The Vintage Emporium Brick Lane

Checked this out because it has free life drawing on Wednesday nights.  Lovely place.  Vintage clothing down in the basement and cafe on ground floor full of vintage/old furniture and a couple of friendly dogs.
http://www.vintageemporiumcafe.com/

1. staircase leading to vintage clothing in the basement

2.  Vintage clothes in basement

3. Cafe on Ground floor where life drawing is held - amazingly a nude model and anyone can come and go.

4. The biggest cup of tea in the world for £1.30

5. Some scribble i did there - the dog in the doorway and some pics from a  'people in watercolor' book, with my new cheap fountain pen and coloured cartridges.

Artists Studios: magazines, books and David Nash

Seeing pictures of Claire Basler's beautiful studio(see: my Claire Basler post)   inspired me to start to create a studio that wasn't just practical but also inspiring.  I have a long way to go, lots of painting, organising etc. (see: my studio post) I have found some lovely books and my friend Kim suggested a great magazine Cloth Paper Scissors Studios.   Coth Paper Scissors comes out 6 times a year with Studios coming out 4 times as a special edtions.   I am trying track down somewhere to physically look and buy in the UK.  In the meantime I may buy a few digital back issues of Studios online.   Even the main magazine looks great.  Am trying not to go mad on magazine subsricptions but i might just need to have this one too.

1. The magazine.   UK Subscription  http://www.uniquemagazines.co.uk/WomenAndWeeklies-344834/Subscribe-To-Cloth-Paper-Scissors-Magazine-Subscription

2. I also jointed their online site for some great ideas.   http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/
They have 6 copies of the magazine on cd as well for about $20

3. Books on artists studios and houses  in my amazon or library wishlists:

4. David Nash's Chapel Studio
I was starting to worry this exploration was an excuse to daydream about an artist's life rather than doing the do real workbut yesterday I saw a film about an artist, David Nash,  and the importance of his studio in influencing his work.  (He had been able to rent a huge chapel in wales for £300 a year in the 70s which allowed him to 'live with his works' - his huge chainsaw sculpture found trees.  Some beautiful works. Unfortunately I see I missed his huge retrospective at Yorkshire Sculpture Park last year which i could have seen on my way to the Lake District. He often burns his works in a slow controlled way so they turn to beautiful black charcoal shapes.  Now  I don't need a huge chapel but it emphasises the importance of one's environment on the act of creation.
http://www.ysp.co.uk/exhibitions/david-nash-exhibition

Nash's Chapel Studio in Wales

'Forces of nature' - he planted and controlled the shape of these trees as they grew, not topiary, somethng new.

Some fun design ideas

 1. Some more nice ideas from Designers Block.  Designers block page
How's this for cheap/chic interior design.

2. Designers Block blog also got this from.  Making lace biscuits. http://www.tarasloggett.com/food/.

This site has some lovely simple design ideas like this lovely drawing on a bathroom wall.

Good DVD Beginners Introduction to watercolour: Watercolour Painting(made easy) Granville D Clarke

Just finished watching one of the dvd's i got from my library yesterday.  Ole Granville is a dapper dresser.  He's also a good teacher.  In 1 hour he goes over paper, brushes, colour, applying watercolour, getting in quick sketches, his own egg and snake approach to composition and getting things in place so starting isn't so hard, distance, light, how to hold the brush, using masking fluid or taking colour out etc, all succintly and to the point.  It makes it all seam possible At the end he takes a landscape from sketch to finish showing you when to let things dry between washes and when to paint into wet areas.   I wish i had seen this before going to classes.  He concentrates on landscape but most of it could be applied to watercolour application in general.  We're not talking edgy work, just nice pretty impressionist landscapes.  There are a few things i am going to try and i'm def. going to get a a blender brush or 2 made of goats hair, fantastic. (just realised this blogging lark is good for keeping a journal of what i am planning to do - i am less likely to lose this blog rather than the scraps of paper i make lists on)

It no longer seems available on the website on the back of the dvd ww.summersdale.com but it is available on amazon for £12.99 new or £1.38 plus about £1.29 postage.  Oddly summersdale is selling it there too for £1.45.  I may put into my amazon basket if i don't get enough time to watch again and make some brief notes before returning to library.

Amazon link:   http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B000QEIPZW/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1313346475&sr=8-1&condition=new
Or maybe you can find it in your library.

Always something to learn Eric Fischl - Glassines

took books and dvds back to library - in shopping trolly - art books so big and heavy - unfortunately found lots more and carried full trolley back home.    One was on artist Eric Fischl, an american artist i had never heard of.  It wasn't so much his style of painting people but how he set them in the environment that has given me ideas.  On his website he has a section on works on paper including glassines which as i found out is simple the  transparent archiving sheets that go between photos or works of art.  So it's just like drawing on tracy paper, tissue paper or baking paper - all of which i collect with intention of doing something with them as i like their texture  It's kind of like drawing on each layer in photoshop and seeing thru them all.   the link below is to his glassine drawings.   
http://www.ericfischl.com/works_on_paper/Glassine/html/glassines.html

also on his site is watercolour paintings of people - it encourages me because i think i have done a few that aren't too bad compared to these, though i do like the one i've included here.

Wow what a rug

From designers block blog.

http://designersblock.blogspot.com/2011/08/wanted_12.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FCGMt+%28designers+block%29

LIDL supermarket UK - next week is arts materials

Cheapest canvases, brushes etc - not sure about the quality, but ok for me, so i always get a few canvases at least:
http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg//SID-5459B0C0-B716D204/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/4222.htm

it starts next monday 15th aug for a week.

they also have wood/leather burning iron for £9 with different attachments.  Might get that to see if can do interesting burning on paper etc

update:  didnt see the wood burner but got 7 canvases, large, medium and small and some brushes for about  £30

Thankyou Elizabeth for showing me my painting on your wall

It's amazing how a work can look better with a good frame and some lovely wallpaper behind it.  I can see why you thought the colours would go well together.  I look forward to seeing the whole room when all the decorating is finished.

Windsor & Newton enewsletter - see interactive mediums finder

http://tre.emv3.com/HM?a=ENX7CkeD3I4y8SA9MOBb5sbnGHxKQgjXofcStGb5lw8W0bBhOG5mpqVsje_HheHJMVPZ

looking at what mediums there are, and there a lots, that you can add to your basic medium (eg watercolour etc) is both enlightening and bit overwhelming

Digital Painting on Ipad

I have this listed on fav videos on the right but i want it to link so it shows on the page so here we go.  This is one reason i'm getting ipod or ipad.

The Detmold Twins - Maurice and Edward. Sad story.

One day I am going to research twin artists I came across in preraphalite exhibtion  The Detmold Twins, Maurice and Edward.  Not much written about them as far as I can see but they were famous from 16yrs old on. They drew Kipling's Jungle Book pics working on pics together. Edward committed suiced at 23 while Maurice went on for few decades, went out of fashion, and committed suiced in wales, in his 70s where he had lived almost unknown - in the late 50s .  I don't write much these days and don't have time but it would make a great film script.  Would have to take artistic licence as I don't think large parts of their life were known.  The book from library called The Age of Enchantment (about Victorian fairy fantasy works including Beazley and other preraph era knowns)  say they don't know why Edward committed suicide and when I checked on net for the maurice- some sites say they dont know how Maurice died and other one says he committed suicide.  I will try to track down Ian MacPhail's unpublished biogrophy, to see whether its worth getting death certificates if they exist, and go to wales or find people who know them.  Anyway since i've got lots of art stuff to do it will take me years even if i do get round to it.  It would be an adventure even if I don't write it up. Let me know if you know anything.  Here are some pics of there work:

Leise Wilson Flowers friend of a frend - i saw her work in margate

nice loose flowers



http://www.leise-wilson.co.uk/About%20The%20Artist.htm

Using a scanner for art

I saw an artist on an arts programme who goes into the US version of pounds stores and buys crappy things like plastic flowers, animals etc - the tattier and cheaper the better.  He then sets up the items like in the old masters still lifes and scans them.   They look amazing.  I will find his details and add to this post another time.   In the meantime is put some real flowers on my scanner and placed a black box over them.  I also did one of my face then worked it in photoshop.  Looks like a death mask.  Would like to do more of this and then perhaps paint the results.

Just found this site on scanner art:
http://www.scanner-magic.com/index.html

Digital Drawing

In preparation for getting an ipad (deciding if i would really use it to draw) i wanted to explore what it's like to draw digitally in a life and portrait class so i took my laptop with a graphics tablet to class.  I liked it.  It was freeing.  Not great drawings as i was getting use to the brush controls and since most of the sittings were between 30secs and 5 mins i didn't get chance to finish anything but i like fast drawing so that didn't matter.    I had seen Hockney's iphone and ipad drawings and had seen someone in a class using their iphone and ipad to draw and it looked great.

Quite liking this watercolour artist

found by accident in an online search   http://watercolorart.com/