Dark Matters -
My overall view of this exhibition was really one of enthusiasm. I thought that the exhibition was well thought out and the tone of the exhibition really meant I was able to view each piece carefully, thoughtfully and appreciate it for its subdued detail. I know my natural inclination is to look at the bold and bright and I think the fact that the entire exhibition was about looking at the simple, subtle and careful pieces form these artists was a brilliant way of showcasing this type or work.
There were many other pieces included in the exhibition however I have picked out the ones which spoke to me most.
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Dark Matters - Maxwell Gordon Lightfoot - The Rag Pickers
This is another painting which seems to have such desolation, yet has smooth soft lines which I think adds to the soft focus or low light appearance of the overall composition. I like the textured background and the darker shades and shadows of the rag pickers
Dark Matters - Henry Spencer Moore - Miners at Work - Detail
I think the way the spine has been depicted here is really remarkable - again it is not very accurate anatomically however it really gives the feel of a skeletal, yet strong form.
Dark Matters - Henry Spencer Moore - Miners at Work - detail
I love the detail here particularly the eyes and torso of the miner, the stooped stature and the way resist has been used to give a really bleak, dusty dry feel to the painting.
Dark Matters - Henry Spencer Moore - Miners at Work
This painting was my absolute favourite of this exhibition, and is perhaps going to be the start of my discovery of Henry Moore! I have recently been reading books detailing social history from roughly the 1850's onwards including information on the workhouses and living conditions. I think its the eyes which really speak to me on this painting, and also the mixed used of watercolour and ink, and the scant use of the yellow for the tiny amounts of light. the eyes of these men, who seems to have become almost feral speak of absolute desperation, but determination to continue to work despite the appalling conditions, the alternative being the depravity of the workhouse system, which even after they were closed lived on for another generation as almost a fate worse than death. The men have not bee depicted in particularly accurate anatomical detail but the strokes and marks made depict the pain and discomfort perfectly.........
Dark Matters - Paula Rego - Hey Diddle Diddle
I have recently been looking at another Paula Rego painting (Dance) during my time volunteering in a local primary school where we recreated this painting through collage. Coming across this monochrome Paula Rego piece was quite a surprise! Nursery Rhymes are historically so linked with bright colours, simplicity and fun that this painting really jumped out at me as very different and challenging. The characters have almost been given a dark or sinister aspect, it seems to me as though this is the characters enjoying themselves when the children have their backs turned and nobody is looking! I think the way the sky has been created, and the precipice the girl, dog and cat are balanced on looks so precarious, simply created through the vast sky and line of safe ground. I like the way the hatching has been used for the floor and for the fur of the cat, contrasted with the careful shading and detail of the bush and the cow in the sky. The fallen over stool gives a really manic feel to the scene which really appeals to me!
Dark Matters - Study of a Baby - Wiliam Newzam Prior Nicholson
I think the mixed media approach of this "painting" is really interesting - and I think I can learn a lot from this. Given the date of the painting I think it has been painted in the style of a black and white photograph with colour tinting, it may not have been but that's how it appears to me! I like that it is probably not really a likeness of any individual due to so much of the face being in shadow. I think the minimal amounts of colour have been used to really good effect - such as the colour of the hair and the blue of the sash. The dark background and bold shadow gives the impression of the child coming from a dark room outside into the sunshine. It seems that watercolour has been applied in layers on this painting then embellished - subtly - with ink and charcoal. The faint lines around the child give the impression of energy and movement which I think adds to the atmosphere of the piece.
Dark Matters - Arthur Ralph Middleton Todd - the Silhouette
I think this image is simply beautiful, it seems to have been so gently created, and I feel that the personality and perhaps the burdens of this lady are apparent in the image. The way the shadows fall and highlight the details, yet are softly merged in the background throwing the lady into sharp relief. the shadows and tone have been used very intelligently and make me feel warmth from the room even though no warm colours have been used. When I saw this etching I really felt I could have looked at it for a long time, its restful yet raises many questions.
Dark Matters - Alphonse Legros - Head and Shoulders of a Girl
I think perhaps the gallery notes influenced my view of this painting, however this one jumped out at me due to the almost photographic quality of this painting, and interestingly only the had has been painted in detail, the shoulders and torso being very simply sketched. There is certainly something unsettling about the stare of the girl and the set of her face. The gallery notes make reference to the shadow, which I think make the viewer perhaps form their own story behind the etching.
Dark Matters - Whitworth Gallery Visit
I initially visited the Whitworth gallery to view the Textile Exhibition - Global threads, however upstairs there was this exhibition which I felt tied in well with my current Watercolour studies. I think my initial thoughts were that it was not very appealing to me given my love of colour, however as I looked closely at each of the paintings I found there were a number that jumped out to me and these are the paintings I have photographed and recorded here.
Friday 4 May 2012
Final photo Assignment 2 Still life
I am not happy that the photos I have taken accurately reflect how the finished painting looks - I have taken this final photo and i think it shows a bit more clearly the depths built up following the layering of washes. It is still a bit lacking however in its representation of the folds of the fabric which are included in my painting! I have found turquoise quite awkward to photograph so may have to just accept this is how this one looks!
Assignment 2 Still life in watercolour
Close up of one area of the painting - highlighting the orchid.
Assignment 2 Still life in watercolour
This photograph is taking in different lighting and the colours have come out quite differently to the previous photo, hopefully though it gives the viewer a clearer impression of how the finished painting looks.
Assignment 2 - Finished Painting
This is the finished painting for Assignment 2. I have found that the inclusion of the darker details of at the very end of the painting really do brink the finished piece to life and give it a completeness which seems to be so lacking as I am progressing through the various stages. I am particularly pleased with how the peppers look with the dark highlights on their stems, and the onion with its dark, almost black markings on the skin. On looking back to my watercolour and ink painting its interesting to see that this piece has much smoother colour in the leaves, whereas the piece which takes many more hours has resulted in a far more variegated appearance, I think this is due to me looking and looking and painting what I have actually seen rather than assumed I had seen.
A few MORE washes in.......Assignment 2
Here is the painting with some more progress made - the composition seems to have changed completely with the inclusion of the black washes on the plant pot. I think my initial approach of washing in the reflections of the vegetables has worked as this has enabled me to create the effect of the reflection quite well, as the reflections seems to have now taken on the impression of distance from the real objects.
A few washes in....Assignment 2
This photograph was taken when I had laid down a couple of initial washes. Tonally it is clear here where items are supposed to be, their relationships with the other objects, the reflections in the black pot and the background washes. Due to the papery whiteness of the orchids I decided to use a small amount of masking fluid for the orchids to protect these areas from the many tonal washes which would inevitably be sloshing past the orchids not matter how much care I took! I also considered use of the masking fluid for the white areas of the red and yellow pepper however felt that with care and as these items would be washed on a smaller scale it was most appropriate to leave these items free of masking fluid and take extra care with my painting.
Still Life Composition for Assignment 2
This is the composition I used for this assignment - the light is very bright on this one! As I painted this piece over a few days there were time when the light and tone would be considerably different to other times but despite this the reflections in the black pot remained and the shadows of the pieces of veg on the fabric remained fairly consistent so this did not affect me to adversely. Also the window these items were placed by is the only light source in that room so the light was generally going to fall on the items in the same way but with varying degrees of brightness.
Watercolour and Ink Assignment 2
This was a quick watercolour painting of my chosen composition, which once it was dry I highlighted in black ink. I am really very taken with this way of working and feel quite torn about the approach to take when painting my final assignment piece. I want to use layers of careful washes to demonstrate my understanding of the learning material however I also love the finished effect of pieces on which I have "sketched" in watercolour and then highlighted in ink. I love the energy and simplicity of this combination - and think this has been the creative revelation of the course so far!
Colour testing sheet Assignment 2
I decided to separate out my page for testing and layering different washes for each part of the painting this also meant I could see more clearly the overall relationship of the "groups" of tones one to another, separately to the painting. This page was particularly useful in composing the correct tones for the backing fabric.
Tonal Sketch of Assignment 2
I found following the process of creating a tonal sketch after the initial sketch a really helpful one and I intend to continue to use this technique in the future, I think even if I did not refer to the sketch after its completion simply the process itself of looking more closely at the tones of the composition was very helpful - and also slowed me down from rushing into starting the painting.
Initial sketch of Assignment Still Life
This is the first sketch of my assignment piece, I spend a considerable amount of time selecting both the items and the background for this piece, I feel as though the course material has really helped me to compose a piece which will demonstrate my learnings from each part of the course so far. Originally in place of the pestle and mortar there was a teapot but this did not sit well with the overall composition, the pattern seemed too busy and did not mix well with the rather rustic appearance of the other items.
Thursday 3 May 2012
Warm and Cold Colours - Summary notes
- I think its quite difficult to define which is the most "successful" of the approaches to the paintings below. I think the outcomes are very very different though and I think the decision over which is "better" will lie with each individual beholder.
- The still life paintings of real objects are accurate, and I think more closely represent the items viewed. the paintings completed from memory seem to be far more evocative of emotions as memories are such special things, and I really enjoyed the exercise which pushed me to delve into long since "forgotten" images and experiences.
- I think my preference perhaps if for painting still life images, but perhaps with a free-er hand, I particularly enjoyed the fast paintings in an earlier exercise which was then added to with ink, I felt it had real life and energy to it.
- Putting the pictures together showed me a real contrast in my style of painting when painting from memory or observed objects, I think the memory painting appeared more vague and perhaps rose tinted than the accurate representation of the small still life compositions. it seems I am still very concious of form and line in the still life paintings and perhaps more concious of accuracy of colour, however the memories seem to be far more spontaneous compositions, and I was unconcerned when the paints began to smudge and blend, the tomato even looks as though it has been sat on, but I really like the smudged effect - interestingly I don't think I would be happy with this smudged effect on an observed still life, I would feel perhaps I was not painting what I saw.
Wednesday 2 May 2012
Project 4 Colour - Warm and cold colours
April 2012 067, a photo by Miriam Ward on Flickr.
Project 4 Colour - Warm and cold colours
Purple spotty skirt.
My grandmother made 3 of these skirts from the same fabric for my mum, my sister and I. beautiful (probably 100% synthetic!) purple fabric with white and cerise spots on, the skirts were full circle skirts, and I was young, so when I spun round I felt like a princess! I was so disappointed to grow out of my skirt!
My grandmother made 3 of these skirts from the same fabric for my mum, my sister and I. beautiful (probably 100% synthetic!) purple fabric with white and cerise spots on, the skirts were full circle skirts, and I was young, so when I spun round I felt like a princess! I was so disappointed to grow out of my skirt!
Project 4 Colour - Warm and Cold Colours
April 2012 068, a photo by Miriam Ward on Flickr.
Project 4 - Colour Working with greys and browns
I found painting this still life really quite a challenge - I think mostly because I did not really enjoy the colours i was seeing before me. I followed the technique of many layers built tonally which I am now really enjoying as an approach to painting, and I think suits me as it probably reigns me in from being too "enthusiastic" and sloshing paint everywhere!
I found I did not really understand the "patterns" referred to in the course material, I understand that patterns are a repetition of a colour/image, and I can see how this might apply but feel the link is quite a tenuous one.
I have found that the practice of leaving the dark areas/details to the end of the painting is a very helpful way for me to proceed with the painting, and also the multiple layers give me time to reflect away from the painting and return to it with fresh eyes after the painting is dry, ready to proceed with the next layer.
I like the relationship between the vibrant orange of the satsuma and the pearl grey of the small vase (though the vase was a pain to draw! I am still unhappy with the finished shape of that item).
Project 4 Colour - working with Greys and Browns
This is the preliminary painting in my sketchbook to look at the shades and tones to include in the painting. On reflection i think this painting seems to have more energy and life than the completed piece! Working quickly with paints on dry paper but not allowing them to dry between colours has meant the colours have merged into one another, and I quite like the freshness of the finished sketch. Being a big fan of colour I was really not too keen on painting in such muted tones! In addition looking back at this sketch its interesting to see that the light must have been falling differently when I completed this quick sketch as the reflection in the socket adaptor is absent in the final painting.
Project 4 Colour - Working with greys and browns
Initial sketch for working with greys and browns, I have used this sketch to again shade the tonally darker areas and to decide whether or not I was happy with the composition. I have chosen a cool grey vase, a white multi socket,a brown wooden spoon and a vibrantly coloured satsuma, set against a silver box and a muted worktop.
Project 4 Colour Still Life with colourful objects - reflective notes
- I think the greens and yellows work well against the dark red background, they don't appear to be working against each other, I think because each of the tones are "warm" tones. Despite the warmth of the tones though the vibrant bright yellow seems to add light to the overall finished painting. The mug does not seem to leap off the page in quite the way the fruit does, but perhaps this more muted tone gives balance to the overall painting?
- The shading on the fruit has worked well, as previously mentioned on my logbook notes, I am pleased to see how some darker colours have contributed well to give depth to the rounded shapes of the fruit. I also think the reflected colour of the lemon in the apple and the mug serve to pull the whole painting together.
- I think perhaps I could have included a more vibrantly coloured object instead of the mug, perhaps on blue to give more contrast in the painting and introduce a cooler colour - even if it had been a light blue or pal purple.
- The red fabric together with the shadows was quite difficult to reproduce, and I was hesitant at first to introduce black to the red to really darken the tone however once I had tested this on my scrap watercolour paper I was quite happy with how it looked with the darkest red tones.
- I think the hardest parts of this painting were to keep the colours clean, and to keep the lightest areas of the painting light.
Monday 30 April 2012
Project 4 Colour - Still life with colourful objects
Finished Painting
I found the dark red fabric really quite difficult to paint! However I did find that by putting into practice my tonal learnings from the previous exercises I was able to build up colour carefully and slowly.
I followed the reccomendations in the course material and began to identify colour areas in the painting by very pale washes. Keeping the colour fresh was another factor which I feel helped me to compose and complete this painting.
Once the painting was finished I was quite surprised to see the tones and shades used in both the lemon and the apple to finish them and create shade and shadow!
Project 4 Colour - Still life with colourful objects
This was the second sketch I completed in my sketchbook prior to starting my painting on watercolour paper.I found this sketch really helpful for sizing, proportion and light and dark shades.
Project 4 Colour - Still life with colourful objects
This is the preliminary sketch and painting of my colourful objects. I was cafeful to pick a very vibrant background in the strong red, then a couple of vibrant pieces of fruit. I then chose to contrast this with the muted tones of the derwent mug. After completing this quick colour sketch I decided to move the apple nearer to the lemon so that the items overlapped and the apple could pick up some of the yellow tone of the lemon.
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Logbook Notes
I think the studies which worked best were the lounge in burnt sienna and the final painting the shed interior in sepia. Perhaps this is because they were both painted in warm colours which seemed to convey the sinshine fairly well. The imagined room in sunlight was perhaps too cool whne it was finished.
I did not feel too constrained by the use of monochrome - I think the previous exercises of still life in monochrome were really key in me forming this opinion. I have found the layering of one colour in multiple tones really enjoyable and a truly new learning experience.
I think the ability of watercolour to convey mood and atmosphere has been really well demonstrated by my previous comment regarding which paintings I feel worked well i.e. the colours demonstrating either warmth or light or coolness. I think the observed studies did help me to compose imaginary rooms, however I did need to take my time and it did not come easily.
Since completing thiss section of the course I have found I am really tired after completing a painting! I guess this is due to the extent to which I have been staring at my subjects!
I think the studies which worked best were the lounge in burnt sienna and the final painting the shed interior in sepia. Perhaps this is because they were both painted in warm colours which seemed to convey the sinshine fairly well. The imagined room in sunlight was perhaps too cool whne it was finished.
I did not feel too constrained by the use of monochrome - I think the previous exercises of still life in monochrome were really key in me forming this opinion. I have found the layering of one colour in multiple tones really enjoyable and a truly new learning experience.
I think the ability of watercolour to convey mood and atmosphere has been really well demonstrated by my previous comment regarding which paintings I feel worked well i.e. the colours demonstrating either warmth or light or coolness. I think the observed studies did help me to compose imaginary rooms, however I did need to take my time and it did not come easily.
Since completing thiss section of the course I have found I am really tired after completing a painting! I guess this is due to the extent to which I have been staring at my subjects!
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Shed interior completed
I chose to use sepia for this painting as I thought brown tones would lend themselves well to the interior of such a natural environment. The prelimary line drawing has enabled me to create perspective. I then again carefully increased layers of pale washes and allowed them to dry in between. After the paler washes were dry I layered darker tones to highlight the tools, under the workbench, the sides of the shed and parts of the roof. I was careful throughout not to over tint the windows as I was keen to create contrast bewteen the brightness of the windows and the gloomy interior of the shed.
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Imaginary Rooms
I decided to pretend night had fallen for my second imaginary room, with a lamp which is not visible in the painting but is located on the right at the foot of the bed. Having already completed the daytime painting I found I was better able to recreate the scene as a nighttime scene. In isolation I have mixed feelings about this painting, however when I place it next to the previous painting I am happier that it shows the difference in light source.
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Imaginary Rooms
I always thought I had a fairly vivid imagination - until being asked to paint an imaginary one. I felt that I had to begin with a window as that would give me my light course for placement of the shadows in the appropriate. Having found the dramatic interiors exercise difficult this one seemed even more of a challenge! I decided to try prussian blue for this exercise. The prussian blue seems to have dried in an interesting mottled texture. I really enjoyed building the layers of wash in this exercise and was really carefull to consider where the shadows would be - painting from my imagination really was very different from painting an observed item! I left the window clar of wash to try to ensurethis remained the brightest part of the painting, and then only applied a pale wash to the reflected window on the floor.
Project 3 Tone and Composition Dramatic Interiors
This was the second attempt at the bathroom, this time with the light off. Its interesting as when I look closely at the finished painting the blue tones of the paynes grey seem to have become almost opaque on edges of the toilet and bath. With the light off it wasnt difficult to create the drama by concentrating on much darke washes over the majority of the painting then "highlighting" in darker mixes certain areas of the room such as the corner of the room furthest from the viewer. I have to admit to struggling to then highlight the edges of the bath but I had tried to keep these genuinely light areas as clean as possible. With these exercises I am definitely finding the light pencil lines a great help in separating out and defining areas for light, mid and dark tones.
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Dramatic Interiors
I found this exercise really quite difficult! The bathroom in my house does not have a window, therefore it is lit with a light. I decided to try to paint the bathroom firstly with the light on then with the light off. For both paintings I used paynes grey (I am fascinated with this block of colour, sometimes it appears blue, and at others it seems black or grey).
This painting is completed with the light on, it was really difficult to capture a white bathroom in a "black" paint! However as it sat outside the bathroom and looked for quite a while I found that there were shadows which could be painted to then show the outlines of the bathroom suite. Once I started to paint I found that the main factor was that I had to ensure I did not paint it too darkly so I kept the individual washes very light and then gently highlighted areas with a slightly darker wash in the darker areas.
Project 3 Tone and Composition - Interior
Composition of an interior. I painted this interior in burnt sienna. was quite surprised about how long this painting took, including waiting for the layer to dry between washes. I think the final painting is interesting in that leaving the window areas with only one wash this looks so much brighter once the additional layers are dry, and built over one another. I dont really feel as though the photograph has dont this painting justice - the burnt sienna seems to have really well represented the warmth of the sun streaming into the room. It was hard not to paint the pattern of the wallpaper.
I think scaling up from still life was really quite a challenge - I wanted to capture the individual details of objects in the room but had to remind myself to exclude the details. I also didnt know where to "look".
I think the exercises in this course have really helped me to separate out tones and recognise that through using lighter washes of the same colour I can make an area of my painting look quite different to another more tonally deep area.
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