Monday 28 February 2011





Course work: Ongoing Project 3 work.



Reading and theoretical studies:



Albert Kostenevitch The Nabis

Parkstone Press International, New York, 2009

Pp. 70-119



Sketchbook work: In my pocket sketchbook, part of a tangle of vines. These remind me somewhat of Celtic knots.

Time today:1 hour 13 minutes

Sunday 27 February 2011





Course work: Continuing work on Project Three. Today I put a dark wash over my background to push it further into the background, and lightened the table upon which my plant it sitting to help bring it forward. I made a few other color adjustments as well.



Reading and theoretical studies:



E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art

Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford 1978

Pp. 325-341



Sketchbook work: A pile of small cardboard boxes, almost a “found” piece, requiring only offsetting the boxes to be a sketchable subject.

Weekly reflections on learning experience: I missed three days of work this week because of a distant doctor’s appointment followed by ongoing travel to visit relatives. My effort for the days I was home was fairly satisfactory. I continue to struggle with the peculiarities of acrylics: each time I think that I have gained a little ground I discover a new and more complex problem, correctable only by painting over with opaque paint and starting afresh. This week’s museum visit allowed me to see original work by several fin-de-siècle and early 20th-century artists; I am always surprised by how different the original work seems from book illustrations and computer images.



Time today: 1 hour 43 minutes

Saturday 26 February 2011




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



Reading and theoretical studies:



Albert Kostenevitch The Nabis

Parkstone Press International, New York, 2009

Pp. 36-69



Sketchbook work: In my pocket sketchbook, a little scribble of one of the cats nestled against my foot. In my ~A4 sketchbook, I randomly brushed cerulean blue onto the page, let it dry, then looked for an image in the brush marks. What I discovered was a bear-like animal fighting a hurricane: I developed it a bit with charcoal and white pastel. This proved to be an interesting experiment: I plan to repeat it.

Time today: 1 hour 40 minutes

Wednesday 23 February 2011




(A museum visit to the High Museum in Atlanta, reported separately.)



Reading and theoretical studies:



Butler, Christopher Postmodernism

Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002

Pp. 1-21



Time today: 27 minutes

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