Owner: Paintings Prints and Stuff URL:http://vivienb.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 06:49:42 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: paintings, sketches, printmaking, works in progress, exhibitions and thoughts on art. Site statistics:Click here
Valerie Butters 2007-07-30 14:14:00 copyright Valerie
ButtersMy own interest in flowers tends to be to close in on the centres, rather than to produce a still life set up - but I love the work of Canadian artist Valerie Butters. I'd like to own one of these :) (and a Shirley Trevena too please :) )She works loosely in acrylic and produces large exuberant paintings, with drips and splashes and masses of energy and excitement. She often plays with perspective, distorting shapes and frequently taking a slightly offbeat view of her subject. Whilst they are loose, they are also well observed and she uses colours beautifully.She has a blog where she talks about works in progress and her exhibitiions and you can see more of her work and links to galleries.http://valeriebutters.blogspot.com/
One of my favourite children's books set in my favourite place :) 2007-08-02 12:41:00 The Mousehole cat(pronounced Mowzel - ow as in ouch!) is the enchanting story of a time of near famine, based on a true event, seen through the eyes of Mowzer, a fisherman's cat. Winter gales had prevented the fishing fleet from going out and the villagers were starving - one fisherman braves the gale to save them, taking Mowzer his cat with him.The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and it's set in one of my favourite tiny fishing villages in Cornwall - well it's spread a bit nowadays but the original village is tiny, narrow alleyways and cottages snuggled up to each other against the wild weather that Cornwall can get.The Guardian writes about it: An utterly magical picture book with rich, vividly coloured illustrations, friezes and borders that complement Barber's simple, almost severe telling of the dramatic Cornish legend of Mowser the Cat and Tom, the old fisherman, who brave the fury of the Great Storm Cat to save their village from starving.The way the illustrator, Nico
and another portrait 2007-08-06 04:21:00 copyright Vivien BlackburnAnd another portrait sketch of my daughter, a little younger this time, leaning on the back of a chair while we had a drink somewhere - she could never sit still! - and wondering what to get up to next - it usually involved hanging from a high branch on a tree with one hand saying 'look at me' - eventually I stopped worrying!One year when she was about 8, we were in Plymouth and there was a big event up on Plymouth Hoe (a gorgeous big grassy area overlooking the fantastic harbour entrance and right near the town centre). The army had a high climbing tower with tiny ledges widely spaced, that led onto rope walks and those high rope slides.We stood and watched as much older boys struggled and took ages to climb it. She watched and wanted to have a go - the soldiers were a bit unsure but let her have a go - she went up zoom like a little spider, flew through the rope walk and the slide and left the soldiers, who'd been expecting to have to rescue her, open mo
Portraits 2007-08-05 04:05:00 copyright Vivien Blackburnmechanical pencil in Moleskine sketchbookPortraits
as such aren't something I normally do - but last night TV was boring, what's new? and so I decided to work from an old photo of my daughter when she was younger.She has beautiful hair and the pensive pose in this photo was just typical of her. Oh the tears and tantrums when that hair had to be brushed though :(
Feathers - sketching 2007-08-09 10:13:00 sketches copyright Vivien Blackburnpastel pencils on sugar paperI picked this feather up in the garden and sketched it in different media, experimenting with the different feel of each medium. I like the pastel pencil version best as I could look at the subtle hints of colour in a monochrome subject.carbon pencilWith the carbon pencil it was harder to get the soft greys and the image is less subtle.2B pencilWith pencil it was possible to get the subtler greys but it hasn't scanned as well :(Now, shall I carry on and do some more in water soluble graphite and watercolour ? charcoal? mmm maybe when I have the time I will. Read more:Feathers
Exhibtion photos as promised :) 2007-08-08 11:40:00 ok - so as promised, the paintings in the gallery, if you are on an email subscription and want to see the pictures you'll need to log in today, sorry - I've done a slide show of the exhibition - you can see it if you click here http://vivienb.blogspot.com/They decided not to hang them together but to scatter them around the gallery so that they formed a repeating motif. I would have liked some of them hung in a group but never mind.Colin Halliday was showing square seascapes, there were some nice textile pieces and there were interesting driftwood sculptures, pottery and some gorgeous jewellery, all with a sea theme - they were even playing sea mood music :D Read more:photos
the language of painting and more about my degree course 2007-08-15 08:31:00 Masquerade and Albertine (detail) copyright Vivien Blackburnoil on canvas approx 4 inchesMarion Boddy Evans in her newsletter (you can subscribe to it on http://painting.about.com/ ) showed this quote:"My aim is to escape from the medium with which I work. To leave no residue of technical mannerisms to stand between my expression and the observer." -- Andrew WyethIt's so utterly opposed to the way I work and the artists why really appeal to me! :D Not wrong or right - just a very very different viewpoint. He certainly achieved his aims. His work, for me has a remoteness, a certain coldness, a lack of passion.I love to see the marks, the language
of the paint - exciting swirls, lines, blobs, splatters, free expressive marks that create movement and drama - but based on keen observation. I love the work of Kurt Jackson (http://www.kurtjackson.com/ ) in a variety of media - he catches the spirit of place, the light and the colour of places in a unique way. Or the work of Shirley Trevena Read more:degree
, course
doing a fine art degree 2007-08-14 16:01:00 Undergrowth: copyright Vivien Blackburn 60 x 24 inchesPeople often ask if you can develop fully as an artist without doing
a degree
. I can't answer for everyone - but for me, I know I wouldn't have.I'd done my Foundation Year on leaving school - a degree in Art starts with a Foundation Year, where you try all sorts of disciplines and experiment wildly :)At the time I wanted to go into Fashion/Fabric design - but realised what a tough world it was, the visiting lecturers from London told us constantly! I decided I wasn't actually that tough! so I didn't continue to the degree years.I married, had my family and started painting again. I joined an adult ed class where the tutor wasn't very good sadly, he didn't inspire, didn't know how to help beginners or those like me who were terribly rusty. I knew there must be better classes - and there were :)I found a very good tutor, who worked on developing individual skills within a class, running it like a workshop. He'd bring in boo
Seascapes for the next show 2007-08-19 12:16:00 all work copyright Vivien Blackburn I've been busy finishing off some canvasses - they are still wet so I'll have to photograph them later and sorting out some framed work to take to the Neptune Gallery.These are 2 of the framed works that will be going. Both done plein air in oil paint. They are on treated paper, so are framed as if for watercolours, with a 3inch matt and limed ash frame.I love the different light and colour as the seasons, time and tide change. Nothing stays the same for long and it's necessary to paint fast. The first painting was the day after a really bad storm and high tide - there were intense deep blue skies and the wet sand was vivid colours, around us were damaged dunes and sea defences. The second was a warm April day, after a long cold early spring. It was bliss to be in the sun :)I'm hoping to have some time to paint after I've delivered the work - so fingers crossed for good weather later this week :)
and now for something completely different :) 2007-08-18 11:24:00 Russian Dolls: copyright Vivien BlackburnI've been down to visit my daughter who is expecting her first baby in 3 weeks - so lots of excitement :). So now I have a lot of finishing off paintings and organising to do to get some work ready for an exhibition and catch up.This is a rough design for a card for her - it's her and her husband and their cat as Russian Dolls (they aren't at all that shape! - well she is at the moment but not normally :) ) - I haven't decided yet whether it will be a cut out to shape card or a square card with the image on. What do you think? Someone already pointed out that it might be a good idea to have the baby larger than the cat ....... or else the baby fits inside the cat ...... oooops! Read more:something
, completely
, different
, something completely different
painting styles - should you have a style? 2007-08-22 03:40:00 one of the Time and Tide series - about changing weather, time, season, tide and light at the beach copyright Vivien BlackburnKatherine's post today is very interesting and is a subject that matters to me individually and as a teacher in adult/higher education. http://makingamark.blogspot.com/ she talks today about artists developing a style.Students often talk about finding their style and I tell them it'll happen. It's like your handwriting, it's unique as long as you let it evolve without forcing it and stylising it like calligraphy.Whilst it's important for your work to be cohesive, it needs to be cohesive because it's your voice coming through and not because you have decided to be - for instance - cubist, or to churn out cutesy little cottages with orange lights in the windows (now who could that be? >:>) )Great artists develop over time and often work through many 'styles' which are simply aspects of their development, a strengthening of their skills, exploring issues s
Time and Tide continued, a patch of sparkling water 2007-08-27 12:36:00 A patch of sparkling water
, copyright Vivien Blackburn, approx 36 in highThis mixed media on canvas is based on sketches I did of the light sparkling on a small area of sea on a fairly calm day. Sometimes it's fun to zoom in and concentrate on just one small area. It hasn't photographed well I'm afraid with a bit of interference from the varnish :(Today I've been working on a couple of new larger canvasses, which will take a while to resolve.I'm hoping to get to a really good pastel exhibition at a gallery in a nearby market town. Work on show is by several artists who belong to the Pastel Society - I visited their exhibition at the Mall Galleries in the Spring and reviewed the show. Some of those I particularly liked have work there - Averil Gilkes is showing her beautiful seascapes and Ingrid Wilkinson her gorgeous abstracts. I know it will make me want to reach for my pastels again :)http://www.orangestreetgallery.com/Exhibitions.htm the gallery website
sketching at the beach 2007-08-26 11:43:00 quick sketch of moving figures in watercolour, pencil, biro and coloured pencil copyright Vivien BlackburnYesterday I went to the coast to deliver the work to the Neptune gallery. My husband went with me and I decided to sketch - not a good idea! It's not the same as going with friends who also paint - I was conscious of having to hurry up so he wouldn't be bored, the beach was busy with bank holiday visitors, who constantly walked in front of me, moved, put up windbreaks or tents or took them down just as I was going to sketch them ..... not ideal !So I only got this quick sketch done ... not good, a very bad composition as I just sketched people when they held a position long enough and they are both looking out to the left. I didn't have time to consider properly and even though I had my back to the seawall, people came to look, which is distracting. (excuses excuses!) I thought I'd post it just to prove that I did manage to get a bit of sketching done. :) I've added the photo
Cornwall 2007-08-24 16:12:00 webcam at Mawgan Porth http://www.bedruthanstepshotel.co.uk/webcam.htmlI wish I was there now - but soon :)I'm absolutely exhausted so no sensible post today - but do look at the webcam link above of a typical Cornish beach, a couple of miles from where I used to live. The colours today were lovely and changing with the light :) - click back through the times as it takes a picture once an hour and you can see the tide coming in, going out and the light and the colours changing dramatically.webcam at Mawgan PorthI wish I was there now - but soon :)I'm absolutely exhausted so no sensible post today - but do look at the webcam link above of a typical Cornish beach, a couple of miles from where I used to live. The colours today were lovely and changing with the light :) - click back through the times as it takes a picture once an hour and you can see the tide coming in, going out and the light and the colours changing dramatically. webcam at Mawgan PorthI wish I was there now - Read more:Cornwall
Time and Tide: sunset and pools at the beach 2007-08-29 16:14:00 This is one of the recent ones in the Time and Tide series, a smallish one of just under 3ft tall. It's about those evenings where the clouds and colours are patterned and vivid, layers of different coloured clouds, delicate peach pinks, small fluffy clouds that are lower and the pool reflecting it all.The pattern element was important as it was that sort of evening. It makes me think of Fairisle knitting! It works well with the others in the series.What do you think?Daughter and new son are both doing well and she's so happy :) Read more:pools
a grandmother! 2007-08-28 15:29:00 My daughter had a little boy by emergency Caesarian section last night. They are both doing fine, I hardly slept last night!I rushed the card into the post so I hope she gets it tomorrow. My grandmother was really special - I hope I can live up to her :)
how to mix colours and colour mixing systems 2007-09-01 06:32:00 There are a lot of 'systems' for mixing colours out there - instructions on which colours you should use, telling you never to use black or always to use black, to use or not use complementary colours to create neutrals, to use certain brands because the mixing is all done for you and you just follow the 'rules'.I believe that you can look at them all if you want but the only way to understand colour and colour mixing is to do it! and never ever to follow someone elses rigid painting by numbers system in your work.It's more important to understand complementary colours and the way they make each other more vivid when placed next to each other or neutralise each other when mixed - then how to use this in a subtle way by using coloured neutrals to make a colour sing. Or understanding how to adjust a too bright colour by glazing it with a thin wash of its complementary colour.Learn what the colours you have do, by mixing them and painting little grids like these - you'll be amazed
Kurt Jackson the Cornish Crows 2007-09-26 04:55:00 While I was in Cornwall I checked on what was on at the Lemon Street Gallery in Truro as they show some fantastic contemporary work by great artists - and :D there was a Kurt Jackson
show on, The Cornish Crows
or in the old Cornish language An Byrny Kernow - Kernow is the Cornish word for Corwall.http://www.lemonstreetgallery.co.uk/kurt-jackson-cornish-crows.asp?ExhibitID=86 a link to the gallery website - it's worth bookmarking and visiting in person if you can.The lively confusion of wheeling birds in the sketch above catches them fantastically - far better than a 'botanical illustration' type of bird painting every could.There were several of these odd shaped pieces and they worked really well, floated within a frame.there's a lively conversation going on in this one :) ..... it looks like an indignant wife asking what her husband has been up to with the bird on the left!He catches light on water so well and the moody atmospher of low light or bad weather.The trees nea
some sunsets in cornwall 2007-09-24 13:55:00 images copyright VivienBlackburnthese are a few of the sunsets seen from the windows of 'our' flat - the cloud formations were often fabulous. This one is low tide with the light reflecting off the pools and shallow water at the edge of the surf.This was a clear and cloudless sunset, turning the sky apricot and the colour reflecting on the sea. (high tide)The strange rectangle in this one is from the mirror on the wall behind, reflecting the light onto the glass.Between the photos and my sketches I'm hoping to paint a few sunsets :) - the problem with photos is that they can't cope with the tonal range that he human eye can - metering to get the sunset colour means losing detail in the cliffs, rocks and foreground - there wasn't much as the light was going but there was more than this. Putting colours down in a sketch in this light was interesting - the colours were far too lurid when looked at in the morning! they'll need toning down quite a bit.I'll be putting more photo
quick sketches of cornwall 2007-09-23 11:34:00 all images copyright Vivien BlackburnThe view of the sunset over the sea from our windows was spectacular :) These are some quick sketches done from the window and the one above is trying to catch the pattern of the clouds and waves - they changed so fast and the light was going, so I didn't attempt to use colour. They are all in my moleskine sketchbook - which was only added to my art bag(s) as an afterthought because I'd planned to work larger. I made notes to myself of the colours so that if it develops into a painting I'll remember them.This one is the view from the windows looking more to the left, where the steep road hairpins round to a narrow little old bridge over the stream - the stream that comes down the valley (the Vale of Lanherne or Mawgan) past the farmhouse a couple of miles uphill, that we lived in for a year when we first moved to Cornwall. We rented half of the house and the farmer lived in the other half. It was a lovely tall Georgian farmhouse, the farm
Cornwall, beautiful beautiful Cornwall :) 2007-09-22 11:43:00 It's a horribly long journey but oh it was worth it! I'm back from a week in Cornwall
, staying in a flat in a house right on the edge of the beach that was near where I lived as a child. It was gorgeous - this is the view from our living room room there :) and the marram grass you can see is the end of the garden and there's a path straight down to the beach from there.To the left is a forest of tamarisk bushes and to the right it was marram grass. The rabbits who live there came out in the mornings and evenings and kept the lawn short! Evening primroses grew amongst the marram grass and tiny tiny mauve flowers were everywhere in the short turf.The weather was pretty kind to us - the few times it rained were when it really didn't matter and the clouds made the skies beautiful.The surf was wild at times with huge waves crashing over the rocks and the surfers were out in the safe centre of the beach. The main surfing beach is a few miles away at Fistral Bay but Mawgan Port
and yet more sketches of paintbrushes 2007-09-14 00:25:00 copyright Vivien Blackburnand yet more paintbrushes! a demo using, in order, pastel pencils willow charcoal and coloured pencils for a class. They are a great subject as they include all those different textures - the bristles, the wood and splatters of paint and the shiny ferrule..... and now I'm going to be off line for a week so there's going to be a lot of catching up for me to do when I get back :) Katherine tells me my icon for feedburner doesn't include the email option - so I'll sort that one out when I get back for those of you who would like to change over and avoid the ads..
email feeds 2007-09-12 02:19:00 Just a quick note to those of you who subscribe via feedblitz- I'm told that as from 14th they are going to include advertisements- so those of you who don't like that (I don't!) you could change your subscription over to Feedburner. There's a link in the right hand column.Bloglines is good as an alternative as you get to see all the blogs listed together that you've subscribed to. Again there is a link in the right hand column.Dashing out now ...............................
Pen and wash drawings, still life 2007-09-11 09:36:00 Pen and wash drawing copyright VivienBlackburnStill life is a subject I don't really do any more in the traditional sense - I'll sometimes do studies of something that interests me or just for practice but don't do 'finished' works any more. Landscape always was my first interest.This set up was in a class about 12 years ago and was full of lovely textures and shapes - the hairiness of the coil of rope, drapes of the material, the dark wood of the chair and the white flowers against a dark background, smooth jug, spiky teasel and delicate honesty were interesting to work with and work out a way of expressing each.It was done with a Rotring art pen and sepia ink with plain water to create the washes - the ink is water soluble.I came across this photo of it while I was looking for something else.My Rotring pen tends to languish largely unused as well - I often find pen too scratchy for me and like the painterliness and soft edges of charcoal or pencil better for the way I work. Jus Read more:drawings
sketching people 2007-09-09 14:22:00 copyright Vivien Blackburnpencil in moleskine sketchbookOk I did overemphasise the eyes a little - but only a little. This is my eldest daughter and her eyes are her best feature :). I also overemphasised her nose - ooops! - she has a much daintier nose!That's one of the nice things about sketches - these little idiosyncracies sneak in, slight caricatures, overemphasis or distortion - it's what so often makes a drawing more interesting, to me anyway, than a photograph.It's been a very hectic weekend with a family get together with Sam as the star so no time for anything else and no painting. Katherine http://makingamark.blogspot.com/2007/09/9th-september-2007-whos-made-mark-this.html found a fun quiz on blogthings to discover what colour crayon you are :) I'm a blue one - which is great as I love blues. Our bedroom is blue, the living room is creams with vivid turquoise curtains and cushions and I am inclined to hang my bluest paintings in there - oh dear paintings to match the so Read more:people
Quick sketch of baby Sam being held 2007-09-07 08:29:00 Sam being held by my Dad copyright Vivien BlackburnA quick sketch
of Sam snoozing, held by his great grandfather :) Read more:Quick
sketch of baby Sam 2007-09-06 10:34:00 Practising :)4B pencil in moleskine sketch
book - one fault I find with the moleskine is that when you erase with a battery operater eraser, little bits tend to stick to the paper all over the place - I don't know if you find that? I use an eraser as a drawing tool quite a bit to take our lights and reduce contrast etc, particularly when drawing hair or fur.My daughter says she's put this on her Facebook page :)Hopefully the first of many :)
cats in art and a monotype of a cat 2007-09-05 03:51:00 monotype: copyright Vivien BlackburnThis is a monotype I did some time ago - made by doing a random roll up of the printing plate with the honey/burnt sienna coloured printing ink. I then made cut out stencils from newspaper and overprinted with the black ink. With monotypes there can only be one, it isn't possible to recreate the print again. For this type of printing you don't need a printing press, you can just place the paper over the printing plate and rub the back with a baren or your palm to pick up the ink from the plate. He looks a bit cross at being disturbed.I've been looking at cats in art from the earliest times and found some beautiful examples :)In ancient Egypt they were of course revered but in medieval times their fortunes changed and they were seen as associated with magic, witches, licentiousness and wrongdoing. Hundreds of thousans were exterminated - leading to a rise in the rodent population and probably aiding the rise and spread of the plague - the black dea
making collagraphs 2007-09-04 11:29:00 collagraph, Undergrowth copyright Vivien BlackburnI came across this collagraph that I did ages ago in a folder - it was languishing there because it wasn't a particularly good print.So I worked on it with coloured pencil and Pitt pen - the coloured pencil takes really nicely on the Fabriano paper in a fuzzy way.I'd shaped the plate slightly in this one, it isn't the plain oblong of the seahorses.For those who don't know, collagraphs are made by cutting, peeling, incising and sticking stuff on to mount/matt card and then printing from it after varnishing it with shellac to protect it. Inking it up with oil based printing inks and as it's an intaglio process it needs a printing press or at least very high pressure to print it. I have thought of experimenting with a flower press but I'm not sure that the pressure would be even enough. I have heard of people putting the papers and printing plate between boards and driving over them - and they assured me it worked! I'm not sure what Read more:making
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