Shirley Trevena Watercolour DVD

I watched all the inspiring art demo dvd's i got from my library, a great way to learn  - anyway after watching them, i decided to get out the only one i have ever bought - vibrant watercolours by Shirley Trevena - i have the ebook as well.   She has a great style like me too, innit?:

 I think when u see her style you can see what i am aiming for.   It fits in with claire basler, john virtue and Pieroni that i have previously posted - in their freedom of style.
It was great to watch it again.  I am going to watch several times and try the exercises which are incredible.  The way she drops watercolour into each other, ads pencil, pen, wax etc, shaves watercolour pencil into it. I've know about these techniques but i think i am ready to try them her way.  And she collects of interesting pieces to use again and again - an excuse for the all the junk i have collected. Here is one of her works that i will try to emulate. :

Now unfortunately, here is where i am starting from.  These are pictures of a watercolour class i did 1-2 yrs ago.  Some r worse than others but none are anywhere near where i'd like to be but at least i now have the confidence to have a go and better knowledge of what i want and perhaps how to do it.  It now just means lots of experiment and practice and i'll start with her dvd.  I wish claire basler would do a dvd because she is my perfect style.

My still lifes 2009-10. some watercolour,  mixed media,  oil, charcoal.

oil copy of known artist work

watercolour

charcoal

charcoal

ink exercises

mixed media - ink watercolour and salt

mixed media as above

oil

oil

oil not finished

waterolour

watercolour and ink

watercolour

ink

ink

watercolor and wax crayon

ink

pastel

acrylic

acrylic

watercolour and acrylic

watercolour

watercolour

watercolour

watercolour

watercolour and ink

Comparing painting mediums watercolour, gouache , acrylics, oils, pastels

I am just starting to uderstand it all.  i've only been drawing for the last year (ie haven't done painting classes for a year) but need to get back to colour and this weekend i've beenwatching art workshop videos from the library and thought i'd share clarifcation.

A: Water based
              1.  Transparent (mistakes will show so you have to use them)- watercolour,
Watercolour - is the only true transparent medium (ie you always get some light reflected from the white paper behind), though the white watercolour (except one which is semi transparent) is fully opaque so if you mix any watercolour with white you lose the transparency which would negate the main reson for watercolour. Transparency is good  to give a dazzling vibrancy, that is if you don't put on the watercolour too darkly(not enough water)  and if you leave some of the paper white as hightlights.   If you lose these highlights then you need to add some white at the end to bring the highlights back. (watercolour white would't be enough usually so you would use gouche or acrylic white because they are strong and opaque enough to cover any dark watercolours.)  In watercolour you work from light to dark - ie go in lightly and build up layers for darker colours.  - ie You can't add light colours over dark colours as they won't be visible enough.    You can also mix colours on the paper - put light wash of yellow, let it dry then a very light wash of red and you'll get more orange colour though this can be more difficult to get right. 


              2.   Opaque is good because you can always cover mistakes of any colour whether dark or light with another layer of paint of any colour dark or light- gouache, and acrylic are both water based opaque meidums,  though if you water them down enough you will a little transparency but not as much as watercolour.  I have some books thought that talk about using watercolour vibrantly and boldly so it's up to you what u do with it.  With opaque mediums for example you could paint a black box, then add white on top for a highlight.   You couldn't do this with watercolour.  with watercolour you would leave the paper white where you want the highlight and use the white of the paper as the highlight (you can get masking fluid to paint on this to avoid paint getting on it - the fluid dries to a rubber which you can peel off when u have finished the painting to reveal the white.   then you paint the black box, peel of the fluid and you have black box with white highlight.   if you lost this highlight - say not using the masking fluid and accidently getting the black where the highlight should be, then you would need to use white gouche or acrylic to get it back.

Gouchace  - opaque - used by graphic artists becuase of strong beautifully bright colour  - many artists coloured  felt tip pens are a form of gouche.  Also used with watercolour when mistake needs covering and you don't mind losing the transparency

Acrylic     - opaque, can be watered down for transparency.  can add lots of diff kinds of mediums to it to give texture amd make thicker like oil paint but it is usually matter finish than oil.  Is probably the easiest to handle and usually the cheapest.  Main prob is that it dries within minutes which stops you from blending on the page for say sublte colour changes in skin on different areas of face, that is if you really want very smooth skin tone - then oil would be easier, rather than a more impressionist brush stroke skin look which acrylic could handle.  You can use spray water bottle to keep them wet but if it dries you can't re-wet as it dries to a plasticy skin.   There is now a slower drying one just developed which supposedly you can wet even after it dries - i am going to buy one tube to try it.



B: Oil based
         - oil paint opaque, it's not so much the paint smells,  its the linseed oil which you use to thin the colour (gives more shine that spirits(  and the spirits you use to thin the colour (more quick drying that linseed oil) and used to clean brushes.  though you can now get a wonderful orange zest called Zest it   to clean brushes.  Oil paint takes long time to dry (decades for some thick old paintings) which is why you dont put glass on it when framed).  Because of this you have plenty of time to get the most subtle blendings of colours.  Usually good to work on several at same time so you can work on one while other is drying you enough to add next layer.   You can thin oil paint right down so it becomes almost transparent like watercolour and build up  a work using many many layers - this is called glazing and gives great depth.  Or you can use it as thick as butter for texture.    It led the art field because of it's sublety and beautiful butter look.  some artists think it's the top/only real art medium.  It gave the masters of renaissance when it was introduced, the power to do amazing portraits etc. 


Pastels are considered a painting medium because they can be blended on the paper to form new colours, you can even spray with a special fluid for more blending.  I've definately seen pastel works that i thought were painted.  It's messy but beautiful.

Hope this helps rather than confuse - it is just my understanding of course - i may be wrong/short sighted at this point.

Jaci Hogan does lovely flowers in acrylics

http://www.jacihoganart.com/original-artwork-c-24.html

saw her work at a craft fair.   She is more Botanical in style  than Basler and Trevena   ie more realistic, watercolour stays within the lines of the carefully drawn plants.  When i saw the Watercolour exhibtion at tate, part of the important history of watercolour painting is Botanical painting - developed in 19th century i think when botanist wanted to illustrate their new finds and when it was fashionable to be seen to keep up with the latest science and thus have such books of both beauty and knowledge in your house.  They are very realistic because they are meant to illustrate exactly what a new species looks like.

One of my fav life artists Bella Pierono - love to draw figures this freely

http://www.pieronicontemporaryart.com/index.php?option=com_easygallery&act=photos&cid=146&Itemid=5

John Virtue turner like painter of thames/london in black and white

ai borrowed a few art video from library yesterday - i'd never heard of him but love his work.   He works in black ink and white acrylic on huge canvases and he was artist in resident at nat gallery in 2004 when he painting the thames and london with it's smog - very turner like without colour - turner is his fav artist and one of mine.  just found an exert of the video on youtube - it's a real lesson in freedom in painting in the hands of a master.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur7Neunx1ic&feature=related

some info on him on the nat gallery site:   http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/learning/associate-artist-scheme/john-virtue/

though his is grottier, i see similar kind of misty freedom/not too realistic, that i see in claire basler but perhaps even more so in his

Claire Basler: My fav desinger/artist at the moment

can't believe i didnt start this blog with link to her - this is what i am aiming to do one day as i sit here with my how to paint watercolour flowers (watercolour easier to get lovely accidents then i might move to oil)
http://www.clairebasler.com/pages/indexpag.html      and i am bit by bit turning my flat into her studio - love the way she lives in her studio come house - the dining table set up for dinner party in middle of studio

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Nat Trust's William Morris Arts and Crafts Red House Bexleyheath

After spending all day yesterday sorting papers - art cards, bills, travel stuff that i had collected on my trips over last 6 months, i woke this morning, looked at the piles that now needed boxing and thought - hmm where can i go, so i went to the house Morris built but only lived in for 5 yrs.  Nat trust only took it over in 2003 so there is lots or original features to be bought back to life.  Interesting to see it at this point.  Eg: you can see pinprick holes all over ceilings that he used to paint designs on ceilings, some of which have been painted over white but could be redone using the holes.   There are lots of squares cut out of ceilings and walls where the conservators are looking for oriignal paper etc.   There is also amazingly -  non original white white woodwork (dovecoting) which the manager recently bravely cut into to discover  wall paintings done by one of the pre-raphaelites beautifully preserved by the wooodwork protecting it from light.  They've hinged the cut out wood so it can be opened for tour groups.   Though not a spectatular house, it has a lovely largish English Garden and since it's only 25mins from me, a good place to go and draw.

The house

 There was an exhibition with  2 of his design books so i went thru them for inspiration.

 Drawing
1. Went to cafe and copied postcard of his wife Jane Morris   and overhead them mention getting rid of used mini jam jars which i always forget to ask for (friend uses them as presents with homemade jam etc and i for mixed watercolour etc.

I haven't been able to capture her beautiful strong chizeled jaw line and just couldn't stop her left hand looking like a sausage.  I should have worked more on the shading but had enough.

2. then got out my camera obscura i had bought with me to try outdoors.   It's impossible.  I need to reread the instructions.  Need to sit back further and work out how to stop the secondary reflections.   I ran out of patience and did a couple of scribbles.  The pics are feint and blurred but not worth spending time on.  First one is of 2 pople sitting on round tree seat  and second is of the top of the house - couldnt get lense lower enough for bottom half.   Even so i can see it being very useful once i work it out.

Learning to draw - bad drawings, grid method, projecter and camera obscura

1.  My first drawings in 2008 - oh dear - in animation course we did one day a week drawing class - it had been 30 yrs since i'd drawn and i was shocked that i couldn't do it - very high school level (well not even that, i went to mall galleries student show thinking they meant degree students but they were yrs 11,12,13 high school.  i was amazed.  even now i am average high school standard compared to them.  one student i am trying to track down cause i love her screaming furious child portrait.  she will be a great portraitist - she also did beaming old ladies at bus stop and she really captures character.)

2. then the teacher showed us the grid method - draw a grid on a photo, say 10 squares, then draw a big grid of 10 big squares on big drawing paper and in each square draw what is in the square on the photo.  i used this method for my picture of kim which is probably why it is a bit stiff.  here is the very first one i did in that class using a picture from a magazine.  She's a bit wonky cause i got the square/grid measurements a bit wrong.

3.  then i started drawing classes.  but at the same time i bought a drawing Projector called Tracer (usually £60 but on sale for £40)  i wanted to be able to do things while i learnt to draw at same time.  However i used a few times only - the draw back is the lense can be easily knocked out of focus (the expensive projectors cost hundreds) and it has to be used in total darkness.  You place the projector on a photo and it's projected onto vertical surface - wall, paper on easel etc.   Here is the projector and a the first (only) pics i did with it.  I also copied a picasso simple line drawing but can't find it.  The thing with tracing is not to trace, but to try to draw freely and shade, using the image as a guide, unless as in the case of the picasso i did, where i wanted to capture exactly the pure 5 lines he used for a face.  in the body of the drawing you can see how i kept the lines free - ie they are my lines drawn freely over the image without trying to keep to the original lines so the image just helped me keep in the right areas and shapes.  it is still a better drawing than i could have done alone.  the second one i traced pretty exactly from a vogue magazine so looks more like an illustration than an art drawing but you can see it could be useful for a design element.  i was a bit more free with the scribbly shading.

3. Camera Obscura   is a prism of 2 plastic mirrors that reflects what is in front of you down onto your drawing pad.   i had read the book by david hockney about the use of lenses and camera obscura thru the centuries by the masters etc (not everyone agrees with him).  I got one couple of weeks ago for £124.  again it has drawbacks - image not clear, arm moves easily or if your eye moves then image moves - as you will see with john's head where he has 2 noses, plus you sometimes get funny reflections so you can't see your drawing hand or paper properly as the image is too strong (hard to explain).  but you don't need to be done in total darkness.  you can use outdoors to capture buildings or a landscape or you can attach photo holder to front, as shown in photo. the following photos are shown in order i did them on the day i got it.  i think it will be particularly useful for landscapes when i go away or as you will see drawing the rooms etc - see the little table in corner of my room which only too 10mins and quite accurate - much easier than if i had done without the camera.  Bit hard to see - black base drawing board with moveable black arm holding the camera/prism/lense at the top.  You look down the hole in the top of prism.  Photo sitting on board on the front photo holder arms.  the last one is of my brother in law at my sisters wedding over 40 yrs ago - here i used the image as a guide to shading and shapes and not so much tracing some of it works but his face looks badly traced.

i hope to experiment with all the above methods as well as learning to draw without them and in combination with them.  I have also used tracing using blue and black typewriter copy paper which gives a lovely monoprint quality.

Hurwundekai cafe, cambridge heath rd nr hackney rd

http://hurwundeki.com/

went past this 'new' cafe place near me in old car sales place (open since 2009 apparently - that me the ever observant artist - i didn't even know that about 1/2 mile from me is a street full of gallery spaces - shows as major london gallery area on map).  Looked interesting and had sign saying life drawing classes, has amazing front outside area - sand and kids play things and tables.  it's website says is owned by a south korean and he also owns funky boutique and hairdressers.  http://hurwundeki.com   in other parts of trendy east london.   so i went there yesterday but they have reduced opening hours to day time and no more classes for now - don't know what that means.  anyway the owners child was asleep on the sofa so i drew him.  got in 10mins before he moved.  cute kid.