Monday 6 December 2010
Course work: Additional work on Stage Three of Project Two, with some further work on the drapery folds and shadows.
Time today: 27 minutes
Monday, December 6, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thursday 2 December 2010
Course work: Resumed work on Stage Three of Project Two, beginning to paint in the drapery folds and trying to work somewhat more loosely.
Reading and theoretical studies:
Victoria Finlay Color
Ballantine Books, New York, 2002
Pp. 259-307
Sketchbook work: A sketch (~14x18cm) of a narrow portion of a shingle beach seen on my recent trip; my major objective here was to work out a technique for producing the sensation of depth.
Time today: 1 hour 51 minutes
Course work: Resumed work on Stage Three of Project Two, beginning to paint in the drapery folds and trying to work somewhat more loosely.
Reading and theoretical studies:
Victoria Finlay Color
Ballantine Books, New York, 2002
Pp. 259-307
Sketchbook work: A sketch (~14x18cm) of a narrow portion of a shingle beach seen on my recent trip; my major objective here was to work out a technique for producing the sensation of depth.
Time today: 1 hour 51 minutes
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Monday 22 November-Wednesday 1 December 2010
During this period I did a thorough review of my Assignment One work after receipt of my tutor’s comments, and a careful look at Assignment Two work to date in light of those comments. After about three weeks away from the easel, I discovered that I was not very satisfied with the painting in progress (and that I was having difficulty in getting back to work on the course). I should have painted the background almost completely before starting on the objects, and the two objects on the right should have been place further from the center in order to better balance the three on the left. The objects in the still-life seem less interesting than when I first set them up, but this may simply be due to constant exposure. I gave serious thought to abandoning this painting uncompleted, but decided to work further on it if for no other reason than to gain further experience in handling acrylics, a medium to which I may not be psychologically suited.
During this period I did a thorough review of my Assignment One work after receipt of my tutor’s comments, and a careful look at Assignment Two work to date in light of those comments. After about three weeks away from the easel, I discovered that I was not very satisfied with the painting in progress (and that I was having difficulty in getting back to work on the course). I should have painted the background almost completely before starting on the objects, and the two objects on the right should have been place further from the center in order to better balance the three on the left. The objects in the still-life seem less interesting than when I first set them up, but this may simply be due to constant exposure. I gave serious thought to abandoning this painting uncompleted, but decided to work further on it if for no other reason than to gain further experience in handling acrylics, a medium to which I may not be psychologically suited.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Thursday 7 November-Sunday 21 November
(On extended vacation)
Books read:
Sue Taylor (Ed) Winslow Homer in Gloucester
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 1980
(A well-illustrated exhibition catalog with a number of critical essays, concentrating on the post-Civil War period during which Homer’s interests changed from illustration to fine art.)
Terry Neff (Ed) Gerhardt Richter
Thames and Hudson, New York, 1988
(A somewhat challenging read about a very challenging artist. There is very little of Richter’s earlier work that I understand, and I fear that this book failed to broaden my understanding.)
Robert Hughes Nothing If Not Critical
Penguin Books, New York, 1992
(A very challenging book to read. The author is erudite, opinionated, and seldom uses a common word when a rare one will do. The essays which make up the book must be read, and often re-read, slowly and carefully. This is not a comprehensive volume, but the subjects with which it deals are dealt with in considerable depth. This is one of the more important books that I have read this year, and one of the few from which I took notes for further inquiry as I read. I was both relieved and saddened to reach the end.)
Sketchbook work: Twenty-three small sketches in my travel sketchbook, execution times ranging from a few seconds to half an hour.
Time for this period: 14 hours 23 minutes
(On extended vacation)
Books read:
Sue Taylor (Ed) Winslow Homer in Gloucester
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 1980
(A well-illustrated exhibition catalog with a number of critical essays, concentrating on the post-Civil War period during which Homer’s interests changed from illustration to fine art.)
Terry Neff (Ed) Gerhardt Richter
Thames and Hudson, New York, 1988
(A somewhat challenging read about a very challenging artist. There is very little of Richter’s earlier work that I understand, and I fear that this book failed to broaden my understanding.)
Robert Hughes Nothing If Not Critical
Penguin Books, New York, 1992
(A very challenging book to read. The author is erudite, opinionated, and seldom uses a common word when a rare one will do. The essays which make up the book must be read, and often re-read, slowly and carefully. This is not a comprehensive volume, but the subjects with which it deals are dealt with in considerable depth. This is one of the more important books that I have read this year, and one of the few from which I took notes for further inquiry as I read. I was both relieved and saddened to reach the end.)
Sketchbook work: Twenty-three small sketches in my travel sketchbook, execution times ranging from a few seconds to half an hour.
Time for this period: 14 hours 23 minutes
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Wednesday 3 November 2010
Course work: Additional work on laying in shadows, using mixes of yellow ochre and burnt umber, with a little pure black.
Reading and theoretical studies:
E. H. Gombrich Art and Illusion (11th Printing)
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 1969
Pp. 203-241
Victoria Finlay Color
Ballantine Books, New York, 2002
Pp. 223-258
Sketchbook work: Another in my series of color experiments, this one using a triad of lemon yellow, pthalocyanine blue, and alizarin crimson. Mixtures produce a vivid green, a very usable purple, and a slightly neutralized orange. A mixture of all three produces the most convincing black of the test series to date. Pthalocyanine blue is an exceptionally strong color, requiring a considerable amount of caution in mixing.
Time today: Two hours fifty-seven minutes (28h20m)
Course work: Additional work on laying in shadows, using mixes of yellow ochre and burnt umber, with a little pure black.
Reading and theoretical studies:
E. H. Gombrich Art and Illusion (11th Printing)
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 1969
Pp. 203-241
Victoria Finlay Color
Ballantine Books, New York, 2002
Pp. 223-258
Sketchbook work: Another in my series of color experiments, this one using a triad of lemon yellow, pthalocyanine blue, and alizarin crimson. Mixtures produce a vivid green, a very usable purple, and a slightly neutralized orange. A mixture of all three produces the most convincing black of the test series to date. Pthalocyanine blue is an exceptionally strong color, requiring a considerable amount of caution in mixing.
Time today: Two hours fifty-seven minutes (28h20m)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Course work: Mixed a fairly neutral yellowish-green with yellow ochre and ultramarine blue and started the process of applying shadowing, working first on the hand. An orange mixed with cadmium red light and cadmium yellow light was applied to roughly represent the bottle.
Reading and theoretical studies:
Victoria Finlay Color
Ballantine Books, New York, 2002
Pp. 169-222
Sketchbook work: A sketch of a child’s plush toy skunk.
Time today: 2 hours 36 minutes
Course work: Mixed a fairly neutral yellowish-green with yellow ochre and ultramarine blue and started the process of applying shadowing, working first on the hand. An orange mixed with cadmium red light and cadmium yellow light was applied to roughly represent the bottle.
Reading and theoretical studies:
Victoria Finlay Color
Ballantine Books, New York, 2002
Pp. 169-222
Sketchbook work: A sketch of a child’s plush toy skunk.
Time today: 2 hours 36 minutes
Monday, November 1, 2010
Monday 1 November 2010
Course work: Mixed and applied two more coats of background color to my paper, finally achieving a reasonably uniform and opaque application. I am not as satisfied with the paper as I had hoped; it is supposed to be “ideal for acrylics” but seems less than ideal in actual use, although if it is well-clamped it does return to a fairly flat condition when it dries completely. I sketched in the outlines of the main shapes, then painted them in solidly with a mixture of yellow ochre and white (thus in a sense returning to Project Two of Assignment One).
Reading and theoretical studies:
Victoria Finlay Color
Ballantine Books, New York, 2002
Pp. 135-168
Norbert Wolf Salvador Dali
Parragon, New York, 2008
Pp. 188-219
(A readable book with many high-quality illustrations.)
Sketchbook work: Lacking an immediate subject of interest, I fell back upon my old reliable towel on a hook, which always provides an engrossing sketching problem as well as additional practice in delineating drapery. Also sketched a small detail of a hand towel hanging on a ring.
Time today: Two hours 21 minutes
Course work: Mixed and applied two more coats of background color to my paper, finally achieving a reasonably uniform and opaque application. I am not as satisfied with the paper as I had hoped; it is supposed to be “ideal for acrylics” but seems less than ideal in actual use, although if it is well-clamped it does return to a fairly flat condition when it dries completely. I sketched in the outlines of the main shapes, then painted them in solidly with a mixture of yellow ochre and white (thus in a sense returning to Project Two of Assignment One).
Reading and theoretical studies:
Victoria Finlay Color
Ballantine Books, New York, 2002
Pp. 135-168
Norbert Wolf Salvador Dali
Parragon, New York, 2008
Pp. 188-219
(A readable book with many high-quality illustrations.)
Sketchbook work: Lacking an immediate subject of interest, I fell back upon my old reliable towel on a hook, which always provides an engrossing sketching problem as well as additional practice in delineating drapery. Also sketched a small detail of a hand towel hanging on a ring.
Time today: Two hours 21 minutes
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