What Comes Next?

Sorry About the Chips
Watercolour on Paper
24cm x 34cm (9.5" x 13.5")

I am back, completely refreshed after a break from blogging. Elaine and I spent a relaxing couple of weeks in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

We saw the herring gull at the top of this post while we were enjoying a glass of Pimms in the garden of the Turks Head in Penzance. I cannot decide whether he looks contrite or like an evil Bond villain planning his next nefarious scheme.

Since we returned, I’ve been deciding on which aspects of drawing I want to improve:

• Accuracy – The Natural Way to Draw does not offer much guidance about accurate draughtsmanship. The instructions for the Extended Gesture Study include the advice “You may use any and all methods at your command to arrive at the correct proportions and the posture”. I am going to reread Keys to Drawing by Bert Dodson as a refresher course on some of the methods to arrive at the correct proportions.
• Composition - Composition by Arthur Wesley Dow looks like a good starting point to learn more about composition and design. Its approach seems to be learning by experimentation, which is exactly what I want. It is another old book - even older than The Natural Way to Draw. It was first published in 1899. 
• Mark making – Dow recommends brush and ink as the best medium for the exercises in his book. I hope these exercises will also improve my line drawing and brushwork.
• Visual memory – Studio Rousar started a memory-drawing group with weekly exercises in January 2013. I’ve started to follow these exercises, but I am half a year behind.

This seems like quite a workload. On top of this, I want to continue with the Daily Composition and Composition from Reproductions exercises from the Natural Way to Draw and find time to paint.

Lets see how it works out.

The Last Post?

Sustained Study - Clothed - Section 25 - Modelled Drawing
24 May 2013
Oil Colour on Paper
42cm x 59.5cm (16.5" x 23.5")

It's done. On Wednesday, I finished the last exercise from the Natural Way to Draw.

Thank you to everyone who has posed for me and a massive thank you to Elaine for taking most of the burden. Her effort and perseverance have far exceeded mine. I couldn’t have completed the book without her help and support. I am sorry some of the drawings have been less than flattering.

Thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and commented on the posts. Blogging has been an important part of the learning process. It has helped me to think deeply about the exercises and to assimilate the lessons.

At this point, I should ask the questions: Has the effort been worthwhile? Am I pleased with what I have learnt?

The answer to both questions is yes. In the original post (see The Natural Way To Draw) I said the reason for following the Natural Way to Draw was that I wanted to develop a more spontaneous and confident drawing style. This has happened. My whole approach to drawing has changed.

There are aspects of technique that I want to work on and improve, but these are much clearer than they were when I started the course.

An unexpected benefit is the book has taught me to look at art in a new way. It has helped me to appreciate and enjoy it more.

So what comes next? I have some ideas, but the first thing is to take a few weeks off.

I am going to continue with the daily composition exercise (see The Daily Composition Revisited) and do some sketching, but this will not involve any posing by Elaine.

I am taking a break from blogging and will be back in a few weeks.

Summer Landscape

Its No Joke
Watercolour on Paper
34cm x 14cm (13.5" x 5.5")

Yesterday was the Shelford Group of Artists’ Painting Day for June. Tony Slater’s theme was Summer Landscapes. The organisation of the day was different to usual. In the morning, we went out sketching and in the afternoon, we painted a picture from our sketches.

This was a perfect opportunity for me because I want to sketch while Elaine and I are on holiday, but I haven’t had much experience. The day gave me a chance to decide what kit I am going to take and to think about an approach for drawing landscapes.

It was also a useful experience of what it is like to draw outdoors. I have a dread of attracting a crowd of critical onlookers. Yesterday has helped me to realise this is an unlikely scenario. I saw four people all morning and the only interaction we had was to exchange hellos as they jogged or cycled past.

Its No Joke - Sketch
Watercolour on Paper
28cm x 19cm (11" x 7.5")

This is the first sketch I drew while I was thinking about a composition. It includes the helpful reminder that the expanse of green in front of me is grass – who could have guessed? Once the sketch was finished, I did some gesture and contour studies of the landscape. Next time I intend to focus on gesture drawing before deciding on a composition.

I was due to finish the Natural Way to Draw yesterday, but I am a few days behind schedule. The current plan is to finish on Wednesday and to celebrate with an ice wine cocktail.

Fishing Boats

Brixham Fishing Boats
Watercolour on Paper
34cm x 24cm (13.5" x 9.5")

This group of fishing boats is alongside the New Pier in Brixham Harbour. I started the painting during the April meeting of the Shelford Group of Artists (see Water and Reflections) and I finished it yesterday.

The picture became a test bed on which to experiment with some of the techniques from  John Lovett’s Textures, Techniques and Special Effects for Watercolor. The book has a chapter about Boats and Water. I like a term John uses to describe his style – “controlled untidiness”. It is exactly what I am trying to achieve.

The first post on this blog included a painting of some trawlers in Brixham Harbour (see The Natural Way to Draw). The trawlers were moored the other side of the pier.

These pictures provide bookends to this part of the blog that documents my progress through the Natural Way to Draw.This evening I am going to start the last schedule. My original plan (from January 2011) was to finish next Saturday, but I’ve a busy week ahead. My current plan is to finish two days late on Monday 3rd of June.

Getting Ready for Summer

Summertime
Watercolour on Paper
18cm x 13cm (7" x 5")

Elaine and I are planning our holidays in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We are going to have good weather and I am going to paint pictures of sunlight sparking on the sea.

In preparation, I’ve been experimenting with different ways to describe the intense white reflections created by bright sunlight glinting on rippled water.

The works of Kurt Jackson and Stewart Edmondson are a source of inspiration for these experiments. They both paint wonderfully atmospheric studies of the interaction between light and water.

The technique that has worked best so far has been to splash white gouache into a watercolour wash and then to add more splatters of gouache after it is dry.

I need to improve the accuracy of my splattering and splashing. The whole point is to create a random pattern, but it has to be in the right sort of place, form the right sort of shape and have the right density of spots.

There are as many approaches to splattering and splashing as there are people offering advice on the subject. The only solution seems to be experimentation and practice.

On the next sunny day, I am going to stick a lot of cheap paper together, mix up a big pot of cheap watercolour, gather all my brushes together and go into the garden for some target practice.

Exercises on Coloured Paper

Watching TV - Gesture Study
10 May 2013
Oil Colour on Paper
42cm x 29.5cm (16.5" x 11.5")

Section 25 of the Natural Way to Draw is called “An Approach to the Use of Color”. The central premise is that painting (the use of colour) and drawing are not separate disciplines.

Colour is introduced into the gesture and half-hour studies by drawing on paper that has been prepared with a layer of oil paint.

The instructions for the exercises are the same as for the Exercises in Black and White Oil Color except if you have time, you can use an additional colour.

Sitting for Thirty Minutes - Half-hour Study
9 May 2013
Oil Colour on Paper
42cm x 54.5cm (16.5" x 21.5")

I have developed a technique for preparing the paper that involves mixing a pile of paint with a palette knife and then smearing it over the paper with an old airline loyalty card. It is a satisfyingly gungy process.

Asleep - Gesture Study
27 April 2013
Oil Colour on Paper
42cm x 29.5cm (16.5" x 11.5")

Kimon Nicolaides suggests preparing a number of sheets in advance - I suspect he means well in advance, so they have time to dry.

I don’t have space to dry lots of paper covered in oil paint, so I prepare the paper a day in advance and apply the paint as thinly as possible, but it is still quite tacky when I use it for the exercises. The paint tends to tug at the brush as I am drawing and blends with the colours I am adding.

Thinking - Gesture Study
27 April 2013
Oil Colour on Paper
42cm x 29.5cm (16.5" x 11.5")

The end of the book is near and I am in a breaking up for the holidays frame of mind. Messing around with paint is just adding to this carefree attitude. For the next few weeks, I am going to use this as an opportunity to return to the simplicity of gesture drawing and to focus on what it feels like to be in the pose.

Beer and Hyacinths

Beer and Hyacinths
Watercolour on Paper
25cm x 35cm (10" x 13.75")

At last, I’ve made the finishing touches (for the time being) to the picture of hyacinths that I started back in March (see Not Still Life).

Painting time has been a precious commodity recently. Working and socialising have been getting in the way.

Elaine and I spent the last couple of days in London. We visited Tate Modern and Kew Gardens. On our way to the Tate we spotted an exhibition by Tony Heath at the Bankside Gallery (practically next door to Tate Modern).  The exhibition (called Body Language) caught my attention because it is a collection of gesture studies in charcoal and acrylics.