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
updating websites and work in progress 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I've been working on these seascapes - they aren't finished yet and it's a very bad photo I'm afraid but I'll post better images when they are finished.I like these long thin images hung in groups of 3, 5 or 7 - looking across them adds the dimension of time - the weather changes, the tide comes in or goes out, night falls. It's a speeded up version of a year spent painting on the beaches.They are about 48 ins tall but only 12/14ins wide on gallery wrap canvas - I make my own - well that's not quite true! My father and my husband make the stretchers to my specifications and I then stretch the canvas onto them.Some of the underpainting is thin acrylics on raw canvas - that way I can get some watercolour-like marks. Then it's sealed and I continue with oil paint. These have been done with Griffin Alkyds for speed as they dry overnight.I've also spent hours revamping and rewriting my site. Katherine gave me lots of good advice on what the search engines look for. From being top i Read more:progress
The London Art Fair Yesterday 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Yesterday I went down to the London Art Fair
in Islington. I've been going every year for quite a long time as it's a great chance to see lots of contemporary art in one place.Over 100 leading UK galleries take part with stands showing their best artists. You can see the Scottish Galleries, Welsh, Cornish ......... from all over the country - all under one roof.It's a chance to see work by favourite artists and discover new ones. Amongst those I'd come across and liked before was Paul Emsley - http://www.paulemsley.co.uk/ - who does very large charcoal drawings that are superb, subtle pieces.Another was Kurt Jackson with some wonderful seascapes on show with the Lemon Street Gallery in Truro and Messums from Cork Street in London. There is a link to his website in the list at the bottom of the screen on the right. Others I like such as Len Tabner, Peter Prendergast, Kyffin Williams, Barbara Rae and Lucian Freud were represented - all are worth googling for stunning work. John Brown Read more:Yesterday
Sketchbooks and Personality 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Do your sketchbooks (if you use them) reflect your personality?Mine do. They contain 'finished' looking work, quick scribbles, working out ideas, jotting down ideas, experiments, photos, digital printouts, found bits - anything and everything chaotically crammed together! I do tend to keep books for certain projects but not always.I have a couple of friends - one an architect who paints and the other with a background in business who is an accomplished painter - who have the neatest sketchbooks imagineable! Just fairly finished pieces and no chaosMine does reflect the way I think. I'm almost totally right brained and organisation is NOT my 'thing'. I think around a subject, going off at a tangent and coming back again.These friends decide they are going to C and therefore steps A and B are necessary for them to get there - I simply don't function this way! sometimes I wish I could. I really have to make myself be organised when I have to be but I hate it.so how about you?(for my Read more:Personality
it worked!!!! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Alfreda told me how to add a slide show :)Thank you Alfreda :) Read more:worked
back to painting :) 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I've finally been managing to find some time to paint. I don't like artificial light so I really need to paint through the morning and into the early afternoon and then stop. When the weather is grim and grey I hate the light to work in. I do wish I had a south facing studio, I know north facing is traditional but I really don't like it.I have been working on the 5 seascapes - tall and thin - 48in+ high and 12-14 in wide. Then I decided to work on some more trees.This is the trees/landscape in progress. It has quite a way to go and this isn't a great photo as it was taken with flash and misses some details, like where I've scratched thin branches through to the underpainting of oranges and drab purples and it's a bit dark.details:It's done in oil on canvas over another painting (that I hated!) in oranges and greens and dull purples. I've used the colours to shine through the snow and come through in the bark of the trees. I also scratched through to the underlying colour for th
The London Art Fair 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The London Art Fair
starts today. I've been going down to see it with friends for a good few years now and it's usually really interesting.Top galleries from all over the UK have stands and it's a chance to see a very wide range of contemporary art - everything from conceptual to graphic to photorealist to abstract and everything in between. This is the Edgar Modern stand a couple of years ago from their site.One artist I always look for is Barbara Rae - she's usually represented by a large glowing painting that sings out when you look down from the mezzanine floor above. She's a Scottish painter who is a real colourist, showing the ongoing influence of the Scottish Colourists in Scottish painting.Barbara Rae:I'm planning to go at the weekend with friends.It's a great chance to see some of the best contemporary painting, from all over the country, in one place.Islington (where the exhibition is) has a good gallery as well - The Hart Gallery. In recent years I've been lucky and
new year resolutions 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I don't really do resolutions - being of very weak willpower! but ..... I aim to do more printmaking this year, my favourite collagraphs, but also I want to have a go at woodblocks, encouraged by Diane Cutter - thanks Diane :) ( http://www.dianecutter.com ) I also want to take part in another international print exchange but using traditional techniques for this one - last time I did digital images. I received some gorgeous prints from all over the world and it was great fun as they dropped through the letterbox.Then - I want to get work out to galleries who said 'yes' last year and who I didn't have time for.I want to continue exploring the flowers 'up-close-and-personal' alongside working on plein air landscapes/seascapes/woods and trees and studio work on a large scale in the various series ..... and continue to experiment with media.I want to do more large paintings and less small works as I find them less cramping, it's easier to get more freedom and drama into
I should be painting but I'm squirrel watching 1970-01-01 00:59:59 A pair of cheeky squirrels have moved into the garden and are a delight to watch - I keep getting distracted by them!Our garden birds like the cheap scones you get in the economy range in Sainsburys - I can't remember how my husband discovered this but he now buys them regularly for them - then our cat decided she loved a bit as well and then second cat acquired the taste - now we have squirrels who like them - it's a good job they are cheap!I was watching this one eating and then he/she decided to get down to the ground down the 5ft 6in-ish pole to the bird table - he swung round so he was hanging by his back feet - hung there quite relaxed for a couple of minutes, meditating on whether he really wanted to get down, nose pointing down, just little back feet latched on supporting him - then suddenly had second thoughts and effortlessly swung up back onto the table and continued eating!
using different media 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Do you stick to just one medium? do you move from one to another depending on mood or the needs of a particular subject? do you mix media
? do you enjoy trying out a new medium?I realised recently how many people stick to just one medium and are worried about trying others.I also realised that most of the artists that I admire use a wide variety of media and also mix their media and break 'rules'. I don't like rules! guidelines - ok, suggestions - ok, rules???? no.I started out, like a lot of people, using watercolours and also gouache (with an early backbround in design) - they are relatively clean, odourless and don't involve masses of equipment - well until you become addicted to painting and then your equipment and tools seem to spread to fill every room in the house - my husband certainly thinks so.I still enjoy my watercolours and tend to use them with other media - sometimes with touches of chalk pastel, sometimes oil pastel, ink, gouache - sometimes all of those in one piece Read more:different
top selling images 1970-01-01 00:59:59 This was posted on another forum and I thought it was interesting.According to Art Business Today, these are the Top 10 best-selling
subjects for paintings in the UK:1. Traditional landscapes.2. Local views.3. Modern or semi-abstract landscapes.4. Abstracts.5. Dogs.6. Figure studies (excluding nudes).7. Seascapes, harbour, and beach scenes.8. Wildlife.9. Impressionistic landscapes.10. Nudes.I've never 'painted to sell' but always painted for me, naturally working in series and then taking them to galleries. I'm often asked what the top selling
subjects are and some of these surprised me - for instance dogs being so high on the list. And where are cats? :) - much more beautiful!I'm feeling very cheerful - a repair to the car - which had got very noisy, particularly once you wanted to go over 50mph, proved to be a simple repair, no spare parts and time only . Steve, my travelling mechanic, who I trust totally, charged just £46 to fix it, fix the catch on the glove compartme
Dawn Light 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Driving to work this morning, just after dawn, the light was lovely. There was a huge sun ahead of me with a veil of cloud over - just enough so that you could look directly at it and see the size and shape of the sun without it dazzling you at all. There were drifts of mist still lying in low lying damp fields and it was going to be a fine sunny day.It was lovely.I did this doodle from memory, with a thick graphite stick while the class were involved in their own projects
Busy :( 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I'm busy with stuff I'd rather not be doing - like lesson planning etc! so only bits of painting going on :(I found this online and thought it's great! just like my spoilt little madame when she's in 'I vant to be alone' mode :)
trees and rocks progress 1970-01-01 00:59:59 When I started this painting I roughed it in with Prussian Blue but never intended it to remain a blue painting - I've decided I'm enjoying playing with the image in shades of blue and I'm going to continue, making it winter.I'm taking part in a group project in a few weeks, doing work in response to Picasso - not one of my favourite artists I'm afraid. It occurred to me that I can use this, relating it to his blue period :>)So far I've only used Prussian Blue acrylic, some blue acrylic ink (pthalo blue-ish) and white with some tissue collage. I will introduce further blues and mauves and greyed blues as I go.The next stage will probably need to be done in oil paint as I need the qualities that oil paint has - the ability to scratch through to the underpainting through the buttery texture of it and using a palette knife. close ups:It's going to be interesting making it work in a limited colour range. I may introduce a very very little complimentary colour to stop it being too li Read more:progress
details of moonrise 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Details of the large canvas - you can see the colours and marks just a little better in theseI didn't get chance to work on it today :( but hopefully on Friday I'll have the time and the light. Read more:details
doodling, painting, and whether to use grids or projectors 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I was just taking part in a debate on the use of grids
or projectors
and whether using them is 'cheating'. I think it is partly to do with the way your brain is 'wired' . Many old masters used camera obscuras which is only the equivalent of projectors etc or using the computer.I don't like grids or tracing - so for me it doesn't work. It makes my work go stiff and and I hate it - I need the slight inconsistencies, the natural distortions that I add unconsciously, that emphasise lines and compositions. I like my lines to be fluid and rapidly drawn and none of that is possible with tracing - for me anyway. If you draw a fluid flowing line fast and then copy it slowly, tracing or gridding, it loses the spontaneity of the original. To me that's important but it isn't in everyone's work - so it depends on the work you do whether it's better to work freehand or not.I'm totally right brained on tests (with zero organisational skills! ) and I think those with a higher left brain ele
update on trees and rocks 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I've taken photos of the progress to date - I've worked on in oils as I was at the point where acrylics didn't give me the marks I wanted - I particularly can't get the subtle gradations in skies with acrylics and I wanted a blue clear winter sky, graduating from dark at the top to a softer blue at the bottom. I may yet glaze the top with a thin layer of ultramarine to get the change in blue that occurs between the sky overhead and the horizon.I couldn't get far enough away to get the whole canvas in the picture :( and I haven't got time to bring it downstairs.I've added some close up details below.Next stage is to introduce a greater range of greyed blues and a hint more of complementary colour - there's a little added that may not show up in these pictures.
seascape and trees 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I've made a start on two of the 40inch square canvasses. One is going to be an evening/nightfall view of the beach with the moon rising and the last light catching the pools left by the ebbing tide. One of a series of works I've done about the beach at this time - just before and just after sunset.There are more subtle colour changes and more shine on the sea than the photo shows. It has a way to go yet - this is the beginning, establishing lights and darks and the form of the pools.I sketched it in roughly in Prussian blue acrylic and then worked on with oils. Some of the acrylic will show in the finished piece.Next I decided to work on another of the 40 inch canvasses, loosely using the sketch I'd done in charcoal. I used the prussian blue again just to establish where things were, the form of the rocks and the lie of the land with the way the tree grew out of it with some of the tones roughly put in. This has a long way to go and a lot of decisions to be made. Part of me likes i
quick sketch 1970-01-01 00:59:59 A quick sketch
from a reference photo, taking part in a project. I don't normally work from photos and especially if I haven't taken them myself but this is somewhere I know and very much like scenery in a area I do sketch in.I'd been painting for quite a while and this quick 30 minute sketch was a nice change of pace and subject, it's done with a cheap, waxy charcoal pencil so subtle greys weren't easy, It's about 8 inches tall.The snow has melted quite a lot in town thank heavens but I haven't stepped outside the house at all today :) One of the cats, like me, hasn't set foot outside and the other, who normally likes to be out a lot has only spent a few minutes at a time outside before wanting to come back in.How I hate snow! It wasn't nice driving in it yesterday but I did take a couple of photos - colour though you'd never know it.
Today .... pastels 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I spent the afternoon painting :) - ignoring the fact that I really should have been tidying upIt's based on sketches done sitting on the beach as the sun set and night fell, and memory, it's the last of the light, just catching the sand and sea and clouds.It's only 11 inches square in a black leaved sketch book by Pink Pig, using Unison pastels (I love them best) and compressed charcoal to regain some of the blacks. Unison pastels are so luscious and don't constantly break like some pastels. I know a lot of people like Rembrandt pastels but I found they just constanly broke and shaled into little pieces and were a bit scratchy feeling to draw with. A very good pastel painter told me that Schminke white is the whitest white of all with brilliant cover so I plan to treat myself to a couple when I'm near a supplier and see how I like them.I do love working in pastel but .... oh the framing of it! it's a nightmare. I may just get my framer to do this one completely and for once hav Read more:Today
experimenting with photobucket slide show 1970-01-01 00:59:59 It worked! so this show is done with photobucket, where my images are stored to go online anyway, so access is quick and easy.Anyone wanting to add a slide show to their blog, and who isn't already light years ahead of me in technology and knows already :) , can join the sites and create their own by simply clicking on the 'get your own' tab next to the imagesApart from the pencil sketch these are variations on the beach at nightfall, from sketches done plein air. There's a small 12 inch square oil painting, some collagraphs and a pencil sketch of the sea defences.Collagraphs are a lovely printmaking method using mount (matt) card as a plate. It's inexpensive and I really like the marks you can achieve with it. It does need a printing press though as it's an intaglio process like etching and not a relief print like lino.
progressing 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I looked at this painting and decided to rework it, making the sand cooler. It had been warmer, reflecting the very last of the sunset but I think it works better this way. It's about 48 ins tall.I'd like to do a night scene on a 40 inch square canvas - but will it be toooo dark and overpowering? I think I'll try it and see.Admin and stuff over for the day so I'm off to paint now :) Read more:progressing
moonrise 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I just realised that I'd put details of this in an earlier post - but not the full image! It's a work in progress and a little way from being finished. So far it's acrylic but now I'll continue in oil paint.40 inches square on gallery wrap canvas
Landscape, seascape and what is beautiful 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Looking at some snowy photos a friend showed from a 'little walk' I wondered where our ideas of what scenery is beautiful start. Clearly she loves her area very much.Snow is not my idea of fun! I like to see it - but from somewhere safe and warm and no 'little walks' in it at all for me thanks!The scenery that I love best is the coast. Particularly the wild Atlantic coast of Cornwall, with small coves, wild seas, clean washed sand, rocks, rock pools, beautifully every changing colours of water and flower studded turf coming down to the cliffs. The lanes are very very narrow, one car width often, with high banks just packed with wild flowers. The small ancient stone harbours with old houses clustered round.That was the north coast (it's a peninsula) - the south coast is tidal creeks (drowned valleys) with wooded hillsides and trees overhanging the water, herons, tiny hidden villages and a gentler quality. In spring the woods are totally blue with bluebells.Winter gales are Read more:Landscape
quick sketch of paintbrushes in coloured pencil 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The first one I've shown before,it was done with a carbon pencilthe second is a quick sketch
of paintbrushes done with coloured pencil
s from a Portrait set by Lyra. I really like Lyra pencils to use. These belonged to the college but I think I may invest in a set - they'd be interesting sketching in the landscape - just working tonally but with lovely warms and cools to play with.
digital images 2007-03-01 23:00:00 I've been feeling really yuk with this virus and my asthma making it last :( so I haven't been getting on with the big paintings. I also had to cover for a sick colleague and ended up working extra hours.I did play with some photographs of trees and skies though and created these images by combining, layering, manipulating and generally playing with them :)They may trigger ideas for paintings - watercolour? mixed media? I think I fancy using those and experimenting - a change from oils. Read more:digital images
The Pastel Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London 2007-03-07 22:29:00 One of my pastels to start off with as the post is about pastels - done plein air at local allotments (plots of land, rented to grow vegetables, home made sheds, recycled baths and barrels and all sort of 'useful' objects). The allotments were only half let - the one on the right of the grass path neatly tended and the one on the left running riot, nature reclaiming the land. I loved the tumble down sheds and junk being recycled and the contrast between the neat plots and the luxuriantly overgrown ones.You can see a lot more of the work that I did there on my sketchbooks site http://www.sitekreator.com/viviensketches in The Dying of the Day. Unison pastels are my favourite as they are lush and velvety but don't break easily - and they come in a great range of colours.On Saturday the pastel society I belong to went to the PastelExhibition
at the Mall Galleries
. I try not to miss it as it’s usually a very good show. Glen a friend and fellow member, and I, met up with Katherine (w
Renoir Landscapes at the National Gallery 2007-03-09 09:26:00 Finally I manage to write a bit about this exhibition.Renoir is not a favourite artist of mine, though I appreciate his work his good - his women are very simpering, shallow and sugary and having done some research for an art history assignment at uni, I found he had a very unpleasant attitude towards women, thinking women artists were an abomination and women should be in the kitchen or bedroom! He 'painted with his *****', he said. Some of his works, like the Bar at the Folies Bergere I do like, very much.Anway, to the landscapes. I really hadn't seen many of his landscapes before so was interested to see them. It was noticeable straight away that, unlike Monet, he didn't look hard at the greens that were there, but used bluey-greens and generalised, choosing his own colour scheme, though in the example shown here the greens aren't so blue - probably because the water is very blue and it simply wouldn't have worked in this case.The early landscapes were frankly not very good! Read more:Gallery
, Landscapes
, National
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