Wednesday 27 April 2011

Course work: Reworked the dam and the reflections in the water in the pond.

Reading and theoretical studies:

Timothy Hyman Bonnard

Thames and Hudson, London, 1998

Pp. 129-150

Sketchbook work: An entertaining if not wholly successful effort at using wax resist and acrylic to depict some American Indian petroglyphs.

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Course work: Did not paint today: stopped and thought a bit about painting water.

Reading and theoretical studies:

Partricia Seligman How to Paint Water

Chartwell Books, Edison, New Jersey,USA, 2002

Pp. 30-31, 48-59

Maureen Bloomfield “The Solace of Still Water” in

The Artist’s Magazine  Vol. 28, No. 2 (March 2011)

Pp. 24-31

Sketchbook work: Some small acrylic test patches in my sketchbook, working on techniques for depicting fairly still water.

Monday 25 April 2011

Course work: Continued work on Project Three, starting to paint in the pond, and making some minor changes on the dam to better reveal it as a three-dimensional object.  I think that I will still have to darken the face of the dam (and the associated reflections).

Reading and theoretical studies:

Matthew Collings This is Modern Art

Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 1999

Pp. 246-262

(This was a difficult book for me: perhaps I am too old to understand it.  If one reads almost any paragraph aloud, it sounds quite similar to the babbling of a manic-phase bipolar disorder patient…all stream of consciousness, one thought tumbled upon another.  I could not decide whether the author was serious, or whether he was ridiculing modern art, or art critics, or maybe the reader.  I certainly found it difficult to consider as art much of what was represented as art by the author. I am surprised that OCA recommends this book, as it does not seem suited to the serious student.  Perhaps the text seemed more relevant when it was written, twelve years ago.)

Sketchbook work: A page of attempts at sketching our usually-asleep but seldom still cat, not very successful.

Sunday 24 April 2011

Course work: A good work session, primarily upon far-distant and middle distant trees, using various mixtures of lemon yellow, yellow ochre, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, and white. Started work on the dam at the end of the pond.

Reading and theoretical studies:

Timothy Hyman Bonnard

Thames and Hudson, London, 1998

Pp. 103-128

Added four images of works by Matisse that include goldfish to my study collection, as part of response to issues raised by the recent tutor report.

Sketchbook work: An interesting wood-grain pattern in a fence post.

Weekly reflections on learning experience: I seem to be getting back “on track” again, having completed the interior painting over which I labored, and having made a good start on the view through the window, which seems to be going much more satisfactorily.  Work on the specific responses to issues raised by my tutor is underway.

Saturday 23 April 2011

Course work: Started work on Project Three, attempting to work more freely than I did on Project Two.

Reading and theoretical studies:

Matthew Collings This is Modern Art

Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 1999

Pp. 225-245

Collected images of works of Giotto and Cimabue.

Sketchbook work: A second acrylic sketch inspired by the work of Terry Frost.

Friday 22 April 2011

Course work: (Cleanup from Project Two and preparation for Project Three.)

Reading and theoretical studies:

Timothy Hyman Bonnard

Thames and Hudson, London, 1998

Pp. 88-102

Review of a large number of images by Terry Frost  as part of response to issues raised in tutor report. (see my consolidated responses at end of Assignment Three Log.)

Sketchbook work: A derivative acrylic sketch done after looking at images by Terry Frost.  This was done using cadmium yellow light, cadmium red light, ultramarine blue, and a neutral color prepared by mixing the three aforementioned colors.  The blue shape would have been more obvious had I used cerulean blue, but my intent was to have it “lurking in the background.”

Thursday 21 April 2011

Course work: After a period of indecisiveness, I resumed work on the Project Two painting, which I think is now finished.  Unfortunately, I think that it is also overworked, and probably over-planned.  The tones are close to those that I saw, and the shapes and the perspective are reasonably close, but I think in retrospect that I should have exaggerated the tones for effect.  The brushwork varies from tentative to overworked. In summary, I think that this is one of the less-interesting  paintings that I’ve done for the course, even though it looks very like the subject..   I will try to do the next project in a few long sessions, instead of a larger number of short sessions, as it seems that working in the latter manner causes me to concentrate on detail and miss the essence of the painting. 

Reading and theoretical studies:

Matthew Collings This is Modern Art

Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 1999

Pp. 200-222

Sketchbook work: Some blown-ink-drop experiments using acrylic ink and non-waterproof drawing ink.  Although my sample is too small to be valid, the most interesting result so far was obtained with the India ink.