Wednesday 29 December 2010





Course work: A second attempt at Perspective Project One, Stage Two. Today I did the initial drawing working from an easel, which simplified things somewhat. My vanishing points were a little closer to my assumed horizon line, although I still had one divergent line pair. My final drawing, again with projections in red and corrections in blue, is ~22x106cm. I found it interesting that my error in judging the correct position of the vanishing point tends to increase as the vanishing point shifts away from the midline. If the object of this exercise is to teach humility, it has succeeded.

Reading and theoretical studies:



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


iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, 2008

Pp. ix-xiv, 1-9





Sketchbook work: An ink sketch of a bag of mixed peppermint sticks.

Time today: One hour 21 minutes

Tuesday 28 December 2010





Course work: Worked on Perspective Project One, Stage Two on paper ~45x60 cm. Although I thought that I had done a fair job of drawing in the books, I badly misjudged my horizon line, and some of my lines diverged, rather than converging. I’ll try this again.

Reading and theoretical studies:



Guy Cogeval: Vuillard: Post-Impressionist Master

Harry N. Abrams, New York, 2002

Pp. 98-135

(This small, short volume includes many illustrations, most in color. Because of the small size of the book the illustrations often do not permit careful study. The translation is better than average, but still leaves the reader a bit confused at times. The text does cover Vuillard’s entire career from schoolboy days to old age, and from being one of the Nabis to becoming the most renowned French portraitist of his day. After a careful second study of the reproductions in the book, I conclude that Vuillard considered the inclusion of people in his work primarily as an opportunity to use interesting shapes and colors. I have ordered a larger book so that I may look at his works in more detail.)



Sketchbook work: A pencil sketch of my winter work cap, just as I dropped it after putting out hay.

Time today: One hour 44 minutes

Monday 27 December 2010





Course work: Some minor work on Stage Three of Project Two.



Commenced work on Perspective Project One, Stage One, selecting four equal-sized books (thin ones, to assist in ignoring their vertical thickness). Two were flat on a table, one elevated on a short cylindrical cup, and one raised on a fairly tall cylindrical vase. I decided that A4 paper was too small for this project; my work is about 25 x 40 cm. Construction lines and horizon line are black; projected sides are red; correction lines are blue. Although I did a very similar project for the drawing course, I found that my work was only modestly improved with the current project. (This suggests the need for additional work.)

Reading and theoretical studies:



E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art

Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford 1978

Pp. 229-246



Sketchbook work: A pocket sketchbook sketch of some icicles, an infrequent phenomenon here.

Time today: One hour 33 minutes

Sunday 26 December 2010





Reading and theoretical studies:



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

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

Pp. 268-287



Guy Cogeval: Vuillard: Post-Impressionist Master


Harry N. Abrams, New York, 2002

Pp. 69-97



Weekly reflections on learning experience: Another week in which little was accomplished, primarily because of frustrating but unavoidable holiday demands.



Time today: 44 minutes

Thursday 23 December 2010




Sarah Simblett The Drawing Book

Dorling Kindersley, London, 2004

Pp. 88-107



Time today: 22 minutes

Wednesday 22 December 2010





Course work: Some further work on Stage Three of Project Two. Most of my effort of late has been in making small corrections and additions: I think it would be sensible to continue to do this, but to simultaneously work further along into the course, since the little adjustments I have been making only require a few minutes of effort.

Reading and theoretical studies:



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

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

Pp. 242-267



Concluding the theoretical work on P. 93 of the text, I did a colored pencil sketch (~15x18 cm) of Rembrandt’s The Philosopher Reading in my sketchbook to demonstrate “…using colour to emphasise the fall of light on objects.” The textbook statement seems unclear, and I have been looking for a painting that seemed suitable for almost two months. What I have attempted to do is to identify the underlying colors in the work and to strengthen them and use them in a non-linear fashion to show their role in delineating the way that their relative values depict the objects.

Time today: 1 hour 37 minutes

Wednesday 15 December 2010-Tuesday 21 December 2010





Reading and theoretical studies:



Victoria Finlay Color

Ballantine Books, New York, 2002

Pp. 376-395

(This engrossing book is part history, part travelogue, part art, and part chemistry, and it will be enjoyed by anyone whose interests include at least two of these factors.)



Guy Cogeval: Vuillard: Post-Impressionist Master

Harry N. Abrams, New York, 2002

Pp. 11-67



Cynthia Freeland Art Theory

Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001

Pp. 40-59



Weekly reflections on learning experience: This has not been a highly productive period, as holiday travel to visit family and friends has cut sharply into my work, permitting only a little reading in stolen moments. I fear this will continue for some time yet.



Total time: 2 hours 10 minutes