Drawing through

Flowers on a Grey Day, pastel on paper, 28 x 28 cm

It was another one of those rainy days today. It was also the day I'd hear about an important open submission.  It's hard to get anything done on days when I'm waiting to hear.  But I wanted to change things around a little with the stilllife I had painted and approach it with pastels. I put some cloth over part of the existing background, shortened the daffodils, cut some new hellebores and draped a blue cloth napkin over the red box.  I put some fishing line across the back and hung one of my painted paper collages over it. The beginning marks were awful and I nearly quit repeatedly. The true colour on the right is orange and that flummoxed me for a time.

Once I'd heard I hadn't had either of the pieces I'd carried down to London on Saturday accepted, instead of allowing myself to wallow, I grew determined.  I knew that I would feel awful for a little while but that that would ebb and the best way around it was to draw through. 

And here is that other painting, finished.

Drawing to take notes for painting

Spring Weather NF, pastel on paper, 10 x 16 cm

John Dobbs gave me a challenge when I visited him in his studio earlier in the year.  And then when he led the workshop painting the Thames in the freezling snowy weather, what he said made sense.  Today was the first day I have had time to begin the challenge.  To prepare, I have been reading Mitchell Albala's Landscape painting: essential concepts and techniques for plein air and studio practice. 

It was windy today and the weather was threatening rain but I lugged my easel out in the field and began by making a few thumbnail sketches.  I had the sun to my left and the wind was blowing the clouds northwest. I thought about four values: the sky, the ground, the slopes and the verticals (from my reading) and that made sense! In terms of composition, it isn't the most enlightened subject matter but because it's close by I can visit the spot regularly, something John suggests I will need to do.

What John thinks I should do next and forever more is to use my sketches/drawings to paint from.  He tells me that as I paint I will discover what information I haven't collected and then will need to go back and get it in order to paint something meaningful. When I painted the Thames that's what I did and I discovered I do remember things and I suspect that muscle just needs conditioning in order to use it properly. We'll see.

When the Title Comes First

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There's a Suffolk Open Studios group show coming up soon and I had to submit my titles weeks ago.  I am always determined to show new work, even if what I showed before only got one outing. This time I chose the titles for the work based on some things I had done recently.  You know the thing when you like something right after you do it or you think it will grow on you, only to find it just doesn't really work.  That was what happend with my titles for SOS this time. I'm just not sure about the pieces I made associated with the titles so this week's job was to see what I could do with the titles. The titles I was working to were: Jam and Book at Breakfast, and Daffs and Lemons.   The previous blog post has something I arranged to fit the title Daffs and Lemons and today it was the other title's turn. 

Still life and landscape

Egg tempera on panel, 16 x 23 cm

Thursday and Saturday was egg tempera day.  I wanted to change the face on the buddha but in the end reverted to a version of a buddha.  A laughing Buddha briungs good luck.

pastel on paper 13 x 15 cm

Today I reinterpreted the still life and added some lemons and daffodils because I need a picture with that title for an upcoming show. Now I have two to choose from!

Barns I, Akua Intaglio monotype

 Sunday was a monotype day. I made prints all day, hoping that I would love something enough to replace the print that sold at the mini print exhibtion in Stow on the Wold.

Barns II, Akua Intaglio monotype

Pin the colour down before it fades

Reduced Flowers, pastel on paper 15 x 14 cm, pastel on paper

Sunday Morning! I bought some reduced flowers early last week and plunked them in a vase by the door to take out to the studio to draw.  They sat there.  I was too busy making monoprints painting portraits and looking at beautiful paintings at Christie's… so about a week from purchasing them, those poor flowers were on their last legs and hadn't been drawn.  I couldn't let that happen. 

The orange under the jam jar is a pair of PJs I bought from Anthropologie in their reduced reduced sale - I have been meaning to hem them for years, literally. The pattern to the left at the top is a scarf I got at a charity shop last year and the fuscia on the right is an Indian top that I got at the car boot a few years ago. The green cup was an early wedding present from Patrick when we'd first moved to Singapore.  The purple is a placemat I bought in Rome.  There is a cheese knife from south Africa on it and the book came from a used bookstore in the Southwest. 

This small drawing took most of the day.  In the past I might have stopped when it was freer and created the mood without pinning everything down.  Perhaps I will return to that approach.  Tomorrow when the sun comes up I will look again at the right of the jam jar lid.

NO need to go far for inspiration

View from Front Garden,  pastel on paper, 14 x 15

I've got some monotypes to make for an upcoming show and today was supposed to be devoted to that until I decided to go outside to draw.  It is cold today, about 3ºC when I was standing in the front garden. I had three layers on the bottom and four on the top and I still had to stop to warm up after about an hour and 1/2 before going back again. I much prefer being cold and standing to being warmer in a car, though.  Besides, I need to get 'match fit' for my plein air painting with John Dobbs in a few weeks time. It's funny to think that I will take the train and bus to paint the Thames when I have so much inspiration right here.

I've been reading more of the Jason Gaiger book, thinking about how we read the marks on the page and whether denotation comes first.  I suspect everyone can recognise that cold wintery sky.

Now maybe I will make those monotypes!

Basking in Doreen's Glow

Doreen, last drawing, 30 mins, pastel on paper 16 x 16cm

I was in Jane's seat today.  The table is a little small for my stuff but the light is good and the view was great today. I love drawing Doreen. I had prepared lots of pretty pieces of paper for pastel and watercolour last night. I had looked at Birdget Moore and Sargy Mann over the weekend so I was thinking in blocks of colour.  I felt more like myself.

Sue, before Doreen arrived, 5 mins, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

 Doreen was a little late so Sue sat for us briefly.  I could have carried on drawing Sue.  Her hair made a nice shape and her colours were delicious! 

a few mins, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

It was a bit ambitious to use watercolour in these quick poses but it made me work quickly and insisted that I really look for what was significant.

a few mins 2, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

a few mins 3, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

15 mins, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

I stuck to the same basic palette all morning but mostly avoided line unless it was absolutely necessary.

15 mins 2, pastel on paper, 14 x 13cm

Doreen moving slowly, pastel on altered book page

This was the first drawing of the day and rather than do lots of shapes as Doreen walked around the room I stuck to my initial first minute pose and tried to see the room around her in comparison to the colour of her skin. I think that set me up for my final drawing and was why the room came alive.

Line,colour and tone - quick studies at Sudbury Life Drawing

Emily, pastel on altered book page, 9.5 x 14 cm

Fig came with me to life drawing today.  It was a full house. Emily is a still, quiet and contemplative model. I had some new Jaxell pastels to try out but I was looking at tone, line and colour as I saw it today, so did't get a chance to use the bold deep colours. I looked over at Jo's musky unison pastels with awe. Quite partial to the drawing above, tried to find the essence, not particularly successful otherwise. 

Emily, charcoal on cartridge, 26 x 29cm

Emily, pastel on paper,12.5 x 21cm

Emily, pastel on paper, 16 x 16cm

Emily, pastel on altered book page, 9.5 x 14 cm

A New Year in Intense Colour

Yellow Figurine on Orange, pastel on paper, 16.5 x 16.5 cm

Due to the nature of the time of year and what it means to be me with my family around me, this little drawing was made over the course of a few afternoons as the light faded, inbetween jobs. I knew that I couldn't include anything living in the arrangement because who knew what time I would be able to snatch. So in the spirit of hope in a new year, my still life was all about infectious colour and an ethnic figurine regifted all the way from Boston via Orlando, one of my newest perfect muses. It is in that parallel universe where all the objects come to life and cavort.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

A Fan of Colour and Complexity

Fan, Figurine and Flowers, 16.5 x 16.5, pastel on paper

Yesterday was a Wednesday and I wasn't volunteering with the refugees as it's half term so I treated myself to a carboot outing. I bought a few things all for 50p or less.  There are four in this drawing. I used a little lighting as it's another overcast day.  The frame (Mick Kirkbride) helped me to organise the space but in the drawing and redrawing (Peter Clossick) I moved the fan a bit and it took absolute centre stage, which wasn't what I intended when I began. 

What I liked about the still life as I composed it, was the subtle repetition of form and colour and the way the white in the feverfew became the brightest spot in the drawing.

This drawing took me a long time but it was fun as there were many complex patterened spaces that were fun to work through. I chose 14 colours and two whites and didn't need to find any more asfter I'd started.  Because it's a small drawing and I wanted some detail I did need my pastel pencils in places. when it got too fiddly, I got my eraser out and removed the fiddle.

Inherited culture working to a brief

Inherited culture, pastel on paper, 17 x 16 cm

Today's job was to build on some of the things I have learned so far on my NEAC year and to make something that could be construed as meeting the brief for 'inheritance', an juried exhibition at Norwich Castle Museum with a deadline at the end of the month.

I began by asking myself what exactly I have inherited from my mother.  These are the relevant things that I came up with: a love of flowers, a love of colour, a love of making things, a love of collecting things and a love of other cultures.  With that in mind, I gathered objects. The central picture is a photo of me when I was young that my mother gifted to me, from her collection.

While visiting Mick Kirkbride in his studio last week, I talked about how I am trying to internalise all that he says and all that I have discovered so far.  Last week at life drawing class I finally understood about how a ruler and a window can help me - that the angles and the position don't lie.

I began by framing my subject by holding up a cardboard window and checking the height, checking the angles with that and a ruler.  Wow, it was much easier to understand the space. I used Melissa's approach of composing the picture with charcoal (in places).  I kept checking with the rule and the mount. 

Another thing Mick talked about last week was the focus, bringing it in and out of focus to direct the eye.  Of course I think about this and make choices every time I draw, but today I experimented actively with it.

Another thing I've been meaning to do but until now havent…I wrote some things down in my day book! I chose 32 pastels and I used most of them. 

Seasonal Reds

Seasonal Reds, pastel on paper, 16 x 16.5 cm, 

As the garden wanes I've noticed that the remaining flowers tend towards the vibrant reds. So in October I find myself with dramatic arrangements that look forward to December and all that. For me, reds and pinks and fuchsias are colours I love to explore.  One year when I was in school I only wore reds for the whole month of December. Some people think putting all those related colours together creates a clash. As I assembled the objects, including the harlequin stripes, I just felt excited.

The drawing has been stop and start all week and bringing it to a conclusion has proved more difficult than anticipated. Luckily, I concentrated on the flowers in the first instance as the flowers as they are now are rather sorry. 

The Long Pose, Heatherleys and colour studies with Sarah, NEAC Drawing School

Sarah, charcoal on paper 53 x 75 cm

I arrived late at Heatherleys and found a place far back with a slice of the model between two easels. The light was beautiful and Sarah was fun to draw. Antony Williams let me get on with my drawing for the most part, his insights, or even just having him stand next to me, made me see things I needed to change. I could see better than I am able at the Learning Centre, in a light infused space and I never tired.  I stuck to willow charcoal, using my various erasers, measuring distances in my head, looking for shapes, trying to see marks to make, squinting most of the time, I'm sure. All in all, above was probably just under four hours of drawing and looking.

Pose 1 9.10.17, pastel on paper 16.5.x 16.5 cm

The model was on a stool for the first pose and I was very close.  I mostly just put wedges of colour together, having a hard time fitting the part of the model I wanted on the page onto the paper. I did a lot of erasing with my putty rubber.  It was a joy to use colour ater a day of charcoal, though.

I think the top pose is more successful, I had longer.  I was looking down on the model for the second pose and began with an almost  flourescent pink chalk. As I drew I kept thinking about the Buddha I had bought at the car boot sale and drawn recently and that was a little distracting, but made me smile.

Pose 1 9.10.17, pastel on paper 16.5.x 16.5 cm

Drawing Alexis

I guess summer is coming to an end because the routine is returning.  Today was the first day back at my portrait group where I began drawing a new model, Alexis. 

Drawing the model has always been something done in silence, but in this group there is some talking.  It's interesting, you get to know the model more when you talk with them and I suspect the conversation helps you to see the subject differently.

I tried to think about some of James Bland's techniques, finding the lightest spot and comparing it in temperature and value with other parts of the composition.

Finding my way in other's techniques

Fen - 65 x 46cm, pastel on paper

 Fully realising that I have never attempted to make portraits, I started this week by inviting a friend to sit for me.  I transformed a corner of the studio into a room and primed a large piece of Fabriano paper with a bubblegum pink. I drew Fen for two hours with pastel and then after she left, spent a few more hours working from the set up. This is not finished, but I think it represents an exploration of using the model to create a story, a likeness, something beyond simply a colour study.  I don't know where this will lead but I feel I need to explore some of the things I have learned over the last week.

Feven - 16.5 x 16.5, pastel on paper 

Feven - 13.5 x 20.5, pastel on altered book page

Today I did two small hour studies of Feven in pastel.  The first is in a square sketchbook.  The second is in my altered book.

Sometimes there's no time to look for another colour

16.5  x 16 pastel on paper

Back to the discipline of the ticking clock, the fleeting pose and Sue calling, 'change please' before  I have managed to tie things together sufficiently.  Begin again. Today I forgot me tea.

I love to draw Emily because her poses are so natural and believable, but creating the mood in colour in ten minutes isn't always possible.  In a ten minute pose I need to choose a book to draw in, find a backgrouind colour that feels 'right', choose seven or so colours and begin in a place that will make a strong composition. 

Very often I find I mis-measure as I begin making marks.  I go round and round on the page adjusting with each subsequent mark. Sometimes my figures are not in the right place.  I may choose to rub things out or I may try to find a way of making bad placement work.

Today was a day of feeling like I never had quite enough time to finish, let alone choose colours or think composition.  There were six ten minute poses and one 30 minute pose. Sue had placed Emily in my favourite location, in front of the mirror, so there was plenty of complexity, too much to understand things, which is the way I like it.

With any luck there will be something that interests me in each of the drawings, something that I may be able to use somewhere in something I do later.

17.5 x 17 cm, pastel on paper

17 x 19 cm

13 x 13 cm

13 x 13 cm

17 x 19 cm

17.5 x 17 cm, pastel on paper

Making the most of an opportunity

Green Vases and Bowl, 24 x 22 cm, pastel on paper

I wasn't able to start drawing today until too late to finish before the light disappeared . I'm not sure if I will return to this or begin another version. Today was about green.

It's been a busy few weeks and it feels as if I have had no time to do anything other than tie up loose ends: framing, typing up bios and price lists, putting together a portfolio, picking up work, and then hanging two exhibitions and attending them.

When I can't spend all my time making work it can feel frustrating, but that is ridiculous!  All of that other stuff is part of the whole and I've learned that if I see time as opportunity then it's easier to feel good about the non-painting activities.

Last month I made three opportunities.  I took a pre-selected pastel down to the NEAC annual exhibition for final selection.  I put together a portfolio and submitted it for the New English Drawing Scholarship and I submitted an altered sketchbook for the Annual Radley Sketchbook Exhibition (Parker Harris) and one of those three opportunities was successful.  You just never know, and I find that by making the opportunities I apply myself differently and with zeal and that makes new opportunities.

The exhibition at Craftco is exciting.  I love seeing my 2D work (plastic collages) with ceramics.  Since I know Caroline's work, I have been thinking about it as I've worked and I am pleased with the way it looks hung and together.

Craftco , Southwold, Exhibition through May 30th

Marilyn in ten minutes

pastel on paper 13 x 14cm

altered book page spread  11 x 7cm pastel drawings

pastel on altered book page 21 x 14 cm

charcoal on paper 28 x 13 cm

pastel on paper 14 x 16 cm

For the first half of our drawing session, Sue asked Marilyn for five ten minute poses, although one lasted an extra five minutes.  The final pose was half an hour. I brought some images with me to inspire my palette and then began igonoring them, looking hard to see what the drawing needed that corresponded to what I was looking at.

I didn't put my pastels away at the end of each drawing so there is more consistency of colour than usual between them.  I prepared my ground and taped around the edges before I set off today and tried a few new approaches - watercolour with clear gesso and a little pastel ground, gouache with pastel ground, pastel with clear gesso.