PAINTING 1: The Practice of Painting

PROJECT: BASIC PAINT APPLICATION

Exercise: Getting to know your brushes.

I prefer to use synthetic flat and round brushes for my work.  But I have a large collection of brushes of all different fibers, sizes and shapes.  

I am not so great at painting fruit.  When I added white to lighten the red that I used it went into a pink colour which I am not so fond of.  The shadow also needs to be much darker.  I do plan to do more work on this and I will add it under this piece.

Exercise: Applying paint without brushes.

Perhaps a mixture of all three colours making black could have added more contrast to the piece.

Exercise: Tonally graded wash

I used Winsor and Newton's Acrylic Infinity in Rose diluted with water to make the colour almost vanish towards the edge of the page.  When it was wet it looked perfectly graded but as it dried it was not so perfect.  However using it as a base for a painting I do not consider it to be unusable.  I would however need a more perfect graduated canvas if I was painting the sky.

The last graded wash looked better on the canvas but with the photograph it looks similar to the first one.

Exercise: Overlaying washes

I used acrylic, Atelier Brilliant Orange as the base and when it was dry added Finity Rose.  I enjoyed using this method to beautiful intense almost pure colour of the orange and rose at each end of the canvas and a combination of both colours in the middle section.  Both colours have merged in the centre well I think.  The technique used to build up colour glazes would make a great base for a floral painting in my opinion.  I like to use acrylic in this method under oil paint. I found the colours I used very easy to blend, probably because they were acrylic and diluted very easily with water.  When I use oil paint I like to make a mixture of odourless turpentine and linseed oil to dilute the oil paint.  I find using that combination of 50% of each that my paintings dry much faster than just using linseed oil.

Exercise: Opaque colour mixing

The first two colours of my acrylic diluted with white when on smoothly.  I actually started from the right and worked to the left adding white as I went along.  My acrylic paint is a little on the old side as I  prefer to use oil and the most I would use acrylic is to paint a canvas so that I have a great colour on which to paint in oil.  I prefer mixing with the white to get a rich deep paler colour as opposed to just plain water which gives a transparent appearance.  The paint looks more to me like an oil paint which I prefer.  But I consider using acrylics with the water is a little like watercolour.  For me personally, acrylic is like using something between watercolour and oil but without the benefits of either the watercolour or the oil.  I also do not like the way acrylic dries very fast, and I have tried the mediums to slow down the drying times.  The reason I used acrylic in these exercises is that they do dry fast.

Exercise: Monochrome studies

USING A LIGHT GROUND AND PAINTING WITH A DARK CONTRASTING COLOUR.

The strength of this piece of work is the dominant colour of the trees against the white background.  I like the drama of the two colours.  It is easy to use the finer brush to paint in smaller branches at the top of the tree.

USING A DARK GROUND AND USING THE BACKGROUND TO MAKE THE SHAPES OF THE TREES.

I liked the effect but I felt like I was trying to paint blindfolded or with my left hand, and it was uncomfortable for me. I did not leave space for smaller branches at the top of the tree so it appears to be a bit  'cut off', I do however like the shape of the trees and would consider perhaps using this approach to get more intersting shaped trees in future.

I plan to work more on this painting then post it to the blog.

PROJECT: WORKING ON DIFFERENT COLOURED GROUNDS

I made several drawings of three items in my sketch book. 

 And after careful consideration decided that the bottom sketch would make the most interesting composition for a simple still life.

Exercise: Tonal study on white ground.

The colour I chose to use was Prussian Blue in oil.

The following painting was done on a pure white canvas sheet.

I really enjoyed the process of this painting.  I actually made ten shades of prussian blue and white and found to be very enlightening to use this method of painting.

Exercise: Tonal study  on a dark ground.

The following painting was done on a canvas tinted with prussian blue.

I think that it lacks the luminosity of the previous painting done on the white back ground.  I did not find it easier to use the darker back ground as I wanted to use different tones as in the previous painting of the paint and therefore had to work as much on this painting as the previous one.  Perhaps this would have been a more interesting piece of work if I had left more darker areas particularly where the shadows are on the left and bottom of the painting.



Research Point: Chiaroscuro, the contrast between dark and light.

The following works exemplify chiaroscuro effects.

This magnificent painting done in 1594 'The Last Supper' by Tintoretto, an Italian painter who died the same year must be one of the best examples of using chiaroscuro.

'Find the Body of St Mark' 1562 is also another beautiful example of Tintoretto masterpieces.

'Boy with a Basket of Fruit' 1593 by another Italian painter Caravaggio.

Both Italian painters, Tintoretto and Caravaggio were greatly impressed by Titian, who was perhaps one of the most influential painters of all time.

The following is a beautiful example of one of his paintings he completed in 1548:

'Equestrian Portrait of Charles V'

The following painting by Peter Paul Rubens was also influenced by Titian.  It is extremely dramatic and the artist has made outstanding use of the 'chairoscuro' method of painting using dark and light, It is almost you have to look at all the places in the painting to discover what is really happening. 

'Prometheus Bound' 1611-1612

The Italian painters were not the only artists to embrace 'chiaroscuro' but judging by the word they must have been the first.

Other great artists of that time were also using this method.

'The Stolen Kiss' By french painter Jean Honore' FRagonard 1756 is an excellent example.

Also this example of this painting called 'Kitchen Scene' by Dutch painter 

Peter Wtewael in 1596.

An english painter Joseph Wright of Derby was also a master of the technique known as 'chiaroscuro'.  

'A Philosopher by Lamplight' 1769 

'A Cavern, Moolight' by Joseph Wright of Derby.

ASSIGNMENT 1.

I started with a quick sketch of my three still life articles, the plant, the bottle and the pear wrapped in paper. In all different positions to try to make the best composition for the piece.

I liked this composition the best, so I added come colour using intense blocks.  I think perhaps a smaller piece on watercolour paper using water colours would have been more successful, but once I started there was no turning back.  I wanted the background to be more muted than the charcoal lines in this plan.

I worked out which colours I wanted in oil, probably it would have been more beneficial to do several smaller drawings with differing colours so that I could see which was best.

I did the drawing on a piece of red coloured paper that I had done in the previous exersices.  I thought that the red would be a great colour for the green foliage.  The bottle I had was green so I changed it to red to enhance the painting.  At this point I wanted just to block in the colours and then I re-drew the shapes of the shadows in the glass bottles and on the foliage.

I wanted to put the darks on the right hand bottom.  

After much consideration this is the point I have arrived at.  I could do more work to this piece I think perhaps the stark whiteness of the paper around the pear is too much and needs toning down.  I also feel there is not really any definate shadows which could also greatly enhance this piece of work.  And as with lots of work I do as an artist I feel I could do it all over again. 

I consider the lessons I have learnt with this first assignment to be very beneficial to me.  I have been more or less a self taught artist who would work it out in my head as I went along when painting, but I can see the distinct advantages of careful planning as to the composition and then to the colours to be used. 

Exhibition in Turin ''Degas. Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay''

I went to see the exhibition of Degas in Turin in January.  It was freezing but I love the works of Degas so much that I had to go.  I was very disappointed at the venue and the volume of works by the artist.  The Venue for the exhibition was very small and very dark.  The had a system of ticketing which encouraged people to book for a certain time which I did, but I guess as it was the end of the exhibition they let everyone come in at once so it was almost impossible to look at any art with out getting continually bumped by someone else.
The two paintings below are two of my favorite pieces of all art so I was fortunate to see them.

 Dancer with Bouquet 1877

Oil on canvas with pastel.

Tests Ballet Scene1874

Oil on Canvas

The Dance Class 1873

Oil on canvas

This painting was not at the exhibition, sadly, but I love the colours Degas has added to the blue white of the costumes and the different sections of the room and the different little areas that you can look at and see something unique to that section. 

Assignment 5 - Observation from Nature - Final Drawing

Final Assignment Observation of Nature

Watercolour and coloured pencil on watercolour paper.

Assignment 5 Torn Paper Collage

This is an attempt to try to recreate the drawing I did for ''Looking Closer''.  I quite enjoyed the process of cutting, tearing and gluing the paper to the background.  I am not sure I achieved much of a likeness to the original.  I think it would take me some time to create a piece of work that I considered to be good using these methods of application.  I felt very chaotic trying to make some sort of sense of the paper to get some sort of resemblance to the previous drawing.  I did add a paint and then the felt pen lines but I think I preferred it before I added anything extra. I do not think this type of art is really for me.

Assignment 5 - Looking Closer

Taking a ''closer look'' was drawn on buff paper using coloured pencils.

I was forced to simplify what I saw in my previous drawing (tonal drawing) even more than I did when I did that drawing.  I seem to want to put every detail in which is not always necessary.  The more I look at other artist's work the more I see that a simplistic method of drawing is just as effective as trying to draw every detail.  This exercise has been instrumental in forcing me to simplify my drawing methods.  When I completed the drawing I really enjoyed using the pencils to build up different layers of the colour in different areas.

Assignment 5 - Introducing Colour

The following works are a series that I did to ''Introduce Colour'' to my floral subjects.

The drawing was done over water colour that was applied randomly leaving holes to allow the white paper to show through.  I used pastel pencils to show the different tones in the flower.  I like the concept but feel it needs more work and perhaps using plain coloured pencils could have improved the work.

No. 1

The following drawing was done on a similar background of watercolour and I lifted out some of the colour to show the lighter petals.  I added depth using a darker watercolour pencil. I like this interpretation very much and feel I could do more with in future works.

No. 2

I enjoyed drawing the tulips from this angle as the flowers seem to be growing as you look at them.  Using coloured pencils I feel I have captured a good likeness of the flowers and leaves.

No.3

I used Inkense watercolour pencil and added water to only those couple of flowers on the left so see the difference compared to the others.  I think the white background distracts from the the composition.

No.4

This attempt at the watercolour with pencil did not work that well at all.

No.5

A similar result from the last, not so good.

No.6

A better example of using coloured pencil over the watercolour.  I think this has possibilities for further development.

No.7

This did not work at all well, the outlines were too much and the colours were not very compatable in their current tones

No. 8

I used oil pastels which are water soluble.  The colours of the purple and blue are very strong and harsh,  I do think however, that the pink flowers have possibilities of future development.

No.9

I consider the differences how I draw when I use colour to be similar to when I draw with only a pencil or similar.  I would like to think I do, but I must admit that sometimes the colour confuses the drawing so what I eventually end up with is not quite the drawing I began with.  I will keep this in mind for future work.  I think the method that was the most effective was in my drawing number 2, I liked the minimal lines and the lifting out of petal colour.  I also like my drawing number 4 of the tulips.  The inktense coloured pencils are very enjoyable to use as when you wet them you get a different depth of colour.  I liked the effect of some areas being wet and allowing the colour to intensify and some areas being left with the colour pencil only.  I think also to use this technique on smooth water colour paper would be a different finish to the one I have used which is a little rough.  In my drawing number 7 I enjoyed drawing over the watercolour that had dried on the paper.  It gave a very textured look to the petals of the flower.

RESEARCH POINT - David Hockney, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Camille Pissarro

David Hockney 

Born in 1937, is a very well know prolific painter living in England.  His massive amount of works can be seen on his web-site http://www.hockneypictures.com spanning from the 1950's until present day.

The first of the three drawings by David Hockney was done in 2000 and it shows a very simplistic example of drawing using different marks and lines.  I think that when I draw I seem to see so much detail, which of course there is in a view of anything, instead of just breaking down the view to basically large shapes and different tones.  This example shows with simple lines a very effective way to emphasis only the important parts of the scene or at least only the parts that drawer wants to be seen.

''The drawing for the painting - The Gate'' 2000

The finished painting of ''The Gate''  The design and execution of this painting is almost naive but very effective, you easily feel like you are looking down on the gate because of the light coloured pathway being inclosed by the darker colours of the wall on one side and the garden on the otherside.  The branches of the trees force you to look at the gate also.  I think that this particular style is probably very easy for the viewer to understand and enjoy, I like it but do not see it as a great painting because it  probably seem so naive.

The following two drawings were done at an early time by David Hockney using the same technique for both drawings in charcoal.  He has great control over the charcoal and is able to get great visual depth by using it to create light and dark areas.  I would like to work more in charcoal and need to practice and using this technique would be a good way to start.

''Cut Trees - Timber''  2008

''Trees Near Water ll'' 2008

I was actually fortunate to see a documentary on the television recently about David Hockney and the work he created for a very large exhibition.  His paintings were based on very simple line drawings of trees.  I was impressed by the simplicity of being able to duplicate similar drawings of trees over and over to create extremely large canvases which when all joined together filled a very large wall.  

Charles Rennie Mackintosh 

Born in Scotland 1868, he was an architect, designer, water colourist and artist.

''..ecconomic hardships'' (wikipedia.org) forced him to close his architectural office in Glasgow and he and his wife were took an extended holiday in Suffolk in 1914 where  he ''created many floral watercolours''  (wikipedia.org) such as these beautiful drawings below:

I particularly like the Cactus Flowers that he has drawn using minimal colour to show the shape and form of both the leaves and flowers of the cacti.  

Camille Pissarro

Born in 1831 and according to www.arthistory.upenn.ed states the  drawings Pissarro completed in is life ''a conservative estimate puts their number at well over three thousand'' many, many more than other artists of that period of time.

''View of Trees'' 1859, Pen and dark ink over pencil on grey-blue paper.