Sprint on the path

This evening I am just going to give a quick run-down on today's work.
In passing, however I should mention a terrific lecture called 'Framing the World'  from Dr David Brancaleone to which I will return as it brought up a number of issues of perception about which I would like to say more.

First, as usual, when I looked again at last evenings work I was much more pleased that I had been, and it was well thought-of elsewhere too; I still feel though that it could have done with more contrast:

 

The wall as it is now:

 

 

 

Okay; here is the section I worked from for the colour piece:

 

 

...and here are various stages of the work throughout the day:

 

 

 

Tomorrow, the gallery.

 

In passing, this is a print studio:

 

 

Wonderful!

It just has to be

Public Print

Realism rules

CCS today dealt in the first lecture with three artists who exemplified the reaction to Romanticism in carrying forward the belief in a realist view of art and its subjects.

Courbet (1819 - 1877), Millet (1914 - 1875), and Daumier ( 1808 - 1879), all saw themselves as Realists under which banner they variously claimed to be socialist and to care for the plight of the masses to a greater or lesser extent:

 Courbet -  The Burial at Ornans (1849-50)

Apologies for the size of this but it loses its impact if reproduced any smaller

 

Millet - The Man with the Hoe (1860 - 62)

 

 

Daumier - A Wagon of the third class ( 1864)

 

At another time I would expand at some length or these artists respective artistic achievements and their political attitudes but suffice it to say that Daumier was the only on of the three who went to jail for hi artistic productions. In passing what particularly attracts me to him is that he was an extremely prolific printmaker having produced somewhere in the region of four thousand lithographs in his lifetime.

 

The second CCS lecture was on methods of reading a picture and took as its subject Manet's A Bar at the Folies- Bergere (1881-82):

 

Now, I have looked at this picture many times  but to my knowledge I never before noticed the legs of the trapeze artist in the top left-hand corner!

The lecture was much more than that,though; the use of pairs of opposites to help one to look more deeply into the picture was again something I had never done before.

So -learning all the time.

 

I went back to the paint studio to take some more photos:

 

 

The finish of yesterdays'

 

 - and while it was relatively quiet, to do another painting - this time with green and red and using the palette knife:

 

I would have to say I think this was at best only moderately successful - I don't think there was enough contrast in the tones. However, let's look at it again tomorrow.

 

And finally

 

Public Print

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking,not running

Before telling of today's activities I must show you the completed work from yesterday:

First, the subject:

 

Second the marks - drama-land but  great idea for maintaining POV:

 

Next, the work:

 

At the end of the week when they are properly finished and hung I will take better photos.

 

Exercises in colour mixing today, using the colour wheel as a starting point.

Demonstrations regarding primaries, secondaries and complementaries.
We were to do a painting of the assemblage ( preferably one with which one had not already worked and it was to be done with an array of tints and shades derived from a complementary combination -in my case purple and yellow:

 

There are two sets of colour swatches because I underpainted with those on the right and when I remixed for the overpaint the tints and shades were greener rather than brown. I was happy with this because I was getting a different experience of colour. This again is not the finished product -will do some more painting tomorrow  after CCS with knife and a different colour combination.

 

No day would be complete.....

 

Public Print

The Path of Spring

Okay, its probably a bit optimistic, but sure you have to be hopeful!
Back to painting this morning and the first images will be of the palette knife paintings from Friday:

 

 

Here are the three first thee square format paintings in 'gallery':

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, after some blind drawing exercises and another 'credit card' study:

 

 

 

 we moved onto a further tone study, but this time in portrait or landscape. I chose to do landscape and I show the chosen thumbnail -the final painting will be pictured tomorrow:

 

 

 

Will photograph it as well.

 

Here's a puzzle; what is it?

 

 

Unfortunately. as we are amateurs, no monetary prizes will be allowed.

 

 

And, of course

 

Public Print

 

 

 

The Nepenthean Path

Forgetfulness indeed - it has been four days since I posted, but in strict truth I hadn't so much forgotten as put it off until I was satisfied with what I wanted to picture and write.

During Thursday and Friday we painted, using  a large brush and then a palette knife, having totally rebuilt the found objects into two separate subjects. The pigments used were simply primaries mixed to produce a black which was then tinted with white to give mid and light greys. It was then necessary to do a number of thumbnails of various points of view (POVs) until one was satisfied with what one wished to paint  -ideally including as many simple shapes  - spheres, cones, cubes - as possible.

I would have to admit that it took me a while to get a handle on the idea of putting the farthest away tones in first, so later my first piece required some over painting to get close to where it should have been:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I left on Thursday evening, I wasn't very happy with my work, but on seeing again on Friday I felt it had improved overnight! The last instruction from Sylvia  to contrast the diagonal page more made a big difference.

The next stage with the palette knife proved very interesting but I will leave that till tomorrow as I haven't got the pictures yet.

 

 

I should not forget to mention the fascinating introduction to paint that we received from Dr David Brancaleone through a deep analysis of the art and perhaps wilfully misrepresented life of Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954)

The Two Fridas - 1939  - 173.5 x 173 cm

 

But what really surprised me were the number of overtly political pictures showing me that I really didn't know all that much about Frida Kahlo's life or indeed her work.

 

 

Self-portrait on the borderline between Mexico and the United States - 1932 - 12.5 x 13.5 ins.

 

 

One of the reasons I hadn't posted had been that I was seriously updating my contextual notebook but even having mentioned them there, I feel a number of these artist should be shown here so I will give a selection of the ones that have most attracted me, in no particular order.

 

Brain Alfred (b.1973 - US )

 

City Sunrise - 2004 - 94 x 132 in. 

 

 

Shelter - 2004  - 23.5 x 30.5 cm

 

So now, so wow.

 

 

 

Monroe Hodder ( b. 1953  - UK )

 

paris Velvet  - 2010 - 163 x 183 x 8

 Landscape ?

 

 

Bernard Frize ( b. 1954  France )

 

Does he really do this?

Avalon - 1999 - 160 x 130 cm

 

Mona Marzouk (b.1968 -Egypt )

 

 

Untitled - 92 x 63cm

 

Much of her work is influenced by where she originates.

 

 

Wilhelm Sasnal (b. 1972 Poland)

 

I could find no titles for these but they were in an exhibition in Zurich in Dec 2009. I really am attracted to this artist's work not least because of his attachment to monochrome  which we are doing at present  but which appals to me anyway.

 

 

Back to the real world  -on Friday I went for a walk through Limerick and on my way to Ormiston House I spotted a shop-front doing art:

 

 

Not sure about what the setup is but we have to look after our own, n'est-ce pas?

 

Anyway, on to Ormston House where the Winter Members  Exhibition was called

 'Thick, turgid and lacking in soothing oil'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am fairly sure these are both by Emmet Kierans but I will have to check this

 

 

Vanessa Donoso Lopez - Mama, threads are not just for sewing II (2012)  paper, paint, threads,brackets, 170 x 170 x 150 cm

 

I would have loved to show Chris Leach's drawings but my pictures were poor as I could not focus well-enough on them.

 

It is worth going to this just to read the statement which is refreshingly un- artspeak.

 

Just around the corner Limerick Printmakers have just hung a new show -on Friday! - and have not yet got their list out, but I advise anyone remotely interested in print to go and see this. Here is one:

 

 

Title next week and more pictures

 

This will show that great prints can be quite small.

 

 

 

I wanted to draw this afternoon, but why is it that what always seems to appear is a face(!??):

 

Who is he?

 

 

And even though its the weekend I have a special collected on my way home:

 

Public Print