Uncategorized | red hibiscus

Jun

The Powerful Play Goes On

I’ve now completed the abstract painting I’d recently started. It’s now looking quite a bit different to its first incarnation as a result of a re-think.

I instinctively knew it wasn’t right and took steps to change it quite radically although I feel for the better.

I’ve given it the title ‘The Powerful Play Goes On’ – a line from one of Walt Whitman’s poems. Hope you approve.

May

Fascinated by the base of a particularly old tree one evening a few weeks ago in Queen Square in Bristol I spent some time sketching it. Back home in Liverpool a few days later I decided to apply a more abstract approach to the sketch. And now I’ve started working this up into a painting.

Here it is on the easel and I’m working in mixture of acrylics and emulsion of all things. A long way to go but I thought it might be interesting to record its progress to completion. Watch this space and, as always, your comments are very welcome.

May

Colour Grab

I know the title of this painting would indicate I’m a little out of synch with the seasons but it was the use of colour that grabbed my attention.

This is an oil painting by Howard Coles called ‘Autumn Woodland’. His usual subject matter is landscapes and seascapes in North Wales.
Here’s his website -http://howardcoles.co.uk

Apr

Exciting Times For Henry

Exciting times for my chocolate labrador, Henry, who’s just passed his Kennel Club bronze award this morning on the Wirral. This was actually taken last night near Delamere Forest in Cheshire.

The excitment continues later in the week as Henry celebrates his 1st birthday!

Apr

Liverpool – Slipway To The World

Ever sat in a restaurant and realised that the person sitting opposite you will have had an entirely different view from yours. Maybe you’ve got the view to the street and pavement outside, while your companion can see the hustle and bustle of the kitchens and the serving hatch. Your experience of the restaurant might be qualitatively distinct as a result of the simple matter of perspective and outlook.

Apply this thinking to the cities of the United Kingdom and you might suddenly begin to understand something of the particular character of one of the greatest of those cities – Liverpool.

The picture above was taken last night down by the shore of the wide River Mersey as the sun was starting to set. In the distance, the mouth of the great river is still lit as the sun drops in the West. I’ve been picturing the UK’s cities in my mind and their rivers – London and the Thames, Newcastle and the Tyne, Bristol and the Avon, yet none of these rivers open so clearly onto the oceans beyond like the Mersey as it flows in and out of Liverpool. As a Liverpudlian, your imagination is constantly drawn by this slipway to the rest of the world. To the cities of North America; Montreal, Quebec, New York and San Francisco. To the far shores of the antipodes; Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania. To the Orient; Shanghai, Hong Kong and beyond. If you want a clue to the character, personality and outlook of Liverpool and it’s citizens, look no further than the River Mersey and the seven seas lapping at the city’s shores.

Mar

Artist New To Me – 2

Perhaps it’s fairer to say that Ben Quilty is an artist who is new-ish to me. I am, however, fast becoming a big fan of this Australian artist’s bold, evocative portraits in oil.

This is actually called Self Portrait After Madrid, 2007. Will certainly be taking a close look at his technique when I come to start working in oils myself.

Mar

Back To Barbara

Fortunately, this coming weekend is a busy one, otherwise I might be feeling a little adrift after finishing the short drawing course I’ve been on at Tate Liverpool. It’s been an excellent few weeks and I’d like to think I’ve learnt a lot in that time. Certainly I feel my confidence levels have risen. And after being directed to wander into the gallery and draw, any inhibitions about drawing in front of others has all but vanished.

Asked to draw two artworks together I’d struggled to find what I wanted and was surprised later to discover that the main item was, in fact, another Barbara Hepworth piece called Two Forms (1933). You can’t see it from here, but in the distance was a painting called Large Black Landscape (1946) by Jean Dubuffet.

Odd then, that I’d started and finished the course by drawing pieces by Barbara Hepworth, an artist I’d not known very much about before.

Here’s a weblink for those of you who might be interested – http://barbarahepworth.org.uk

Anyway, here was my first sketch last Saturday morning.

There’s the Dubuffet painting in the bottom left. Pleased though I was with this, I was soon back in the Tate’s studio and set about working up another sketch based on the first one. This time I was using chalk pastels. See what you think.

My challenge now is to keep drawing as I move towards my first attempts at oil painting in a little while.

Mar

Taking A Line For A Walk

Apparently it was the German-Swiss painter, Paul Klee, who said that drawing was essentially like taking a line for a walk.

That’s precisely what I got to do on my drawing course at the Tate yesterday, although at times it felt more like taking my 11 month old Labrador, Henry, for a walk – unpredictable, shall we say?

After the tutorial was over and I was let loose in the gallery, I found this piece – Hanging Disc Toy – by Chinese artist, Li Yuan-chia.

The remit was simply to create a number of quick sketches to bring back to the studio of a range of modern pieces. This was the one I made of Hanging Disc Toy.

Pleased that my tutor and a fellow student both expressed the view that my drawing has freed up somewhat over the last few weeks.

Next up was a sketch from a piece by Robert Adams – Space Construction With A Spiral.

And yes, that’s me working with wire and a pair of pliers as I try to turn the image into a 3 dimensional structure. See what you think.

This is my 3-D piece on a white background and lit by a spotlight. Comments welcome!

Mar

Artist New To Me – 1

Can’t quite remember how I found the work of Jordan Casteel but was instantly moved by the figures she portrays.

http://jordancasteel.com

Powerful and vulnerable all at the same time I felt.

Warm, rich colours at work, too.

Mar

Gabo Time

Week 2 of my drawing course at Tate Liverpool and I’m being challenged to use my drawing to represent a 3 dimensional object in an abstract manner. I chose to have a go at a piece by Naum Gabo – Construction; Stone With A Collar, 1933.

The tutor suggested that we sketch our chosen object from three angles. Here’s my sketch.

After nearly an hour we returned to the studio and were invited to develop our sketches using whichever materials we wanted. I chose pastels and this is the end result.