Exercise - Tonally graded wash and simple clouds

I followed the directions of the course material, and realised once again the learning of new techniques requires practice! The first couple of attempts were not very successful as sky but by the third I seemed to have found a method that suits me.

Creating clouds using an ultramarine wash then a wet paintbrush, unfortunately this doesn't look like sky, it looks like it's been painted with a paintbrush! 

The second experiment using ultramarine and a sponge was a bit more effective, this method seems to be useful for creating shadows under the clouds. 

I think as I compare these first three paintings side by side this one is the most successful, for this painting I used an ultramarine wash then kitchen towel to lift off the paint, this felt as though I had greater control and was not just pushing the paint around the paper but lifting it off to leave white underneath. I am looking forward to the next stage in this exercise and working some shadows and depth into the clouds.

I worked using a darker more saturated wash of ultramarine for the above painting. I then lifted off the clouds using tissue, leaving me with white clouds, finally I worked into the clouds using a very pale wash of payne's grey, to give the impression of shadows. 

I practiced the same method again, and blended the shadows with water, payne's grey and drying the area again with tissue. 

And finally a Tonally graded wash, simple clouds and shading using payne's grey and yellow ochre. I think the use of the ochre gives the suggestion of sunset, so perhaps suggests evening light, which I think is worth bearing in mind. 

Emil Nolde - Artist Research

Not an artist I have come across before....but I am thrilled with my tutors recommendation to go and have a look, such sumptuous colours and expressive tones and sweeping lines and strokes!

Wheat Field

Its interesting to see how he appears to paint on a wet background with really saturated colours that are blurring into each other, yet with the sunflowers painting he has retained the vibrancy of the yellow and there are some crisper lines layered over dry tones.

Stormy Sea - Emil Nolde

Sunflowers - Emil Nolde

    

Biography from Wikipedia:-

Emil Nolde was born as Emil Hansen near the village of Nolde (since 1920 part of the municipality of Burkal in Southern Jutland, Denmark), in thePrussian Duchy of Schleswig. He grew up on a farm; his parents, devout Protestants, were Frisian and Danish peasants. Between 1884 and 1888, he trained as a craftsman and worked in woodcarving, and worked in furniture factories as a young adult. In 1889, he gained entrance into the School of Applied Arts in Karlsruhe before becoming a drawing-instructor in Switzerland from 1892 to 1898, eventually leaving this job to finally pursue his dream of becoming an independent artist. As a child he had loved to paint and draw, but he was already 31 by the time he pursued a career as an artist. When he was rejected by the Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 1898, he spent the next three years taking private painting classes, visiting Paris, and becoming familiar with the contemporary impressionist scene that was popular at this time. He married Danish actress Ada Vilstrup in 1902 and moved to Berlin, where he would meet collector Gustav Schiefler and artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, both of whom would advocate his work later in life. He spent a brief time between 1906-1907 as a member of the revolutionary expressionist group Die Brücke (The Bridge), and as a member of theBerlin Secession in 1908-1910, but he eventually left or was expelled from both of these groups – foreshadowing of the difficulty Nolde had maintaining relationships with the organizations to which he belonged. He had achieved some fame by this time and exhibited with Kandinsky’s Der Blaue Reitergroup in 1912, supporting himself through his art.^[1] From 1902 he called himself after his birthplace.

He realized his unsuitability for farm life and that he and his three brothers were not at all alike. Between 1884 and 1891, he studied to become acarver and illustrator in Flensburg. He spent his years of travel in Munich, Karlsruhe and Berlin.

Nolde was a supporter of the Nazi party from the early 1920s, having become a member of its Danish section. He expressed negative opinions about Jewish artists, and considered Expressionism to be a distinctively Germanic style. This view was shared by some other members of the Nazi party, notably Joseph Goebbels and Fritz Hippler.

However Hitler rejected all forms of modernism as "degenerate art", and the Nazi regime officially condemned Nolde's work. Until that time he had been held in great prestige in Germany. 1052 of his works were removed from museums, more than those of any other artist.^[2] Some were included in the Degenerate Art exhibition of 1937, despite his protests, including (later) a personal appeal to Nazi gauleiter Baldur von Schirach in Vienna. He was not allowed to paint—even in private—after 1941. Nevertheless, during this period he created hundreds of watercolors, which he hid. He called them the "Unpainted Pictures".

In 1942 Nolde wrote:

There is silver blue, sky blue and thunder blue. Every colour holds within it a soul, which makes me happy or repels me, and which acts as a stimulus. To a person who has no art in him, colours are colours, tones tones...and that is all. All their consequences for the human spirit, which range between heaven to hell, just go unnoticed.^[3]

After World War II, Nolde was once again honoured, receiving the German Order of Merit, West Germany's highest civilian decoration. He died inSeebüll (now part of Neukirchen).

Apart from paintings, Nolde's work includes many prints, often in color and watercolor paintings of various sizes, including landscapes, religious images, flowers, stormy seas and scenes from Berlin nightlife. A famous series of paintings covers the German New Guinea Expedition, visiting the South Seas, Moscow, Siberia, Korea, Japan, and China. The Schiefler Catalogue raisonné of his prints describes 231 etchings, 197 woodcuts, 83 lithographs, and 4 hectographs.

http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/emil-nolde (Accessed 1/7/2013)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Nolde (Accessed 1/7/2013)
http://www.thearttribune.com/Emil-Nolde-1867-1956.html (Accessed 1/7/2013)

Japanese prints - research

I have dug out a book about Japanese prints following recommendations in my assignment report to compare this style of work with my own.

The images and colours in this book are wonderful, this book belongs to my husband, so I can honestly say I have never opened it! I think its unfortunate that the cover does not really reflect the beautiful prints within.

Looking at these prints I suppose my work is reminiscent of these prints, the use of colour and washes is warm, subtle and at the same time confident. I like the way the black outlines tie in with my own inclination to use black ink after I have completed a painting.

I have decided to upload some of my favorite from the book, and will note my reasons for choosing them.

The stone bridge at Edobashi

I chose this image as I think it ties in quite well with the painting of structures in an urban landscape in the unit I am working on at present.I think the lack of shading and shadows on the bridge yet the presence of differences in tone is really interesting and serves to highlight the bridge and give it an almost cartoon quality. I think the way perspective is represented in this image is excellent, the lines of the bridge, the buildings in the distance and the detail and scale in the foreground all contribute to the feeling of depth.

Shimbashi station

Shimbashi statio is an interesting study, again one which I chose for the buildings. Its interesting that the detail at the front of the scene is lacking on the blossom trees, however there seems to be more detail the further into the distance you look particularly in relation to the ships, they are not just represented, but a substantial amount of detail is included. The steam coming form the steam train is very flat, yet there is significant detail on the train itself.

Maple leaves at the Tekona shrine, Mamma

I chose this image as it just jumped out at me for the qualities of the composition, specifically relating to the maple leaves in the foreground which serves to give a feeling of depth. The grauating wash from the horizon up to the top of the print is also reflective of the methods of painting sky referred to in the course material - I love moments like this when you see things you did not previously realise you couldn't see!

Exercise - Aerial perspective in rural landscape

Pencil sketch outlining contours of landscape 

Tonal painting over light pencil sketch focussing in fading of colour into the distance 

Pencil sketch outlining different aerial landscape view

Tonal painting depicting mountain range receding into the distance indicated by paler tones on the far mountain range

I found this exercise to be really worthwhile as progression on from painting the urban landscape. I found the suggestion of painting the features in the distance a paler to e really helpful in trying to suggest depth and distance, it's interesting that I do not think I would have necessarily realised this without having it spelled out! 

The weather was particularly damp when I painted these images of grizedale forest, and I think this served to emphasise the change in tone in the distance and the coolness of the colours further away. 

In my opinion keeping this exercise less intense and not worrying about accuracy gave me the freedom to explore the concept being taught. 

Exercise: Aerial perspective urban landscape - painting

Preparatory Sketch and first tonal layers

Watercolour and Soluble graphite painting A2

Well for this painting I decided to think big...as recommended and painted on an A2 scale, which is the largest painting I have completed so far. I think working on this scale really gave me the opportunity to not only include items in the foreground and the distance but also include a fairly reasonable level of detail.

I think per haps this painting does not look as "real" as my last painting however I am fairly happy with the outcome particularly in relation to the houses int he distance as I have managed to achieve a paler green for the foliage and paler rust for the house brickwork. I am also reasonably happy with the composition, in not allowing the garage roof to the right to dominate the painting.

Exercise - Aerial perspective in an urban landscape - drawings

Moving on to Aerial perspective it was immediately obvious this was quite a different exercise to the previous one. I tend to think I am not very good at painting or drawing detail on a landscape (I am happier it seems with close up still life) but overall i was really quite happy with the outcome of the urban landscape.

Watercolour Pencil and Soluble Graphite on A3

For the above painting I decided to following the learnings of the previous exercise and start with a detailed watercolour and pencil drawing on a fairly large scale to try to ensure all the depth, space and details were captured. I think I spent longer on this "sketch" than I would normally but I think the looking and looking again at the aerial landscape will stand me in good stead for translating this into a painting later on.

HB Pencil Sketch - A3

For the next sketch I decided to look further to my right to capture a slightly different scene, I think perhaps the garage roof dominates the sketch a bit too much but I think this sketch has been particularly helpful in understanding and observing the junctions between the garage, the shed roof, the fence, the greenhouse roof, the trellis and the small red shed further in the distance.

Red Calligraphy using a paintbrush on A3

I decided to try to focus on the mark making aspects of the scene with this sketch, I enjoyed the richness of the colour and the differences of tone available even with just one colour of this rich ink.

Annilinky Ink Tablets - In viridian and black on A3

Looking at this sketch now it is dry I wonder if I could have spent longer on it, the tones are indicative of a night scene but I am only seeing this on my return to it, the way the lack of "colour" has become apparent I think makes it really evocative of the way night time drains colour from a scene.

Annilinky Tablet Inks - A3

The purpose of this sketch was to explore the colours needed in the various areas without actually worrying too much about the perspective as such. I think taking note of the course material here as an important factor, specifically making the colours paler in the background to give the impression of distance.

Exercise: Distance - linear perspective drawing and painting

Further sketch using black aquamarker

Another sketch focussing more on line using a aquamarker which has been softened with a wet paintbrush

Initial Pencil sketch using soluble graphite

Mixed media sketch of urban landscape on A3

Following my hospital stay I have been feeling unwell for a week and not creative at all, but ever so concious that I really need to maintain momentum with my watercolour studies. I really didn't feel like painting today so I decided to try a couple of sketches in aquamarker first just loosely to see if I felt like doing any more work. Still being in pain I felt concentration was a major factor which is why I decided to have a bit of a play using the aquamarkers and sketching the same scene again. Fortunately the weather is being kind! Having made a start I felt I would like to work more in my watercolours so decided to have a try at at painting the scene on A3 paper. Once I started I found I really relaxed and got back into painting and concentration wasn't an issue, I spent about three hours on the above painting, and really did try to ensure I included details and shadows to follow up on my tutor feedback of my paintings having an unfinished look about them. I am fairly happy with this finished painting, particularly given how unwell I feel! Including the soluble graphite under and over the watercolours seemed to really help to create definition and shadow, I think that is a combination I will be trying in future paintings.