jackie simmonds artyfacts

Using a mental grid

2012-03-05T08:01:00.001-08:00

Recently, while helping an artist in an on-line forum, I became conscious how useful MY days as a student had been, when we students had a drawing tutor who was very “old school”. He believed in teaching the basic principles of drawing………unlike many of his contemporaries who were from the “art is on the streets, go find it” school of thought. They laughed at my tutor’s old-fashioned ideas.

Well, I pay homage to that "old-fashioned" tutor each and every day. If I can draw at all today, it is because of him. One of the principles he taught me, I still use, in every drawing I do from life. That is, the use of a MENTAL GRID.

In fact, he taught us this skill with the use of a real grid. Our life model would sit in front of a large back-drop, like a piece of stage scenery. Pinned to that back-drop, or wall, was a massive white board………with a grid painted on it. We had to create a similar grid on our paper, to the same proportions. Then, we had to draw the model, ensuring that every part of the model “lined up” with the grid on our paper, in the same way that the model, in real life, “lined up” with the grid on the wall. Bit like this:

It was not too difficult to get the top of the body well positioned.......but then, what about the places where the body "hid" the lines?

We would then have to mentally "throw the line" down, and across, to make sure that everything lined up correctly. Like this...the dotted lines represent extensions of the grid behind the model:

Notice how the centre of the model's breast "lines up" with the top of her far knee.
How her chin lines up with the centre of her shoulder.
How the bend under her nearest knee lined up with where her thigh meets her stomach

Many other "positions" can be fixed in this way.

Also, the grid gives particularly good "negative shapes" which can also be a good thing to check, when aiming for accuracy:

I have added a few extra "mental lines" here....in particular, I was interested to see how the lines intersected on the point of her elbow, and where they extended to and what they met.

Now I can hear some of you saying……….”but this is the same as drawing a grid on a photo”. Well, actually, it is NOT really the same.

A photograph is a flat, two-dimensional piece of paper. The image on the photo is actually flat. If you draw a grid on the photo, you can see the lines of the grid and under those lines, the shapes in the image. It is then fairly easy to transfer the contents of each square, to a bigger sheet of paper. This will train your eye to a certain extent, but not in quite the same way as working with real objects, which are three-dimensional. And although you might be able to physically put a grid up behind a still life, you cannot easily put a grid behind a life model in a class situation, or behind a landscape!

Starting with a grid behind a still life, is in fact a useful exercise. Because, being unable to see all the lines means you then start to SCAN ACROSS to pick up the line where it reappears….and then you begin to SCAN UP AND DOWN to do the same thing.

This is the start of HAVING NO GRID. The goal must be that eventually, you no longer need the grid at all……you learn to scan across, and up and down, with every subject, to check for accurate placement. With practice, you will not need an actual rigidly constructed "grid" as such….you can place your mental lines wherever you wish, and then double-check your drawing.

Here is a still life, painted from life. the lines drawn on the top of the painting show my thought processes as I CHECKED the placement of the objects:

I checked to see that the top of the design on the jar "met" the top of the eggs on the right
I checked to see that the bottom of the central egg lined up with the bottom of the design
Looking up and down, I checked to see where the edges of the fan "met" other objects above them, which gave me the right size and shape for the fan.
I would have checked lots more lines across, and up/down.

This is SO much better than simply following outlines. Someone I was trying to help recently in an on-line forum, had copied the outlines in a photograph, and had gone totally wrong. If he had used the mental grid method, he would have seen, immediately, as I did, where he had gone wrong. His proportions would have been better, and measurements generally would have been improved.

If you make a point of regularly “throwing” a mental plumb-line down from one part of a scene to another, and other lines across the scene too, you will gradually begin to do this as second nature, no matter what the subject might be. Try it when you look out of your window. You can use something straight to look "along" or "up and down" - a pencil, a stick, a ruler. Anything will do. Training yourself to look in this way will pay HUGE dividends, I promise you!

GIVE IT A TITLE

2012-02-26T23:26:00.001-08:00

Little story........ my grandmother many years ago joined a flower arranging class. The tutor gave every participant a project for the following week, they had to create an arrangement, and give it a title. She arrived at the class, proudly bearing her arrangement, the tutor came along and said "and what do you call that?". Very offended, my grandmother walked out of the class, thinking that the tutor had been saying "and what on earth do you call THAT." (I hope you get the inflection in the voice). She completely forgot that she had been asked to give the piece a title. !!

This story takes me right back to my days of teaching, when I took groups of students to nice sunshine locations in Europe. They would sit down to paint a scene, busily recording every tiny detail.

I would rock up, look at the picture, and would ask "what is the title ?". I would frequently be rewarded with a rather blank look. As if it should be OBVIOUS ....."street scene" "beach scene" "the old church" and so on. Sometimes, this was fine......the subject would lend itself to a simple title...but at other times, there was no clear message, it was just a scene. I would then ask..."what is it that first attracted you to this scene?". After some thought, the answer might, for example, have been "I liked the way the bushes tumbled over the wall". Yet, in the painting, the bushes and the wall were small and overwhelmed by other elements. When I would do a quick sketch, focussing on the lovely shapes of the bushes and the way they curved over the wall, searching out echoing shapes and rhythms, making those the stars of the show, the student would finally get the point.

Because they were so busy putting in every detail, they had overlooked the power of a title, the way a title for a picture can focus the mind of the painter, and then, eventually, the eye of the viewer. If they had done a quick sketch and called it "Tumbling bushes", they would have realised how they needed to subordinate other details of the scene in favour of the tumbling bushes.

A scene can be adjusted subtly to emphasise a particular concept, message, or even atmosphere, with the use of a title. For example, I once did a whole series of dancer images. They could have been called Dancer 1, Dancer 2, Dancers 3. Instead, I chose titles like "resting" "behind the scenes" "between sets" and in some cases even more fancy titles like "contemplation". (Bit pretentious mind you. I rather regretted that one. I tend to prefer simple titles, but then, I always do thumbnail sketches, so my titles almost write themselves because my concept is usually obvious.)

This little pastel painting is called "Calling Home". It is quite a busy scene, with the cafe with its eye-catching umbrellas, the trees with their unusual trunks, the sloping street behind the trees......but the title immediately encourages the viewer to focus on the figure, to "read" a story into the painting.

I remember being very impressed by a lovely portrait done by Alicia Sotherland. The model is a man, eyes down, glasses perched on nose, a head and shoulders portrait. the cast-down eyes, with no contact at all with the outside world, could have made it quite difficult to relate to the picture, but it was called "lost in a book". So nice, so strong. If you would like to see it: http://www.aliciasotherland.com/pastels/lost-in-a-book

Next time you are sitting in front of a scene.......and doing your preliminary or thumbnail sketch (you always do those, don't you.............), give your piece a title. You can change it later if you wish, I would always tell my students that titles need not be set in stone, paintings sometimes dictate their own titles to you as you are working. Starting with a title is such a motivating factor, however, I think you will be surprised by the way a title will help you to produce a stronger, more focussed image.

A little challenge/COMPETITION for you.

I have deliberately not given a title for the image at the top of this post. Can you come up with a suitable one, something a bit more interesting than "the ballet class?" Leave them as comments here so everyone can see. I will choose two to win a copy of my Blurb book.

In fact, what about a further challenge? If anyone would like to send me, by email, a painting they have done, with an interesting title which goes beyond the obvious,together with a few words to say why the title helped you to create a more focussed image, I will show a few of them in a forthcoming blog post.

MASKS FOR ARTISTS

2012-02-14T03:41:00.000-08:00

As a painting tutor, particularly a tutor who works with pastels primarily, the thorny question of whether it is "necessary" to wear a dust mask, would often crop up. It is not a straightforward question to answer......it may not be "necessary", but for many people, probably myself included, it would be "advisable". that was always my advice, when asked.

Here are the facts:

Essentially, there are two fundamental characteristics of the pastel medium that make it dangerous to inhale: the small particle size of the dust and the toxicity of the pigments. Pastel dust consists of extremely fine particles of both pigments and binders. When the dust is inhaled, some particles will deposit in the upper respiratory system. But more harmfully, a significant portion of the pastel dust particles, especially those from pigments, are small enough to get deep into the lungs’ air sacs (alveoli), where they may remain indefinitely.

Given that I have worked with pastels for more than 30 years, the damage may all ready have been done. But as I have also started recently to work with enamels on copper surfaces, and enamels are finely ground GLASS and therefore must be vastly more dangerous to inhale than pastel dust, I decided to look into the idea of wearing a mask.

I tried various masks, and felt claustrophobic in most of them. Then, I read about the TOTOBOBO mask, used by other pastellists. I now own one of these masks, and use it regularly. I thought I would mention it here, and give you the link to the website where you can view a variety of pictures, you can even download a mask simulator which will give you an idea whether the mask would fit your face or not, and you can read a variety of reviews.

Here is a picture of a pastel painter wearing her mask:

http://totobobo.com/blog/totobobo-the-best-mask-for-artist/

The Totobobo is a lightweight REUSABLE transparent mask, which is durable and easily cleaned. It has two replaceable filters, which allow for minimum breathing resistance, and for a pastellist working on a regular basis, the filters can be replaced every two weeks. You can wear it with a three-point strap around your head, or there is the useful alternative of loops which hook over your ears. You can buy a mask which fits over your mouth and nose, or a mask which fits just over your mouth, useful for those who worry that they might feel claustrophobic in a mask but would still like some protection.

the screenshot below shows the different types available in the small cartoons under the cyclist!

There are two different filters, a matrix filter and 2 different grades of particulate filter - 94% and 96%

Here is a link to the company website: they send their products world-wide, and you can order direct from

http://totobobo.com/

Here is a terrific link to various demos of the mask and loads of comprehensive info about how to wear it

http://totobobo.com/demo.html

I think it is great product, and I recommend it.

Jackie Simmonds paintings and sketches book

2012-02-10T01:08:00.000-08:00

Just a quick interim post to mention my latest venture..........a book of 130 images, mostly pastel paintings, some sketches, some watercolours and one or two oils and acrylics. Also one "step by step" demo to show how I achieve a pastel painting.

It is NOT an art instruction book...............it is a "leave it for posterity" book, so that my friends, supporters and family can have it if they wish. I have paintings in various art instruction books, I keep finding them from time to time - and I have written 7 art instruction books. This is simply a collection of LOADS of my paintings, all together in one place.

If you don't want to buy it, that's fine, you can browse the book on your computer, but it is not quite the same as having it on your bookshelf, or coffee table! (that'll be the day!)

I really hope a few people out there might appreciate it. I enjoyed creating it, and, to be honest, it gives me a buzz to look at it too - I found all sorts of forgotten images to put in the book, paintings sold so I only lived with them for a short time. I never cease to marvel at how sometimes, looking at a painting I have done, can surprise me; I feel someone else must have painted it! Having transparencies in a folder, or having jpgs on my hard drive is just not the same as having a book to look through.

Here is a link to the Blurb page for the book: JACKIE SIMMONDS PAINTINGS AND SKETCHES

SPECTRAFIX - THE HEALTH-CONSCIOUS, NON-TOXIC FIXATIVE

2012-02-06T02:00:00.000-08:00

PRODUCT REPORT

The Health Issue
Most fixatives available today use resin varnishes, propellants and other dangerous chemicals as solvents, posing potentially severe health concerns.
Those of you who have worked in any group situation, know how important it is to take your work outside to fix it. You can quickly make yourself VERY unpopular if you neglect this simple courtesy. Even working indoors alone, artists need to be very careful – no easy task, since most fixatives come in spray cans and the propellant will force fine drops of noxious, toxic fumes into the atmosphere around us. yuk!!!!!

Spectrafix is quite different. Della Heywood, the artist/inventor, blends art-grade milk casein with water and pure grain alcohol adding a tiny amount of isopropyl . The alcohol evaporates rapidly taking the water with it, leaving a thin film of casein which quickly dries to a protective matte surface.

SpectraFix comes in a Fine Mist Finger Sprayer, producing a vaporous mist through finger action alone, producing NO toxic fumes. You will be able to fix between layers as often as required, without needing to trek outside to spray.

Why is it made with Casein?

Degas is said to have used casein as a fixative and a wet medium. The exact formula Degas used for his fixative is a secret, but we do know that he used cheaply available methyl alcohol, now known to be poisonous, and to cause blindness. Recently, conservators in the USA have examined Degas’ work, using Infrared spectroscopy, together with mock-ups which explored the working properties of gum Arabic, gelatin (refined animal glue) shellac (insect resin) and casein. They proved that casein was the best fixative, with the most resistance to chemical changes, and caused surprisingly little, or no, dulling of colours.
Interestingly, during the American Civil War, when both alcohol and shellac were not available, ink almost unknown, and sized paper a rarity, soldiers were compelled to use the pencil for correspondence. To “fix” a document, the paper was simply dipped in skim milk (casein). Documents written with a pencil, on unsized paper, dipped in this way, have withstood the wear and rubbing of more than 40 years.

Will Spectrafix affect the colours of my image?

Most commercial fixatives not only darken the value, but also sometimes alter the hue or even the temperature of the colour.
While it is impossible not to affect the colours of pastels with any kind of spray, even plain water, SpectraFix minimally alters a pastel’s value, and does not change the hue. Colours remain fresh and vibrant, even after several layers.

It does depend on the surface you are using to work on.

I tested the product on two very different surfaces – one a card with a waterproof sanded textured base, the other a thick absorbent black paper. The card took longer to dry, naturally… and there was a slight shift in value of the blue pastel at the top which darkened very slightly in tone. However, there was virtually no shift in tone with the other colours on that sheet, VERY pleasing, since it is the darkening of the lightest colours that irritates most pastellists.

The cupcake image below is painted on a black unsized paper, and I could see NO SHIFT IN TONE or colour whatsoever when I sprayed the top half! Look at the brilliant white top edges of the paper cases...these are covered in fix, yet they remain pure white. This is terrific.

The manufacturers claim that heavy, uncoated absorbent papers work very well. Gelatin-sized papers work beautifully too, as do all watercolor and print making papers. Very thin papers may curl if sprayed heavily, because SpectraFix does contain water, but this can be corrected with either a hairdryer, spraying from the back or taping down. Most sanded papers work well too but if watersoluble glue is used to hold the grit to the paper (La Carte), then it must be allowed to dry between sprayings.

Spectrafix makes excellent washes with soft pastel if brushed in while still wet, terrific for atmospheric, shift-proof underpainting. For my example, painted on PASTELMAT. I used two brushes, one for the dark tones, one for the light tones ( don't forget to clean your brushes well).

Pastel underpainting

You can also, like Degas, dip a stick into the product and draw with it wet, a little like a mix of drawing and painting.

For the oil painter, it will hold charcoal under-drawings that will actually withstand scrubbing, and will be archival…unlike the use of hairspray. There is a very real need for this in the art world.

The product is available in the UK, and in the USA. If you have any problems finding the product, do visit Della's website: www.spectrafix.com, she will help you, I am sure.

I will finish this report with the wise words of its inventor:

“ Now that we have this new / old casein-based fixative perhaps we can move on from the "To Fix or Not To Fix" question, and make that decision with eyes wide open, expanding our understanding of our medium and how to work with it. And breathe easy at the same time! “

Thanks, Della.

TIP: Fixative should NOT be thought of, and used like, a varnish, sprayed heavily and soaking the painting. If you want to fix between layers, then you can use as much as you like, because you will be working over the top....all the fix will do is give you back the tooth of the paper (texture) to grip more pastel. If the colours change, it won't matter at all if you intend to work over them anyway.

BUT if you have completed your painting, and want to use the fixative to protect it, spray very lightly, then go have a cup of coffee. This will stop you from being impatient. Come back when the painting is bone dry, and spray again. Again, leave to dry thoroughly. You can do this many times, without spoiling the colours, and your painting will have a marvellous protective coating. Of course, all pastel paintings need to be framed under glass eventually - but until that moment, several coats of Spectrafix will protect your work from accidental smudging.

UNLOCKING COMPOSITION

2012-01-30T01:08:00.000-08:00

While sketching at the National Gallery, I was reminded that once upon a time, art students were encouraged to visit galleries and do what was called "A transcription" of a painting. I believe that they were actually allowed to stand and paint - a friend of mine did that many years ago - but this is no longer an option in most galleries.

However, if you get into the habit of taking a small sketchbook with you, a small drawing can be made, even standing up. If you concentrate on the shapes you think are important, and indicate something of the tone, you will learn a great deal about the painting, particularly if you also try to consider something of the composition of the piece, so your drawing becomes an analysis rather than just a copy.

There is nothing to compare to doing a drawing of this kind. You will unquestionably remember the painting well; you will have looked at the picture FAR longer than if you had just stood to look at it briefly, or purchased a postcard on your way home. You may well find yourself becoming aware, slowly, of relationships within the picture that had not occurred to you initially ...connections, rhythms, these things can all be "hidden" within a painting.

Painters of the past can teach us a great deal; they were often working on different levels at the same time. They were thinking of the subject, of course, and what they wanted to say about it, but they would also consider the abstract, formal aspects of composition and design. There would be a continuous interchange between these two aspects, which would give their paintings a particular power and tension. I believe the best paintings show a respect for both the subject, and the picture surface/design.

Degas' Woman at her Toilet, 1894, is a large pastel on paper. I chose it because this painting does more than "nod" at composition and design...in this instance, the design elements are very obvious. It is full of echoing shapes, and repeated and tilted right-angles. Take a look at the profile of the big vase on the right; it is echoed by the edge of the white tablecloth - you can see it best when you look at the shape of the dark shadow below the edge of the white cloth. I find this kind of discovery fascinating - a real "light-bulb moment!"

Look at the angles made by the arms, in the "analysis" sketch below. Notice too the emphasis on some edges, which reinforce a direction, then see how other edges are softened and "lost", bringing two adjacent forms together, or in some cases, reducing the impact within the rectangle...for example, the bent lower arm of the hand holding the hairbrush is not as heavily emphasised as the upper arm, or the arms of the maid. Maybe Degas felt he would create a zig-zag effect on the left of the picture, which would have been undesirable - or perhaps a right-angle there would lead the eye OUT of the picture instead of in....conjecture on my part! anyway - this is the kind of small sketch you could try for yourself:

According to the Tate Gallery's description, "The contrast of the soft form of the active central figure and the heavily outlined shape of the immobile maid generates a visual tension and energy, which is heightened by the rich treatment of the walls and furnishings".

Notice how the surface of the picture is full of short, interrupted lines, or let's call them directional pointers, which create "stepping stones" for the viewer's eye, connecting in the same way as two people throwing a ball to each other.

View a bigger version of the picture by clicking here

Rather than sketching purely to make a record of what you see, why not consider, sometimes, sketching to try to unlock some of the hidden secrets of composition. You may be surprised by what you find, and how your own work will grow as a result. It's also really satisfying.....and fun!

See how many echoes, rhythms and directional pointers you can spot in this gorgeous Degas image:

Ballet Dancers in the Wings (1900)

THOUGHTS ABOUT COMPOSITION

2012-01-22T23:26:00.000-08:00

Still Life: Pewter and Silver Vessels and a Crab. Willem Claesz. Oil on oak. 54.2x73.8cm

This week, I visited the National Gallery in London, had a wonderful couple of hours sketching kids with their teachers in the room with all the Turners and Constables, and before leaving the gallery, my sketching buddy dragged me up to the Still Life room. I was a bit reluctant, to be honest, because I tend to find old still life paintings rather too contrived for my liking! I also am a fan of the Impressionists, rather than the Realists of old.

She wanted me to see this picture, a classic Dutch still life which fascinated her because of its excellence. The limited range of colour, the glow of the objects – even the lemon peel seemed to have a glow of its own - the AMAZING texture of the draped slk cloth – it was almost photographic, but somehow went far beyond the work of the camera. It was painted between 1633-7, long before the invention of the camera, so there is no chance that the artist worked from a photo, as so many do today. It is in the Haarlem tradition of the so-called “monochromatic” still life.

I, rather, was immediately drawn to the design/composition. The underlying structure of the image unfolded in front of my eyes. It is a slightly strange sensation, but one I relish. I believe that an artist needs to be able to divorce himself from the “shopping list” in front of him ….in this case, jug, bowl, crab, plate, lemon, glass, salt cellar etc, or in the case of a landscape, 1 mountain, 6 trees, 1 path, 5 clouds…and stop concentrating solely on how best to paint every individual object. When the artist begins to be aware of the design of the image, the underlying important shapes and rhythms, the connections and movements as well as the colour, the tones, and the individual objects, then he or she will really begin to grow as an artist.

Looking at the image upside down – a neat trick to use with your own work from time to time – begins to help us to “see” the painting with fresh eyes. We stop looking at the texture of the cloth, the clever painting of the peel of the lemon, and instead, we begin to see the main elements of the composition. We can see how the simple largest tonal areas are massed and carefully placed to balance within the rectangle, and beyond that, we begin to spot how the artist creates rhythms to draw our eye across the composition with clever use of repetition of circular and oval forms - albeit subtly, and as a secondary note if you like, because of the close tones - colour is not a major player in this image. Underlying geometric ideas take precedence in this painting – one main vertical and one main horizontal, supported by a series of interlinking curves. We have echoing shapes, not just in the objects, but even in the negative spaces between objects - notice how the curved sides of the salt cellar and glass perfectly echo the curving legs of the crab! I just love discovering little things like that.

I realise this explanation is far too brief and is a gross simplification, but it is just a beginning. If you can see what I can see here, then you have made a start.

The word “composition” means “design”, or the putting of things together. A painter may know nothing much about composition, yet he is unconsciously composing every image he creates. However, it is quite likely that without any knowledge of, and consideration of some of the possibilities of composition, the artist is likely to be dominated by the bits and bobs within the subject matter - like - how to paint the bricks in the wall, the tiles on the roof, the shine on the apple, rather than by ideas about placement and design of groups of shapes, of a linear framework, of rhythms and movements, of repetition - and more. This takes a bit of effort to begin with, but then once your awareness is awakened, it becomes second nature. I hope you agree with me that this subject merits looking at more deeply, folks, so further blogs on this subject to come, watch this space! In fact, if you haven't signed up to receive the blog by email, now might be a good time to do so!

Just for fun, and because it is yummy and gorgeous, (you will notice, judging by my reaction, that it is obviously more to my personal taste!) here is a vibrant Gauguin still life:

Still life with Mangoes Paul Gauguin

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paul-gauguin-still-life-with-mangoes/*/key-facts

This time, colour is an important factor ...but perhaps you can "see" some of the underlying structure?

2012-01-15T23:45:00.000-08:00

CANSON MI-TEINTES TOUCH

Thought I would give you a "new product" report and recommendation.

Canson, the maker of the well-known and popular Canson Mi-Teinte pastel papers, have now produced this new surface which can be used for pastel, oil pastel, pencil, charcoal and acrylics. It has a thinly sanded surface, which feels smooth with a slight texture, but will not shred your fingers like regular sandpaper! Every sheet and board has a white “margin”, useful for framing purposes. You can even use the reverse side of the sheet if you are unhappy with your efforts on the sanded side!

I paint often with pastels, so I tried the paper out while wearing my pastellist's beret.

Most pastel painters like the ability to layer with different colours in order to achieve rich effects. I found that layering is fine up to about 4-5 layers*(see tip below), without the use of fixative. A burst of fix at this point would allow me further layers - I recommend Spectrafix as a fixative, it is not only excellent, it is also, unlike virtually all other fixatives, non-toxic (more in another blog post).

You can use watermedia on this surface - watercolours, gouache or ink - to prepare an “underpainting” for pastels, which I have demonstrated above.

my demo sheet is the Steel Grey card - it shows purple and green watercolour washes loosely applied to the surface, with a covering of pastel, using side strokes, lines, broken colour and blending. There are faint brown lines under the pastel and the watercolour washes…these were drawn using a waterproof Indian ink artist pen with a soft “brush” tip – these lines cover easily with pastel because of the abrasive surface. I find these kinds of pens useful for initial drawing under pastel, since unlike charcoal, they will not lift or affect subsequent application of colour.

I worked these demo pieces on the 355 gsm sheets …which did buckle VERY slightly when I used very wet washes, but it was nothing to worry about as it flattened down as it dried. However, there will be much more substantial, larger, boards available, 1255 gsm - which will stay completely flat even with a watermedia applied. These are marvellous – I have found nothing like them on the market. Previously if I have wanted to work with lots of water for an underpainting, I have had to secure my sheets down onto board…all this work is done for you with these terrific boards. £9.90 (UK) may seem expensive when compared to the price of a sheet of paper…but the boards cannot actually be compared to paper, they are far more versatile than paper, they are a quality product, to be compared to a good quality canvas.

I like to use harder pastels to begin with, working towards softer pastels for the “upper layers”, so that I don't fill the tooth of the paper too quickly. The surface is excellent for fine lines, for x-hatching and other textural marks, for blending of colours, and for layering with side strokes.

Given the super colours, and the different sizes of pads, card and board, this product is a first-class addition to an artist’s arsenal of materials. I have long been a fan of Canson Mi Teinte papers, and I will most certainly be using Canson Mi Teinte Touch for my own work, for both pastels, and for acrylics. I really enjoyed painting “ATHABASCA FALLS (Canada)”, shown large above, on Dark Grey Mi Teinte Touch card, working swiftly and freely with both hard and soft pastels, without any preliminary drawing or underpainting, to recreate my memory of the dramatic rushing water vigorously tumbling over the rocks towards shadowy blue depths.

Colour range: black, dark grey, steel grey, flannel grey, indigo blue, light blue, sky grey, twilight ( a soft grey-purple) wineless (maroon) tobacco, sepia, sand, cream, white.

Card weight 355 gsm size 50x65cm

Board weight 1255 gsm size 50x70cm

Pads:

Size 24x32 - 12 sheets card black, d grey, steel grey, tobacco, sand, cream

Size A3 – 12 sheets card as above.

I have not listed prices, because these will vary depending on your location.

Here are the available colours:

black 425 Ref. 200005925
dark grey 345 Ref. 200005926
flannel grey 122 Ref. 200005928
light blue 490 Ref. 200005930
twilight 131 Ref. 200005932
tobacco 501 Ref. 200005944
sand 336 Ref. 200005946

Reference
white 335 Ref. 200005948
steel grey 431 Ref. 200005927
indigo blue 140 Ref. 200005929
sky grey 354 Ref. 200005931
wineless 503 Ref. 200005933
sepia 133 Ref. 200005945
cream 407 Ref. 200005947

It's a terrific product, which I highly recommend.

*TIP:

I would say at this point, about layering........ I did read somewhere of someone using vast numbers of layers on this surface, but I personally rarely use more than 4 or so layers, I don't see the point, seems such a waste of pastel! Degas would use layers, but the layers allowed previous marks to show through and add vitality to the colour; too many layers will defeat the purpose and may even deaden the colour. My advice would be.......if you find yourself using multiple layers in order to HIDE previous incorrect tones or colours or shapes -STOP- simply take a stiff brush and brush off the offending area, and repaint it!

LOST AND FOUND EDGES

2012-01-09T22:47:00.000-08:00

LOST AND FOUND

No, I don’t mean how to find that sketchbook or brush you have lost and been looking for, although I have to say, there is some kind of science-fiction “black hole” in my studio; I can have something in my hand one minute, and I answer the phone, go back to wherever I left my pen, brush or pencil, and it has completely disappeared. Never to be seen again. So infuriating, happens all the time.

Anyway……I’d like to give a little thought to enhancing our awareness of “lost and found” edges. When we were kids, we drew everything with equally firm edges – boundaries –felt safe and comfy to have something to "colour in", but the more experienced we become as artists, the more we need to let go of the need to enclose everything with a careful edge. (unless we are cartoonists of course....)

Squinting helps a lot; when we squint, we become aware that while many objects in a scene may well have a nicely sharp, delineated edge, (a “found” edge), in other areas the shape we see actually DISSOLVES into the background, not necessarily because there is a shadow there, but often because it is similar in tone or colour to the background. When this happens, softening, or “losing” the edge will help to link the shape with its background, and will encourage more of a visual “flow” within the image.

I know that many of my students had a fear of softening, or losing, edges –they would carefully draw an object in a scene, making sure it was "right" before moving on to the next object. They were not aware of the visual links with the surrounding objects, because they weren't looking at them! However, actually, your drawing or painting WILL make sense without all the edges carefully shown, because the viewer will understand the shape of the “found” part of the object, and his or her brain will do the rest and will assume the rest of the image. It is really important not to underestimate the intelligence of your viewer! Take a look at the beautiful drawing by Rico Lebrun (1900-1964), (above) done in pencil ink and chalk:

The shaded head is obviously the focal point of the drawing. However, we completely understand the "lost" parts of the figure, lines deliberately left out in the arms and legs, in order to draw even more emphasis to that expressive head. the white of the paper "links" with the figure because of the lack of hard lines. Do we assume that the poor person had no left hand, and no feet? Of course not.

In fact, when we come to creating a full colour painting, this losing of edges and visual linking of shapes is a very powerful tool, an important part of pictorial composition, and needs to considered continuously.
I am slightly uncomfortable, after showing that divine drawing above, to show one of my marketplace sketches, but I will have to live with it! In this scene, which is a pencil and watercolour sketch, you can see that I used the watercolour washes to "lose" some edges, allowing them to blend together, while keeping others sharp and crisp. Probably too many crisp edges here and some too-dark tones.......but hey, it was a very hot day, I was in the middle of a busy Spanish market painting on the spot, so please give me a bit of a break! And also, please don't ask me why he has what looks like a portable radio hanging in front of his face....I am blowed if I know what it is now.......

Finally, here is one of my still life pastel images, notice in this one how the left side of the teapot,and red box, and the right side of the large red bowl, dissolve into the darkness behind. I wanted to make the red and black objects and background flow together visually. I could actually see the back of the bowl and the back of the teapot irl, so I squinted REALLY hard... Anyway, imagine if I had painted each object with all edges showing clearly; It would not have had the same atmosphere at all.

When doing your sketches, or composing your paintings, do try to use the principles of "lost and found" to make more visual links and reduce the isolation of objects within a scene. This will create more visual impact.

cropping

2012-01-05T03:34:00.000-08:00

I just came across an article I wrote some time ago about cropping, which appeared in a book. I am sure not all of you will have purchased that particular book, so I thought I would repeat some of the content here, just to get you thinking about the idea of cropping a picture when you are not entirely happy with it. Often, particularly when people work from photos (which I know many of you do), they become a slave to the content of the photo, and never think that actually, a crop might produce a stronger or better image.

One has to be prepared to "let go" of part of a picture........this isn't always easy to do, especially when you have slaved away for ages on the image - but if the end result is better, it is worth doing.

When I was doing a whole series of "dancer" paintings, I painted this particular scene, putting together an image from several of my photos. I was never very happy with the figures on the right - they bugged me, no matter how much I tried to settle to them:. I did not like the positioning of the dancer bottom right, and I was never happy with the overall balance of light and dark shapes.

Cropping is perhaps a rather drastic way to "correct" an unhappy picture, but it can produce good results. Finding new images by cropping feels rather creative, actually, and quite satisfying. From a larger picture, particularly one that you feel has failed, or doesn't meet your expectations and doesn't please your inner taskmaster (that little demon sitting in our subconscious minds), you may well find more than one alternative solutions; more concentrated, intimate compositions, with a better balance of shapes and tones.......as I feel I did with this crop:

Now, I feel that the angles of arms, bodies, and the linear marks of the skirts, work well within the confines of the rectangle, creating a tension with the sides of the rectangle, and as a result, a stronger composition. I also preferred the balance of light and dark areas. Now others may not agree........but MY inner taskmaster stopped its nagging, and that's all that matters!

Next time, I will take this a stage further and look at possible ways to "correct", but without cropping - instead, I will show you a way of trying out changes before you commit to them.

DIRECTIONAL STROKES

2011-12-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

I recently responded to a post on an art forum, where the artist had asked for comment and criticism of his painting. The painting was a beach scene, worked from a mixture of photograph and memory, and the first thing to hit me about the image was the multitude of DIRECTIONAL STROKES that had been used.

When an artist is using a pencil, or a pastel, rather than a brush filled with paint, there is a tendency to use the point of the pencil, or the end of the pastel, to "fill in" areas of the image. The marks made are often very instinctive - they frequently slant from one side or the other, depending on whether the artist is right or left handed. Sometimes, this can work rather well........particularly if you are trying to depict, say, driving rain.....!!.....but at other times, very directional strokes can overwhelm the image, and destroy any sense of visual harmony. Your strokes can flatten form too, take a look at these three simple tree trunk renderings - one with horizontal strokes, one with vertical, and one with a mix of directional strokes in use:

I remember visiting an exhibition of the pastel society in London some time ago, and was rather distracted (polite word, that) by an image where the criss-crossed diagonal strokes used, all over, made the painting look like a piece of fabric with a herringbone pattern in the weave! It may have been the artist's intention...but to my eye, it seemed unnecessary and added little to the appeal of the painting.

Here is a pastel painting, where the directions of some of the strokes used can be seen, but do not overwhelm. There are vertical marks in the sky and a hint of some slightly slanting marks at the base of the image

However, in this image, I have "imposed" an overall cross-hatched effect,
( similar to the effect I saw at the exhibition!)

As you can see, the cross-hatching overwhelms the image. You might like it of course.....you are entitled to that opinion; I am simply using this as an example of what could potentially happen if you resort to a particular kind of mark for everything. To my mind, it starts to look rather contrived - a sort of mannerism.

In this image, I have made it large enough so that you can see that some directional strokes, or marks, are used, but on the whole, they describe the form rather than detract from it, and do not appear to be an affectation or mannerism of any kind. See if you agree:

The moral of the story is to be conscious, when using any kind of implement with a point at the end, to ensure that the direction of your strokes is intentional, and adds to, rather than detracts from, the image.

This will be my last post of 2011, so I wish everyone happy sketching and painting in 2012!

Enamelling - a new adventure

2011-12-19T10:56:00.000-08:00

Expanding one's artistic and creative skills by trying out a totally new medium, can be exciting and enervating. It can lead to important self-discoveries as you try out new ideas, finding some which will inspire you, and some which are hugely challenging for you, as you work outside of your usual "comfort zone" .

I have just returned from doing an enamelling course.

Enamelling, in the way I tried it, was a magical fusion of art and craft. Creating an enamel image on a piece of flat copper, or decorating a copper bowl, was like drawing and painting all at the same time. I was able to create shapes, edges, and drifting colour effects by manipulating the enamel powders, which are, simply, fine particles of coloured glass, which are fused to the copper by heat in a kiln.

I found myself unable to respond quickly and immediately to the changing "needs" or demands of an oil, pastel or watercolour image. This was uncomfortable and disturbing for a dyed-in-the-wool painter of figurative subject matter! However, what I discovered instead was that the alchemy of heat and glass and metal led to surprising and unexpected results, which, for me, was all at the same time scary, novel, and charged with excitement. I had to learn to expect the unexpected, and to respond accordingly.

As you can see from the photo above, I produced both bowls and flat panels. The bowls were heart-stoppingly unpredictable; I truly had to learn to "go with the flow" - bit of a pun there, since enamel on a curved surface will flow, often in unexpected ways. I discovered that every bowl is unique, and in some of my bowls, there is an unseen story of emotional turmoil....some bowls which emerged from the kiln causing despair and despondency, were only successful after many a deep breath, and further firings with heart in mouth. The panels, on the other hand, were easier to control, and provided me with a way to work small - something I have never done successfully before - and I will certainly explore this further; I love the strength of the colours, some of which are opaque, and some transparent, built up in many layers which gives them great depth. I also enjoy the finish of the works - they glow, like small jewels, and look like small, beautifully varnished oils, with impasto effects in some cases, or watercolours behind glass in others.

I feel these little panels will look rather special either framed or perhaps displayed on a miniature easel on a table..........so I have decided to acquire a small kiln and spend a proportion of my time exploring this fascinating new medium .

apologies for the poor photography...I have yet to find out how to photograph shiny panels!

I would encourage all who read my blog to try out something new once in a while. you just might discover a new path to follow, one which may provide new insights and ideas which will, in turn, feed into your other work.

Christmas is fast approaching, and I am sure many of you will be busy for a time with family and friends. I hope I may be forgiven if I miss a week, tho I will try to find the time to write over the holidays. I wish you joy.

PANASONIC FZ100 - a camera for artists

2011-12-11T02:24:00.000-08:00

Some people have asked me what camera I used for taking the photos of the museum interior, so here is a post about my choice of camera, and why I chose it. I consider my camera to be part of my "information collecting" kit. My reasons for buying a camera are not the same as a photographer's reasons.

This PANASONIC LUMIX FZ 100 is a jolly nice bit of kit, with an excellent quality Leica lens. I bought it fairly recently and I am delighted with it, for all sorts of reasons.

SO ....WHY DID I CHOOSE IT?

I use a camera for taking reference photos more than any other reason, tho I have used it for family and tour photos. Anyway, as a painter primarily, my needs are:

1. It needs to be lightweight. My painting/sketching kit is heavy enough, without adding the burden of a heavy camera and extra lenses.

2. It needs a good zoom lens, so that I can choose my composition - near, far, in between. And the lens needs to be built in, not a separate piece of kit, so this camera, which is called a "Bridge" camera - sits between a pocket camera, and a single lens reflex posh job. No need to change lenses....this one has a built-in 24 TIMES OPTICAL ZOOM - quite amazing. For those of you familiar with old-style slr film cameras, this is the equivalent of a 25-600. Just think of the size of the lens you would have had to carry around to get that much zoom! Also, there is the added issue of dust and grit getting into the camera if you change lenses frequently, and as I sometimes go out and about with pastels which are chalky, dusty things, there would be a large risk involved in changing lenses, just as there would be on a beach. Imagine dropping your camera while changing lenses on a beach! Aaargh! Bye Bye camera. Also, I cannot be bothered with the fag of fiddling around with lenses - I like to point and shoot.

3. I do sometimes like to photograph individual figures or groups of people from a distance when I am out and about, to capture the shape accurately, but I really prefer to be discreet about it. Pointing a camera very obviously at someone can cause offence in certain situations - on the beach, for example, or in a cafe, and even in some countries were photos are believed to capture the person's spirit as well as their image. So I like the LCD panel at the back to be large and, importantly, it needs to be one which swings out and tilts. Then, I can point the camera in one direction while I face another!!! I can even have the camera on my lap, and be looking down at my lap...and the lcd panel... when I take a photo.

4. I like ease of use. Although the camera can be used manually, with all the control in your hands via all the knobs and wheels, I like to leave the camera to do the job, and Panasonic's superb "Intelligent Auto" setting suits me just fine. The camera simply chooses the most appropriate combination of settings for the current situation. The 6 available scene modes are Macro, Portrait, Scenery, Night Portrait, Night Scenery and Sunset, so obviously not all situations are covered by Intelligent Auto Mode, but for me, it does work for virtually every situation. It makes it possible for everyone, even an inexperienced photographer, to easily take well-exposed, sharp pictures of people, scenery and close-ups by simply pointing and shooting the camera.

The autofocus is extremely fast and reliable, with very good low light performance, focusing just as quickly in twilight as in full daylight. It has a very bright and well-focused AF assist lamp with a range of about four metres, and focuses with this very quickly even in total darkness.

I could go on and on, but these are my main reasons for choosing this camera.

For a really comprehensive review, you can look at this page:
http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/panasonic_lumix_dmc_fz100_review/

Here are a few examples of the camera in use. This first photo was taken without using the zoom. Take a look at the group of trees at the back of the garden. There is a fat round bush there at the base of the tall fir tree, which is sitting in front of a distant garden pond.

Now here I zoomed right in on that bush and what was beside it. !! You can even see the ferns at the base of the bush and the rocks around the pond. And it is still quite sharp, even tho I did not use a tripod and have a rather shaky hand ...the camera has "image stabilisation". Wonderful.

and here are some pics taken on a recent trip with a group, in each case, the lighting conditions were challenging, yet I did NOT use a flash:

Having said all of this, if you are someone who prefers to carry a camera around in your pocket, this is obviously not going to do the job for you. BUT I did take these superb photos when I was in Canada, using another in the Panasonic range, their small pocket camera , the LUMIX DMC TZ3, with 10xzoom Leica lens, which has now been superceded by more recent TZ models. I was absolutely stunned with the quality of these photos, from a small, relatively inexpensive pocket camera (It was approximately £170 when I bought it and the newer models are about the same price now). It does not have the super-long zoom or tilting lcd of my larger camera, but the advantage of being able to keep it in a pocket is not to be dismissed lightly. This photo of the base of the glacier was taken from a ship, which was anchored well out into the bay, for fear of falling ice. Yet just look at the quality of the image. Although newer models exist, one can still pick up this camera refurbished or second-hand if you are on a tight budget but want a really good camera.

this one without zoom; the top one with the zoom.

Whatever camera you buy, the moral of the story here is to make sure you buy it for the RIGHT REASONS if you are an artist and want your camera to be part of your "information collection kit". There are so many cameras out there today, it is jolly confusing and difficult to know what to buy, but if you are clear about your specific needs, it does help to narrow the field.

THE TONE OF THE COLOUR

2011-12-05T00:20:00.000-08:00

"I am inclined to think that no artist can be called an accomplished craftsman until all matters of technique are so well learnt that they are part of his subconscious equipment". - Robert Beverley Hale

Possibly tutors today would consider this an old-fashioned approach. I remember well, at art school in the 70's, being told by one "modern" tutor, when the college decided to withdraw all life drawing classes, that "life is on the streets...you dont need to use a model to practice traditional life drawing, just go out on the streets and draw people". As I was a "mature student" and he was probably 10 years younger than me, I did a certain amount of eyebrow waggling at him, but sadly, his "progressive" ideas were adopted, the life class disappeared, and I had to go elsewhere to learn what I felt I needed to learn.

The moral of the story is that everyone has to take responsibility for their own progress. I thought it might help some of you to know that even tho I went to art school, I felt that the teaching was, for me, incomplete. I had to go elsewhere for the information and practice I craved.

So - back to the learning of technique!

One of the areas of problem that I often came across with my students, was their inability to see and recognise TONES accurately. There was often a strange reluctance to recognise that something was as dark, or light, as it really was. A white wall, in shadow, for example, is NOT white...yet sometimes it was like pulling teeth to get the student to admit that OK, perhaps it was not as white as the bit in the sun...

Subtleties were even worse. I would come along, point at the scene and say..."ok, what's darker...that fence, or the grass?" The student would ponder fence and grass for a while, and eventually reach a decision. Then they would look at my face...and then down at their image, where lo and behold, they had REVERSED the tones.

for example....what's darker, the orange shape behind the market seller, or the dark wall above it?

So ...my little tip for today. When you are studying a scene, and trying to render it reasonably accurately for its tone values, don't just look at an object in isolation, draw it or paint it completely, and then move on to whatever is beside it. When working in pencil or charcoal to create a monochrome image, my suggestion would be to work lightly across the entire rectangle, leaving the white of the paper for your lightest areas, and working in a mid-tone for the rest. Then, gradually build up the intermediate tones, working up to your darkest tones.

IMPORTANT PART HERE:

As you work, repeat these words to yourself ALL THE TIME. "Is this area darker than that area? How much darker?" "Is this shape lighter than that shape over there? How much lighter?" Squint when you make your decisions, it helps to reduce the impact of the colour.

This simple method of checking the relative lightness and darkness of areas - particularly those which are not always side-by-side- will help you to refine your ability to recognise the tone values before you.

Now this doesn't sound too difficult does it? Many of you think you know how to identify tones quite well. After all, if I asked you to pick up a graphite pencil and make a drawing of a bowl of fruit, you probably would not hesitate at all.....you would feel fairly confident of getting the tones right, even though the fruits might be all different colours.

But actually......how good are you? How deeply embedded in your subconscious mind is this business of recognising the actual lightness and darkness of objects? Can you really properly identify whether a red fruit is lighter or darker than a green one?

So here is a simple, fun test to help you find out how good you are!

1. Tear a long strip from a magazine, about an inch wide, with plenty of different shapes and colours in it.
2. Copy the strip, using a soft pencil (4B or softer), aiming for accurate reproduction of the lightness or darkness of each shape.
3. Photocopy both strips in black and white. Or scan them into your computer, and look at the results in greyscale. THEN you will see how well you did!

Here's my attempt:

now scanned in greyscale:

Hmm. "This student could do better".

If you get to the point where you can recognise the tones of colours automatically, subconsciously, you will know that this is an element of technique well under your belt. You are on the way to becoming the accomplished artist you would like to be.

No time for sketching!

2011-11-28T05:58:00.000-08:00

I have just returned from a trip and with a mountain of things to do on my return, this is a bit of a side-track from my usual "artyfacts information" posts...but nevertheless, there is a fair bit of arty content! I would like to share with you some of the fantastic art I was privileged to see during my trip. Sadly I had no time at all to sketch - it was a whistle-stop tour - so the camera HAD to suffice. This is a huge frustration for me....but sometimes, it has its compensations.

One of the places I visited while I was away is the new section of the Museum of Art in Tel Aviv. This is an extraordinary building, the design of which presented a massive challenge. On a tight, triangular site, there was a need for a series of large rectangular galleries. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art Amir building was born, designed by Prof. Preston Scott Cohen, who heads the Harvard Uni Graduate School of Architecture. Individual rectangular galleries are organised around an 87 ft tall "lightfall", a spiraling atrium. For those of you interested in cutting-edge architecture, there are some AMAZING images on this website which show the construction of this building, which, quite simply, took my breath away.

http://telavivartdesign.com/2011/10/tel-aviv-museum-of-art-amir-building-preston-scott-cohen/

the building has five levels – two above ground and three below – which subtly twist to connect the disparate angles between the galleries while refracting natural light into the deepest recesses of the half buried building.

Unfortunately, I was not allowed to photograph the art exhibits but their current major exhibition features the work of Anselm Keifer, a German artist, whose large-scale works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. I have talked in this blog about the use of different and unusual materials ....if you would like to see some of this at work in Keifer's images, click the link below, then try to imagine them the size of your entire living room wall!

http://www.tamuseum.org.il/en/about-the-exhibition/anselm-kiefer-shevirat-ha-kelim

I am not a professional photographer by any means, and I rarely go out specifically to photograph for the sake of photography - for me the camera is just another part of my artists' "toolkit" when I am out and about. Any purchase of a camera on my part revolves around how well the camera will function for collecting reference material for later use. (I will talk more about this at a later date). However, I did manage to take some photos of the interior of the building which give me great pleasure purely as photographs, so I hope you might enjoy them too.

To my eye, they are a combination of figurative elements, and marvellous abstract shapes. I cannot take ANY of the credit for this....they were simply a gift! Clearly the architect knew exactly the impact his building would have.

Should you ever find yourself in the vibrant city of Tel Aviv, make sure you don't miss visiting this extraordinary, visually exciting Museum

Outside the museum, in the plaza, there are these amusing pieces...all of them flat grey metal, about one inch thick, depicting people and native birds, some pigeons, some rather larger which I could not identify by name, but saw plenty of them around, large bi-coloured birds, black and beige, in size rather like UK crows, but more colourful. Israel is situated on in intercontinental junction - a bottleneck for migration routes. It is estimated that a BILLION birds pass through Israel in Spring and Autumn!

If you are a bird lover, you will enjoy this gorgeous photo of these two "Little Green Bee Eaters" -

http://www.israbirding.com/photo_album/gallery-image.php?little_green_bee_eater_lior.jpg::/gallery/gallery_images/::KINGFISHER

How lovely are they!!!!

Last but not least by any means, here are the Chagal tapestries to be found in the Knesset, the parliament building in Jerusalem.

Chagal made the original paintings the same size as the future tapestries. The painting for the right tapestry was completed 1963, since he had made a similar image for the UN building in different colours for a stained glass window in memory of the last Secretary General Dag hammarskjold . In 1964 the weaving of the tapestries began at the "Atelier de la Manufacture des Gobelins" workshop in Paris. The weaving continued until 1968. They were hung June 18 1969. 144 colours and shades were used in their making.

When there is absolutely no time to sketch, a camera can be a very useful indeed - my photos will always be there to remind me of some very special sights.

AN EXTRAORDINARY SYMBOLIST

2011-11-21T01:06:00.000-08:00

Eye Balloon

My last post talked about the use of the eraser as a "drawing tool", and my research brought me "back" to the work of Odilon Redon (1840-1916). I say "back" because when I was introduced to pastels many years ago, I discovered Redon's pastels and loved them, but somehow they slipped away from me in the mists of time. Last week, while looking at fixatives and erasers, Redon's "Noirs" came into focus. I had not come across these monochrome images before - they are wierdly disturbing, apparently influenced by the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Redon's aim, apparently, was to represent the ghosts of his own mind. His early years were unhappy ones and these images, I believe, reflect that torment.

Spirit of the forest 1880

Redon used a combination of vine and oiled charcoal, with touches of compressed charcoal, together with a fabricated black chalk, a much harder and blacker medium than charcoal. Oiled charcoal figures prominently in his "Noirs". He probably made this oiled charcoal himself, by soaking pieces of vine charcoal in linseed oil. For centuries, oiled charcoal was valued for its ability to adhere readily to paper fibres, unlike regular charcoal, which leaves particles on the surface, very vulnerable to smudging. I intend to try this and see how it works - maybe you might also like to try.

Redon would often prepare the paper with an overall base of powdered charcoal. His first step then was to produce a modulated tone, from which he could "extract" forms, exactly as I showed you in my previous post. He also used charcoal on its side for broad strokes, and wetted a rounded stick with a pointed tip for linear work. He would use fixative as he worked, and would incise into the fixed areas with a pointed tool, scrape with a hard-bristled brush, and would lift media with a sponge or fingers. His fingerprints are often to be seen in the background of his images.

Tree, 1875

In a nutshell, he selectively manipulated and even removed drawing materials, to achieve the final result.

The underlying paper would often be exposed, and became an integral part of the image...its tone adding to the end result. Golden-toned papers have come to be accepted as those he preferred for his "Noirs" ...but this could be a misconception. Research has shown that the colour of the paper we see today is the result of several conditions - 1) the application of fixative which darkened the sheets, 2) the exposure of the paper to light and 3) the instability of the dyes used in the manufacture of the papers. He did, in fact, choose his papers in a variety of tones, sometimes using mottled papers, in which red, blue and multi-coloured fibres are visible. He has stated that all his "Noirs" were made on papers usually of yellow, pink or blue. He would have known that the resins used in fixative at that time would become yellow-golden as they aged, and analysis of fixative taken from the "Noirs" reveals that he probably used balsam resins, diluted with alcohol.

More info if your interest has been roused: http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=4840

My last post discussed the use of the eraser as a drawing tool. I hope you will be able to see, from these rather extraordinary images, how useful this concept may be, and how it could extend your own repertoire of mark-making.

At a later date, I will introduce the colourist Redon to you. The background is fascinating and demonstrates how life's experiences can impact on the work of an artist. After a religious crisis in the early 1890's, and a serious illness in 1894-5, his personality drastically altered, he became a more cheerful and exuberant man, who was able then to express himself in radiant colour!

DRAWING WITH BREAD, RUBBER AND PLASTIC!

2011-11-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

Back to the drawing board/sketchbook, folks. This rather unusual blog title means that I would like to talk about the use of the ERASER as a drawing tool.

An eraser is not just for removing mistakes. An eraser can also be used for drawing purposes...for creating, rather than simply erasing.

First, let's look at....

TYPES OF ERASER TO USE

Today, there is a huge choice of "rubbers" or erasers, in our shops. Before these items were available to artists, a piece of BREAD was often used, worked between the fingers into a stiff ball or lozenge, to remove chalk, charcoal or pencil marks. It was, and still is, surprisingly effective! It does, however, create lots of crumbs!

Rubber itself proved to be more effective still, plastic came along shortly after, and now we can choose all sorts of different kinds of rubber, vinyl and plastic erasers, in block, stick, pencil and even battery-operated form like this one here:

Soft plastic or vinyl erasers, like the white ones shown below are the most effective at removing graphite marks, but although they do a very good job, care is needed since they can, with over-use, damage the surface of the paper - although not as much as a hard, gum rubber which can even impress graphite INTO the surface of the paper, and these impressed marks are almost impossible to remove. Rubber, plastic and vinyl erasers will all leave little scraps of themselves on the surface, which need to be blown away. If you try to brush them away, you may well brush off parts of your drawing or smudge the drawing.......NOT fun.

For charcoal, pastel pencil or conte, a kneaded, or putty eraser, which is soft and pliable and feels something like Blu-tack, is the safest option;

This kind of eraser is not so good for removing very large areas of charcoal since it will soften and deform in use (you really need to brush most of the charcoal off gently, perhaps with a soft brush, before attacking with any kind of eraser). You can tear off small pieces of a kneadable eraser for removing tiny areas, even dabbing or dotting with a corner fashioned into a point will lift the charcoal like magic. If the kneaded eraser becomes hard, or dirty, which it will over time, it can be manipulated gently in a warm hand, kneading the eraser with your fingers to close clean areas over dirty ones until you achieve a surface clean enough to use again. A kneaded eraser can be shaped into a ball, a wedge, a point - anything you might require. It will not leave crumbs, it simply lifts marks by absorbing the charcoal particles. Eventually it will become too dirty to use, and will need to be replaced. If very dirty, it will actually leave marks...or make marks, if that appeals to you! And if your drawing is irritating you, for a change of pace you can always resort to making funny animal models out of a kneaded eraser........

THE USE AS A DRAWING TOOL

There may be times when you do not want to painstakingly work around light shapes, since this can be fiddly and can stop the "flow" of an image. You may want to create a highlight, or a very fine light line. There may also be times when you want to soften or break up the image you have created, with erased areas, quite deliberately, for a particular effect. Picking out an eraser line, or area, from a charcoal shape, is easier to achieve than one might imagine. Take a look at this simple example. Charcoal was spread across a sheet of ivory pastel paper. The charcoal hits the "high points" in the paper, which is why it looks slightly textured. The top half was rubbed in with fingers, achieving a more solid, but somewhat misty effect.

Then the white shapes were "lifted" out with an eraser. So simple, so quick. Do try it for yourself, if you have never done so before.

Now take a look at my ballet drawings here. I wanted just to hint at movement. So, I used the eraser to break up the charcoal or conte work. The broken line in places seems to subtly suggest a sense of movement .

English National Ballet student, at practice. Brown conte pencil

Here is another one: Look carefully at the upper part of the arm of the figure, see how the lines have been broken up, which helps to give the impression of slight movement. Same thing applies to the lines which surround the body.

"Ever Graceful". Charcoal and conte on paper.

For the picture at the beginning of this blog, I used a plastic eraser to lift out the light shapes of the smaller branches of the trees in the woodland sketch, and for some of the distant trees.

In my next blog post, a kind of "part two", I will introduce you to some of the charcoal work of a symbolist painter, Odilon Redon, who produced some very extraordinary works using this technique -he would use an eraser, and a "stump", as part of his arsenal of tools, to quite remarkable effect.

CASTING A SHADOW

2011-11-07T04:29:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, figure drawing was taught from white plaster casts. This helped the artist to concentrate on the form, without being distracted by colour. A white figure would provide various tones of greys in the shadows, and the emerging artist would learn to see not just simple white, grey and black, but many subtle nuances of shades of grey - the tones.

I am sure that most artists reading this blog are well aware of the way that light reveals the three-dimensional form of an object. If you have been sharpening up your observational powers really well, you will be aware of the subtleties in the tones - the way that the shadows alter in depth of tone according to the shape of an object. A white box, for example, will provide obvious changes of tone, related directly to the changes of plane, when placed near a window. A cylinder will have much more subtle changes of tone. My tutor encouraged us students to produce loads of drawings in tone, particularly of things cylindrical, conical and spherical, basic shapes which represent many basic forms in nature.

Light can play tricks however, it can actually destroy the illusion of shape. How? Well, let's take a look at one dangerous area...CAST SHADOWS.

If you were to draw an object, carefully considering the light and shade, it might look fine. But what if you were to place another object alongside the first one, so that it casts a shadow across the form of the first object?

Here are two very simple drawings to illustrate the point. The highlight and shading (tones) on this smooth "red" pepper shows us the form, we understand it completely.

But look at the shadow cast by the garlic below. Studied in isolation, you can clearly see that the form is now only suggested by the curving shape of the bttom edge of the shadow. Otherwise, all sense of three dimensions has gone...that particular part of the pepper could be completely flat.

Now squint at the next pic. I have extended the dark shadow to the right of the pepper, and made it similar in tone to the shadow on the pepper - now it looks like there could be a gap between a top section and bottom section of pepper!

Let me show you why this is important in other cases too. Light falls onto a human face from above (mostly). Therefore the nose sometimes casts a shadow below.

If you drew that shadow exactly as you saw it, you would give the face a neat little moustache! I know you may think I am stating the obvious, but I have actually seen this in many a student's work. When pointed out to them, I got a frown, and the defensive comment "well, it was THERE, I was only drawing what I saw".
It is sometimes hard to make someone understand that it is, actually, OK to leave certain things OUT of a picture if they are not helpful. The determination to paint what is seen, is very powerful. (I once read of a tutor who watched his student very carefully drawing, on the model's chest, the cast shadow of a cat asleep on the skylight above! ) Next time you look at a really good portrait, notice how the artist has either eliminted, or reduced the importance of the cast shadow under the nose.

The head, too, casts a shadow onto the neck, often hiding the column-like form.

in this image, the clothing casts a rather strange shadow onto the neck, and if you squint at it, the lit area looks almost flat

Also, and worse still if the model is a woman, the shadow may make the model look like she has a beard!

I freely admit that when I was a student, drawing someone asleep in the sunshine, with shadows from a fence falling across his white t-shirt, so intent was I upon getting them straight and the right thickness that instead of looking at best like a striped t shirt, it actually looked like a fence had fallen onto the poor chap!

Here's an excellent, if obvious, example of the danger of cast shadows...

Painted as seen, the result could be quite disturbing, as if the woman has some kind of unfortunate skin complaint or else has been doing some home decorating with something very splashy!

Look at this beautiful drawing by Rubens. Notice how the shadow cast by the nose has been noticed, but very little is made of it, and also see how the neck is shown to be a column by the careful use of directional shading:

There is a cast shadow on the clothing behind the head...but this helps to frame the face, and emphasises that wonderful reflected light on the side of the face; it is falling onto the simple flat plane of the raised collar, so does not destroy any feeling of form.

I hope I have made you a little more aware of the danger of faithfully copying cast shadows, and the need for realising that even if "it is there", the artist needs to spot potential problems and deal with them with intelligence and sensitivity.

SNAP!!!

2011-11-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

Something recently drew my attention to the fact that the use of the photograph as source material is becoming more and more prevalent. Even beginners are using photographs, instead of real objects, to sketch from. Now please don’t misunderstand …I am NOT saying that artists should never work from photos…so anyone who wants to attack me on this point – please don't, because I do use photos often,and what was good enough for Degas, is ok by me!

So, WHY do I encourage all beginners to work from life, as often as possible, if the camera is an acceptable tool to me?

Well, I believe people use photos not just for convenience but partly because one step in the process has been removed for them. The photograph is a flat, two-dimensional object. Somehow, it is easier to “see” the shapes in the photograph as two-dimensional shapes, whereas when confronted with a three-dimensional object or scene, it feels far more difficult to translate from three dimensions to two. (ALSO the photo has defined boundaries…reality doesn’t.)

However.....working from life not only feels quite different to working from a photo, it also teaches you different things.

Now…stop frowning at me and think for a moment. You might be able to blow up your photograph so that an apple depicted in a photo is the same size as an apple placed on a table…but what about the tree you plan to draw? You could never blow up your photograph to be the same size as a tree! Doesn’t that make you wonder how much information you might be “missing”, when working from a small photo?

AND, possibly even more importantly, are you aware of the distortions that occur in photos? In crit sessions, I have so often heard the defensive cry “but that was just how it was in the photo”. Yet the photo is not always "the truth". So many things can be inaccurate. For instance, tones – particularly in landscape photos – are often rendered inaccurately because the camera cannot expose correctly for both sunlit areas and shadow areas at the same time. Look at this photo on the right and compare it with the one above: you will get a sense of what the eye might have seen in those rocks.

Portraits, particularly those taken by amateur photographers, often have unnaturally flattened forms, particularly if flash is used. Proportions are often distorted too. Just look at the first two pics in this photography tutorial, they are really enlightening:

http://www.digitalimagemagazine.com/blog/featured/tutorial-correcting-lens-distortion-in-your-reference-photos/

Original pic...you cannot see what's happening in the shadows

photo adjusted to see what the human eye might have seen.

A little learning goes a long way when working from a photo. You may not be able to see the underlying skull from a photo of a face, but you cannot deny it exists – so just imagine how much better it would be if you had an understanding of the skeleton under the skin, in order to make the best of an inadequate photo. Learn about aerial perspective for landscape painting, and THEN study your photos, and notice how inadequate they can frequently be.

Now, I know I am not about to change the world when I say this, but for whatever it is worth, MY philosophy is that if you work directly from photos all of the time, instead of working from life– you are missing out a BIG CHUNK of the experience, and the learning. This, in turn, will affect your ability to use photos properly.

I believe that using photographs EVENTUALLY, once you have spent time developing your drawing, painting and observational skills, can open up new approaches and ideas – I will go into that in another blog post at a later date. For now, I just want to encourage those of you who DON’T work from life, to try it, to see how very different it feels, and to discover how much you can learn. Also, I recommend you make a point of learning about photographic distortions so that you begin to recognise, and avoid them.

Both of these practices will help you to use photos more effectively and confidently in the fullness of time.

ATTENDING A WORKSHOP

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Workshop participants, in a Guernsey garden

I did say I would hop about a little in this blog, it is not meant to be an art instruction "course" of any kind....and the word "course" brings me to the thought that many of you might, at some time or other, be planning to attend a workshop with an instructor.

One (or two+) day workshops are great fun, but are rather different to longer painting holidays, which I will look at another time, since a painting holiday can be more relaxed, with the emphasis on the word "holiday". A workshop is quite a different matter, and requires a certain amount of preparation - mentally as well as physically! Here are some of my thoughts, based not only on my experience as a tutor, but also as a participant.

BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME:

1. Think a little about what you would like to achieve during the workshop. It may be that you don't really mind, and are happy just to go along and accept whatever happens. But...if you know you are "stuck", perhaps, in certain ways, you could use the workshop to help you shift a little.

2. Take your sketchbook with you…useful to show your instructor what you are capable of, and useful for notes in the back.

3. Take one or two paintings you have done, if you have any, but don’t be upset if the instructor does not have time to see them…for instance, on a one day workshop, with lots of participants, it just may not be possible.

4. If it is an outdoor session , make sure you are well equipped for the outdoors. Not just art materials – that is a given, and ( hopefully) a good instructor will give you a list of what to bring (if not, you could ask) - but do think about the weather - it is your responsibility, not the instructor's. If weather is likely to be hot, take a hat, sun cream and insect repellent. For cold weather, warm hat, warm boots with thick soles (cold creeps up your legs from thinly-soled boots or shoes) and perhaps fingerless gloves. A warm scarf is good, particularly if it is windy. And always take a waterproof coat or jacket, no matter what season!

5. Take a large plastic bag…the type you might be given by the dry cleaners is very useful, to cover up a painting AND board, at the end of the day. It can also double-up as an apron, if you forget that!

6. Take a pack or two of moist hand wipes.

7. Take drinking water, there may not be a nearby cafe when you are struck with thirst.

8. An apron can be useful.

9. If you think you may be working outside, and know you may need to sit to work, do take a folding painting seat…it may not be possible for the instructor to provide one. If you are not particularly strong, then instead of carting a bag of kit around, a bag on wheels is very useful too. I use one all the time, even if it does make me look like I am off to the supermarket. Might not be "cool", but it IS practical!

10. Try out any new equipment or art materials you have purchased, to familiarise yourself with it/them.

11. If you have problems at home…try to leave them at home! I have heard students pour their hearts out to others about their horrible husband/rotten wife/financial difficulties/chronic illnesses – and although people might well be sympathetic, they actually need all their energies for the workshop, not for your issues.

an unusual watercolour demo!

DURING THE SESSION.

1. IT IS VITAL THAT YOU MAKE NOTES (ideally in the back of your sketchbook, so you will never lose them). You cannot possibly remember all you will hear from your instructor

2. As the instructor moves around the room, LISTEN to what is being said to other students. It may well apply to your work too.

3. MAKE A LIST of things which occur to you as you work. Then, when the instructor comes to you, you can ask about those things.

4. BE CONSIDERATE. For instance, do not spray fixative in enclosed spaces, and try to contain your materials to your immediate vicinity rather than spread out too far, particularly in a crowded room.

5. BE ON TIME. Nothing worse for the class than waiting around for someone who is late, or takes for ever to pack up when it is time to move to a new location. If you do arrive late, and the class or demo has started, you have no right to complain or demand a re-run, even if you feel you have paid the full fee and are therefore entitled! (I have seen this happen!)

6. You may well feel nervous and apprehensive. Your fellow students are probably feeling the same way even if they don’t appear to be! Even a more experienced painter may feel apprehensive at a workshop. It is useful to remember that at every level, artists have their own demons to contend with and are very rarely self-satisfied! So... Never compare your work to your neighbour’s…after all, they may have been painting far longer than you have. You should only ever compare your work to work you were doing, say, a year ago...THAT is the best reflection of your progress.

7. REDUCE YOUR EXPECTATIONS. The nerves, the unfamiliar surroundings, the problems of being away from the comforts of home, will all play a part. Your work may not be even as good as the work you do at home. Don’t worry about this…it is quite normal, and what you learn during a workshop will often show in your work at a later date. It's frustrating, I know, but this is often the way it works, even for more experienced painters.

8. Be OPEN-MINDED and ready to try something new. You are there to learn, so take a leap of faith and try whatever is suggested, even if it doesn't appeal to you. If it doesn’t work for you – so be it – it is just as useful to find out what does not work for you, as what does!

9. Accept criticism of your work with good grace; any criticism you receive hopefully will be constructive, it will help you grow as an artist. Have a good think about what the instructor has said, if it seemed adverse to you. Try to examine your work again calmly, and see it through new eyes.

10.CONCENTRATE QUIETLY on your work, rather than chat away constantly to your neighbour. They may be too polite to ask you to stop talking – but they may actually want to concentrate without any such distractions. Chattering in a class can be quite disturbing for everyone, actually. Save it up for the breaks!

A workshop session can be really rewarding - challenging - exciting - enlightening - action-packed - but it can also be exhausting, overwhelming, frustrating, sometimes even downright upsetting - you need to be mentally prepared for anything. You may go home filled with new ideas and renewed vigour and enthusiasm, or there is a small chance you may go home feeling rather shattered and despondent - it can happen. BUT it is a risk worth taking - the chances are really good that you will have had the most marvellous, eye-opening experience - suddenly new doors may have opened for you. Your notes will prove useful in the days and years to come, and the experience will certainly have enriched your life.

ATTENDING A WORKSHOP

2011-10-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

Workshop participants, in a Guernsey garden

BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME:

2. Take your sketchbook with you…useful to show your instructor what you are capable of, and useful for notes in the back.

6. Take a pack or two of moist hand wipes.

7. Take drinking water, there may not be a nearby cafe when you are struck with thirst.

8. An apron can be useful.

10. Try out any new equipment or art materials you have purchased, to familiarise yourself with it/them.

an unusual watercolour demo!

DURING THE SESSION.

1. IT IS VITAL THAT YOU MAKE NOTES (ideally in the back of your sketchbook, so you will never lose them). You cannot possibly remember all you will hear from your instructor

2. As the instructor moves around the room, LISTEN to what is being said to other students. It may well apply to your work too.

3. MAKE A LIST of things which occur to you as you work. Then, when the instructor comes to you, you can ask about those things.

THE EXPRESSIVE LINE

2011-10-25T01:14:00.000-07:00

The Life Model - white conte and charcoal on
pre-tinted paper

Our drawings are often, certainly for the beginner anyway, tentative. Perhaps this is partly fear of drawing the lines too firmly, since that makes them harder to erase! Yet, we doodle with lines quite confidently…so therefore, we must have some reluctance to draw objects or scenes with that same confidence. Not surprising of course…we are trying so hard to create a drawing that looks like our subject. After all, someone might look at it.......

I have also noticed that students reasonably confident with a pencil, sometimes turn into nervous wrecks when asked to draw with pen and ink! The safety net of the eraser …gone! The resulting drawings are often stiff, showing the anxiety of the artist. So clearly…our thoughts and feelings, as well as our skills, are conveyed to the world through our drawings.

It is interesting to realise that unlike our handwriting, which we take for granted and which rarely changes in style, all drawn lines have expressive qualities, and the more we explore the differing characteristics of the lines we create, the more we expand our artistic vocabulary and move beyond our natural inclination to draw everything in the same way .

Of course, it is appropriate to spend time making drawings which are purely observational – exploring our subject carefully, constructing the form as accurately as possible, getting the fundamentals of proportion, scale, perspective, direction etc right. This can be taught, and learned, it becomes a valuable skill. Here is a drawing of a skull I did when I was a student. It shows evidence of strong observation,it was clearly the result of slow, careful execution, it is competent - but somewhat bland and lifeless ....sorry, awful pun there ! :)

But just look at this line drawing by Toulouse Lautrec. Pen and ink!! Yet look at the vigour of the work, the feeling of life and movement! No proper face – does it matter? Is the horse's head a wee bit small? Maybe, but does it matter? Not a bit. We feel the strength of the trooper, his comfortable, confident position on his horse, the powerful body of the horse, all done with a few lively, gestural lines.

Take a look at this selection of lines below. And think of the adjectives we could apply to them. Can you “see” any of these words?

nervous : angry : happy : free : quiet : excited : calm : dancing : vigorous ; graceful : confident : hesitant : joyful

The basics of good proportions, form and structure, still need to be present in your drawings, but I urge you, at the same time,to consider, albeit gradually to begin with, the use of line variety for expressive and emotional reasons, to emphasise some of the abstract qualities of your subject. Lines can flow slowly or rapidly to express varying types of movement, they can be heavy or positive for emphasis and drama, they can express tone and weight, they can be soft and sensitive and even by their absence, can suggest light - or lack of it, as in the life model drawing at the top of this blog. you may find, as you become sensitive to this aspect of drawing, that you begin to produce drawings which are so much more interesting and telling, than those created purely to be accurate.

2011-10-18T00:25:00.000-07:00

ON THE EDGE

A reader asked me to touch on the aspect of EDGES, with sketching in mind rather than painting –which is a whole different subject I will tackle at a later date .

We all use lines to define shapes…we put OUTlines around everything, and as children, would then “colour in” those outlines.

YET…..

Very often, these edges simply do not exist in the real world. People, for instance, are not flat, like stage scenery. Neither is a ball, a pear, a flower. What DOES have edges then? A box has an edge – well, several of course. So does a rectangular or square building. All sounds rather obvious, I know – but we still feel the urge to put lines around everything, even if there is no actual edge.

However, making a hard line where the eye stops at a so-called edge, might well visually flatten the form and destroy the illusion of three-dimensional form. Since we are trying to create this illusion, on a flat, two-dimensional surface…paper…we need to find ways to tackle the “edge” so that we are hinting at a continuance of the shape, beyond that contour edge. Visual examples are always best, so take a look at the vase sketches below. You can clearly see how unnecessary the hard edge lines for the sides of the vase are in the bottom image, if anything, they seem to bring the sides of the vase forward! Very simple examples, but very effective to show how much we need to develop sensitivity to edges in our sketches, particularly if we intend to develop the 3-D form with the use of tonal shading.

Without the use of shading, a greater sensitivity to the weight of the lines we use, will also help enormously to reinforce the illusion of three dimensions. We need to become more responsive to our subject, and in so doing, our drawings will become more expressive, and far less mechanical.

Take a look at this Rembrandt drawing. His lines appear to flow spontaneously, but every one is telling. We can sense the form and changes of plane, and we even understand the direction of the light. We can feel the weight of her head, and the weight of her sleeping body pressing into the bedding. It is a beautifully expressive brush drawing, not even remotely mechanical, and it “breathes” on the paper because the figure is not enclosed in “wire” with a hard edge all around it. This was a quickly-executed drawing..which shows that it is not the time spent that makes a worthwhile drawing, it is understanding and sensitivity.

Time spent studying master drawings, and thinking more carefully about your own drawings and the edges you use, will help you enormously when you come to tackle the subject of “lost and found” edges in painting…..watch this space, folks….

SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO SKETCH WITH....

2011-10-12T03:46:00.000-07:00

Venice Canal walkway

I am sure you know that there are lots of different materials you can use to sketch with. Regular graphite pencils tend to be the most popular choice; easy to rub out! (tho perhaps a bit too easy to rub out, I have watched many an eraser-happy artist spending more time scrubbing away their drawings, than drawing. As a student I was not allowed to use an eraser. That focussed the mind and sharpened up the observation, I can tell you!)

In days of yore (love that phrase) artists frequently sketched using SANGUINE, a rust-coloured chalk – just look at the fabulous sketch below by Augustus John.

Those artists of the past often used blocks of sanguine for their lovely images. then, in the 18^th Century, in response to the graphite shortages caused by the Napoleonic Wars, CONTE STICKS were invented by Nicolas-Jacques Conte (interestingly, the British naval blockage of France prevented the import of graphite). Conte is a drawing medium composed of compressed charcoal (or sometime graphite) mixed with a wax or clay base.

Today’s artists are lucky enough to have a huge choice of either sticks, or pencils, in these mediums, to use. And use them I do…..I absolutely love them .

The choice is a bit mind-boggling, and I don’t want to bore you with over-wordy blogs, so I will give you a brief rundown of the main types of “monochrome” PENCILS – you can buy sticks, but for sketching, particularly on location, pencils are cleaner to use. Sharpen carefully with a craft knife, ideally.

CONTE PIERRE NOIRE is a soft black that is rich, intense and matt.

CONTE CARBON PENCIL has a core derived from traditional charcoal, but is stronger, waxier, and does not crumble. I often use these.

CONTE CHARCOAL PENCIL is intensely black, and blends will with the red and sepia pencils. It will give you finer control than traditional charcoal sticks.

CONTE SANGUINE PENCIL is a deep rust colour, which blends easily. Lightly drawn, the texture of the paper shows thro. Opacity increases with pressure.

CONTE SANGUINE MEDICI is a darker red, with less red oxide. It behaves similarly to the Sanguine pencil.

CONTE SEPIA PENCIL is like burnt umber. Gorgeous for shading. With a sharp point, you can achieve accurate, delicate lines; with a half-worn lead, the finish is more opaque and pressure gives dark lines. It also blends well with sanguine, white, charcoal or Pierre noire pencils.

You can use any of these pencils onto white sketchbook papers, except the white conte obviously…but beautiful drawings can be achieved on a tinted paper, using the white for highlights, as I did for the peppers on the right here, drawn with black conte, and white conte, onto grey paper.

If you are well up with the technological revolution, and would like to see some stunning master drawings, for inspiration, believe it or not there are two APPS available, showing many of the sketches of Leonardo Da Vinci 75 drawings, and Antoine Watteau, 100 drawings. Click on the names to go to the itunes webpage for the inexpensive apps.

Managed to get this far before the wretched thing spat right at me!

If you do decide to try these pencils, do remember that your drawings are smudgeable…handy when you want to soften lines or add a bit of judicious tone…but not so good when it comes off on the opposite page. You need to spray fix your work…or find sketchbooks with tissue/glassine/crystal interleaves. The latter means you can only work on one page, whereas I often like to work across a double-page spread, so I fix my drawings.

Venetian market seller, enjoying an icecream. Molto Bene!

There is something very seductive about these materials; the lines can be sharp, or velvety soft; the darks are really dark and matt and opaque, without the sheen of graphite. Do try them, they are really delicious to use.

ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?

2011-10-08T05:50:00.000-07:00

Listening to her Walkman

Someone recently asked me about sketching out of doors......in places where people can see you at work, and might look over your shoulder. How to get over the fear of feeling silly, or of being ridiculed.

Well, it is a very natural reaction, but I want to reassure you about this, and encourage you to give it a try.

Of course, it is wonderfully relaxing to sketch in your garden. Or to sketch family, or children, like the image on the right here. But what about sketching in a secluded bit of landscape, all alone? I am always worried about being in the landscape on my own after an unpleasant few minutes thinking I was about to be murdered on a Portuguese hillside by the village drunk who came staggering toward me waving a VERY large carving knife! I collected up my stuff faster than you would ever have thought possible, and ran like the wind! He might have been harmless....but I wasn't about to hang around to find out!

Anyway, there are marvellous subjects to be found away from the safety and security of your home and garden, and you will have the chance to try them out, if you pluck up the courage. However, the "outside world" tends to have rather a lot of PEOPLE in it. People who will want to see what you are doing, and people in your field of vision too. Now I know it isn't always easy to draw people, but it is worth the effort, they make great subjects, and it is so rewarding when your people pics gradually begin to look better than you ever thought they would. Why not start a "people" sketchbook?

Just think about it. Waiting for a train, or a plane, you have subjects galore. Sitting in the library. At the park. On the beach. Markets are terrific places to sketch in, but without people, they would look most odd. Just look at this Greek fisherman, stick in mouth, dog with stick in mouth too. Wonderful! How could anyone resist sketching such a scene? They were so accommodating too...hardly changed position for ages.

So how do you cope with drawing a scene with people in it, and at the same time, deal with people looking at your work?

Always sit (or stand if you prefer) with your back to a wall, so that nobody can easily creep up behind you to gaze over your shoulder.
use a small sketchbook and just a pencil to begin with.
Don't worry about finishing your sketch, particularly if your "subject" gets up, changes position, walks way. Just move onto another sketch.
someone once told me to put down a hat with a few coins in it. This keeps the tight-fisted ones away! :)
If someone does determinedly come up to talk to you, try NOT to get engaged in a conversation with them, they will want to know how long you have been an artist; why you chose that spot; what type of pencil/sketchbook etc you are using, where they can go to buy them, or have art classes, and you should definitely see what their little granddaughter/daughter/niece can do, they are naturally gifted you know (unlike you......) You can avoid this kind of conversation if you concentrate hard on what you are doing, sighing occasionally to show that it is REALLY hard work and they are obviously interrupting your concentration. Bit mean, I know, and not very sociable, but don't say I didn't warn you.....

then...sketching people......practice, practice, practice. I don't want to bore you to death in this blog, so here are just a few important pointers.

Try hard to get proportions right when sketching figures in the distance, simplify the shape and aim to get the stance right, as above.
When two or more figures stand together, squint to get the whole shape and then add just enough detail. Dont worry about hands or feet...simplify them, as in the sketch to the right.
Always make heads smaller than you think they are.
If you have the chance to study some people "up close" - for example while waiting at the airport, or when on a train, you can spend time working on more detail.
If you have time, hint at the surroundings to a figure, it will provide a sense of scale.

Greek street corner. Blot of paint at the top is NOT a cloud, it is my messy sketchbook!

venice carnival figures, captured in a cafe.
Cafes are good places to sketch in.

The more you practice sketching figures out of doors, the more confident you will feel about eventually putting figures into your paintings. It is a really worthwhile way to spend sketching time. In fact, what you most certainly will find, even if someone does approach you to see what you have been doing, is that they will be complimentary. Most people admire artists at work, even beginners will receive encouragement. Only someone rather jealous, or mean-spirited, will make adverse remarks. Just smile politely at those people, and keep drawing!!!

waiting at the airport

Ait Sidi Ibrahim Ali. I sat on a hillside in Morocco. He came, watched, and would not stop talking. In the end, to stop him talking, I sketched him. He felt most honoured, and was delighted...even tho I didn't get a brilliant likeness, he thought it was great! ( Moroccan women will not allow you to sketch them; they hate being studied and rush off. They dont like cameras pointed at them either, they say "it hurts".)

One of the good things about occasionally chatting to your watchers, is that you might get to meet interesting people! Never be worried about having watchers.
Just get out there and DO IT.

THE THREE P's

2011-10-05T04:17:00.000-07:00

Hello again folks.

I enjoy contributing to a marvellous website...www.wetcanvas.com. Recently, someone came to the threads, very discouraged by her lack of progress, which brings me to today's blog post - a little about "growth" as an artist.

When I was teaching classes of students, I often came across people very discouraged by their own efforts - they could "see" in their heads what they wanted to achieve, but what they actually did achieve fell way below their expectations.

I tried to explain it this way.
We adults have well-developed brains (well, most do anyway. Sometimes I look at my husband and wonder about that, when he stands in front of the fridge and says "the butter isn't here" and lo and behold, there it is, one shelf below where he expected it to be.) What we don't have is well-developed abilities when we begin drawing and painting. Some people have a great natural "facility" and painting seems to come easy to them, others have to beaver away for ages before they begin to produce work which they are pleased with. I believe this is because we have a filtering system going on, between brain and hand. I tell people that there are various "sieves" all the way down your arm. !! You listen, or read; you think you have absorbed what you have heard or read - you probably did understand it after all; it starts to trickle down your arm, but gets held up by the little sieves along the way, and often does not reach your hand until months, or sometimes years later, when you will then have a "light bulb moment". I can remember myself thinking one day "Oh THAT is what she meant!" when suddenly the penny dropped and I understood what a tutor had tried to explain to me months earlier.

The gap between our expectations, and our abilities, can take a LONG LONG TIME to bridge. It slowly closes as we work, and produce lots of work. For some people, it never quite happens - I for one long for my work to be as good as Degas' work, for example!!!

What you need is the three P's....patience, perseverance, and practice. Remind yourself of this every day.

It has taken me many years to get from those early sketches at the top of this post, to the work below.I am embarrassed to say how many, but I did have brown hair then, and it is silver now! Many, many tears were shed along the way. Light bulb moments occured now and then, giving me hope. Occasionally, I would produce a sketch or painting, and would wonder where on earth it came from.....had I been channelling another artist? Whatever happens, you must relish the journey. Keep reminding yourself of this when you feel discouraged. It is just a step along the way.

Sketchbook materials

2011-09-29T05:11:00.000-07:00

So.........what to USE in a sketchbook? The answer is, just about anything.....pencils, coloured and plain, graphite, conte and pastel (dont forget to spray fix!) ink; watercolour; gouache; watersoluble art pens; watersoluble coloured pencils; brush pens...............the list is pretty endless, and you need to experiment to find out what suits you best. I thought I would share one of my favourites (apart from watercolour) with you.

A little while back, I discovered the most gorgeous stuff by accident, as I went out without my watercolours, but did have this little bottle in my kit. I had had it for ages, and never used it, not even sure why I bought it. In fact, it was enormous fun, so I eventually did a whole sketchbook - a spiral bound pad of watercolour paper, actually, so that one could then tear out individual sheets and frame if a masterpiece was achieved (! well, gotta live in hope), if not, then at least they stayed clean and safe. No need to stretch the paper using this method. The stuff I used is called
DR. PH MARTINS RADIANT WATERCOLOUR, and comes in bottles with a rubber eyedropper thingy at the top. You can use them direct from the bottle, or can dilute with water.
Here is a pic of the bottle:

I used just one colour - I had a bottle in my pencil case, and a dip pen, with nib, you know the kind? That was for the linear work. I also had a tiny spray bottle of water with me, and plenty of tissues.

I think the colour is Tobacco Brown.

I love the Prolene retractable brushes when travelling, the lids slip onto the handles, and I particularly like the square-ended brush:

So how did I work? Well, realising I had left my lovely watercolours back at the appartment, I decided to be brave and try an "ink" sketch. The only "ink" I had with me, apart from rollerball pens which I did not want to use,(lines too regular) was this little bottle of Dr. PH Martins. I began with a tiny bit of pencil to put things "in position" cos I am always slightly nervous of going straight in with a dip pen. Then did quite a bit of "drawing" with linear work, dipping the pen straight into the bottle.

Then, I left it to dry - didn't have to wait long, but I really was not much impressed with all the hard pen lines everywhere, despite using a dip pen which gives you more variety to the lines, it still looked so stiff to my eye, so, always one to experiment, I gave parts of the pic a burst of water with my little spray bottle, just to see what would happen! I had no idea if the stuff was permanent, or might "run" as some inks do. Wow!!! Magic! The lines began to dissolve where the water hit them, and realising what was happening, I quickly put some of the watercolour "ink" into a plastic watercup I had with me, added some water, and with my brushes, I reinforced some of the washes. See that ripple of water under the pole in the Venice pic? To do that, I put clear water onto the paper, and dropped some of the Doc Martins into it. Yummy result!

A tissue can quickly be used to blot areas to stop too much dissolving going on if you want it to stop.

When dry, I found I could then add more, and do it all over again! And as often as i wanted. If you want fine details towards the end, best to do this on the dry pic.

I loved working in this way, and used it for lots of different images, many of which did get framed, and sold in the end, which I rather regret because they are no longer in my sketchbooks!

Here is another, done on a different trip, and this time I added a few tiny touches of subtle watercolour colours, again, in the spirit of experimentation. This was done in a small village in France, I called it "One and a half doors" ! In this one, towards the end, I used the Doc Martins almost neat out of the bottle for the stronger, darker washes. "Neat" is a good word to use, I like both of its meanings!

The fab thing about experimenting in a sketchbook is that if you don't like what you do, you dont need to show ANYONE.

More sketchbook info to come!

further sketchbook thoughts

2011-09-26T04:53:00.000-07:00

Before we get to specifics about materials and sketchbook types, I would like to say a further word or two about the USE of the sketchbook. You saw from my previous post that I like to sketch on my travels, and my sketchbooks often contain images which are simply records of what I see and want to capture.

small woodland thumbnails

However, I touched on the idea of also using your sketchbook for THUMBNAIL SKETCHES, and without going into the whys and wherefores and design elements of thumbnails, let me just say this. When you are working on location, you sit in front of a promising subject - and it stretches on indefinitely, above, below and to each side, doesn't it! Well, if you plan to create a painting from your subject, it really does help to get some sense of what the image may look like eventually CAPTURED WITHIN A RECTANGLE (or square of course). You can use your camera viewfinder, this helps to isolate a scene. You can also use a small cardboard viewfinder. whatever you choose, doing a thumbnail forces you to:

take the edges of the scene into consideration,
to see how your subject "fits" within that rectangle, and
whether it "balances" nicely.

and when you then come to paint at your easel, you will feel a greater sense of confidence - it makes a big difference, even without knowing very much about composition and design..it will automatically help you to trust your own judgement.

The top image above shows three thumbnails in a sketchbook which is approx 10" square. Two pencil ones, and one with added watercolour. In the end, I didn't like any of them very much, and didn't paint this subject at all! But I did enjoy sitting there doing them, and it is all good practice.

Venice window

Now this one I really enjoyed. I started with the top window, and allowed the image to grow up, down and out from there. I knew more or less right from the start that I would paint within a tall rectangle, it was that kind of scene, so I just had to think carefully about the placement of the main elements when I started on my pastel paper. After about 15 mins spent on this watercolour sketch in my sketchbook, I cracked on with the painting, which happened quite quickly. the shadows moved a bit as I worked, but I had my sketch to refer to, so it didn't affect me too much, I stuck with the sketchbook shadows.

I could have worked the thumbnail just with pencil, a tonal study, but actually, I find it really helpful to use watercolours onto my pencil sketches; with a tiny winsor & Newton travel box of watercolours, I can quickly capture the areas of colour and tone within the scene, more quickly than scribbling away with coloured pencils. Watercolours are transparent, so if it dries too light, you simply add another layer. You don't have to worry too much about technique, as it dries very quickly. If you put in a tone which is too dark, you can add some clear water and blot it to lift the colour. If you wish, you can work with pencils over the top, even a simple lead pencil is good to add extra darks. Remember, it is only a sketchbook image after all - you dont have to show it to anyone, it is just for YOU, for reference!

TIP: Just one thing.........if you do work just in pencil, pastel pencils, or charcoal, dont forget to use plenty of spray fixative, because otherwise, when you close your sketchbook, you will dirty the opposing page.

If you have no chance to work on location to complete a painting from your thumbnail, you can take photos of course, and then work at home, BUT ONE THING IS FOR SURE. YOUR MEMORY OF THE PLACE WILL BE REINFORCED BY HAVING DONE THAT LITTLE SKETCH ON LOCATION. It makes a huge difference. Just taking a photo and working from that photo at home is one approach, which can work, but I absolutely promise you, hand on heart, that you will enjoy your painting experience far more if you have spent time producing a thumbnail sketch first. Studying your subject FULL SIZE, even just for the 15 mins it might take to make that little thumbnail sketch, makes all the difference in the world. It is a very positive way to use part of your sketchbook.

Sketching - for fun and with a purpose

2011-09-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

During my years as a tutor, I have been aware that many people actively avoid sketchbooks - perhaps they think of them as a waste of time. Or, they don't have the time to bother with them. Well, no matter whether you are a hobby painter, or someone wishing to make a career out of painting, using a sketchbook, in my opinion, is not just fun, but ESSENTIAL.

Do I hear you say "Oh Really? WHY?" (I bet some of you will)

Your sketchbook charts your progress. (I guarantee that the sketches at the end of a book are better than those at the beginning).

It can record your thoughts - when you go back to look at a sketch, you will know exactly how you felt when you made it.

It will help you to "see" better, and to translate what you see in our three dimensional world, into two dimensions on paper. You will be "exercising" your eyes and hands.

It is a place for practice. It can be totally private. It can be small enough to fit in your pocket, and carry at all times.

My sketchbooks serve three main purposes.

In them I...

make a record of what I see, for fun, for practice, for memories
make thumbnail sketches to try out compositions for paintings and finally
in the back pages, I make written notes of things I learn along the way, I put in quotes, titles of books, little notes to show, for example, how to construct something in perspective; anything I might hear or see and feel could be useful.

My sketchbooks are the most wonderful journals. They are trips down memory lane. Not every sketch "works"; not every note is useful, doesn't matter a bit, my sketchbooks are part of me, of my life as an artist - a life which started quite "late" in life - the subject of another blog, methinks. For now, let me just encourage you to go out, buy a few sketchbooks in different sizes, and make a pact with yourself to use them regularly - while waiting for a bus or train; while sitting in waiting rooms or cafes; when on holiday; even while watching TV. I will write more about materials to use in another blog very soon. Here are a couple more sketchbook pics, "done for fun", and on location - the camel market was VERY smelly!

JackieSimmonds Artyfacts

2011-09-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Hello Folks.

It is time for me to join the blogging revolution! I am an artist, a writer, a teacher, and a perpetual student. I have decided to share my knowledge, my art, and a few details about my life, through this new, rather extraordinary communication medium. Communicating with people "on line" really is, to me, magical...somehow people all over the world connect with each other purely by sitting before a computer screen. We all take it for granted - but actually, it is really very fabulous what we mere mortals have achieved.

Pastel on paper - source - a maarket scene in Cape Town

For years, I have been a painter and teacher. I have shared my enthusiasms with others, both in person, through the written word in books and articles, via my paintings, and via the internet.

I have written 7 art instruction books. Made, I think, 7 or so dvd's - I lose track! I taught for years, tho sadly now, and somewhat older and greyer than I was, I do not have the physical strength to teach any more, not in person anyway, so this seems like a good idea to me....a chance to share some of my thoughts and experiences by way of a regular blog post, which I plan to offer weekly, if not more frequently.

So - what will I talk about?

I will show paintings and will demonstrate teaching ideas, will also offer some paintings for sale, the proceeds of which will go to charity. I favour the NSPCC, the society which helps children suffering from cruelty, something I cannot even bear to think about, ...any movie or tv programme showing the suffering of children, reduces me instantly to a blubbering heap on the floor.

Any of you who found this blog because you recognise my name,will know that I have long been a pastel painter, and I will share some of my pastel thoughts and ideas with you.

I also work in other mediums, so we might go there some weeks, and I will talk about watercolour, mixed media, acrylic painting and oil painting. I will talk about sketching too and some of the interesting materials you can use. And examine some of the important "building blocks" of painting - I have noticed that many people jump straight in there, without understanding the importance of pre-planning, and my pet subject - "design and composition" is so often neglected. I will probably bang on about that quite a lot!

Venice sketch, made on location

I will also talk about some of the things connected with painting and available to painters and would-be painters....painting holidays for example ...what it is like to go on a painting holiday, what you will need, and importantly, what to expect and to think about.

I will talk about what it is like to exhibit your work, and to organise your own exhibitions.

I am working on the idea of an "Artist's troubleshooter" section, where I can show some common painting and sketching problems, and talk about how to solve them.

I will do my best to vary the content of the blog; I dont want it to just be about my own work.

If there is something YOU might like me to touch upon, just let me know.

I hope I might gain a few friends and/or followers along the way.