Monday 31 January 2011




Course work: Applied a roughly brushed-on mixture of white and a little black to produce a base for the second attempt at Stage Two of Project Two: Solidity.



Reading and theoretical studies:



E. H. Gombrich Art and Illusion (11th Printing)

Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 1969

Pp. 314-329



Sketchbook work: Four sketches of an apple with a quarter cut out, as part of the planning process for the second apple painting.

Time today: 1 hour 11 minutes

Sunday 30 January 2011





Weekly reflections on learning experience: This has been a singularly unsatisfactory month’s effort. In fact, it seems I have found it difficult to maintain a sustained effort for almost three months; multiple factors, including an extended vacation, health problems, two almost-unprecedented periods of severe winter weather, and pressing family obligations, have seriously affected not only my work, but my will to work. I am unhappy with the apple project: it somewhat resembles an apple, but a rather muddy-looking one. It has been useful in that I have learned a little more about handling acrylics, but I think that I will paint a second one, hoping to do better.

Friday 28 January 2011





Reading and theoretical studies:

Weckbach, Kevin: A Visual Palette: A Philosophy of the Natural Principles of Painting

iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, 2008

Pp. 44-67

(This author tried to put too much information into too little space, muddied it up with vague mysticism, and topped the mixture off with misspellings and poor construction. I cannot recommend this book.)



Time today: 33 minutes (79 h 35m)

Tuesday 24 January 2011




Reading and theoretical studies:



Cynthia Freeland Art Theory

Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001

Pp. 93-106



Sketchbook work: A colored-pencil exploration of a portion of Bonnard’s The Letter. I was particularly interested in the way that the face was represented simply but recognizably.

Time today: 2 hours 27 minutes

Sunday 23 January 2011





Course work: Further work on the apple painting (the subject long since eaten) and the background for Stage Two of Project Two: Solidity. I fear that it has become muddy and overworked.

Reading and theoretical studies:



Phil Metzger The Art of Perspective

North Light Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 2007

Pp. 97-116





Time today: 1 hour 6 minutes

Saturday 22 January 2011





(After a trying period that included medical problems, several days of isolation and hard physical labor caused by a severe winter storm, and the challenging project of moving my 93-year-old mother and her household furnishings to a new residence over 300 km from her old one, I hope that at last I shall be able to return to work on the course.)



Course work: More work on the apple for Stage Two of Project Two: Solidity, primarily repetitive corrections.



Reading and theoretical studies:



E. H. Gombrich Art and Illusion (11th Printing)

Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 1969

Pp. 300-314



Weckbach, Kevin: A Visual Palette: A Philosophy of the Natural Principles of Painting

iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, 2008

Pp. 28-43



Time today: 3 hours 6 minutes

Friday 7 January 2011




Course work: Additional work on the apple and the background for Stage Two of Project Two: Solidity. At this point, I feel that I have made a little progress; although it doesn’t look that much like my subject apple, what I have done makes me think “apple”.



Reading and theoretical studies:



E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art

Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford 1978

Pp. 260-276





Sketchbook work: With leftover paint and a ¾” brush, I set out to do a quick apple: in less than ten minutes I arrived at something little worse than the several day’s work so far done on the Solidity project. There’s a message in this: perhaps I tend to overwork things. I do find that I like many of my quick studies more than the work over which I labor.

Time today: 1 hour 22 minutes (72h23m)

Wednesday 5 January 2011




Course work: Continued development work on the apple and the background for Stage Two of Project Two: Solidity. I am having difficulty in obtaining a reasonable representation of an apple, and will probably have to overpaint most of today’s work, perhaps several times more.







Reading and theoretical studies:



Cynthia Freeland Art Theory

Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001

Pp. 60-92



Time today: 58 minutes

Monday 3 January 2011




Course work: Further development work on the apple and the background for Stage Two of Project Two: Solidity.





Reading and theoretical studies:



E. H. Gombrich Art and Illusion (11th Printing)

Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 1969

Pp. 288-299





Sketchbook work: A sketch of three partially squeezed-out paint tubes of differing sizes.

Time today: 1 hour 11 minutes

Sunday 2 January 2011





Course work: Started work on Stage Two of Project Two: Solidity, on a 20 cm square of paper, blocking in the shape and putting in some rough color notations.



Reading and theoretical studies:



Phil Metzger The Art of Perspective

North Light Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 2007

Pp. 39-75





Sketchbook work: An acrylic sketch of three apples in a plastic bag, using paint left over from today’s course work.

Weekly reflections on learning experience: This has probably been my best week’s work in about two months; with a diminishing number of demands on my time I hope I will be able to work with more time, more enthusiasm and less fatigue. Finishing up with the still-life project that has, for all practical purposes, been a major activity since August is a welcome event. My sketchbook work is a bit more faithful; reading and theoretical work are progressing to my satisfaction.



Time today: One hour 2 minutes

Saturday 1 January 2011




Course work: A third apple sketch, on ~A4 tinted charcoal paper with a small amount of white pastel for highlights, and a fourth, on ~A4 white charcoal paper.

Reading and theoretical studies:



Weckbach, Kevin: A Visual Palette: A Philosophy of the Natural Principles of Painting


iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, 2008

Pp. 10-27



Sketchbook work: A threatening winter sky, in charcoal, in my ~A4 sketchbook.

Time today: One hour 25 minutes