Anna

Charcoal pencil on paper approx 16" x 11"

Anna was the model at last night's Studio session.

Review

I have been doing a lot of research. I took the whole bank of pics of my blog paintings (over 800) and sub divided them into categories: Dreamscapes & imagination; Landscapes; Portrait & figures; Stalybridge and canal; still life; Interiors; Europe & elsewhere. Then I went through identifying which pieces I really liked and which I hated.
It helped me to see where the ‘Current Reality’ is for me. Seems like over the last four years, where others have been honing their style (and owning their style) I have been like a flibberty gibbet fly dipping in this, that and the other, both in terms of subject and approach. If I had been on an art school training programme however, that is exactly what I would probably have been required to do. So I’m not apologising for that.
But there come times when you want to take stock and I suppose this is one of them for me. And maybe I’ll learn more and more quickly if I discipline myself a little at this point. I enjoy the Dreamscapes work but it’s a bit like going on my holidays – do I really take it seriously? How much of it has mood and emotion, which are some of the things I am really chasing. I’m thinking it might be good to not let myself go on a holiday for another six months!
It’s funny – when I look back over the past 4 years work I would not say I am any better a painter now than I was when I started, but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. And yet the paint mileage has definitely been there. But when a painter is not worrying themselves about style issues this can add to confusion because with a mix of styles it’s not easy to see a progression through, if indeed one exists.
A few paintings stood out for me as being important. One is an 8” x 8” painting of the canal in Stalybridge which I called “November” (because it was painted in November). It is in oil on plywood and you can see it below. I wish now I had not sold it because it is probably one of my favourites.


The other paintings which I like are the kids on the beach done in a semi-abstract or expressionist way. The colours here are bright - deep golds and cobalt blues. This one below is 12” x 12” (oil on hardboard) and I called it Dragon Gang. I still have it but I don’t want to sell it right now.


Finally I have the Woodend Mill and Vernon Mill series. I so enjoyed the challenges of this series and I feel in a way I chickened out of going further with it. I attempted a big piece based on one of the smaller ones and it failed dismally so I gave up the whole idea. This series takes more effort because it means I have to visit and interact with people (and should really sketch on the spot and do small studies) and all that takes me out of my comfort zone. .. but..
Here’s one of the Woodend Mill small paintings (8” x 8”, acrylic on hardboard – now sold to the guy whose studio it is! Thank you Chris!


So,three quite different paintings have emerged as my strong favourites. Why am I surprised?

By the way, thanks to Loriann Signori whose recent entry on her blog about self critique approaches by Elizabeth Mowry sparked off this investigation for me (great landscapes as always Loriann).

So let’s say I’m planning to work on bigger pieces of the canal and Stalybridge scenes, maybe with figures, and also pick up the Woodend and Vernon mill series again. Its funny that I should come back to a local context, but it’s one I know well – and what do they always say about painters – stick to what you know! It might be a while but I’ll keep you posted on progress.

Life drawing 23 September 2010

Charcoal on smooth paper approx 12" x 8"

Forgot to get the model's name last night but the poor thing had a bad cold and had to stop to keep blowing her nose. I used a thin piece of normal willow charcoal and realised how unstable the line was compared to the compressed or 'pitt' charcoal and even the charcoal pencils. I think I am moving towards the Derwent "light" charcoal pencil as preference. This one needed a lot of fixative when I got home. I also experimented with a smooth drawing surface rather than a toothed one as you see in the drawing of Ellie. Think I prefer the smooth but keeping the options open on that.

Ellie

Charcoal on paper approx 13" x 10"

This was last night's studio session. Ellie had gorgeous red hair and was wearing a green sort of 1920s dress and green shoes! And of course I did not have my paints or my pastels with me. I was cross with myself as she would have made a marvellous painting.
One thing you might notice about the drawing is the direction of the light appears to be random. This is because the lighting in the room comes from a bank of spotlights running down the centre of the ceiling. It's designed that way because it is really not a studio but a gallery room so the lights are differently angled to make sure each picture is sufficiently lit. This means unfortunately that the light on the figure is "random" - as you can see the left side of her face is lit and the right in deep shadow but the reverse is true of the nearest leg and the arms were lit differently again. There was her shadow on the wall behind her but the shadows on the floor were all over the place. Ah well, I did my best.

Trajectory

Acrylic and oil pastel on hardboard 8" x 8"

Wikipedia defines a 'trajectory' as the path a moving object follows through space as a function of time. I often have the urge to include arcs and curves in my figurative work and I love and am rather in awe of the idea of the sea so the two things came together here. I revisited here some photos I took of a holiday we had a couple of years ago. Regular readers might remember I posted some paintings last year based on these.

I was experimenting here to see how well oil pastel and acyrlic could live together on the same surface. I like the scratchy marks oil pastel can make and I liked the way it resisted the acrylic paint to some extent (but not as much as I anticipated). I have yet to work out how I can fix the whole surface to protect both.

I was thinking about "found images" (photos taken from magazines, newspapers etc. and re-created to form part or whole of a painting). Wikipedia reminds us that the Surrealists used found images a lot. I have used them myself but when I have not personally taken the photographs it is not always easy to inject feeling. Another development is it is beginning to bug me to work too much from the computer screen. In this painting I used one of my own photographs to start me off but then I just 'went with the flow'. I would love to work with figures more from life but it takes opportunity, time and money. And as many of you know I do like to use my imagination in paintings as well,so I just want to feel relaxed about the whole thing and see what happens. Just try to make each painting the best I can make it.

By the way, the blues really are as bright as this in the original painting. I must have mislaid my raw umber..

Charcoal portrait with old PC

Charcoal on paper approx 12" x 6"
Just experimenting - thanks Carolyn for reminding me to pay attention to design as well as form.. thanks Rahina for advice on charcoal - I'm still finding out about it. It's a messy medium but it's so immediate, that is what is nice.

Yet another one

Ok, I put myself in a more favourable light this time (darkness). Sorry, it's my English sense of humour. I can't help it. Seriously I want to get the hang of charcoal better. I don't like the idea of its impermanence but I like how you can make corrections relatively easier and its got more whoomph than pencil.
Charcoal on paper approx 10" x 10"

Another self portrait and a painting by Koskinas

Acrylic on paper approx 12" x 10"


Acrylic on canvas - Portrait 22, 2007, James Koskinas


I was a bit angry about something yesterday so I came up to the attic brandishing a piece of charcoal and rapidly set about a very black, mutinous self portrait. Domestic duties called me away but later I went back to it and thought, ok, wonderwhat happens if I start putting paint on that. I have for a long time been quite frustrated with the sometime "apathy" of acrylics especially when mixing greys, browns, neutrals. Anyway I cracked on with it. Then last night I re-discovered James Koskinas' work. Wooh!! I like it. So with one of his portraits on the computer screen I set to re-working, re-working my own self portrait. Eventually (the stage you see it now) I concluded it was much better than last night's effort but I was in for a surprise. Koskinas had not used oils as I had thought but had also used acrylics. So my lack of satisfaction with the medium is more to do with how I use it rather than its inherent qualities or lack of them.
A note on the Koskinas painting: Yes, I can see it is of a rather beautiful young woman and mine is of an old embittered hag but it was the use of colour and paint I was worried about - can't help the inspiration so try to look past that, guys. By the way just discovered Koskinas is only 3 years younger than me ! Ha!

A boy and his mother

Acrylic on hardboard 24" x 24"

This started off as an industrial landscape - the view over some old factories from the top of Piccadilly station car park in Manchester. I knew I wanted to put a couple of figures in but this is how it turned out. The buildings are now just hints of red brick in the background. I'm ok with it though. First proper painting in weeks.

Life drawing session 9th September 2010

This was the first studio session I had attended in a few weeks - and I was late! Anyway, managed to squeeze in a charcoal drawing and a pastel work (suppose it is a pastel painting?). It was great to get back into the feel of life work again and of drawing generally! Had no time in Ethiopia. Too busy with other things. Both these pieces measure about 13" x 10"

Back home

Thanks to all of you for your good wishes regarding the Ethiopia trip. I think we all worked hard, enjoyed ourselves and made progress. Thanks to the Ethiopians for making us visitors feel so welcome. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world but has so much potential - not just in economic terms and the energy and intelligence with which Ethiopians strive every day to overcome their problems, but in cultural terms also. This photograph, which I took from the top floor of the cafe where we held the workshops every day, to me shows what a beautiful country this really is.