I'm away from my normal computer at the moment and have just been through that cookie moment again! You know the one "your normal cookie functionality has been disabled". Guess that chat with mother about the 'belt and braces' approach to computer security worked! I just had to try and remember what to do next!
Anyway, she has a computer and has a scanner - so I might be able to post and there again I might not........
In the meantime, here's one I wrote before I left.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Monday, April 10, 2006
Thoughts on painting from photographs
The debate about the pros and cons of painting from photographs has taken another turn around the block with a post last Tuesday in Artnewsblog (and several comments) and an update today. (Thanks to Karl for alerting me as to the update.)
My personal position is I very much enjoy working from life - but a photo can also be just one of the tools I will use to create a painting I have in mind. However, I do think that it's best not to use photos in this way unless you have also worked from life as otherwise it's difficult to know the differences between the drawings you make and the photos you take from the same spot. Once you've studied an object or place (through drawing) so you have a strong mental image and then produced a drawing as well as taken photographs and then seen the significance of the differences between these different images nobody would ever rely on photos again for the 'truth' of a place or a person. Photos rarely represent tonal values accurately and quite often get colours wrong. What they are great for is reminding you about place and the details of the bits which didn't work quite so well in one's drawing.
Working from a photo is also a great way of learning how something works (eg how do all the bits fit together) before you try drawing it from life for the first time. I think that's why, in the past, art students used to draw the statues before they were let loose on live models!
Digital images (from cameras) are very helpful if you want to try doing a painting with a particular colour theme. I try manipulating photos I've taken on a computer using photoshop before trying to produce a painting in real life - it saves wasting art supplies - and also leads to being more adventurous, for example, in the use of colour once I've seen some of the possibilities of what something could look like.
Photography is also an excellent way of practising one's compositional skills. I frequently take photos in order to try out different perspectives on an object. It's not about using a photo to create the object so much as using the camera and the viewfinder to look at what potential exists to create a piece of artwork from that particular scene or object. The photo then becomes a record of that thought.
But I do think that the artwork of those who work from photos all the time can start to look very sterile after a bit. It's the lack of imperfection which I don't like.
Technorati tags: art , drawing , painting , working from life
My personal position is I very much enjoy working from life - but a photo can also be just one of the tools I will use to create a painting I have in mind. However, I do think that it's best not to use photos in this way unless you have also worked from life as otherwise it's difficult to know the differences between the drawings you make and the photos you take from the same spot. Once you've studied an object or place (through drawing) so you have a strong mental image and then produced a drawing as well as taken photographs and then seen the significance of the differences between these different images nobody would ever rely on photos again for the 'truth' of a place or a person. Photos rarely represent tonal values accurately and quite often get colours wrong. What they are great for is reminding you about place and the details of the bits which didn't work quite so well in one's drawing.
Working from a photo is also a great way of learning how something works (eg how do all the bits fit together) before you try drawing it from life for the first time. I think that's why, in the past, art students used to draw the statues before they were let loose on live models!
Digital images (from cameras) are very helpful if you want to try doing a painting with a particular colour theme. I try manipulating photos I've taken on a computer using photoshop before trying to produce a painting in real life - it saves wasting art supplies - and also leads to being more adventurous, for example, in the use of colour once I've seen some of the possibilities of what something could look like.
Photography is also an excellent way of practising one's compositional skills. I frequently take photos in order to try out different perspectives on an object. It's not about using a photo to create the object so much as using the camera and the viewfinder to look at what potential exists to create a piece of artwork from that particular scene or object. The photo then becomes a record of that thought.
But I do think that the artwork of those who work from photos all the time can start to look very sterile after a bit. It's the lack of imperfection which I don't like.
Technorati tags: art , drawing , painting , working from life
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Moleskine on the move!
Moleskines are a great size for when you're trying to draw people on the tube. I travelled to see my god-daughter yesterday (I'm doing her portrait for her 21st birthday present - and we were having our first artist/client consultation!) and used the tube to get across town to Hammersmith.
Having gone all kitted out with arty stuff I thought I'd limber up by trying to draw the other people on the tube. Now anybody who knows the underground in London will know that smooth running is NOT what it excels at - and trying to draw while the compartment bounced around on the rails was interesting to say the least!The worst problems associated with drawing on the tube are not knowing which stop people are getting off at (rule of thumb - it's always just before you get to the important finishing bit you've been putting off) and the vertical poles which people hang on to tending to block out out key bits of people's faces. I tried to draw two women - each time the pole cut the face in two! On the other hand you do get the dozing traveller - who is unlikely to move their head very much.
So - these are not examples of great drawings but rather evidence that it is worth taking the Moleskine when using the tube!
Technorati tags: art , drawing , drawing people , moleskine , pencil , sketch , sketchbook Friday, April 07, 2006
Review of the SBA Exhibition
I visited the Society of Botanical Artists exhibition yesterday and was totally blown away by the very fine quality of most of the artwork shown. There are some very impressive and accomplished artists exhibiting with the SBA - including a number of coloured pencil artists.
Most of the artwork is in watercolour with a good showing of coloured pencil and pencil work, although the exhibition also includes work by people painting in oils and pastels. The website while clearly demonstrating the breadth of work fails to reflect so clearly the very high quality of a lot of the work on display due to the small size of the website images.
There is a tendency at times to assume the terms 'botanical art' and floral art' are interchangeable whereas the former includes studies of fruit, vegetables, fungi and all other things botanical. I particularly enjoyed the number of fine drawings and paintings which involved various fruit and vegetables. As Charley Parker commented in his blog 'Lines and Colors' yesterday , roots also make the most fascinating subjects for drawings - and the mandrake root executed by Yvonne Edwards was no exception.
The President's Award went to a very fine pencil drawing of a female arauccaria araucana - which is better know to most of us as a "monkey puzzle".
It was a pleasure to meet Ann Swan who was demonstrating yesterday and to see her coloured pencil and graphite work in person. I was also very taken with the coloured pencil work of Susan Christopher-Coulson. Her prize-winning "Autumn Harvest with medlar" was particularly impressive. Susan's work can be seen on her website www.floraleyes.co.uk Susan Martin's coloured pencil art is large, colourful and had an extremely high quality of finish . Her Vreisea splendens (a bromeliad with the common name of "Flaming Sword") also won a prize.
Eiko Yoshimoto's very impressionistic pastel painting of the Isabella Plantation at Richmond Park pushed the boundaries of the sort of floral painting people might normally associate with botanical art. Other pastel artists included Maureen Jordan and Linda Patterson.
From a personal perspective, I also very much enjoyed chats with fellow artists about the various practical issues that we all have to deal with - not all of which were directly related to the application of pigment to paper!
And for all those who agonise over exhibitions and matting and framing (you know who you are!) I saw some extremely good quality displays yesterday and I'm now totally won over to double matting - in fact I'm off to get some cut this afternoon!
Technorati tags: art , coloured pencils , colored pencils , drawing , drawing flowers , flower paintings , painting , pastels
Most of the artwork is in watercolour with a good showing of coloured pencil and pencil work, although the exhibition also includes work by people painting in oils and pastels. The website while clearly demonstrating the breadth of work fails to reflect so clearly the very high quality of a lot of the work on display due to the small size of the website images.
There is a tendency at times to assume the terms 'botanical art' and floral art' are interchangeable whereas the former includes studies of fruit, vegetables, fungi and all other things botanical. I particularly enjoyed the number of fine drawings and paintings which involved various fruit and vegetables. As Charley Parker commented in his blog 'Lines and Colors' yesterday , roots also make the most fascinating subjects for drawings - and the mandrake root executed by Yvonne Edwards was no exception.
The President's Award went to a very fine pencil drawing of a female arauccaria araucana - which is better know to most of us as a "monkey puzzle".
It was a pleasure to meet Ann Swan who was demonstrating yesterday and to see her coloured pencil and graphite work in person. I was also very taken with the coloured pencil work of Susan Christopher-Coulson. Her prize-winning "Autumn Harvest with medlar" was particularly impressive. Susan's work can be seen on her website www.floraleyes.co.uk Susan Martin's coloured pencil art is large, colourful and had an extremely high quality of finish . Her Vreisea splendens (a bromeliad with the common name of "Flaming Sword") also won a prize.
Eiko Yoshimoto's very impressionistic pastel painting of the Isabella Plantation at Richmond Park pushed the boundaries of the sort of floral painting people might normally associate with botanical art. Other pastel artists included Maureen Jordan and Linda Patterson.
From a personal perspective, I also very much enjoyed chats with fellow artists about the various practical issues that we all have to deal with - not all of which were directly related to the application of pigment to paper!
And for all those who agonise over exhibitions and matting and framing (you know who you are!) I saw some extremely good quality displays yesterday and I'm now totally won over to double matting - in fact I'm off to get some cut this afternoon!
Technorati tags: art , coloured pencils , colored pencils , drawing , drawing flowers , flower paintings , painting , pastels
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Watercolour pencils
I'm not a great user of watercolour pencils but have a go with my set of Van Goghs every so often. I'm always on the look-out for useful tips for how to use them as I know some people who excel at creative and attractive mark-making involving the use of watercolour pencils!
This week I came across a couple of good summaries about them in the painting.about.com library which will be particularly helpful to those who would like to try them.
I was also very flattered to be invited yesterday to have this blog featured on another site next week! I won't spoil the surprise..............
Technorati tags: art , watercolour pencils , watercolor pencils , drawing , painting
This week I came across a couple of good summaries about them in the painting.about.com library which will be particularly helpful to those who would like to try them.
- Watercolour Pencil Class 1: Getting started
- Watercolour Pencil Class 2: How to use watercolour pencils 2
- Applying a Wet Paint Brush to a Watercolour Pencil Drawing
- Lifting Colour Straight Off a Watercolour Pencil With a Brush
- Wetting a Watercolour Pencil Before Using It
- Using a Watercolour Pencil on a Wet Surface Scraping Colour off a Watercolour Pencil
- Using Watercolour Pencils 'Dry'
I was also very flattered to be invited yesterday to have this blog featured on another site next week! I won't spoil the surprise..............
Technorati tags: art , watercolour pencils , watercolor pencils , drawing , painting
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