Sunday 24 October 2010




Course work: Further work on Stage Two of Project One, adding some small patches of color.



Reading and theoretical studies: Started collecting images for the theoretical studies project at the bottom of page 93 in the text. Here again, the criteria seem fairly subjective, but I shall try to be as objective as I can. The first small color study will illustrate how color can be used as a significant element in the composition without playing a part in realistic description; this is based on Ivor Hitchens’ Red Centre. Colored pencil was used for most of the study, with one small dab of white acrylic.

The Red Centre” of the title appears to be a saturated slightly warm red, surrounded by other colors that are primarily either tints or are partially neutralized. With the patch of bright red, the picture is arresting; without the red centre, it is uninteresting.





Sketchbook work: A sketch of my somewhat battered travel hat, brought out and brushed off in preparation for our upcoming trip.

Weekly reflections on learning experience: I am glad to be away from painting squares, despite the knowledge I gained by so doing. Work on the color pattern is both more interesting and more confusing, as I have little idea of just when to call this stage complete; it is, I suppose, intended as preliminary work for the next project, but where is the end point? If it is just to try out the major colors used, then I am already finished (and have been since Thursday). I think I’ll spend another day or two at it, still working on applying color in ever-smaller patches without any real effort at creating a detailed outline.



Time today: Two hours 18 minutes

Saturday 23 October 2010




Course work: Stage two of Project One continues, with a few more minor contour corrections, and the beginning of application of a few intermediate colors and tones.



Reading and theoretical studies:



Norbert Wolf Salvador Dali

Parragon, New York, 2008

Pp. 8-93





E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art

Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford 1978

Pp. 155-166



Sketchbook work: A sketch of the skull of a female white-tailed deer, in my pocket sketchbook.

Time today: 2 hours 16 minutes (7 hours 2 minutes)

Friday 22 October 2010







Course work: Continuing work on Project One: A Color Study, Stage Two, I corrected a few erroneous shapes, and overpainted some colors that were a bit thin, still using a large brush and not being very precise in my paint application, and limiting the work generally to three tones.

Reading and theoretical studies:



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

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

Pp. 116-145



Sketchbook work: A few hasty charcoal sketches as the horses grazed near the house. I’ve never done one of these that I liked, but I keep trying.

Time today: 1 hour 14 minutes

Thursday 21 October 2010




Course work: Made some very minor adjustments in the setup to improve the light-shadow relationship. Decided to work on 45.7 x 61 cm paper, with the long axis vertical. At this point, I was ready to proceed to the next stage (Project One: A Color Study, Stage Two). I sketched in the general outlines of the still life using very diluted black acrylic, making a few errors in construction, but having enough correct lines to use as a basis for departure. Laid in colors approximating local color, using a broad brush; this at least helped to reveal the remainder of my drawing errors. Made some color notes in my sketchbook as I worked, to assist in reproducing the colors used.





Reading and theoretical studies:



E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art

Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford 1978

Pp. 125-154



Went online to review the works of Hitchens and Auerbach, as recommended by the text. I understand that my role as a student is to study the works of others and learn from them, but I must confess that the twenty or so works that I studied online or downloaded and have now reviewed several times leaves me convinced that I would not enjoy being a student of theirs. Perhaps it is my age; perhaps it is my inadequate background in art; perhaps my sample was inadequate; perhaps I’m just not competent to appreciate such work; nevertheless, I saw little to which I would give wall-space.



Sketchbook work: Another covert restaurant scribble in my pocket sketchbook; at least I represented the general attitudes of the diners.

Time today: Two hours 7 minutes

Wednesday 20 October 2010




Course work: Project 5, Stage 3. Laid out all my Assignment One work for review…see photo p. 53. (Tiles in floor are 30.5 cm.)

Colors are reasonably flat; some transparent colors are less than perfect in uniformity. There is some minor imprecision in paint application: this is due in part to the multiple applications required, and to a lesser extent to occasional difficulty with a mild senile tremor. My color mixing has improved, and my handling of acrylic paint has improved a little. I anticipate some continuing experimentation with color-mixing, primarily in my sketchbook.











At this point, I think that I have completed the Assignment One work. I am sure that if I repeated it from the start, I could improve it somewhat.



Reading and theoretical studies:



Johannes Itten The Elements of Color


John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1961

Pp. 72-95

(In my opinion, The Elements of Color is overrated. The language is frequently ponderous, and the translation is suboptimal. There is useful information, although it is often hard to locate or comprehend in the barely-penetrable jungle of tedious Teutonic verbosity. The irrelevant mysticism (“…the essential factor is the ‘aura’ of the person.”) and a significant number of comments that are not only absurd, but which seem tainted with Nazism (“Light blond types with blue eyes and pink skin incline toward very pure colors… A very different type is represented by people with black hair, dark skin, and dark eyes, for whom black plays an important part in the harmony.”) distract the reader and detract from the value of the book. The association of colors with specific geometric shapes is just silly, and one can easily find any number of other equally absurd statements. Some figures are presented out of logical order…the first cited in the text is No. 58. While The Elements of Color may have some historical interest, it would seem to have limited value to the contemporary student, who can easily find more readable and better illustrated color theory texts which lack the objectionable features of this volume.)



Time today: 58 minutes



Total time for Assignment One: 89 hours 13 minutes

PAINTING ONE: STARTING TO PAINT

Assignment Two

3: Using Colour to Describe Objects

Wednesday 20 October 2010




Course work: (Project One: A Color Study, Stage One) Set up the still life again, this time on top of a filing cabinet, to bring it up closer to eye level when I am standing at the easel. I removed the light bulb, since it was generally similar in shape to the wooden pear, and because it added no color to an already low-color setup, and added a colored-glass bottle. I then lit the setup fairly strongly from the left, which produces interesting cast shadows and projects and reflects the bottle color. The colors are still analogous (red-orange-yellow) with the background a slightly neutralized green as a complement. To get a full range of color, I would have had to start over from scratch, and this does not seem to be the intent of the project.



Reading and theoretical studies:



These works by Bratby, Derain, Auerbach, Hitchens and Matisse seem to use color primarily as a means of expression, with elements of construction and impression in some:


(Images omitted from blog because of copyright concerns)




These works by DeChirico, Braque, Lempicka, and Picasso seem to use color primarily as a means of construction, with secondary elements of expression:




(Images omitted from blog because of copyright concerns)















These paintings by Hopper, Bierstadt, Monet, and Picasso seem to use color primarily to represent impression:



(Images omitted from blog because of copyright concerns)












I am certain that other observers would classify these differently, especially since two or all three components work together in many paintings. Itten does not provide the reproducible criteria for the categories that one would expect: in the absence of such clearly defined criteria, it is a matter for each individual observer to decide what impression, expression, and construction mean, and which is the dominant component in any given painting.



Peggy Hadden The Artist’s Quest for Inspiration

Allworth Press, New York, 1999

Pp. 39-78



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

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

Pp. 93-115







Sketchbook work: A scribble-sketch of my still-life setup in progress, thinking about viewpoint and relationship of objects.

Time today: Two hours 25 minutes

Wednesday 20 October 2010





Course work: Project 5, Stage 3. Laid out all my Assignment One work for review…see photo p. 53. (Tiles in floor are 30.5 cm.)



Colors are reasonably flat; some transparent colors are less than perfect in uniformity. There is some minor imprecision in paint application: this is due in part to the multiple applications required, and to a lesser extent to occasional difficulty with a mild senile tremor. My color mixing has improved, and my handling of acrylic paint has improved a little. I anticipate some continuing experimentation with color-mixing, primarily in my sketchbook.

At this point, I think that I have completed the Assignment One work. I am sure that if I repeated it from the start, I could improve it somewhat.



Reading and theoretical studies:



Johannes Itten The Elements of Color

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1961

Pp. 72-95

(In my opinion, The Elements of Color is overrated. The language is frequently ponderous, and the translation is suboptimal. There is useful information, although it is often hard to locate or comprehend in the barely-penetrable jungle of tedious Teutonic verbosity. The irrelevant mysticism (“…the essential factor is the ‘aura’ of the person.”) and a significant number of comments that are not only absurd, but which seem tainted with Nazism (“Light blond types with blue eyes and pink skin incline toward very pure colors… A very different type is represented by people with black hair, dark skin, and dark eyes, for whom black plays an important part in the harmony.”) distract the reader and detract from the value of the book. The association of colors with specific geometric shapes is just silly, and one can easily find any number of other equally absurd statements. Some figures are presented out of logical order…the first cited in the text is No. 58. While The Elements of Color may have some historical interest, it would seem to have limited value to the contemporary student, who can easily find more readable and better illustrated color theory texts which lack the objectionable features of this volume.)



Time today: 58 minutes



Total time for Assignment One: 89 hours 13 minutes

Tuesday 19 October 2010




Course work: Taking a sheet of grey paper, I painted a red cross on it, stared at the center for a timed 30 seconds, and, as expected, saw an evanescent light green cross when I diverted my gaze downward. Out of curiosity, I made further experiments with a yellow, a blue, and a grey cross on the grey paper, and with a red and a grey cross on white paper. The yellow cross produced a convincing violet…the strongest effect of the series. The blue cross produced a barely discernable dirty yellowish image. The grey cross on grey paper produced an image slightly lighter than the grey paper. The grey cross on white paper produced an afterimage lighter than the white paper (which certainly provides food for thought) and the red cross on white paper a stronger green image than was noted with the red cross on grey paper. Here is a composite image of my experimental setups:

Reading and theoretical studies:



E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art

Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford 1978

Pp. 94-124



Johannes Itten The Elements of Color

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1961

Pp. 49-71





Sketchbook work:



Another color circle, this one using Grumbacher Red, cadmium yellow medium, and cobalt blue as the primary colors. A strong orange, and a usable, but somewhat neutralized, violet and green result from two-primary mixtures. Mixtures of each primary with its mixed complement produce useful brownish neutrals. A mixture of all three primary colors produces a strong near-black brown.



These three colors plus white would allow one to do reasonably satisfactory work, though the vermillion-arylide yellow-cobalt blue triad remains the most successful of those I have tested to date.

A red-chalk sketch of the cone of a white pine, a fairly uncommon tree in this area.

Time today: Two hours 25 minutes