Saturday 20 August 2016

I have decided to withdraw from the painting 1 course. shortly after I started this one I realised that the painting degree pathway wasn't for me. The course was quite repetitious in terms of going over a lot of ground covered in Drawing 1 but with paint. The main reason for withdrawing, however was that I just wasn't enjoying the process of painting. 

On a more positive note, the OCA has now introduced a degree pathway in drawing - I have decided to follow that pathway so will be starting with Printmaking 1 very soon. 

I have published all the posts which were sitting uncompleted as drafts on my blog - some of them will not make a lot of sense because they are incomplete but at least it shows some of the work I had done before I ran out of enthusiasm. 

Gallery Visit: Matisse Cut Outs at Tate Modern



Still Life: Still Life with Natural Objects











Still Life - Made objects







till life - complementary colours




Exploring contrast

'In visual perception a colour is almost never seen as it really is - as it physically is . 
This fact makes colour the most relative medium in art.
In order to use colour effectively it is necessary to recognise that colour deceives continually'
Joseph Albers in 'Interaction of Colour' Yale University Press (first published 1963- 50th anniversary edition 2013)





Research Point: Optical Effects

Optical effects have been exploited by many artists to create movement and depict the effects of light . The impressionists and neo-impressionists, in particular the pointillists: Seurat and Signac, made full use of the new understanding of the nature of human perception. Find out what you can about these artists' aims and study their pictures to see how they achieved such effects as optical mixing. Look also at the work of Bridget Riley and the op artists.

Optical mixing is a phenomenon in which a field of colour composed of small coloured shapes are fused in the mind of the viewer to give rise to the impression of a a whole field of colour or colour graduation. (1) How well the colours mix in the mind of the beholder is dependent on the how large the individual shapes are and their distance from the eye. 
Modern colour printing is an example of this phenomenon - for example inkjet printers produce images in a vast range of colours using tiny dots of 3 colours of ink (cyan, magenta and yellow) with black. (1)

In painting, collage and mosaics and other media, the individual shapes can be quite large allowing the phenomenon of 'dual visual awareness' to occur. Larger individual units of colour allow the viewer to alternate between to readings - from the physical presence of the spot of colour to their coalescence to form a picture or pattern. (1) 

This phenomenon has been exploited as far back as Roman times in mosaics:


Image Source:
http://www.mariamilani.com/ancient_rome/rome_art_mosaic.htm
It is still utilised by artists today. Chuck Close's monumental portraits appear almost photorealistic from a distance but they are composed of complex shapes: Small boxes containing squiggles of various tones and hues. The brain is able to arrange this complicated arrangement into a coherent whole(1)  Click Here to see a Self Portrait of Chuck Close on the Pace Gallery Website. 

Caroline McCarthy has employed a technique using small dots punched out of plastic bin bags in the colours used in colour printing to create a still life. The technique replicates the process of colour printing but on a larger scale.(2) Click Here to see image of 'Floral Still Life' 2007 by C McCarthy on 'Parkers Box' Website

The impressionists were undoubtedly not the first to exploit optical effects such as simultaneous and successive contrast. Delacroix said (Quoted by Charles Blanc in 1864) that the great colourists had always perceived the essential relativity of colour: they had never sought to establish 'le ton local', but had always worked through the manipulation of optical contrasts. (3) However this manipulation became more obvious with the impressionists and neo -impressionists.

The impressionists aimed to paint nature as it was. The advent of oil paint in tubes allowed them to paint outdoors directly from their subjects(4). Given that the effects of light outdoors are constantly changing, they had to paint rapidly to record their subjective responses. This resulted in bold brushstrokes and dabs of colour rather than the subtle graduations and glazing techniques favoured by the academic establishment of the time.  The impressionists were more interested in the effects of changing light that the 'local colour' of their subjects. For example Monet painted a series of paintings of Rouen Cathedral which is composed of quite colourless stone. He painted it at different times of day and under differing weather conditions resulting in very different paintings of the same subject. The skilful juxtaposition of colours achieves both modelling of the structure and vibrant yet harmonious colour.

Click here for more details about Monet's approach in a previous research point.

Click here to see numerous examples of Monet's Rouen Cathedral series courtesy of Wikipedia

As I alluded to in the previous research point about Chevreul, the impressionists' reported aim of painting nature in her 'true colours' is probably an impossibility because each colour placed on the canvas has an influence on how adjacent colours are perceived. Nevertheless, their work represents a revolution in the approach to painting. 

Seurat and his fellow neo-impressionists wanted to take this process further via a scientific rather than a purely subjective approach. Seurat is quoted as writing, " Technique is the should and body of the art". (3) He has, therefore come to be described as a scientific artist, applying the physical laws of light and colour rather than relying on his impressions. 
Closer reading of the literature shows that he wasn't really up to date with with all the scientific optical and colour theory of his day, preferring toe stick with Chevreul's theories rather than the more up-to date publications of Heimholtz and Ogden Rood. This was probably because he was very interested in colour harmony and Chevreul gave easy to follow rules for the harmonious combination of colours. However, John Gage writes:

" His painterly sensitivity and technical ingenuity nevertheless enabled him to extract from the theoretical literature a number of simple concepts and put them to work in the formation of a new style, avoiding many of the pitfalls that situations of such enormous complexity were bound to present" (3)

Seurat was an experimenter. He continually modified his technique as he made new discoveries. He described his working method as follows:

"The means of expression is the optical mixture of tonal values and colours (both local colour and the colour of the light source, be it sun, oil lamps, gas etc). That us to say the optical mixture of lights and their reactions (shadows) in accordance with the laws of contrast , gradation and irradiation."

Seurat called himself an 'impressioniste luministe'. It is thought that he hoped that the dotted technique, interspersing contrasting colours would give greater luminosity to his work. This approach has subsequently been criticised, based on the fact that optical mixture of complementary colours, rather than providing luminosty, actually reults in a greyish mixture. (3)

One of the flaws in Seurat's argument that his was a scientific approach is the fact that talked about 'local colour' in his explanation. What is perceived as 'local colour' is the light reflected back from an object - that is its appearance when illuminated by white light. Scientific theory of the day held that there was no such thing as local colour and Seurat can't have it both ways - he talks about local colour combined with the colour of the illuminating light but scientifically speaking if the colour of the illuminating light source changes, then the perceived 'local colour' would also change.

In his iconic work 'Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte' (1884-6), there are established large areas of local tone and hue over which are superimposed the dotted transient effects of light. 





http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/inglese/exhibitions/avanguardie-parigine/avanguardie-parigine.html#prettyPhoto


References:

(1) Hornung, D. Colour: A workshop for artists and designers: Laurence King Publishing. 2005 (reprinted 2013)

(2) Petry, M. Nature Morte: Contemporary artists reinvigorate the Still-life tradition. Thames and Hudson. 2013

(3) Gage, G. Colour and Meaning: Art, Science and Symbolism. Thames and Hudson. 1999 (reprinted 2013)

(4)http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Never-Underestimate-the-Power-of-a-Paint-Tube-204116801.html

(5)Andrews, M.  Landscape and Western Art :Oxford History of Western Art. Oxford University Press 1999


(6) Anderson, J.  Monet. Grange Books. Regency House Publishing 2007.

Research Point : Still Life (Part 2 :18th to 20th Century)

Explore the development of still life through the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For example look at how traditional still life subjects were dealt with in some early cubist paintings by Braque and Picasso. Investigate how some contemporary artists are exploring this genre. 

In the 18th century, artists concentrated less on the symbolic content of their work.(1) One of the most famous 18th Century still life painters was Jean-Siméon Chardin: 



Chardin: The Silver Cup 1769. Oil on Canvas
(Source: Wikipedia)

Chardin: A Vase of Flowers. 1750. Oil
on Canvas (Source: Wikipedia)


Chardin chose the items in his still lives based on their appearance and textures rather than for any symbolic function. 'The Ray' is one of his earlier works which gained him recognition by the French academy. He continued to hone his style and his mature works are characterised by a quiet luminosity and simplicity. He worked very carefully to achieve balance in his composition and harmony in tones and colours.(2) This is in marked contrast to the dominant Roccoco style of the day with its curlicues and naughty cherubs exemplified by the painting below:

Jean-Honoré Fragonard: The Swing. 1767
Oil on Canvas. (Source: Wikipedia)

To a modern eye. the pared down simplicity of Chardin's compositions are more palatable and familiar than the over-the top Roccoco style. His work would influence may later painters of still life including Cezanne. 

In the 17th and 18th Century, the dominance of the French Academy still held and the hierarchy of genres put still life firmly at the bottom of the pile. Even a still life painted with great mastery such as 'Still Life with Peacock and Dog' by Jan Weenix would be considered as just an exercise for the artist to learn techniques before moving up to a more worthy Genre. (1)


Jan Weenix: Still life with Peacock and Dog. 1796
Oil on Canvas. (Source: Wikipedia)

With the start of the industrial revolution, people began to migrate into urban areas in search of wealth. There was a change in attitudes to religion and to the state bolstered by the French and American revolutions. People were therefore becoming less concerned with piety in this life to build up credit for a good afterlife and became more interested in the enjoyment of this life on earth. Still life also reflected this. 

Francisco de Goya: A Butcher's Counter
1810-12 Oil on Canvas

Francisco de Goya: Still Life with Golden Bream
1808-12 Oil on Canvas

Both of the above still lives by Goya are comments about abundance but they also hark back to the vanitas tradition because meat and fish are perishable items and so call to mind transience. (1) Rembrandt had preceded this with his Flayed Ox in 1655. In the 20th Century, Francis Bacon would also revisit this theme. His Crucifixion of 1933 and his Pope Surrounded by Sides of Beef of 1954 recall Rembrandt's earlier work and make more obvious the similarity of this image to the image of Christ on the cross. 

In Victorian times, the symbolism associated with still lives became much more bland. This was especially true of images of flowers as there was a codified meaning to flowers. It is well known that red roses would signify true love (they are still in widespread use as Valentine's day gifts today for this reason). However did you know that sunflowers were a symbol of haughtiness and a gift of hyacinths were given as an apology? (1) The work of French artist Henri Fantin-Latour was extremely popular in the UK at this time. To my eyes, accomplished somewhat insipid and repetitive but this reflects the tastes of the times.

In the second half of the 19th Century, paintings of everyday life and still life came to the fore with the rise of the impressionists. This was in part a reaction to the strict hierarchy of genres laid down by the French Academy. Edouard Manet was one of the earlier of the wave of artists pushing these boundaries. 


Edouard Manet: Still Life with Fish
1864 Oil on Canvas
In the above image, the bolder brushstrokes and interest in the effects of light which herald the start if impressionism can clearly be seen. 
Paul Cezanne pushed these boundaries further. His Still Life with Skull and Candlestick is a direct descendant of the vanitas still life but with much looser /more expressive brushwork. His later still lives show how much he had developed and honed his style. His Still Life with Apples of 1890-94 still looks modern today. He started to play with the rules of perspective and created forms with smoother brushstrokes than he had used previously. These developments went on to strongly influence the work of the Fauves and the Cubists. 

Paul Cezanne : Still Life with Skull and Candlestick
1866 Oil on Canvas





Paul Cezanne: Still Life with Apples
1890-94 Oil on Canvas






 






References:

(1)

(2) http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/still_life/chardin.htm


Picture References:
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste-Siméon_Chardin#/media/File:Jean-Baptiste_Siméon_Chardin_007.jpg

(2)http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Still_life_paintings_by_Jean_Siméon_Chardin#/media/File:Chardin3.jpg

(3)http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Still_life_paintings_by_Jean_Siméon_Chardin#/media/File:Jean-Baptiste_Siméon_Chardin_026.jpg

(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swing_(painting)#/media/File:Fragonard,_The_Swing.jpg

(5) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Jan_Weenix_-_Still-Life_with_a_Peacock_and_a_Dog_-_WGA25517.jpg

Saturday 16 April 2016

Resuming the Course

About a year ago I came to decision that the painting degree pathway was not the right one for me. I withdrew as a degree student with the OCA with the intention of continuing as a leisure student. 

I though that without the added pressure of the deadlines for assessment, I would enjoy the course much more and that relaxation would be more conducive to creativity. Unfortunately, what happened instead was that the reduction in urgency resulted in my studies becoming a lower priority. I essentially ground to a halt due to lack of both internal and external motivation to get it done.

Recently, the OCA has introduced two new degree pathways, namely the Fine Art and Drawing pathways. Since drawing is my passion, I have decided to re-enrol on one of these pathways as soon as the new level one drawing course is released.

In the meantime I will try to get as much as possible out of the remainder of this course in the next 4-5 months before my tuition expires.

My next few blog post relate to part two of the course which I had almost completed before I stopped but hadn't written up. I'll have to try to remember what my thought processes were all those months ago.

Oh well - onwards and upwards .......

Study Visit: Jerwood Drawing Prize Exhibition at The Tetley, Leeds. Saturday 21st February 2015

The catalogue for the 2014 Jerwood Drawing Prize can be viewed by clicking here

I thoroughly enjoyed the study visit to this exhibition - I have recently completed 'Drawing 1' with the OCA and, although I am now studying 'Practice of Painting' I feel that my work on Drawing 1 in info ring my current work so this exhibition although specifically a drawing exhibition does have relevance to my current studies. I have only selected a few of the works on display to talk about here. 

We were accompanied on the visit by OCA tutor Bryan Eccleshall who posed a few questions, asked us to keep an open mind and helped us to try to articulate our thoughts on various works. I was particularly interested to listen to the prize winner  which was a purely audio submission by Alison Carlier and to try to understand how an audio submission could be a drawing. 

So I stood in the corner of one of the rooms in the gallery under a white triangle fitted with speakers listening to a description read in a very un-expressive and calm female voice. The description was of vessels. Roman pots I later learned from reading the catalogue - the descriptions were not created by the artist but were read aloud from a text cataloguing finds from an excavation of a Roman settlement.  The voice had a relaxing effect such that I found it relatively easy to close my eyes in this public space and focus on the moment and the description.  

So was it a drawing? I'm not sure. What I do know is that in listening to the description, a visual image formed in my mind. It was almost as though I was creating the drawing in my own mind and the process was quite absorbing. Drawing can have an essentially descriptive function which certainly these spoken words also had. Maybe this work only becomes a drawing in the visual sense through its interaction with a viewer/listener's mind? I was quite surprised by how vivid the images which formed in my mind were. Or maybe a drawing doesn't necessarily have to be visual at all? 

Very close to this sound piece was a piece which could be related to the winning piece by the fact that it describes a vessel. In this case Medicine Bottle II by Shaun Dolan I found elegant in its simplicity. This is a blind drawing of the vessel in question created using a single continuous line without looking at the paper. I was astounded by the fact that this was a charcoal drawing as it was so clean and precise in its line with no smudging whatsoever that I had assumed that it was an ink drawing. Blind drawing is something I regularly like to do myself because I love the lack of hesitation it allows and therefore the quality of line produced.

At the other end of this same room were two charcoal drawings by Katie Sollohub viewed in the link via the 'We are OCA' Blog. These were observational drawings of everyday objects such as tables and chairs, but not pedantically drawn so tending towards abstraction. There was a smudgy messiness about them. Evidence of drawing and redrawing as well as drawing into the charcoal with an eraser. There was a great energy about these drawings. It looks as though they had been drawn very quickly in response to what the artist was looking at. It looked as though the artist had really attacked the paper with gusto. I lived the sensation that I could feel the artist's energy and almost see the artist's hand in the work. The erasures giving multiple lines gave a sort of vibration to these deceptively simple drawings.

One of the student awards was won by Ara Choi's drawing 'Mother 0' which is quite a simple drawing on squared graph paper made using pen and crayon. As such it looks child - like. It could be something drawn absent-mindedly in an exercise book during a boring maths lesson. However looking at it I felt great sadness and a creeping sense of unease. The strange wolf like creature brought to mind the nightmarish imagery of fairytales. Coupled with the solid brown object which I interpreted as a cupboard or a safe and the title of Mother brought to mind several interpretations. Was the wolf creature the mother? If so was she feared by the child or a fierce protector of the child? Was the child locked in the cupboard to protect her from the the big bad world outside? (the wolf) or as punishment? Or did the cupboard have no such significance. Was it a 'pandora's box'?. None of these interpretations  may be anywhere close to what the artist intended but the drawing certainly had an emotional effect on me (which may speak to my relationship with my own mother rather than the work itself). I read the artist's statement in the catalogue :

"In my current practice, I question how an individual trauma can penetrate the levels of awareness within the structure of the unconscious. The condensation, displacement and organisation of psychical intensities occurs while dreaming. This process was described by Freud as ‘the dream work’. The dream work performs an obscure phenomenon with

the distortion of images captured when we experience horror and anxiety emotions. I am interested in how and why the individual traumas are related physically and psychically. My work aims to display a symbolized form of the visual language found in dreams and reality."

So it seems this work has a lot in common with other surrealist artists but it is intended to convey anxiety and trauma in a symbolic way - so in that sense I would say it is very successful.

Another work that I was drawn to was Breakdown by Jonathan Huxley. This was a small charcoal drawing. Not complex, but the few small shapes allow the viewer to construct a narrative in their own mind. I also liked the description of the way the drawing had evolved. 

"Breakdown appeared after covering the marks of a previously botched drawing.
In hiding my mistakes I dragged a grey screen over the affair and continued to fumble about with
broken bits of charcoal and a rubber, waiting for something to happen.
First arrived a sort of oval white mark in the centre. It suggested an isolated vehicle. The hood popped open, or maybe the trunk. I say “trunk” because the vehicle had an American look but it was faint in the greyness. A slab of black for contrast became a figure. Somewhat lanky and bent. In attendance of what? A pick up? A drop off?
For counter balance another black mark revealed a second figure. Turned away. A break in communications?

A breakdown?"