Off to Glastonbury today, with my friend Cath. She just rang me to remind me that we're taking a decoration each to the hawthorn trees in Chalice Well Gardens - oops. I forgot about that.
Hopped into garden for some fatsia berries and sandwiched them between two discs of skin from a clementine, stitched them together with some red thread - et voila!
Can't help thinking it looks like a starfighter... :)
I was in Berlin for a short visit last week. The weather was miserable - wet almost constantly, so I didn't get to create much art worth sharing.
Saw this statue on a street near where I was staying.
Staggering detail. The thorny hide of the dragon is what captivates me the most. I chose this angle to capture the reactions of the dragon, the horse and St. George all at once.
The artist's name is August Karl Edouard Kiss and the statue was cast c. 1855.
I wanted to do something special for the birthday of one of my nephews. He's nuts about a certain space franchise, so I did some research and made a couple of sketches, suitable for a linoprint.
Then I painstakingly cut the lino - it was a lesson, to consider how you will eventually reproduce a line-drawing in lino: too much detail in a small area (this was approximately the surface of a postcard) just can't be done this side of a microscope :) In addition, the 'rubber' of the lino gets soft as you work it and a lot of cuts in a small area is most likely to result in chunks of lino coming away from the woven base :(
I decided against the candle-themed card after all. I had an idea for Holly & Ivy instead.
I went out into the garden to sketch ivy and its berries, then simplified their forms to incorporate with previous stylised holly I'd prepared to go with the ill-fated candle.
I spent more than an hour cutting the lino for the print - the most intricate I've attempted so far. I built a reusable wooden frame to house the lino cut, which will also guide the postcards I'm putting the print on. This frame will be invaluable when I attempt two or three-tone linocuts in the future.
The print came out well :)
Here's one of the postcards filled out in colour, to give you an idea of the finished card :)
I went to the Cube Cinema on Thursday for Tom Marshman's Kenneth Anger Night, as part of his Beacons, Icons & Dykons project. I'd never been before and didn't know what to expect. In the bar people were discussing performance artists bleeding in the name of art and I was wondering how long I'd last in the audience. As it turned out, I needn't have worried (this time).
The atmosphere in the tiny cinema was good-humoured, chaotic, relaxed, exciting, boundless - I think that covers it :)
The evening was MC'd by Tom (I affectionately referred to him as Tom of Finland as he made his entrance in tight leather trousers, with keyboard braces being the only concession to clothing his torso. We were introduced to 'Fireworks' by a short piece of performance from Tom and a silent sailor (reminiscent of a scene from 'Querelle').
'Fireworks' (1947) is a short homoerotic film, dealing with a young man (Anger himself) and his fantasies involving a sailor.
We were treated to further movies, including 'Puce Moment' (1949) , 'Scorpio Rising' (1963), 'Kustom Kar Kommandos' (1965) - which prepared us for a performance piece in the car park - and finally 'Rabbit's Moon' (1950)
We had a Skype link with a woman who had briefly met Kenneth Anger at a film seminar and a guy read out the manifesto of Ra-Hoor-Khuit which guided the activities of Aleister Crowley's Thelema. The guy thought this manifesto was key to Lucifer Rising, which we weren't shown tonight. I still found it informative for the sensibility of the short film 'Puce Moment' with its soundtrack declaring 'I'm a hermit and ecstacy's my game'.
I managed to sketch a couple of times, in the half light of the cinema - Tom's appearance on the stage introducing the evening and the sight of the skype interview spread across the movie screen with the sharp silhouette Tom created standing in front of the projection. Not brilliant sketches, but an attempt to capture the event.
I wanted to make something special for a birthday that's due. Nothing in the shops that I particularly warmed to and that old self-sufficient thing rose inside me. I decided I'd make one.
I did some sketches of cup cakes with a candle in them, simplifying the sketch until I had a style suitable for transferring to a linocut.
It would be a little gothic, but that suits the person. I'd colour it afterwards, in any case, to brighten it a little :)
I drew the linocut design on paper first, then traced over it with baking parchment in lieu of tracing paper.
I turned this face down onto the lino and rubbed its outline onto the lino's surface. I drew over this faint outline to guide the cuts I'm to make.
I started making big cuts with the tools, removing large portions of the lino's surface, then finer cuts followed.
I had an idea to leave a lot of background. I spread water-based printing ink onto the surface of a ceramic tile I had left over from the kitchen floor (!) Nice and smooth and washable.
I worked the blob of ink to a thin, tacky film with one roller and applied it to the surface of the linocut.
I tried a test sheet of paper to see the ink coverage and the effects of the cuts I'd made. I used a second clean roller to apply even pressure to the paper covering the linocut, then peeled the paper off.
It worked well!
I repeated the inking onto the card this time - job done. Almost done - I have to let it dry, then colour can be applied to the cupcake :) BEWARE - don't get too close to the linocut with colour paint: it will make the waterbased ink run... Update: I resorted to acetone spray to fix the ink. That worked.
In the Summer of 2011, Artist Martin Creed filled the sea-facing gallery with hundreds of white 100% latex balloons. Not a good place if you have a latex allergy! I walked around it for the experience. I expected it to be claustrophobic - it wasn't to me. The smell of rubber was immense. The assistant tagged you as you went in, in case they lost you! The way the balloons move readily from you is oddly liberating. There was a degree of static charge. The loose hair accumulating on the balloons was a bit icky...
After work tonight, I thought I'd investigate The Bristol Drawing Club, who were holding a social at Café Kino. I took my bag of bits along, not knowing really what to expect.
When I arrived, clutching my cherry beer in lieu of organic stout (which tasted disgusting, I have to add), they'd been in full swing for about an hour - drawing impromptu models. I caught the last model.
After a break to chat to others, we entered a 'speed drawing' exercise. This is a bit like speed dating, only you have 3 minutes to capture the likeness of the person sitting opposite you before you move on to the next person in the line. It makes you wonder what detail is truly necessary to capture someone's features. We complained 3 minutes was not enough time, then the next round was THIRTY SECONDS! Loads of fun. :) Here's a three minute sketch I'm most happy with.
The additional treat of the evening was being drawn by Lewis Gilliard. I had a feeling someone to my left and behind me was facing me and sketching madly as I was sketching the model. Lewis approached me later and presented me with this caricature, explaining he would only throw it away... I'm flattered by it's cruel fidelity.
I met lots of lovely, warm and enthusiastic people, and had a great time drawing. I'm looking forward to the next time.
Last Thursday, I went to see the Tate Modern exhibition of Gerhard Richter's works. I've been too distracted by other things to make my mind up fully about what I saw. I can say right now that I wasn't aware he based a lot of early paintings on photographs. I'm not sure about using photos. I've said it before that it offers up a 2D representation of the subject and loses something when it's rendered as a painting or drawing - you fall foul of trying to be true to what the camera sees. The result is flat, to my mind. Then there's that phenomenon of depth of field, the way a camera can blur the background to focus on the subject more - which the eye isn't generally aware of, I think.
Today I bought a scrap of lino to produce my Winter Solstice card. I also sat down for the first time and thought about what it might be. I'm not exactly original in this respect and the first idea is a candle :D
I've already sketched and prepared the image for developing into a lino cut.
I saw a video today, of Jeff Koons in his studio (January 2009), via Tate website. I was surprised to hear him talk about working on pieces of art, but seeing a workforce doing the hands-on processes for him. I know he's a very skilled artist, but when did he apparently withdraw from creating his artworks himself? I agree with him describing the development, in an artist, of an unique vocabulary that controls expression, but have difficulty in expanding that idea to controlling others to create work to fit those creative parameters.
Maybe I'm wrong in considering it cheating. Maybe art doesn't need to be so close to the creator of it. Maybe visualisation is enough and leave the graft to someone else. There have been schools of artists, painting in the style of someone in particular. You see examples of that in old italian schools of art. Perhaps those workers for Jeff Koons will be acknowledged in the same way.
Sorry, Crowded House, for hijacking your lyric, but I am a convert to being prepared to sketch. I pack my sketchbook, small pencil case & watercolour travel pack at all times, in case there's an idle moment or inspiration arrives :) Oh, and drawing wherever and whatever helps combat those nerves at drawing in other people's company too!
I was held up in the barber's this afternoon, so sketched my right foot.
I was invited over to the Cote D'Azur to stay with a couple of friends - lovely! A year on from the last visit I was determined to draw more than I might photograph :) The only periods of time that were long enough to do so happened to be breakfast & sat on the beach, which limited my subject matter :)
I left my watercolour pencils behind and took a travel-size watercolour pack instead, in the hope I could practise colour mixing.
My first attempt was a cactus on the balcony of the flat we occupied.
I had a go at capturing The Negresco hotel as we sat on the beach, the lovely beach - in between swimming in the impossibly azur-blue sea ♥
We visited The Maeght Foundation in St Paul de Vence. The Labyrinth de Miró was the highlight for me. I found the pitchfork sculpture fascinating against the undulating landscape of the countryside - does the piece have a proper name, anyone?
Nice offers plenty of interesting, meandering side streets and (again) when a coffee break allowed, I got my sketchbook out.
I popped in to see Christian Césari at his atelier/gallery Á Côté. The gallery was being expanded with new ceiling lighting being fitted (extremely slowly by a grinning turkish toyboy). Christian had not been able to paint for TEN DAYS and was distracted, to say the least. I met Christian's partner and agent for the first time. Christian was willing to take time out and discuss his latest works and to look at what I've been up to. They both gave me more advice on direction and technique -
I should try drawing from memory & stop being directly influenced by the subject matter.
Christian thinks my artitecture-based sketches are my best work.
Christian says don't mix detail with impressionism in the same sketch.
I'll take these comments on board :)
I also showed Christian the work of my friend Juli-Anne Coward, who is constantly seeking representation in sympathetic sites. Christian loved her work, but advised that getting an agent in Nice would be difficult in the current financial climate. Already a shop nearby, that sells more than one artist's output, is going bankrupt and the artists are at risk from losing their work. Á Côté only sells Christian's work, for this reason.
I decided that after so many times of passing in my car a really interesting old boat perched on a pontoon in the harbour, I would walk to Hotwell Road and draw it. The boat's in a state of disrepair that is begging to be sketched.
I found a bench directly opposite its location in the harbour and nervously set up my pad and tin of pencils. There were passersby and twice folk stopped to watch me, but that wasn't so uncomfortable to endure.
What I had in mind was a restful hour or so absorbed in sketching and colouring this boat. What I got was an hour of disturbingly high traffic noise, dirt and exhaust fumes, rowdy & rude groups of youths shouting at me as they passed and the stomach-turning smell of stale poached eggs. I gave up when my pulse-rate distracted me the most. What I have drawn isn't worth sharing :(
I took a leisurely route home and remembered another view I have driven past many times and wanted to sketch - a narrow row of shops and a café in Whiteladies Road, shortly after the BBC buildings.
This venture was a lot more rewarding. I found a low wall outside an estate agents that I could sit on, under the shade of a tree, which came in handy as spots of rain arrived towards the end of my sketching time. I used the watercolour pencils to add colour and am happy with the result :)
All of a sudden my Macbook and my 5 year-old HP all-in-one printer have had a disagreement. Not sure who's to blame. The Macbook no longer recognises the scanner capability of the printer and every time I remove & reload the software the HP disc doesn't offer the scanner function anymore. The printer itself offers the option to scan, but the Macbook won't accept it. To add insult to injury, the setup programme keeps relaunching and is incomplete...
After a lot of cussing and frustration, I've bypassed this trouble by using a camera SD card that the printer can scan to, then iPhoto picks up the new files and I edit them from that programme. :)
I went to the graffiti project, smartening up some of the drabbest areas of Bristol's city centre today. Impressive, ENORMOUS creations and a real party atmosphere to boot, with stalls and DJs. Here is some idea of what there was to see.
I was clearing out boxes from the spare room, over the weekend, and found some sketches I'd forgotten I had done. This is a view of the mountains rising up from the coast of Porto Pollença and neighbouring olive trees.
This is a hurried sketch of Potsdamer Platz. I remember the busy square with many onlookers - quite unnerving.
This afternoon, I went out armed with my sketchpad and forgot all about shopping for groceries. I ended up having an early supper at The Art House and drew the street opposite.
At the bottom of Nine Tree Hill is a tree, hung with paper cranes :) This shows a great deal of effort and not a small amount of trust. On reflection they're peace cranes, a gesture after the riots, I guess.
I moved on to the city centre and found these ceramic penguins. No idea why - the info stand was a beautiful chrome and perspex affair, devoid of any explanation...?
I continued on to the docks, where a painter set up her equipment to paint in front of the Gorilla and Cabot sculptures outside The Arnolfini. Which sculpture would she paint? - BOTH.
And finally - this was the first time I sketched with my contacts in. Not a small achievement, as they compensate for distance in my right eye and near vision in the left. Not ideal, but I was more successful than when I'm using a computer screen, I can tell you!
