drips before drawing back into it to add definition.  Two very different techniques and fortunately got it all done in the time...

So, on reflection 2012 has been a busy and fruitful year for me.  But the real highlight of the year?  My two daughters both graduated from their respective universities!!!

Happy New Year.

Drawing at Speed

Perfect for putting in a handbag

So, Christmas is over for another year.  We had a lovely time with family to stay but it was cut a little short as my eldest daughter had to be back in Bristol and at work for 9.30 a.m. on Boxing Day.  My husband and I drove her to Bristol, leaving King's Lynn at 3.30 in the morning to ensure we arrived in good time!  We stayed overnight and headed back to Norfolk at a more respectable hour the following day.  As we bowled along the motorway I thought about my resolve to use my time more wisely and decided to challenge myself to do some quick sketches whilst we were travelling at speed.  The little plain paged book seen above I had bought in Bristol when I realised I had nothing in my bag suitable - the pages are slightly creamy, and a little on the thin side, but I do like the fact that it also contains some brown pages in the middle.  Possibilities for drawing with biro or fine liners...  However, I used the two mechanical pencils for this series of little quick sketches.

 

The easiest way to cope with this challenge was to focus on an upcoming hill-line.  Using the thicker Pilot Croquis B pencil I made the scribbled marks whilst my eyes travelled along the topography, only glancing at the page briefly.

 

Notes accompany the brief sketches as reminders of where we were travelling...

 

They also clarify elements - here the pale roof of a factory complex mostly hidden by raised ground.

 

Starting to warm up to this sketching activity whilst travelling at 70 miles an hour I looked to focusing closer to the motorway.  The fir tree was dramatic in its shape silhouetted against the drab grey rain-sodden sky.  The pale silver birch tree trunks caught my eye but flashed past before I could decide a shorthand method to describe them.  Fortunately another bank of them appeared along the opposite carriageway and I could quickly get the gist of them on paper. 

 

In need of a leg stretch and some stimulating coffee we stopped off at Corley Services.  I was determined to capture a figure study of some sort, even though it was fairly busy and the table we were fortunate to grab was a bit too central for my liking. I prefer to have my back to a wall and a bit of space to each side as I surrepticiously glance up and down to the page.  (This sketch was done with the Staedtler Mars micro 0.7 mm).

 

Whilst none of the drawings are of any particular future value (by this I mean as studies for developing into paintings) I really enjoyed the snatch of time to create them.  The eye and hand have to work together as more time is spent garnering the essentials than actually assessing what is happening on the page. 

 

I shall definitely keep that sketchbook and pencils handy in my bag as I go about my daily activities in 2013.  Why not try it for yourself? 

Christmas 2012

 

Happy Christmas!

 

 

Ira Glass on the Creative Process (www.getoutthebox.org)

Have been out best part of the day hunting down the elusive last minute Christmas bits.  On returning home I sat at my laptop to check emails and eventually began to follow a thread from one blog to another and stumbled across this short video of Ira Glass talking about the creative process.  He makes a lot of sense, although I feel he is referencing the written artform, the same applies to drawing and painting etc...  Sometimes people get so disheartened and think 'I'm no good' when they set out on their artistic journey. Anyone just starting to play the piano would never expect to be able to just sit down and play a tune all the way through.  So why think a masterpiece should be made each time a pencil or brush is picked up?  Take the pressure off - enjoy the process - accept that if you put the time in then there will be improvement.  And we never stop learning, evolving, mastering.