Urban Buildings

Assignment 3 – Landscape

Urban Landscape – Buildings

The working method I chose for this painting was dictated by he fact that I wanted to use backstreets from the small town in Spain where I had holidayed in August.  My recollection was of the shaded street in strong sunlight and I had taken a couple of photographs which I wanted to use as reference.  Each photo had figures but I wanted to construct a tension between them by incorporating them both in the same picture.

Sorting out the combined perspective was a bit misleading at first.  I really wanted the eye-line of both characters to be horizontal, but it couldn’t work that way because of the slope of the hill.

I decided to paint in a representational style using oil over acrylic sketch.  I was again influence by John Piper and incorporated a similar rebate edge echoing the style in his painting Cheltenham, Composite of Houses in Priory Parade and elsewhere.

Check and Log

·        How did your chosen work method influence your finished work?

Because I chose to use memory and photographs, plus some influence of John Piper the painting was an amalgam of things.  I also wanted to set up a kind of tension between the two figures.  For this reason the work ended up as a representational piece because I felt that worked best.

·        How did you apply the techniques and skills you have developed in relation to the natural landscape to the urban landscape?

Because I was working naturalistically things such as aerial perspective, linear perspective, and the capture of light were all elements which I used in this painting.  Colour contrasts between the yellow building and mauve/blue shadow complimented by the related colour of reddish pink, as well as viridian green were also relevant, as they are in most paintings.

Painting on the Spot

Assignment 3 – Landscape

Painting on the spot

For this exercise I returned to a small brook where I have painted before, it is the brook which runs under the Goldbrook Bridge where St Edmund was discovered because allegedly his gold spurs sparkled in the sun, giving his whereabouts away.

I have used acrylic in the painting and have tried to include the mist which often floats across such water during the Autumn.  I was attracted by the way the light penetrates the overcast water, and have made more of a feature of this than in the sketch.  There is for me a sense of mystery in such places and I have tried to capture this.

Check and Log

·        Did you need to gather further information while you were on location?

Not really, as I knew I would be developing this back in the studio, I did a brief charcoal sketch which gave me an indication of the light and dark areas.  However when I came to paint I felt the light area worked well in the trees so didn’t darken the area as much as it was.

·        How did you decide when to finish your work outside? Did you do enough or too much outside?

The area that I worked on outside was the foreground water which I felt needed to be observed direct.  In the studio I developed that area and incorporated the mist, which was more difficult than I thought.

       ·        How far did your work, when you came back to your studio, move away from the landscape that had been your starting point? Or did it stay close to the starting point?  How did you decide where to take your painting?

I think it stayed pretty close to the original, except for the colours which at the scene had been rather muddy.  The autumn leaves glowed and I wanted to try to capture this light so did not include some of the foliage which had been quit dark.  I think I am motivated by colour rather than form and this is what influenced the direction of the painting.

Preliminary Autumn Painting

Part 6 – Parallel Projects

Project: Preliminary Autumn Painting

The influence for this work was two-fold, John Piper and Alexey Vasiliev (Autumn at the Karaman River), a contemporary Russian artist.   His work is very free and colourful with an interesting texture.  I suppose the nearest grouping would be Expressionist.

http://www.paintingofrussia.com/artwork.php?artwork=21127


John Piper produced exciting paintings based on motifs such as plants and squiggles with a variety of subtle and forceful colours, which are almost abstract.

John Piper, Dondale, Dordogne, ©Bridgeman Library

                                      John Piper, Eastnor Castle © Bridgeman Library

John Piper, Near Middlemill © Bridgeman Library

John Piper’s work does occasionally move very close to abstraction but because there is always a subject matter it would probably come under the heading of abstract impressionism.  His colours are dark probably because when he was painting after the 2^nd World War, his work represented that bleak period but his style in terms of colour remained fairly constant throughout his life.  There is an urgency or rawness in his paintings which is particularly compelling.

I think my painting moves closer to abstraction, but still has subject matter so is not strictly so.  It is painted with acrylic paint.  I enjoy exploring colour and texture in a semi-abstract way and am looking forward to learning new methods in the Abstract project coming up next.

Check and Log

• Do your paintings and experimentations evoke a sense of Autumn

It took me a while to get into it but I think some of them do.  I was disappointed with my leaf picture in its effect but found it useful to explore broken hues. The monoprints were fun to do and I can see some potential here to develop more creative ideas using this technique.

•  What ideas or approaches have you founding your research into other artists’ work that will influence your own work?

I like the freedom of many of the contemporary Russian painters, and liked the semi abstract work and vivid use of colour of John Piper. I liked the variety and strength of some of Emil Parrag’s work.  I am a great admirer of Gerhardt Richter, particularly his abstracts and the idea of destroying and re-working is something I have tried before and will try again. I also like the work of Joan Eardley and wish Bridgeman had more of her work.  I will certainly look at her work when considering the Winter project.

Seasonal Painting - Autumn

Part 6 – Parallel Projects

Project: Autumn Seasonal Painting

This seasonal painting represents not only  Autumn but follows the same concept of earlier pictures in the series by imitating the life cycle.  Inevitable pressures that builds on human beings as life accumulates its circumstances and events on the mind and body take their toll.  The burden is still manageable but the portent of things to come is already known and indicated in the picture, to the left of the red light.  The Red and Amber lights are on, the green light is off.  The tree is brittle and limbs can break at any time.  The arms of the figure extend almost as a crucifix.

I have used acrylic paint in an  expressionist way, leaning towards abstraction and symbolism.  The colours indicate the colours of autumn, dull with flashes of colour for which the red/amber lights also act.  The tree is bare the light is fading, the green trees are a memory (to the left) and winter trees are on their way (to the right). 

It appears I was still carrying in my mind the work of Matt Collishaw from my visit to an exhibition in Cambridge last year, and without me realising it I think it influenced my painting a lot, it wasn’t until I looked at his work again, that I saw how much. I am unable to discover the name of the painting, it does not appear on Matt Collishaw’s site but it is a black ground with butterly wings in yellow, orange and blue with brown. I have a copy on my pc but cannot include on blog because of copywright issues.

Check and Log

• Did your painting develop as planned?

I was pleased with the way the images came to me as I was painting, some, like the little spirit figure to the left of the red paint were fortuitous appearances, worthy of being left as it symbolized the future, but most was as I had planned.

• Have your main problems been with the development of the actual painting or have they been with the quality or quantity of the preliminary studies you have been working from?

The preliminary studies were utilized from previous sketches of the apple tree in my garden, but it was only a starting point and I didn’t need sketches as I was developing non-subjective ideas in a semi-abstract way.  The difficulty as is often the case, was knowing when to stop leaving the image clear but not over-worked into something approaching realistic, which was not what I was looking for.

• Now that you have completed the first painting of your extended project how does it influence the way in which you will tackle the other three parts of this project? Are you still happy with your initial idea?

As I have already completed Spring and Summer I have now completed three of the Seasonal paintings, in each one I have tried to develop a specific style, i.e. Spring – Surrealism, Summer – Cubism, Autumn - Exressionism, and I will use an Abstract format for Winter.  I am still happy with the idea of trying to link life with the Seasons, it is not original but slightly different.

I have a clear idea in my mind how I will approach the next part of the project but it may be slightly more difficult than the previous three as it will be using abstract ideas to convey the feeling of winter and the feeling of death. I have some ideas in my head and will have to sketch them out this time.

Painting from Photographs (Formats)

Exploring Concepts

Assignment 3 – Landscape

Research – Painting from Photographs

(Formats)

I don’t have a facility for cutting out shapes, other than square or circular, so the triangular one below is the best I could do.

This project became very time consuming involving IT skills with a particular package, Fireworks, for enhancing and distorting photographs then putting them together to form a collage, so I only produced this one.

  

However,I am not going to use any of these images for a painting starting point, but use collage image from a magazine overglazed it and added further marks.

•  How did using a non-conventionally shaped canvas influence your work? did you find it limiting or liberating?

I feel that unconventionally shaped canvases are gimmicky and for that reason found them limiting.

• How did you use a ready-made or photographed image which aspects of this experimentation would you like to develop in your work.

I enjoyed the collage aspect with the addition of paint as a glaze and additional marks, I felt this improved upon collage alone as an art motif.

Painting from outdoor sketches

Painting from Outdoor Sketches

Landscape is not my metier.  It has taken sometime to get my sketches and paintings into some kind of order as a consequence, probably because I am reluctant to dip my toe into the water.

Sketches from different times of day and different subjects and mediums: pastel, oil pastel and charcoal.

The paintings worked up from partial memory are sown below with the relevant sketch:

The above painting for me is an example of representational art at its least inspirational, yet I found myself doing it, the only thing to commend it (possibly) is that it captures light. On painting from memory I found I put more of the oak tree in possibly because the sketch seemed a bit off to the right.  But the painting now has the cottage plumb centre.  Chocolate box painting at its worst.

Despite all this I did enjoy introducing various colours into the earth which had only recently been ploughed

In an attempt to redeem myself I produced this rectilinear abstract (from the Cubist root as opposed to curvilinear abstraction from an Expressionist root). Although it is clear to see the composition of the cottage, this small painting throws up some interesting spatial elements.  The medium of watercolour is probably the wrong medium as it is not quite strong enough.  I have tried to incorporate elements of colour theory in the painting which as a consequence could probably have benefited with more blue to offset the yellow.

I quite liked this charcoal sketch but it did not transfer its spontaneity and sharpness to the painting.  This is one of the reasons why I rarely produce sketches I prefer alla prima or working a painting up in the studio. The painting is in watercolour but did not please me as the sketch did, in fact it got stamped on at one stage and was lucky to survive. For the following sketch, I returned to a small brook where I have painted before, it is the brook which runs under the Goldbrook Bridge where St Edmund was discovered because allegedly his gold spurs sparkled in the sun, giving his whereabouts away. The next picture was developed from what might have seemed an unpromising sketch, but I liked the way the trees and buildings from the left had a recessional quality leading to the centre of the picture.  I also liked the bend in the road, echoed in the ploughed field. After completing the barns and trees on the left I felt the painting had something of a late Vlaminck about it, so I exploited this idea and included a piece in the foreground from his “Village” painting which I admire very much.  The fluidity of the paint and free brushstrokes are something I aspire to.  I have also tried to use a slightly more Fauvist palette.

 

Observation of change over time

Parallel Project 6 - Autumn

Observation of change over time

It has taken sometime to get my sketches and paintings into some kind of order as a consequence, probably because I am reluctant to dip my toe into the water.

Sketches from different times of day.

I worked direct in all but the dusk sketch, which I did from a photograph, a) because I couldn’t see my pad and b) because the sunset disappears so quickly.  This was painted in gouache on black paper.  The other sketches were made using oil pastels.

Autumn - Accidents and Chance

Exploring Concepts

Part 6 – Parallel Projects

Project: Accidents and Chance

I really enjoyed this project mainly because of the fabulous random effects that can be achieved.  The possibilities seem endless, but as the notes say it is easy to get carried away with the excitement of the results of the process.  Part of me also worries about the legitimacy of using craft techniques.  I guess if it develops or enhances the creative process then anything goes.

Some of the images below have been cropped.

My Autumn Leaves picture didn't work out too well but I was particularly anxious to try using the sacking over hardbord as a support.  The broken hues I explored were also interesting, but the effect wasn't great.



Oil and Acrylic Together

Exploring Concepts

Assignment 3 – Landscape

Oil and Acrylics Together

This subject has infinite possibilities and one needs to consider many different aspects before applying the technique.  Colour harmony, texture, pigment qualities.  I have produced a list of the qualities of my watercolours and using this as a guide it is possible to apply to acrylics and oil paints.  When ordering paints one usually has a guide saying transparent, semi transparent, staining, opaque, or semi-opaque these qualities are particularly important in acrylic (and watercolour) if using washes, likewise in oil.  When applying glazes it is the transparent paints that produce the best “glow”.  Scumbling and glazing are features of the works mainly of pre 20^th century artists, although they can be applied today and produce interesting effects.  Indeed the application of a glaze can sometimes bring a picture together if it is looking “jumpy”. It is not always necessary to glaze the whole painting, some areas can be left “raw”.

It is important therefore to know what you are doing, or attempting to do, when it comes to this form of colour mixing.  The application of two colours separately can be different depending on which colour is applied first.  It is only with trial and error and experience that one can begin to know the vast range of effects that are achievable and I know from the work of other artists that I am only scratching the surface.

I have in the past invested in a whole range of transparent oils because of the interesting effects that glazing can produce, and was quite excited to buy Indian Yellow, one of the few deeper yellows with transparency.

Watercolours	Make	Properties
Alizaron Crimson Hue	Cotman	Transparent
Aureolin Lake	Old Holland	Transparent+ Staining
Burnt Sienna	Cotman
Burnt Umber	Cotman
Burnt Umber	Holbein
Cadmium Red Hue	Cotman	Staining
Cadmium Yellow Hue	Cotman
Cerulian	Winsor & Newton	Semi-Transparent
Cerulian Hue	Cotman	Semi Transparent
Chinese White	Cotman
Cobalt Blue	Old Holland	Transparent NS
Cobalt Violet	Winsor & Newton	Transparent Not Staining
Cobat Turquoise	Winsor & Newton	Transparent
Crimson Lake	Holbein
Davy's Grey	Hobein	Sp. Mixing
Indigo	Winsor & Newton
Ivory Black	Cotman
Lemon Hue	Cotman	Vivid
Naples Yellow	Winsor & Newton
Olive Green	Schminck
Oxide of Chromium	Winsor & Newton
Peacock Blue	Holbein
Permanent Madder	Oil	Semi Transparent
Permanent Yellow Deep	Holbein	Vivid Tangerine
Permanent Sap Green	Winsor & Newton
Potter's Pink	Winsor & Newton
Prussian Blue	Cotman
Pthalo Turquoise	Winsor & Newton	Transparent & Staining
Raw Sienna	Holbein	Transparent
Raw Umber	Holbein	Transparent
Rose Doré	Winsor & Newton
Rose Madder Genuine	Winsor & Newton	Transparent
Terre Verte	Sennelier	Sp. Mixing Transparent
Ultramarine Deep	Cotman	Transparent
Ultramarine Deep	Holbein	? Transparent
Veridian Hue	Cotman
Veridian Hue	Holbein	Transparent
Vermilion	Holbein
Viridian	Holbein	Transparent
White	Winsor & Newton	GOUACHE
Winsor Orange	Winsor & Newton
Yellow Ochre	Cotman
Indian Yellow	Oil, Acrylic	Transparent
Transparent Oxide Red	Oil	Transparent
Transparent Oxide Yellow	Oil	Transparent

I almost invariably use acrylic under-painting in my oils.   This is because it provides instant cover of white, which is always good, plus it is possible to block in using acrylics and in some cases use special affects, such as the application of plastic cling film, sponging, scraping and various other techniques. Leaving hints of the transparent colours underneath gives a glow not quite achievable with oil, which is akin to the glow of a watercolour wash.  For me oil is the king of mediums though so to be able to use the attributes of both acrylics and oil together is the best possible combination.

This painting was underpainted in acrylics then painted over with oils in some places.  I then applied a red oxide glaze to pull the whole thing together in the non-sky area.  This is a chapel in Normandy occupied by the German Forces during World War II, until the US forces liberated Normandy.  The commanding position is one of the highest points in Normandy, and has great atmosphere.