ART, Everything you don't have to do.
Always trying things never feeling like I make a finished image, something I am going to have to get my head around, perhaps it’s the doing I enjoy and I should not really worry about making a final image.
That’s enough pondering, I have been doing some charcoal and paint stuff it’s interesting the charcoal works into the paint and you get some interest marks and effects, it all feels very free.
Thanks to Lee Jeffries a very talented photographer for his reference pictures .
Life class and we are using the wrong end of a paint brush dipped in ink to produce some really uncontrolled sketches, tried to focus on hands perhaps that was not such a good idea. as always I enjoyed the experience and its yet another thing I need to explore more.
As we continue in my art class with our still life theme, we have tried musical instrument and mono printing, this is a wonderful technique where you paint glass or a ceramic tile with oil paint and by using pressure, transfer the image onto paper, it was suggested that you could only take a single print and to use smooth paper, I had a go using watercolour paper and water with my water soluble oil paint and got a very pleasing result that I might work up some more.
Then we went back to basics, pencils and cloth I am told this was first principles for artist and they would spend hours studying the folds in cloth, I loved this exercise and became completely lost in it for far too many hours in class and afterwards.
Yes its come to this, I am now painting flowers! It’s all part of my art class as we explore still life and sophisticated primitives. Flowers floating in water so there was a nice little twist that turned out very challenging.
Quick sketch with watercolours and gouache in class and a longer study using acrylics, I am going to try some acrylic gloss with this to see if it enhances the feeling of the water.
Visited Waddesdon Manor and Kate Malone’s Ceramic exhibition, all inspired by Waddesdon its history and the surrounding landscape. I was very surprised it was a wonderful collection of work that looked really tactile, if you get the opportunity it’s worth a visit.
Getting back into my life drawing class, still not comfortable with the quick draw warm ups. The tutor is full of encouragement and suggestions, we are encouraged to share our work and I am learning form my fellow students too.
Working with line, tone and now layering, this is all helping me bring things together.
jeff coles art 