6B Pencil in sketchbook.
Author Archives: Carole
Sketch for ‘Tired now’
I plan to start catching up with posting some sketchbook work. This was a sketch I did last September, which eventually became the painting ‘Tired Now’.
Site specific project
I’m currently working on a proposal for a site specific artwork to be sited within a school nature trail. The nature trail came from a patch of school land that had been ignored for a number of years. The current school caretaker took a look around it, and realised that over those years a number of wild species had taken up residence. He proposed that the land could be turned into a community and education resource by turning it into a nature trail. The project also includes raised beds and composting areas where the children and community can learn about growing food.
My proposal is to build a huge spider’s web (complete with spider) to help visitors see the site from a bug’s perspective. The site is used for bug studies (amongst other things) and hopefully the piece may highlight the importance of these smaller creatures to the health of the soil. Here’s how it might look.
Tired now …
Acrylic on canvas 2ft x 3ft
Shown propped on the table where I painted it, as I don’t yet have a studio easel big enough for a canvas this size. It’s painted on the canvas that I made last term.
Toddler with red chair
Finally got this painting to a stage where I’m happy with it. Oil on canvas.
‘Book’ book
This is my first attempt at an artists’ book. It responds to the theme of ‘books’. It’s a basic concertina format, using photocopy transfer, stitching and fabric transfer techniques. The whole thing is held together with ribbon (echoing those lovely ribbon bookmarks that I like so much). The picture below is over-optimised, but I quite like it anyway.
Edit: To show an example of one of the inside pages.
Gallery sketches
I’ve been taking a holiday over the festive period, so not much to share. We did, however, visit Leeds City Art Gallery and I spent a very pleasant half hour sat drawing this detail from Paula Rego‘s ‘The Artist in Her Studio’. The good thing about drawing a piece of artwork is that it makes you really look at it. This painting is actually far more painterly and textured than you would ever expect from looking at a reproduction of it.
You can also get a feel for the physicality of the artist’s process – how they actually may have moved to make the marks. For example, this sketch is drawn whilst looking at a charcoal drawing by Frank Auerbach in the Manchester Whitworth Art Gallery. Just by trying to replicate the way the marks were made, I could sense the vigorous movements that he may have made in making the drawing.
Happy Holidays!
Thank you to all of you, my friends and readers for your support and friendship this year. I hope you have a very happy Christmas, and a peaceful and fulfilling 2008.
‘Witness’
Acrylic on canvas. We were set a challenge to produce a painting informed by the style of Sean Scully.
Mummy’s Drawer
Finally here’s another painting. I’ve photographed it at various stages for anyone who is interested. It’s painted with water soluble oil paints on canvas.
The first stage was to put a very loose background wash on. I like to keep it very wet and allow the drips to run, as this creates an interesting texture to work on top of. I then drew an outline of the image using willow charcoal. Memo to self: if I use something more permanent such as oil pastel or dark paint, then I can confidently let the lines show in the final painting. The problem with charcoal is it does, of course, rub off!
In the second stage, I started to add flat blocks of colour, and then worked darker tones into the still-wet paint. I used a quick-drying water soluble oil medium to loosen up the paints. It’s very sticky to use, but does help the flow of the paint. I then let the whole thing dry.
In the final stage, I created a dark glaze using the same medium, and used it to darken the areas at the top of the picture. I also added some low-lights to the hair, and darkened some shadows. The whole thing is very glossy due to the medium, and is still wet, so I’m afraid it’s not a great photo.