Facing some fears

 So many fears in the past year, time to tackle some idiotic ones. Drawing the figure, yikes! An online webinar with The London Drawing Group, involving a live model. 

Very absorbing, particularly the explanation about the kinesphere, which my brain kept seeing as the kinetisphere. It was intriguing to assign words to the poses after drawing them, and to use the concept of three spheres to map out the position of the body in space. My efforts below, all poses between 30 sec and 5 mins, charcoal and then pencil. Yet again, however messy charcoal is,  I much prefer it to pencil, however soft, for this type of quick drawing.

Life drawing

We have two weeks of life drawing in the art course this term.  Absolutely exhausting for some reason, and yet again, I make the model’s legs completely put of proportion with her body.  Five minute, 3 minute and 2 minute poses in the drawings below.

Still, still life drawing and beautiful stitch

 A return to the still-life this week with more focus on "dark darks" and "light lights”. Our teacher had us all drawing the composition for 5 minutes without looking, before we got into refining the drawing:

In the afternoon, off to a lovely little exhibition of stitched pieces at the Daniel Raphael Gallery in Marylebone. Beautiful work from two artists whose work I am familiar with,Maryam Ashkanian, Alison Holt and from some that I am not: Richard McVetis, Julie French, Lucie Feighan, Ulla Stina Wikander and Robert Dean ( who I cannot find a link to).

 Lucie’s website very generously shares full pictures of several of her sketchbooks, many hours to be lost looking at those.

Well worth a visit, and on until 22nd March.

Still life drawing

I am still learning to draw and this term we are focussing again on still-life. I have more confidence now, so could attempt the complex surface of the golden yellow vase.

 

Charcoal

Exhibition wanderings

I have l had little blogging time due to a very busy January, but several artistic visits have been made.

Monochrome at the National Gallery, an unexpectedly absorbing exhibition of works in one tone, including several textiles. on until 18th February

Hannah Ryggen, a most Swedish / Norwegian politically involved  artist / artisan weaver - tapestries at Modern Art Oxford until 18th February. I was fascinated by these works, particularly the variety of themes and how she literally wove her domestic life into her art alongside depictions of huge political events. She raised her own sheep, carded her own wool, spun it, dyed it with natural materials and wove without any preparatory sketches or backing cartoons.

My eye was drawn to the shadows created by the gallery lights on the fringes of the larger tapestries

The Lost Words, the most marvellous display of watercolour paintings on gold leaf , from the book of the same name by Jackie Morris and Robert MacFarlane.  At The Foundling Museum until 8th May. Truly beautiful, and although I own a copy of the book, to see the paintings glow in the light of the gallery in a way that is impossible to convey in a printed image is a wonderful experience.

A visit to Warwick University Theatre ( younger son was playing bass guitar for a production of Rent) allowed time to see an installation of huge oil paintings by Clare Woods , on until 10 March. These are so new, you can smell the oil in the gallery, and they invite such close looking it was very difficult not to touch them. The educational activities attached to the exhibition are really superb, with a range of art materials and papers available for anyone to make their now work inspired by what they have seen.

Wanderings in St James to The Portland Gallery to see firstly the superb pantings of Scottish landscape by Frances MacDonald. ( exhibition now finished, and over 90% of works on display were sold) She uses a palette knife with such gusto, she sweeps you in to her paintings.

Then to The White Cube to see puzzling works by Korean artist, Mindjung Kim. I can appreciate the artistry of the works in ink on mulberry paper,( emending me of the shadows above)  but the assemblages of strips of coloured paper didn’t stimulate a great deal of interest for me.

 

Great fun at the Philip Mould Gallery , until 18th February, with an exhibition of hats by, and a painting of, the millinery maker, Victoria Grant

 

Multiples of objects seen with reflections of London life

 

 

 My own multiples are also developing in a charcoal drawing inspired by the necks of gannets and the twisting structure of a wisteria pod

 

Sewing has been functional rather than artistic: repairing cushions; making hessian bags to use when transplanting garden plants; sewing hems, so no point in showing any of that.

A whole day in the drawing studio

I started drawing lessons in early 2014. Little did I imagine that three years later, I would be looking forward to a full day of life-drawing in the studio at the Mary Ward Centre. Twelve easels, twelve women, one teacher, one model, much concentration and some laughter, and these are the result.

Seven minute poses of the lovely Abbie, 

Three minute poses

Five minutes of continuous poses without looking at the paper 

Twenty minute pose, with a painting by Frank Stella projected on the model’s body

Twenty minute pose, with Matisse' Snail projected on to the model’s body

 At the end of the day, there was not enough wall space on which to tape our drawings, so the rather dilapidated skeleton that live in the studio was pressed in to service!

Flowers - sketched and real

I have an obsession with the sweet peas growing in my garden. So many photographs of them,

so many bunches gathered

 

they have made it in to my sketchbook