Exhibition Review - In Search of Gingers

Sandy Ross Sykes is devoted to Gingers. She specialised in painting the Zingiberaceae family (gingers) while completing her Masters degree at the Royal College of Art. In doing so when she graduated in 2004, she also won the prestigious RCA/Thames and Hudson book prize. Her work has also been exhibited in the USA, UK and Hong Kong

Paintings of the Zingiberaceae Family
page from Sandy Ross Sykes website
copyright the artist

As an artist to my mind she is very much following in the path and very fine tradition of illustrating natural history overseas which was set by women such Maria Sibylla Merian, Marianne North and Margaret Mee.

In Search of Gingers is an exhibition of works by Sandy Ross Sykes at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery (Galleries 3 and 4) at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew which continues until 16th August 2009. It's previously been exhibited in Hong Kong by the British Council.

Sandy Ross Sykes now bases herself in Hong Kong so that she can travel around South east Asia in search of different members of the the Zingiberaceae family.

The exhibition is a fascinating mixture of sketchbooks, records from her journals, artifacts collected en route and the final paintings. It's organised around her journies and search for different gingers. Each journey to different parts of South East Asia is described.

It's a great pity that neither the artist's website nor the Kew website show the sketchbooks and displays which have been created from her sketchbooks as she records the places she has been, the circumstances she has lived and worked in and her travails en route. It gives a real insight into the work of a natural history artist on a mission. I rather think there's going to be scope for a book one day!

However, you can see some of her paintings of Zingiberaceae on her website

There are currently over 1,200 known varieties of Zingiberaceae species in South East Asia. By exhibiting her work, Sykes aims to raise public awareness of the species, and so help safeguard their natural habitats. Illegal logging, pollution, and urbanisation are three of the main problems facing this fascinating and economically significant family of plants.

Exhibition review: Contemporary Australasian Botanical Artists

Down Under: Contemporary Botanical Artists from Australia and New Zealand is an exhibition of contemporary botanical art by exceptional Australian and New Zealand artists. The works on display now form part of Dr Shirley Sherwood's Collection.

The exhibition can be seen at the at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the exhibition continues until 26th July 2009.

The paintings featured range from flower studies and still lifes to detailed botanical illustrations of native plants, showing a great range of styles and techniques. Studies are in watercolour on paper or vellum, gouache, acrylic or coloured pencil and copper plate etching. Most of the work has been executed in Australia or New Zealand but many of the artists are widely travelled and have lived or taught in Europe and elsewhere.

I went to see it last week and greatly enjoyed seeing many fine examples of contemporary botanical art.

Artists who have work in the show include:

• Bryan Poole - a New Zealand artist who now lives and works in London. His etchings are wonderfully well designed and executed and I highly recommend trying to see them in real life. They can also be seen on his website. Cyaathea Dealbala Punga (a tree fern) is on display in the exhibition and took four months to complete. Bryan trained in botanical art at Kew and he is now a member of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers.
  

Bryan Poole exhibiting at The RHS Chelsea Show in May 2008
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

• Celia Rosser - best known for her three volume series about the Banksias which took over 25 years to complete as University Artist for Monash University. It's an amazing achievement - that's 76 different species of Banksia! No 77 - when it was discovered was named after Celia Rosser! You can see images of prints of the Banksias on her website
  
• Margaret Saul - born in Australia and currently splitting her time and teaching between Maryland, USA and Tuscany (where she now lives). Her favourite medium is watercolour with dry colour pencils. Work on display in the exhibition (and as prints on her website) includes Sterculia quadrifida (Peanut Tree) and Elaeocarpus angustifolius (Blue Quandong)
  
• Paul Jones - I was greatly intrigued by his gradated coloured backgrounds (which you can see in the images in the link). He died in 1997.
  
• Susannah Blaxill - has been painting full time since 1985. She's recognised as being one of the world’s leading botanical artists specialising in watercolour, pencil and recently in charcoal. The beetroot exhibited on her website home page is in the show - and I love that painting! She produces really meticulous watercolours and can create a beautiful velvety texture on the paper. You can see more examples of her work - and close ups of small sections on her website.
  

Susannah has just completed a commission of a pink and white camellia on a dark background. The background is composed of 32 layers of paint and the flower is in gouache overlaid with watercolour. The brush strokes are so tiny, that one almost needs a magnifying glass to see them and fully appreciate the work. Susannah painted the picture using a specially made pair of very strong glasses as the work is so detailed
Down Under: Contemporary Botanical Artists from Australia and New Zealand in the Shirley Sherwood Collection

You can find out more about these artists and all the featured artists if you download this leaflet.

The exhibition has an Australasian slant as one might expect. For example it includes different versions of the Banksia - that universal symbol of Australian botanical art and a variety of plants which are found in parts of Australasia.

Meantime, I'm using my copy of A Passion for Plants: Contemporary Botanical Masterworks by Shirley Sherwood to see what she has to say about each eartist and their work. I do love this book as the reproductions of the work are excellent and each artist has a minimum of a double page spread.

Tomorrow I'll comment on the other two exhibitions that I saw in the same gallery.

Links:

• The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
• Botanical Art - Resources for Artists
• Botanical Art - Art Book Reviews for Artists

Plein air art - 10 tips for working with sunshine and shade

Artists Sketching in the White Mountains 1868 by Winslow Homer

9 1/2" x 15 7/8", Oil on panel
Source: Wikipedia

When the weather gets warmer and the sun begins to shine, thoughts begin to turn to working plein air. However there are a few pointers which can make all the difference to what you achieve when drawing, sketching or painting plein air - and how you feel at the end of the day.

This year the weather forecasters haev predicted that we'll have a good summer in the UK so I'm looking forward to being able to work outside a lot more than I have in the last couple of summers. Having already started to work more plein air I'm beginning to remember all the things which make a difference when having to deal with heat, sunshine and shade

It's a great idea to pay attention to the nature, quality and movement of the sunlight - for a number of reasons

1. Impact on colours and tone #1 Sunshine makes it really difficult to evaluate colour and tone accurately. Your eyes need to be shaded. However you won't see any of the colours correctly if you wear sunglasses. Try wearing a visor (see right) rather than sunglasses - I find it works really well.

2. Impact on colours and tone #2 Your also need to keep your work out of the sun so that you can check and accurately assess the tones and colours you're using. I was astounded the very first time I took a painting out of the sunshine and put it in my room which was in shade - all the colours changed and nothing looked the way it did while outside. A white sun umbrella/parasol will help you to see colours better as you work. (However I've yet to find an art shop which sells white art parasols in this country! Might it be something to do with our weather?).

3. Impact on colours and tone #3 The colours you wear can also have an impact on your support if it's white or light in colour as it will pick up the reflected light of the colour of your clothing. Neutral colours can be very helpful.

4. Work out how the sun will move and the shadows change. It really helps if you know where you are in terms of the points of the compass. In the northern hemisphere, the sun rises in the east, moves south and sets in the west. So, before you start work out how the sun will move. I've been known to position myself to try and get the best shadows partway through my plein air working time. That's because when drawing in to get size and proportions correct it matters less what the sun is doing. What matters is when you move on to getting colour down. If you're not sure try asking somebody locally where the sun is in the afternoon. Creating a thumbnail sketch of the location of all the shadows before you start will also helo you to keep going as all the shadows start to change.

5. Do your homework beforehand. You can find scenes with great light and shade if you're prepared to put some time into doing your homework. If you see something that looks very striking but don't have your kit with you, make a note and come back on a day when the light is good and you've got everything you need. If you practice assessing light and how it moves, you can begin to work out what should be a great scene without ever having seen it. I've derived great delight in the past in making a journey with kit to a scene which lives up to my expectations!

6. Your camera is not going to help you. One of the problems with cameras is that most don't deal at all well with areas of great contrast between bright sunlight and shadows. I promise you that the photographs you took of that great scene you saw will disappoint you. Cameras have a marked tendency to make the shadows look much darker and more solid than they are in reality. When the sun is shining it's very likely that your photographs will probably include the proverbial black hole. You will be able to see tone and colours much better than any camera can - hence the value of plein air work for landscapes and the like. However if your eyes are blinded by the sun you'll start seeing pretty much the same way as a camera - with a greater degree of contrast than exists in reality

7. Try working at the beginning and end of the day #1 You often get the most interesting light and the best shadows at the beginning and end of the day. The light is coloured. At midday the sunlight leaches colour out of what you see in front of you and produces scenes of great contrast. However the shadows move faster at the beginning and end of the day.

8. Try working at the beginning and end of the day #2 The other good reason for working at the beginning and end of the day on hot sunny days is that it's much easier to work when it's cooler. It's very difficult to focus and work well if you're too hot. You also need to make sure you avoid sunstroke.

9. Stay healthy - make sure you have access to water. Be near places where you can get a drink or take a bottle of water with you. If it's very hot you might not realise just how much water you are losing through perspiration. It's very easy to become dehydrated before you know it if you're focused on your painting.

10. Stay healthy - make sure you've packed your sunscreen. Even when sitting in the shade you can still burn from reflected light. If you're not in the shade and you want avoid taking any risks with skin cancer then high factor sunscreen is essential. Make sure you put it on or top up away from the support you're working on otherwise you'll learn how to deal with a canvas or paper which has been sunscreened!

I thought I'd finish with a few definitions of "plein air" for those who are unfamiliar with the term.

Plein Air

French term meaning out of doors. Refers to practice of painting entire finished picture out of doors as opposed to simply making preparatory studies or sketches. Pioneered by Constable in Britain c.1813–17, then from c.1860 became fundamental to Impressionism. Important technical approach in development of Naturalism. Subsequently became extremely widespread and part of practice of Rural Naturalists for example. Sometimes taken to extremes e.g. by Stanhope Forbes of whom there exists a photograph of him painting on a beach in high wind with canvas and easel secured by guy ropes.
Tate - Glossary - Plain Air

en plein air (pr. ə pləh-nayr) - French for "in the open air,"
used chiefly to describe paintings that have been executed outdoors, rather than in the studio. Plein air painting was taken up by the English painters Richard Parks Bonington (1802-1828) and John Constable (1776-1837), and the French Barbizon School, and it became central to Impressionism. Its popularity was aided by the development of easily portable painting equipment and materials, including paints sold in tubes. The equivalent term in Italian is "alfresco," which is also used by English-speakers.
Art Lex Plein Air

'en Plein Air'

The term ‘en plein air’ refers to the practice of painting out of doors, in direct engagement with nature, where the transitory effects of light can be observed and recorded.

It has a history in Europe of several hundred years, the most famous exponents including Salvator Rosa and Claude Lorraine in the 17th c. and Corot and the Barbizon school painters in the 19th. In an Australian context, the Impressionists of the late 19th century, including Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts were devoted to painting out of doors, and thus brought a new understanding of Australian light and landscape to the public, through their work. Fred Williams, Australia’s great master of landscape painting in the twentieth century, used studies painted out of doors as the foundation of his work. These artists and others established a strong tradition of painting ‘en plein air’ in Australia that continues to this day.
NSW Parliament - Plein Air painting prize

You can see a catalogue of selected works from the 2009 Plein Air Painting Prize awarded by the New South wales Pariliament on the web (pdf file).

Exhibition review: Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009

Pamela Conder – ‘Chimpanzees Reflections on Ageing’ mixed media

Overall winner and Endangered Wildlife category winner (£10,000 prize)
photograph Rebecca Thomas

‘Reflections on Ageing’ - a mixed media study of chimpanzees in pencil, pen and ink with watercolour and demonstrating a lot of character - has won Australian artist, Pamela Conder, the prestigious title of Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009. The title is awarded by a panel of judges appointed by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) and comes with a cash prize of £10,000 generously donated by the exhibition sponsors.

Pamela Conder is an artist, author and naturalist who lives in in Australia and was unable to be at Private View last night so got the news by phone. Her prize was presented, on her behalf, to David Shepherd by Sir Michael Parkinson, veteran broadcaster and journalist and friend of DSWF.

The prizes for exhibition category winners were presented at an extremely well attended - and very hot - evening reception at the Mall Galleries last night at a Private View. Over 100 works of art short-listed for the competition are on display in the exhibition and all are for sale, to benefit endangered wildlife. The Exhibition runs until Saturday 6th June - but the red spots were going up fast last night!

Sir Michael Parkinson, David Shepherd CBE and David Gower in front of the winning picture
photograph Rebecca Thomas

The artwork

I reviewed the online exhibition of the artwork back in April - see Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009 - the online exhibition. It was very interesting to see how fast work was selling last night. In terms of achieving sales - and 50% of proceeds of artwork sold in this exhibition is going to charity - other galleries and art societies might want to ponder on the fact that it's an awful lot easier to make a sale if people have had time to review what's on offer before they arrive at the gallery!

The beginning of the Private View - part of the exhibition
photograph copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I'd say that this exhibition in general is less dominated by birds and UK animals and has more animals from overseas and categorised as endangered species than other wildlife art exhibitions I've seen.

It's also very pertinent to note that the winners in the first two years of this competition have both won the endangered wildlife category.........

Interestingly not one of the five prizewinners has produced art which could be termed highly realistic. The emphasis is very much on the artistic interpretation and rendition of the creature in ways which one might term "non-photographic". I would describe the winning artwork as a painterly drawing. The runner-up uses collage in his work, has a very strong sense of colour and pushes the boundaries. I was greatly amused by the winner of the wildlife in action category when I saw it online but it's also a very attractive piece of contemporary art. The wildlife in 3D prize went to an artist who produces stunning work in wire while the open category was won by a very large piece of batik on silk representing the pattern of snake scales.

How did my selection of artists and art do? Well - I did in fact choose the winner as one of the pieces which stood out for me so that's got my track record for this season's prizes off to a good start!

Reflections on Ageing (mixed media 56 x 37cm) by Pamela Conder - I liked the informality of this one and the suggestion that it was drawn from life by an artist who is now considered one of Australia's foremost wildlife artists
Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009 - the online exhibition

Of the remainder:

• Healing - A portrait of a dancing bear (gouache, 35 x 35cm) by Amanda Humble - was really excellent but was a bit smaller than I was expecting.
• Cuddles and Huddles (acrylic, 17" c 21") (right) by Steven Smith was beautifully painted. The fur was absolutely exquisite
• Flight Path (pastel, 29cm x 59cm) by Martin Aveling was excellent although curiously cropped at the bottom edge. However his other pastel Storm Brewing (right) was amazing.
• Snow Leopard (acrylic 80 x 45cm) by Hans Keppel was every bit as well executed as I was expecting
  

All the above were highly realistic - and that obviously wasn't the way this year's panel were leaning.

The beginning of the Private View on Monday 1st June - with Taking Off in the foreground
photograph copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Pieces which stood out for me in the exhibition included

• Taking Off by Martin Dereham - stunning and you can't miss it as you come down the steps into the gallery (see above)
  
• Late Afternoon Encounter by David Kelly is a very fine painting of an elephant

You can see my photos of fellow coloured pencil artists Gayle Mason and Jonathan Newey with their work on the UKCPS News blog in UKCPS members and their art at Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009

Click images to see larger versions of the photograph.

Who are the prize winners?

Pamela Conder - Overall winner and Endangered Wildlife category winner £10,000 prize
‘Chimpanzees Reflections on Ageing’ mixed media

Artist, author and naturalist Pamela Conder has held numerous solo exhibitions in Australia and internationally since 1977. Her work has been recognized by many awards, including 9 Wildlife Art Society of Australasia Awards for painting, drawing and sculpture, 3 Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales Whitley Awards, the Wilderness Society's Environment Award for Children's Literature and the prestigious Thomas Ramsay Science and Humanities Fellowship of the Museum of Victoria for her research on Flying-foxes. She has published widely in contexts including scientific, popular natural history and fiction. Pamela has travelled extensively studying wildlife and working for its conservation

“I was absolutely amazed to hear that I had won and so sad that I couldn’t be at the gallery to collect my prize. I’d seen the short-listed entries on line and knew that the standard was high - I didn’t think I had a chance. It’s wonderful to know that my work will support endangered wildlife, it’s something very close to my heart.”
Pamela Conder

Paul Bartlett – Overall runner-up and Wild Places category winner Prize £1,000 and masterclass with David Shepherd)
‘Fading Out’ collage and acrylic
Paul Bartlett is a self-taught artist with a PhD in animal behaviour. He is an associate member of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) and won the ‘Birdwatch Artist of the Year’ in 2006 at their annual exhibition. His work has also featured in numerous publications such as International Artist, Birds Illustrated, BBC Wildlife Magazine and Wildscape magazine and several books. Paul has held major solo exhibitions throughout the UK and this year will be holding his first exhibition of new works in the US.

Darren Rees – Wildlife in Action category winner (Prize £500)
‘In God we Trust’ mixed media
Born in Hampshire in 1961, Darren is a self-taught artist and now paints full time. His work has attracted awards including Bird Watch Artist of the Year, Natural Fine Art Award, RSPB Fine Art Award and the Countryman Art Award. His first solo book, Bird Impressions was a runner-up in the Natural History Book of the Year Award. A member of the Society of Wildlife Artists in London, Darren has been a contributing artist to The Artists for Nature Foundation / WWF projects in Holland, Poland, Peru and Ecuador. A knowledgeable naturalist, he travels extensively leading wildlife holidays to Europe and the Americas. He is also a regular writer with Birds Illustrated.

Fiona Campbell – Wildlife in 3D category winner (Prize £500)
‘Dung Beetle and Ball’ copper wire and nitrate
Raised in Kenya, Fiona gained distinction at the Byam Shaw School of Art, London and a PGCE at Exeter University. She has worked as an Artist – focusing mainly on steel, copper and wire sculptures, sometimes created out of found and scrap materials. Currently living in Somerset, Fiona exhibits regularly, runs Workshops and occasionally holds Artist-in-Residence posts.

I like the concept of reusing things and the playfulness of creating forms from given shapes. I moved into steel and wire because of its capacity to produce linear structures. I am captivated by the vibrant effects that different coloured wires and copper patinations lend to my work.
Fiona Campbell

Limei Shimmen – Open category winner (Prize £500)
‘Scales’ batik on silk
Limei Shimmen was born in Singapore and is married to an Englishman. She studied oil painting and figure drawing when young but her career has been in advertising. Her batik art began seriously five years ago. A dog and animal lover, as well as an artist, she flaunts the beauty of animal skins by interpreting them in batik. She feels strongly that there is no necessity in killing animals for the sake of fashion. Her batiks are art - pieces of fine art to be worn as headscarves, shawls, wrap-a-rounds, as well as for display.

You can see the rest of the entries in the online exhibition. I have to say I was most impressed by the entries with a number proving to be even better in reality!

The quality of entries this year was quite outstanding. As one of the judges, I was extremely impressed and I am looking forward to the same high standard for next year’s competition.
David Shepherd CBE, founder and president of DSWF, wildlife artist and conservationist

Wildlife Artist of the Year 2010

Details of Wildlife Artist of the Year 2010 were announced yesterday and entries are now being accepted from all professional and amateur artists over 17. To enter Wildlife Artist of The Year 2010 please click here...

Three Generations Exhibition

The Mall Galleries is also hosting an exhibition by three generations of the Shepherd family until Saturday 6th June. Original works in oil by David Shepherd CBE, FRSA, sensitive watercolours by daughter, Mandy Shepherd and contemporary canvasses from granddaughter, Emily Lamb are all being sold to raise awareness and funds to save wildlife.

Note:
David Shepherd, CBE, FRSA (Born 1931) David studied art under professional artist, Robin Goodwin, with early commissions for the RAF taking him to Aden in 1960, and on to Kenya. This trip changed his life. He was asked to paint his first wildlife subject and at the same time he became a conservationist overnight when he witnessed 255 zebra dead around a waterhole poisoned by poachers. Since then, David has enjoyed successful one-man shows around the world and has won many awards. He has been the subject of several TV programmes and published five books and over 200 limited edition prints. Recently celebrating his 77th birthday, David still lives at a frenetic pace, continuing to donate paintings to wildlife through his Foundation, to pay back "my enormous debt of gratitude to the animals I paint".

Links:

• Mall Galleries - Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009 & Three Generations Exhibition 2 to 6 June 2009, 10am-5pm
• Wildlife Artist of the Year 2010 - now open
  
• Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009
  
• Wildlife Artist of the Year 2008
• David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation
• Making A Mark - Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009 - the online exhibition

MAM Poll June: Which is your preferred media for painting plein air?

In April we found out what subjects people like to paint and last month we found out which media people like to use when drawing or sketching

On the first day of summer, it seems appropriate for the Making A Mark Poll for June to take a look at which is our preferred media for painting - plein air. Hopefully we'll get lots of tips from people about painting plein air too!

Next month we'll look at painting in the studio.

For the purposes of this poll I decided we probably needed a little definition here.

So I'm suggesting that a painting executed plein air is something that is

• not a quick sketch
  
• not a drawing
• probably covers all or nearly all of the support being used
• possibly a plein air study for a studio painting
  
• possibly a painting which will go straight to a gallery!
  

Media options for painting plein air

So - what are the options? There are lots of options and they all have their pros and cons - hopefully we'll hear a bit more about those from your perspective in the comments.

The painting plein air media options in the Opinion Poll are as follows:

• traditional oils
  
• water miscible oils
• alkyds (fast drying oils)
  
• acrylics
• watercolour (pans and tubes)
  
• gouache
• casein
• artist quality ink
  
• tempera
• soft/hard pastels
  
• oil pastels
  
• mixed media

You can find the poll in the right hand column - underneath all the smiley faces of my blog 'followers'.

I find most artists tend to settle on one media for painting outdoors - although they may use more when painting in the studio. However as last month, the poll allows multiple responses based on media used on a regular basis rather than those you might use occasionally.

The Poll finishes early on 30th June and I'll post an analysis of the results later the same day. Then the next poll on painting media used in the studo will start on 1st July.

Why do you like your chosen media?

Please comment - I'd love to hear about why you chose the medium you now work with.

I'm also hoping we might be able to encourage a few more people to try painting plein air this summer. So - how about a few tips?

• If you're a seasoned plein air painter and have the time please can you highlight any tips you have for using your chosen media plein air.
• If you're new to plein air painting can you please highlight any issues you've encountered with your chosen painting medium - positive or negative - and how you responded - and whether it worked!
• If you're thinking about plein air painting for the first time please let us know what's stopping you!
  

Note: A very long time ago I used to paint more in watercolour - and the images in this post are sketches by me - in watercolour - of artists plein air painting in watercolour - in Goa, Prague and Bali respectively!

Links:

• The Making A Mark Poll - Resources for Artists Find out the results of the monthly Making A Mark Polls for artists. See the charts and read the main findings about topics of interest to artists.