Tuesday 22 February 2011




Course work: Continued work on Project Three.



Reading and theoretical studies:



Albert Kostenevitch The Nabis

Parkstone Press International, New York, 2009

Pp. 8-35



Sketchbook work: A pages of studies of my coffee cup, an exercise that proved more interesting than I had expected.

Time today:1 hour 24 minutes

Monday 21 February 2011




Course work: work on Project 3: Painting a Flower or Plant. A progress photo:

Reading and theoretical studies:



Sarah Simblett The Drawing Book

Dorling Kindersley, London, 2004

Pp. 155-173



Sketchbook work: A drapery sketch in pencil. I need lots of practice on these.

Time today: 1 hour 25 minutes

Sunday 20 February 2011




Course work: Continued work on Project 3: Painting a Flower or Plant.



Reading and theoretical studies:



E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art

Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford 1978

Pp. 301-324



Sketchbook work: In my pocket sketchbook, two turkey vultures silhouetted against the light, quickly sketched in pencil using binoculars, then inked in later.

Weekly reflections on learning experience: This has been a fairly successful week: I did lose a day owing to a broken water-pipe in a wall, but was otherwise able to get adequate course-work done on each day. I think that I am beginning to work a little more comfortably

with acrylics, although I doubt that I shall ever come to love them.



Time today: 1 hour 57 minutes

Saturday 19 February 2011




Course work: Further work on the background for Project 3: Painting a Flower or Plant, using the color mixtures of 16 February.



Reading and theoretical studies:



Douglas Cooper Toulouse-Lautrec

Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 2004

Pp. 86-126

(Toulouse-Lautrec was an interesting painter, draughtsman, and lithographer who died too soon: one wonders what he would have accomplished had he lived another thirty years. It is also interesting to speculate on whether his handicaps contributed to his work or deterred it. This





book has a reasonable amount of text to give an introduction to the painter, and a nice collection of full-page full color plates.)



Sketchbook work: Four small sketches of the changing shadows on a pile of builder’s sand, seen as the day progressed.

Time today: 1 hour 54 minutes

Friday 18 February 2011




Course work: Mixed cadmium yellow light with touches of ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson to produce a serviceable substitute for yellow ochre, then used this mixture with white and cadmium yellow light to start adding some tone to the armchair.





Reading and theoretical studies:



Phil Metzger The Art of Perspective

North Light Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 2007

Pp. 176-201

(The author starts at the beginning and works his way through the entire corpus of perspective. Abundant illustrations, step-by-step procedures, and clear explanations make this an excellent text for the student interest in understanding perspective.)



Douglas Cooper Toulouse-Lautrec

Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 2004

Pp. 60-84





Sketchbook work: In my pocket sketchbook, a tiny (4mm) flower, the first harbinger of approaching spring in our area, usually about five weeks before the last frost.

Time today: 1 hour 42 minutes

Thursday 17 February 2011






Course work: Additional work on the background books for Project 3: Painting a Flower or Plant, using various mixed colors as before; I can tell that I will be busy at this for some time.





Reading and theoretical studies:



Sarah Simblett The Drawing Book

Dorling Kindersley, London, 2004

Pp. 131-153





Sketchbook work: Daubed some leftover acrylic paint onto a sketchbook page, and then sketched an oak worn by age and weather. The technique seems interesting, and worthy of further experimentation to see how differing colors affect similar subjects, and similar colors affect differing subjects.

Time today: 2 hours 13 minutes

Wednesday 16 February 2011




Course work: After some preliminary sketchbook work, I started painting the top row of books, using various mixtures of cadmium red, ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow, black, and white.



Reading and theoretical studies:



Douglas Cooper Toulouse-Lautrec

Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 2004

Pp. 38-59



Sketchbook work: Some further sketches of books on shelves in preparation for the background work in Project 3: Painting a Flower or Plant.

Time today: 2 hours 7 minutes