next step

Then, I did a detailed drawing of the arrangement, and I love the strong lines. I haven't decided if the lines will become a part of the final painting or not.

Originally I has an idea of a calm scene, but now it feels very energetic.

I'm definitely under the influence of Van Gogh at the moment. I don't want to copy his style but I am happy to see which elements of his work seep into mine.

still life

I've been reading The Yellow House, about Van Gogh & Gauguin. Although, as a novel it's poorly written, it's inspiring none the less.

I've also been looking into oil painting techniques, and I'm all buzzed with excitement and want to get my teeth into painting more and more.

As a result, today I've made a start on a still life of my kitchen table. I replaced my usual garish table cloth with a plainer one laid upside down so the pattern is only hinted at, and I photographed the scene to check the layout. Then I did a simple sketch to see how it sat on the paper. At this stage I've omitted detail, including the objects on the table.

Looking at the preliminary sketch, I love the arrangement of chairs round the table.

The background of my children's artwork is very busy, and I'll be simplifying this in the painting itself. I'm also fascinated by the table and chair legs and lino under the table, and although these aren't the focus of the painting, they'll add depth to it I hope. The books, cup and pen on the table are what I've been using this morning, so it's fallen together quite nicely.

Penshaw Monument

Sketching in fresh air is great. I should do it more.

I didn't get to spend long on each study, only about 10mins each, if that, as I had the kids & my cousin with me. But I found it very productive.

The first sketch is a basic study of the monument from the bottom right of the field & path. Nothing exciting here.

Then I walked to the far left of the field, changing the angle slightly, and started to look at the construction of the monument. While drawing this, I was thinking about creating a piece using collage of rubbings taken from the monument itself in different tones maybe.

This last piece I love. The monument is made of sandstone, and Penshaw and the surrounding area was full of coal mines until late in 20th century (don't get me started on Maggie Thatcher!) Anyway, the stone has been blackened by generations of coal mining & burning, and is starting now to weather away, leaving the bare sandstone beneath. I am glad that the council has so far decided not to clean the structure, as it's facade tells a story.



Anyway, the third view was drawn crouching below the corner of the monument looking up. I have always enjoyed the way that the monument seems to grow in proportions as you approach it, and the whole thing is over sized. You can't just step onto the base, you need a leg up, and the columns are massive. There's no roof to it, and I don't think there ever was. But a family tradition on seeing it any time is that my Dad always said "It'll be nice when they get the windows in!".

I deliberately drew it going off the edges of the paper, giving the impression that it's too big for me to fit it all in. I intend to make more studies, take some photos and rubbings, look at the colour of the soot and of the stone beneath, and paint a canvas similar in format to this last sketch.

Tidying Up

I've spent some time this morning in the studio having a bit of a clear out, stacking primed canvases, and having a look at the painting I'm working on of hotel in New Orleans. I started it in July, and I got stuck on the foliage. This morning I added some more shadows and some more foliage, and have set it aside as I wasn't happy with it. But viewing it on the blog I can see that I have achieved an amount of depth, and the foliage is starting to hang together. Now I want to work from far to near; to look again at the colours in the sky, then get to grips with the hotel facade and the house beside it and the pavement. Then block in the foliage in the background and the shadows on the road. And lastly, get some strength in the tree trunks and add the last of the foliage highlights, and touches of overhead wires.

I think my problem has been that I have only looked at the canvas close to, and have not spent any time viewing it as a whole, which is what the small image on the blog lets me do.

So here it is so far.

I have no idea what I'll be working on next, but I intend to keep my sketch book with me this week and see what pops up for me to draw.

Hello again

I'm back, and I was about to say I can't believe it's been a month, but in fact it seems like a lot longer.

I've been visiting family & other stuff and generally not spending any time in my studio. I have sketched a little, and I did two drawings tonight, both of which are awful, but I've broken back into it I hope and will continue to draw and paint again.

Why do I find it so hard sometimes? Why, when I've had a break from art, does it scare me stiff to start again. And yet, when I do, even if the outcome is less than good, it feels good to be looking again.

I have been creative in other ways these last four weeks - I've made friendship bracelets for loved ones, I helped my sister create a new fireplace which we're both very pleased with, and I've been singing too. But making art, for me, is making pictures.

I'm glad I have this blog to return to, to bully me along, and to use as a reference. Looking back through old entries I am surprised and amazed by what I've done in 2007 so far. It also scares me, looking at it all, as if it was made by accident, that it wasn't me actually, and I'll never be able to do anything like that again. Do other artist get that feeling. I'm not after compliments, I just wonder why I have this doubt. I want the excitement and drive back again.

If anyone had asked me in January 2007 where I thought I'd be by now, it wouldn't be here, I'm sure. It'd be way back down the road somewhere.

Anyway, back on the road after some time out. At the moment it feels like it was wasted time. I don't mean that I've not enjoyed being with my family, but I wonder why I wasn't making art while I was there with them?

I've included the image of Yellow House by Van Gogh. I'm not sure why but I like it. Goodnight for now.

Exporting Art

I've spent some of this evening mounting and framing three pictures which my dad, Bill of Ballaugh, wants to take back to Eire with him next week. I'm surprised by his choice of the painting of the torso, as it's not what I'd have imagined in a million years that he'd have chosen. And though the other two are of grandchildren, I'm happy that they're of my 'better' drawings.

The support and encouragement and gentle shoving my family have shown me this year in my art has been awesome. It was lovely to show my father round my studio yesterday, and he was full of ideas for organised storage. Not full of offers to build stuff, I noticed, but full of ideas none the less.

Oh and he kindly bought me some more canvases, a metal ruler, and went on to hint strongly that he'd love a painting of Penshaw Monument, a local landmark.

Greenwich

Our destination in London was Greenwich, and inbetween work stuff, I had the chance to get out and sketch.

I saw the Millenium Dome for the first time (now called something else) and I drew the palace on the river which is now the National Maritime Museum. The drawing of The Tower of London was done from a postcard, as I only saw it looming as the coach drove past in the morning.

Whilst waiting on the coach to drive back to Kings Cross, I sketched the spires across the green. It was lovely to get out of my usual routine for the day, and though a bit tired, I feel refreshed.

London Train Journey

Yesterday, through work, I travelled down to London, and back, just for the day. Looking out of the window these are some of the things I saw, heading down south, and then heading back north again.

It was a productive day on the sketching side, and I also won about £2.00 at three card brag.

Scrap sketchbook

During June I pledged not to buy anything new, except food & drink, just to cut down on my consumer habit to help save the planet etc...Anyway, it's started to change the way I do things, and I've made myself two sketch books from scrap paper. One is all watercolour paper, which I've cut square and glued inside a stiff card cover for protection in my bag and held closed with a bulldog clip my dad must have got me from his old school years ago (thanks dad).

The other is just oddments of paper which I've punched holes in, and secured with a modified old A4 ring binder which was in the bin. In WH Smiths a small sketch book is anything from £3 to £6, so I've saved some money (which will be spent instead on either oil paints or red wine) and I've also helped to save the planet in a small way.

I intend to keep at least one of these sketch books in my bag at all times, along with half a dozen pencil stubs, which again nearly got binned. Hopefully I'll start sketching on the bus, at my desk, and at other odd moments while other things in my life give me a chance to pause for a few minutes.

Today I spent the morning with my little girl, while hubby & son went to the Barbers. I took my scrap sketch book, and drew our house whilst waiting for the bus, and the park on the way home while she had a snooze in a friend's buggy (thanks mate). I suppose sketching is like practicing a musical instrument. The piece isn't like a polished performance in itself, but each time I'm concentrating on a different aspect of drawing, or playing. Unlike practicing playing, when I sketch I can look back at what I've done, what I've learnt & how I've progressed.

My own space

I just love having my own studio now. It's nothing grand, but it's all mine. I share the rest of the house with all my family, but my studio is all mine. I must say that the kids and hubby have quickly picked up on this, and respect my space and the time I get to spend there. Here's some of the treasures it holds: There's a big easel which my dad (bless you) collected for me from his old school, along with a quickly diminishing stack of A2 cartridge paper obtained in a similar way. My hubby pout up the shelves which were again ex-school property. The hard concrete floor is a patchwork of our carpet off cuts from over the years, and there are old chairs and benches from my art student days. There's also a fantastic low chair which my auntie gave me recently. It will make a great setting for future life studies, if anyone is mad enough to brave the elements. Old scraps of plywood are now stacked against the wall, primed with gesso and begging to be painted on, and there's a ceramic head which is a self portrait which my mum encouraged me to make.
The walls of the garage are made from some kind of industrial brick, and though they would probably survive a nuclear blast, they're a bugger to drill or nail into, so any time I want to make structural amendments, or even hang the mirror I got from a charity shop three weeks ago, I have to be very nice to my hubby so that he'll spend the required hour finding drill bits and extension leads.......Not to worry!
There's even a sink in there, and lots of electrical points for my homemade light-box (an empty crisp box, with a low wattage clip-lamp inside, and a transparent plastic storage-box lid on top) my tape player, various lamps, and eventually kettle. I only have to pop back into the house when nature calls, or when my get so numb that I can no longer dance round to Sheryl Crowe whilst painting.
Eventually I'll clear the rest of the stuff from the bottom end of the garage to use as a photo-life drawing area. I want to hang a huge rug on the wall, and set up a sofa with more rugs. But for the time being, it's a heavenly haven. And it's all mine.