Serendipity Sometimes

My students have been working on tonal value this term.  We started with a grey scale and a black and white print of  a still life.

As you can see, there is a pleasing collection of simple shapes.  All were white, but the varying depths of shadow gave a variety of tones.  These we checked against the grey scale to assess just how dark a white surface can be!  And painting the image wasn’t too easy either.  It’s so hard to believe that “white” can be that dark.

The next part of the exercise was to reinterpret the image in any way possible.  some turned the shapes into buildings, some selected one or two shapes to create their own design in colour, one even found ballerinas in the upper outline!  I decided to cut the whole shape into “tiles”, rearrange them, and use colour to paint the tones on each segment.  This gives you some idea of the guidelines I used.  I had seen an image of an entirely white set of tiles mounted in sunlight, the varying raised lines on each tile caught the light, and the whole image changed as the sun passed over it.  I was hoping to achieve something as interesting using colour.  The lines you see show the top of the little box and the curve of the drum.

The pockets in the book are very small by my standards, so I thought I’d try portraits in watercolour.   They are largely foreground making such detail as I could manage contribute usefully to the finished painting.  That sounds like a piece of woolly thinking, and it is!  I don’t know where I’m going with this.

The lady is my first attempt.  She graced the front cover of a book I am reading at the moment, and I loved her headdress.  My new-found courage to pick up a pencil and draw helped me here – none of my usual “crutches” would have worked at this size anyway.  I sketched her out with surprising ease, certainly enough to encourage me to introduce paint.  I enjoyed the delicacy and lightness of touch demanded by working so small. (Sorry to be going on about “Small”, but it really is new ground for me).  She looks younger, pert even, in comparison with the original image.

Faces, then are possible.  I own a book of self-portraits,  “A Face to the World” by Laura Cumming, a great study if you are interested in painting and paintings, which fell open at Jan van Eych wearing his trademark red turban.  This is turning into a “hats” project!  He is contemporary with my lady and very striking.  I really enjoyed his many folded turban.

 

My second painting is a painter, and my favourite of all time is Turner.  I discovered him in the Lady Lever Art Gallery aged about 15, and thought I found an unrecognised genius!  His self-portrait is of his young self and he isn’t wearing a hat. It’s a very direct stare and as it has good strong shapes making it smaller will be possible.  It’s interesting how dark the darks are in these portraits, even on faces.

 

 

Well, that looks better!  Altogether more cheerful! which is what I had in mind.  The painting is not longer influenced by the original one – the lighting has changed. The picture is no longer brooding, mysterious perhaps, with a storm brewing.  In fact the storm had passed leaving an immense amount of flood water, but nothing unusual to residents, as the flood plain of the Dee is still used to manage the river.  Winter floods are part of scene most years.

I’m still learning about my camera and what happens when I move a photo on to the blog.  The colours in the painting are brighter than my first pass but not as glowing as they appear in this photo.  The apparent florescent pink is more brown so does not dominate.  The high water level and the reflected light under the bridge arches give an altogether lighter feel to the piece.  It Seems to me that blogs are more about photography than I thought.

You may remember I made a New Year’s resolution to draw every day.  The not unexpected news is that I haven’t done that, but I have done some drawing.

I thought that the best way of ensuring that at least some was done, was to start my classes by arranging that my students, (and therefore me!) did a ten minute sketch at the beginning of each session.  We would work in biro so that we were not distracted by rubbing out, and no one need show their work to me or anyone else unless they wanted to.  There is a lot of apprehension for many people when drawing is mentioned and I wanted to make the whole practice as pleasant as possible.

Here are some of the things we drew.    The Class are enjoying their mini drawing sessions, and we all find that we are looking more analytically as we draw.  I don’t think my drawing as improved yet, it’s early days after all, but I do find I have more willingness to draw for painting without employing any of the “crutches”  I have used in the past.

Recently, a new Gallery has opened in Farndon,  which is great news for local artists.  The owner, Ian Walton,  who is also an artist- www.ian-walton.com – is punctuating the regular display with themed exhibitions, his first on being “Capturing Spring”.  I am delighted that he has accepted two of my own paintings for display in this exhibition, which is running from the 25th of this month to mid-April.

The first of these paintings I want to share with you is this little waterfall.

It’s quite a big painting, 23 inches by 34 inches, but the waterfall itself was not much bigger.   I came across it on a Lakeland holiday.  It is such a delight -the first long fall then the tumbling splashing escape to the water below, the brave little sapling just showing its leaves, the russets of grass and bush, and what about those rocks!   Even in the little places they create the landscape.  Deep darks counter-change the light catching the water, rocks and leaves just so.

 

In contrast,  the other painting is light and open, typical of the gentle landscape of parts of  Cheshire and Shropshire.  This is not a very good reproduction – one of my many future tasks is to get to grips with my camera.  The road plunges down the slope, turning at the bottom to climb the hill on the other side.  In reality, this is not a road to be walking on.  It’s very busy, a fast road  with double yellow lines on each side.  You would be taking your life in your hands to venture on it.  But I have always loved this view which opens before you as you breast the hill.   I have made it people-friendly  so I can share my pleasure.

Do go to the Exhibition if you live nearby – there is lots to see.

 

I’m rather pleased with this watercolour especially as I have not used the medium for a while.  But being able to paint more regularly at the moment has paid dividends.  For once, I’ve taken it slowly, working forward layer by layer using increased detail to enhance the perspective.  Watercolour can be such a quick medium that I sometimes feel that if the painting is not completed in half an hour or less, and at one sitting, then it isn’t a proper watercolour.  Where I picked up this misconception, I have no idea.

This painting is loose as well as detailed.  The cool blues and lemons of the distant hillside give way the the shadowed slope of the valley and the great shout of colour in the foreground.  The dark evergreens on either side are a good foil for the sunlit tree trunks.  I like the zigzag tracing the land forward through the scene.

Incidentally, the painting reads well even in monochrome, so the tonal values must be right!

Well, here it is.  I am almost sure I have finished.  I will put it up in the studio for a week or two before I sign it in case something jumps out at me.  I have to say his eyes look very strange in the photo, but not in the painting itself.   A critique from a friend would be useful!

However – there is always an however – I am dissatisfied that I couldn’t make more of it.  It’s OK as far as it goes, not without input from me, especially in the colour sense, but I would like to try again and make it less representational.  I think I will try mixed media, using “Collage, Colour and Texture in Painting” by Mike Bernard and Robin Capon, mentioned in my New Year post, as my guide.  I am hoping to make something with more atmosphere, more mystery, something less obvious.  This will not be a quick exercise as I will be well into personally uncharted territory.  Wish me luck!

I worked on her face first in more detail.  If you remember the mouth was very loosely indicated, her nose was twisted, and her hair was a rather dull brown, so plenty to do.

I think I’ve done reasonable well here – she looks altogether more human.   Although I have made corrections, I haven’t lost the vigour of the brush strokes, and have achieved more successful tones.  The upper lip is still too light, and I would like a more nuanced tonal balance around the eyes.

Then, I tackled her hair which is more auburn than brown or red.  A touch of alizarin in the mix seemed to do the trick.  I know the hair is a bit dome-like, but that was how it was done in those days – I know, I had one too!  Even so the carefully sculpted side curl is too thick.  It needs to be more airy.

 

 

I turned to him – at least he now  has a nose and mouth, and they are believable.   His eyes are still too narrow and almond shaped. The modelling on the face is not that strange colour in actuality ( I haven’t worked out the vagaries of my camera yet).  Both faces are still rather flat, so I need to attend to the shading again.  Then there is the matter of making sure they both have space in the painting to be more than cardboard cutouts.  Still progress has been made.

Things started well.  I began by painting the darker areas using Sepia and Chrome Green to give some variation and depth, suggesting  shadows where one figure overlapped the other as well as the facial ones already indicated.  A few marks represented folds in clothing, etc.  By working over the whole painting in this way, I am able to maintain the integrity of a joint portrait.  I was enjoying the process and happy with the result.

The next visit was a mistake – hurried and thoughtless, more interested in moving the painting on than in doing so successfully! and this is the result.  I could have wept.  They look as if they have a serious skin complaint!  On the up side, his jacket looks the right colour, and I haven’t obliterated all the careful drawing, but that was a definite lesson in not trying to hurry because there is only a short time available at this moment. Better to leave it and tackle it when things are more serene.  So that is what I did – and was rewarded by an altogether kinder painting.

I started by painting the background, partly to paint myself in and partly to reduce the amount of white canvas glaring at me.  I may have used too bright a colour, but I can adjust that in time, and it does the job right now.  The painting looks better even without working on the faces, so it has encouraged me to continue.  Indeed, I rarely bin anything until it’s finished – sometimes you can surprise yourself!

Then I tried again on the faces and hair.  I feel much happier now.  They are still a bit spotty but altogether warmer, more friendly.  The shading is better balanced and the eyes of both  are good for this stage.  Her nose is twisted! and both mouths sulky, so more work there.  Her muted green dress fits the colour scheme, his shirt less inclined to dominate the picture.  Progress.