I returned to life drawing group tonight, after a long break. Too long. It was great to get my mojo back!
What Is Water
I’ve been scribbling in my sketchbook again, this time at an event called “What Is Water” which brought together poets, storytellers and academics to share their experience of water and river systems through the spoken word. It was really innovative to hear an academic presentation by Dr. Emily O’Gorman, an Australian geographer, interspersed with poems, stories, reflections and even bongos!
It was organised by the FIRE Lab (Freshwater Interdisciplinary Research and Engagement) from Swansea University. It’s a fascinating project looking at human relationships with freshwater ecosystems and specifically the River Tawe, integrating sciences and the arts over the next four years or so.
An Arty Gym Workout
Another quick scribble in my little sketchbook. I used to sketch every day, for many years, then I got out of the habit over the past year or so, it become infrequent. But I’m up and running again now. Sketchbook work doesn’t have to be too polished or finished. It’s catching brief moments and in doing so, practicing composition, perspective, proportion, line-work, tonal values …. It’s like an arty gym workout.
Complementary
I carried on painting today. I’m just doing a bit at a time because I tend to get very stressed over painting, which doesn’t happen when I draw or make original prints. So I’m just dashing over to it, slapping some acrylic paint on it, then dashing away to do something else. Today I put a wash of orange over the yellow towards the bottom of the canvas roll. It’s a complementary colour to the blue and I like using complementary colours – they create such intensity. I also started to block in some darker areas on the overalls, overlaying the cerulean with a red-biased pthalo blue. I’m using Liquitex Heavy Body acrylics, mostly transparent or translucent as I like layering glazes over each other. This is a portrait of the artist Patti McJones that I started 5 years ago, it’s a big piece, almost life size.
Another recent page from my sketchbook, getting back into the swing of scribbling regularly after a fallow period. I scribbled these at an event at GS Artists in Swansea yesterday.
Local artist Owen Griffiths has just completed a residency there and was presenting his recent “research and ideas around land use, climate change, place and working in Wales.” It was very interesting and provocative and I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops.
Keeping My Hand In
Husb and I went to an event at GS Artists on Swansea’s High Street earlier today, featuring local artist Owen Griffiths. I had to have a scribble, of course. Keeps my hand in.
Celebrating the drawn line
A lovely blog from Michael Richards about the joys of drawing via Celebrating the drawn line
A Bit Less Slack
That’s two days running now that I’ve picked up paintbrushes and got to work on some canvas. I did some more work on the head of my subject and the flowers in the background. I am using Liquitex Heavy Body translucent / transparent acrylics, thinned with water to build up overlaid glazes. It’s been a bit more interesting today, I let myself go a bit and enjoyed making patterns in the paint and I feel a bit less slack. Not a patch on woodcutting though ;D
Very Slack
I generally don’t paint because it takes for ever. When is a painting ever finished? Printmaking is very much a process, it tends to be time limited so you complete an edition of prints and that’s it. That’s what I like about it. But whenever I start a painting, it just goes on and on. I started this one, a portrait of fellow artist Patti McJones about 5 years ago and finally got it out of the cupboard today to continue working on it. Maybe I’ll finish it over the next few days. I’m using Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paint onto an unstretched canvas roll. I started by drawing in compressed charcoal and then blocked in the main areas of colour. Then I left it. For half a decade. I guess I’ve been very slack!
Problem?
These are just a fraction of my sketchbooks. I think I may have a problem!
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