30th September: Who's made a mark this week?

A donut for Louise

5" x 5", coloured pencils on Arches hot press
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Congratulations to....

• my great friend Louise Sackett (website) who has been celebrating one of those 'big' birthdays' this week - have a donut! Plus she also got some great news - have another donut!!! :D
  
• Elizabeth Perry - whose blog (Woolgathering) is one of those I go to when I want to be reminded of the joy of looking at simple things with a fresh eye. She started her blog in January 2005 and on Monday last week she celebrated her 1,000th drawing (that's one thousand folks) with a distributed drawing party. If you go and take a peek you can find all the links to all the other drawings which people did as a result. I think it's a great idea - and many congratulations to Elizabeth for her achievement in making it to 1,000 drawings on her blog!
  
• Genine (Broadhurst Street) in Rochester New York. Genine has just completed her first sketchbook (as in the first one ever started and drawn in right through to the very end!).
  

Art exhibitions

• Vivien Blackburn (Painting Prints and Stuff) has been on holiday in Cornwall (check out the photos!) and blogged about her visit to the Lemon Street Gallery (a gallery which is well thought of in the UK contemporary art world) to see an exhibition 'Cornish Crows' by her hero Kurt Jackson. This is:
  
• the link to the exhibition and these are the paintings
  
• the link to the book about the exhibition - click the top RH corner to turn the pages and see the inside of the book - it doesn't stop after page 3! It's very neat and he does it for all his exhibitions.
• I really enjoyed reading the honoris causis in relation to his recently awarded Honorary Doctorate of Letters. For me it said so much about the man and the 'how' and 'why' of his work. Artists with interesting stories are always very memorable. Here's an extract.....
  

Kurt Jackson is one of the very few painters who maintain, as a central principle of their work, the ecological dilemma of our lives and the possibilities for a more sympathetic relationship with the earth. Kurt’s fight is with all that is conspiring to ruin the world.This fight is exemplified by the self-supporting lifestyle he and his family have achieved at their home in north Cornwall, right through to the concept that, as he states, ‘an ecologically principled lifestyle is in no way élitist or escapist.’ Kurt’s commitments are international: he is actively engaged as a campaigner with Aids Relief in Africa, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, Survivors International and Water Aid. Nationally, he has raised money for the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, homelessness, as well as Surfers Against Sewage, which is now an international movement.

• The 44th annual exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists opened on Wednesday at the newly refurbished Mall Galleries in London. One for my 'try and see if poss' list. You can see the works in the exhibition by visiting this link and then clicking on the SWLA tab.

The SWLA Annual Exhibition will take place at the Mall Galleries, London, from the 26th September to the 7th October 2007 and will show over 400 works by members and selected non members in a variety of media from painting and drawing to sculpture. Many prizes will be awarded, including the Capmark Art Award of £4000 chosen by a distinguished panel of judges who will also award two runners up prizes of £500. (SWLA website)

• There is also an Exhibition of Self-Portraits by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters at 2 Temple Place , London WC2 (next to Temple Tube) from 2 to 10 October (Opening Hours 10am ­ 6pm weekdays Thursday 10am - 8pm Saturday 10am ­ 4pm. Closed on Sunday). You can see examples of commissioned work by members of the society by visiting this link and then clicking on the RSPP tab. A £5,000 Bulldog Bursary for Excellence is also being awarded
  

The self-portrait is one of the most fascinating examples of the genre. It gives an insight into the character of the artist, showing how they depict themselves both for the viewer and for posterity. It is an excellent opportunity to judge their artistic skills as well as their tastes and also can reflect current trends. As the artist holds up a mirror to themselves we can also judge them and their craft. This is particularly interesting for the Royal Society of Portrait Painters members as their work is normally commissioned, thereby restricting their freedom of style. (RSPP website)

Art blogs

• Martha (Trumpetvine Travels) has two extended and excellent posts this month on "how to sketch"
• How to sketch - materials sets out the various different items in her toolkit - she uses pen and ink and watercolour to sketch in her own customised moleskine sketchbooks.
  
• How to sketch - demonstration provides a step-by-step demonstration of how she goes about producing a sketch. It's an excellent explanation of all the things she does
• Mark Kennedy (Temple of the Seven Golden Camels) has published an extract from the Famous Artist Course: Fred Ludekens which demonstrates a step by step drawing in pen and ink. I'm none too sure of the copyright issues involved here but it certainly is a recommendation for an artist and course which provides very detailed explanations. This is the link to the current Famous Artists School, the overview of the current guiding faculty and the wikipedia entry about the School.
  
• Casey Klahn (The Colorist) has started a new blog which is just about pastels - called (guess!) Pastel [http://pastelsblog.blogspot.com/] it has a subhead 'Pure Pigment, Paste & Passion - Casey Klahn on the Pastel Medium'. I'm trying to get back into doing more pastels at the moment so will be keeping a close eye on it.

Art Competition

• American Artist has a competition for work to end up on the front cover of its publication. Closing date is 1 December - that leaves plenty of time for thinking and doing!

Art History - Drawing

• Two excellent articles about two of the Masters of Drawing are available online by American Artist. as part of their Learning from the Masters series. You can subscribe to the feed from this journal online. I'm a 'real-life' subscriber as well and it always turns up pretty promptly after publication on this side of the Atlantic.
• Whistler's Mark by John A Parks
• Rembrandt's Shorthand Drawing Style by Joseph P Skrapits
  

Art Galleries

• Mark Holsworth (culture critic @ Melbourne) has summarised the different types of galleries and spaces which show art and the typical financial arrangements with each. Thanks to Art Dabble where I picked this up - and who links to typical spaces in Melbourne that fit these categories.
• Wouldn't it be great if there were sites which listed these for each area?
  

Websites and blogging

• I came across the Empty Easel article about 7 Tips for Selling Art Online: How to Help Buyers Find your Artwork. Dan doesn't date his articles so I'm not sure when this one was published - and I guess people may have varying views about some of the social networking sites and forums - but it's a recommended read.
• If you've got views on what you have found helps sell your artwork I'm sure other readers woudl be interested so please comment (normal comments policy applies)
  

...and finally

Two events start tomorrow

• the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival is happening all next week. Two of the artists in my blogroll - Ed Terpening (Life Plein Air) and Terry Miura (Studio Notes) - will be participating. Why don't you follow the action on their blogs? For anybody who fancies going to San Luis Obispo to follow the action in person can I recommend The Big Sky Cafe for the best breakfast I had while travelling in the USA last summer.
• The Big Draw month in the UK kicks off today in the East End of London and formally starts tomorrow. Read my previous post The Big Draw and the Big Drawing Book Review for more information about what's planned - and there'll be more - starting tomorrow! I'm now off to a lecture just down the road followed by a drawing event.....