tomwoodartist

Life Drawing Thursday 30 August 2012

PREPARE TO BE AMAZED by Russell Lumb

This self-defeating exhortation to raised experience of something around the corner, encapsulates the desperation of a nation sated with faster, higher, bigger and better. Without wishing in any way to diminish the achievements of our Olympians and our Paralympians, for no one has wallowed in our success more enthusiastically than me, the games have, and continue to present the opportunity for moronic media commentators to hyperventilate superlatives to the point of collapse. The well-flagged victories, for we love to crank up the anticipation over several months, are everything but amazing, and the genuine achievement of the athletes can only be celebrated in devalued superlatives. The really impressive performances of Jessica Ennis and Bradley Wiggins, in both Olympics and Tour de France, spanning sufficient time to illustrate the close relationship between success and failure, demand something more than tired tabloid headlines, and new superlatives are coined to trump the last.

The honest, simple, street-level sense of community, including the vulgar headlines, which Jubilee and Games have rekindled has been a rewarding experience for this particular cynic. Visiting London for both events, it was impossible not to be impressed by the ethnic diversity of our nation, reflected clearly in the medal table at the end of the Games. One could even forgive the jingoistic view that Mo Farrar had “taken- on and beaten the might of Africa”. Mo Farrar is the might of Africa, running proudly in the British strip; his genes may be their’s but his gold medals are ours. The finest praise for Mo’s efforts was the heart-felt request for his autograph from Brendan Foster, previously one of the worst serial superlatives offenders, but also one of our finest distance runners. Achievement properly calibrated against a known value.

Having denigrated the casual use of the superlative, how then am I to tell you about my visit, last week, to Oxford’s Jenny Saville show ( Modern Art Oxford and The Ashmolean Museum ) without regretting my choice of a glass house? For anyone who did not see it last evening, I have left a copy of the catalogue with Tom, and recommend that you ask for a look, as words are hard to find. I have come to recognise over the years, my susceptibility to the lure of the new and the concomitant downgrading of previous heros, but I suspect that Jenny Saville will take some dislodging from my affections.

The catalogue cannot convey the effect of the huge scale of the works, which can be overwhelming, nor the scale of the individual marks, which are properly astonishing. Here is draughtsmanship of the highest order, sitting comfortably with the renaissance masters in the Ashmolean, and painting of equal power and sensitivity. Here is what we aspire to each Thursday evening. From Roger’s careful drawings to Tom’s endless experimentation with heavy duty paint. The only disappointment I have to report, is that the massive surge in desire for painting engendered by the show did not translate into my own work last evening, which was timid and sterile. Thank goodness for tomorrow; six hours to realise my potential! Prepare to be amazed.          

 

Paintings and drawings by Chris, David, Hadyn, Ian, Patrick, Roger H, Roger S, Russell, Sandra, Teresa, Tom and Tony.

FOOTNOTE

I've not come across the work of Louise McClary before, but I thought it looked intriguing with all kinds of interesting abstract ideas, mind you I'm a sucker for a bit of nature poetry so this ticks my boxes.

Russell and Bren have recently seen the exhibitions of Jenny Saville's work in Oxford and they highly recommend a visit. From the catalogue the drawings in particular look inspiring.

Roger H has just passed on some useful information regarding a new product by Arches, Oil painting paper.

I have to admit I was a bit sceptical until I watched this video, now I think it could be an exciting addition to the range of materials we already use, thanks Roger!

     

Full Day Life Drawing at Redbrick Mill Saturday 1 September

Model Suzi - one pose all day

start 9.30 - 12.30  1.30 - 4.30pm

£10 half day  £20 full day

Life Drawing Thursday 23 August 2012

Pen and ink detail of Steve by Chris

I was going to write about paint but instead I'm going to write about rules. We live in a pleasant urban area, a suburb with a large park, an amenity used by many of the local people. This amenity has for many years been the hub of lots of social interaction, children gather to play games, football teams train, mothers stroll with pushchairs, sit and chat, elderly people stride out and take exercise, others jog and dogs are walked. This is a park for the whole community but some imbecilic council official desperate to prove his (usually a him) worth has devised an idiotic zoning system whereby certain activities must be restricted to certain zones. Like the perfect metaphor for today's Britain, where once we had a community interacting we now have activities separated with the threat of a £1000 fine. My exasperation at this petty bureaucracy can barely be expressed, these rules are for the benefit of faceless council employees no doubt fearful of losing their job, they add nothing to the social cohesion of a community, they create division, suspicion and fear, where there was once light and laughter, now there are long faces and sidelong glances.

There are good rules and their are bad rules, there are rules that construct and their are rules that destroy, there are rules that build prisons and there are rules that let you run faster than you ever thought you could. In life drawing you have to decide whose rules to follow and the fun bit is making up your own rules, the kind of rules that make you feel good and happy about yourself, the rules that say,'Why not, let's try it and see what happens.

I know there are good drawings and bad drawings, those we aspire to and those we hope to avoid but at the heart of it should be freedom because without that you're going for a miserable walk in a miserable park fearful of straying outside your prescribed zone and that's not living. Have a blast, nobody's judging and you never know you might be the one that finds that new, different, exciting and provocative way to describe the figure, why not, somebody has to.

I chose to feature Chris's work because it reminds me of the Neo-Romantic influenced work of Keith Vaughn, it's not necessarily visually like it but it seems to share the same sentiment, a kind of spiky masculinity that works particularly well with pen and ink. Both Roger's excelled in the sensitivity stakes, each has the most delicate but precise of touch's, Patrick has gone for something robust and structural but also precise in it's edges and observation. It was a modest turnout but an enjoyable evening with the return to form of our reliable striker (striking a pose.....maybe) Steve who's had an up and down season (don't go there) but is a welcome addition to our squad.

Paintings and drawings by Chris, Claire, Fiona, Janet, Patrick, Roger H, Roger S, Sue, Terry and Tom.

Life Drawing Saturday18 and Sunday 19 August

Anne

My baseline expectation at the start of my journey to Batley each time I make it, is to have uninterrupted space to attempt the quantum leap of improvement necessary to make me feel I am not flogging a dead horse (or nag). I always achieve a wonderful sense of having time to devote. Then follows a series of small slightly masochistic shocks as I plough into the project. To have two days is such luxury that I am almost drunk with the possibilities, my imagination runs riot. My work may show that the drunkenness never really leaves me but may turn into something of a hangover by the end of the two days.

Sorry Tom and Tony, but Red Brick Mill is my new spiritual home. I had such a great weekend, ended up fairly pleased with my efforts and enjoyed being with this wonderful group of people......can I bring my sleeping bag next time?

Bren 

Having been primed by Russell to arrive early and get my towel on my deck chair, I set up my easel in a position to get a frontal view of our model Sue. However,perhaps this was not a good plan when Sue began her pose with hands on hip. Aaaaaagh, I don't do hands (or indeed feet) So, I began at the top and worked my way down, wondering how I could possibly avoid painting them.
Of course, they couldn't be ignored so, on day two following advice from Tom I tried to avoid painting a bunch of bananas and managed something remotely resembling a hand.
Its still not right and I feel the urge to go back in there and destroy and re- work and I probably will ------- especially after my visit to the Jenny Saville exhibition later this week.
Thanks Tom, Tony, and Sue.

Chris 

I've done few drawn studies of models from the back, let alone painting, so the two days were full of new things to get to grips with. Combining that turn of the head the jutting arm the weight moving from right foot to left it seemed ( it was a very good pose) into the single jesture which a figure is. As always I valued the communal aspect of the weekend as I always find it vitalising, working along side others. I feel I've been timid about placing the lights and finding some contrast. I dont think this is something you can force or rush but whatever else: TIMIDITY is NEVER a good thing.

Christopher 

An enjoyable and productive weekend in the company of a very talented and inspiring group of Artists and an excellent follow up to Tom's instructive 3 Day Still Life Oil Painting workshop in July.
However being a novice in the use of Oils ( and colour ) I found painting the figure quite a challenge and on one or two occasions especially on Saturday morning, felt totally out of my depth. I realise this is down to inexperience and I need to put in more time in the mixing of skin tones and the application of the paint.......Must do more homework and work quicker !!
I am reasonably pleased with what I have achieved as a learning exercise and probably need four days rather than two but have to say the whole experience was helped enormously by Sue, the superb and tireless model.
Thanks again to yourself and Tony for organising the Weekend and for your encouragement.

David 

So sorry to miss the second day but great to able to see the finished work of so many accomplished artists via Tom's blog. Well done to everyone!!

This was to be only me second attempt to paint in oils and my first attempt at a life painting so I came with some trepidation but as on the still life course I attended earlier the wonderful space and the relaxed and supportive atmosphere created by the group soon dispelled any concerns.

I found that painting in the company of others fun, stimulating and oddly an aid to concentration. It is also a great benefit to be able to observe how others approach the task and watch how their paintings develop. I have been astonished at how some work undergoes what appears to be several almost total transformations throughout the day and that others finally emerge at the end of the session, as if out of a dense fog, as a beautiful work of art.

As for my own efforts there is not much to be said except to paraphrase the Yorkshire man when asked directions by a stranger ....... " If I were you I wouldn't start from here" ........ Thanks

David M

The two day workshop was a challenge right from the word GO. Sue maintained a balanced standing pose which had just enough torsion of head and body to make the pose dynamic   and tense - and she held it throughout the two day period without faltering. The first day was bright and the alabaster white of her body reflected the cool light brilliantly. The second day was a different matter and caused me difficulties as the cool light was replace by the very warm overhead lighting on the head and upper body with a more intense modelling of form. The previous day's lay-in which I had been pleased with had to be repainted and not very successfully. However it did me good to have to push the painting as far as I could - but in the process I lost some of the energy which I thought I had achieved in first stages. My usual problem - how to maintain the openness of handling in the lay-in.  whilst fully resolving the form.  I'll get the hang of it eventually - I hope.

 

Dick

Instructions from Tom: "Write what you were thinking." Hmmm.. well, usually an impolite form of "bother", but here goes. Started with optimism and what felt like a degree of caution. Lovely pose, great model and plenty of time. BUT... always a but..couldn't handle the acrylics in the heat and half-way through Saturday realised the choice of composition, quite simply how much of Sue to place on the board and where, was seriously flawed. That was the time to start again, but optimism stirred again with the decision to press on, with no great result. Switched to oils on Sunday and managed a few pleasing touches in places, but too few and the composition still glaringly poor. More lessons to be learned here. Optimism fades as reality imposes itself, inescapable sandwiched between the energy and beauty of Bren's work and the precision of Tony's. (Also great admiration for Steven's, Chris's and Sandra's - actually everyone's.) My piece is disappointing, but I don't mind a bit as the week-end at Redbrick was a treat. Stimulating company, some great work and the usual lunchtime flight of ideas. Oilympics, as named by Ann, a hot topic. Well, I'm obviously in for a marathon - happily wearing clogs.

 

Ian 

I was very excited at the very thought of two continuous days of serious endeavour, in the company of others similarly committed to a single piece of work. Whatever one thinks of one's own efforts, I thoroughly enjoyed the company and felt encouraged in their presence and watching the development over two days of some very accomplished work. The variety of that work was itself an education. I feel I have absorbed much of value and hope it will make a positive contribution in future.

I came in the wake of the third of the three 'oil' workshops, fully committed to using oil paint throughout and I am moderately happy with the result. I am trying not to thrash myself too much, but do feel a great need to be bolder in every way.

As a model, I thought Sue was superb.

Russell

Continuity is such a vital ingredient of progress.  My travails with colour versus darkness at Thursday’s session were continued on Saturday and up to lunchtime on Sunday, but the additional time, and precise prompting from Tom pushed me through the barrier to realise a strong finish where colour and darkness play balanced roles. The overwhelming character of the weekend was hard graft, for artists and model alike,  and it assists one’s own struggle to see, hear and feel the parallel efforts of the group. Perhaps the spirit of the Olympians is still amongst us, demanding uncommon endeavour for reward beyond medals. Everyone was a winner, taking home another priceless experience to inform the next attempt. 

 

Sandra 

A whole week end of painting from the live model presented such a worthwhile opportunity to use oils and put the three day workshop teachings into practise.

With that in mind I prepared the ground with bright acrylics, using complementary colours and transposing lights and darks, i.e. purple for Sue’s hair and blues for her skin, the darks in the background were painted light and the lights dark. I even managed to use fluorescent yellow but did deny myself luminous pink.

The concentration was intense throughout and I did feel that it was a further learning process and that I am gradually building my oil painting skills and thus increasing the repertoire.

I wanted to work in a fairly free style and I partly succeeded in this. I now feel a little more confident and aim, in future sessions, to venture towards a looser more abstract style.

Two days was only just enough time.

Sue our model was, as usual, excellent.

Steven 

I am grateful for the opportunity of being able to participate in the day-long and two-day-long, single-pose, life drawing sessions at Redbrick Mill.

I recommend the exhibition of the drawings of Karolina Szymkiewicz "A Study of Dance" (Art Library, Leeds Central Library, First Floor 2nd-30th August 2012). She graduated from the Masters Illustration Course (Edinburgh College of Art) last year and has now settled in Leeds. She gathers photographic reference material before making what appear to be pencil drawings, of about A1 size, each of an individual dancer in movement.

Tom

I had a plan, it's always good to have a plan and a list to back up that plan, it went something like this. One, prime over pigeon painting in gloss orange so the paint slips about a bit. Two, block in loosely with big brushes. Three, organize space but keep it simple. Four, work up figure but keep it open and don’t be bound by outline, monoprint with polythene to break up form. Five, form broken so now repair where necessary. Six repeat until time runs out or options end or exhaustion kicks in.

It sort of worked out except the dark background seduced me into defining the figure more than I planned to, the result being something more stable, solid  and sadly predictable than I really wanted but I liked the thicker paint and how the thin foam rollers interacted with it. I feel it’s given me something to build on and after two days maybe that’s enough.

Sue as usual was remarkable, so good that you forget just how hard it is to do what she does.  I repeat Tony’s sentiments, it was a pleasure and a privilege to spend the weekend with such a bunch of talented artists, it would be good do it again, soon!

Tony

Our two day sessions at Redbrick present a great opportunity to produce a substantial piece of work which demands a good sized panel to work on. Ambition is the name of the game or, as in my case, over ambition! I worked on a panel which is probably at least twice the size it should have been. I ended up with a piece of work which has some pleasing bits in it, but the overall effect is I think rather flat and uninspiring. I like detail. I like subtlety. I am not a gestural swashbuckler, though I do like and appreciate the work of those who are, but I'm more a monk than a musketeer. I'm happy with who I am and have no desire to turn myself into someone different. Given the choice I would abandon the big life studio in favour of a quieter, more intimate space, but then I wouldn't be able to invite fellow artists to come and share the cost of the model.

On the subject of the model I have to say that Sue was magnificent this weekend, as she always is. A true professional, she always does more than can reasonably be expected and does it so well. How she managed to stand the way she did for close to twelve hours I'll never know. Well done Sue, and thank you for a great weekend.

Even though I don't feel that over the weekend I produced a piece of work which I would be prepared to exhibit I still feel that the weekend was very worthwhile. I think I learnt a lot and am determined to use what I now know to inform future work. That for me is one of the great joys of painting and drawing - the sense that you are always learning and always striving to improve. So, the next time we have a weekender if you see me heaving a panel into the studio which measures more than 12 x 8 inches, clip me round the ear and remind me of these words. Thank you, and thank you all for coming and sharing the weekend. It was a real privilege to be there with you all.

Life Drawing Thursday 16 August 2012

Watercolour of Nikki by Roger S

 

COLOUR CODE by Russell Lumb

Yesterday was, for me, a grey ill-defined experience, and my humour was a long way from sunny. A visit to Redbrick usually lifts the spirits; like-minded company, relaxed space and the light of the sky with enough intellectual pressure to avoid stagnation, a recurring worry in retirement.

Sure enough, steady application of some bright new acrylic colours to my two boards, in the afternoon tutorial, began to disperse the fog and create the chaotic mix of form, texture and colour from which I would later pluck a memorable series of quick-pose life studies. My inner being, however, knew that this was not the plan for the day, and marched me across the studio to select a large tin of dull green emulsion paint with which I suffocated the life out of my vibrant preparatory work. Just in time for Tom to arrive with instructions for more colour.

I cleaned back a little, and added patches of brighter paint, but the sequence of events had confirmed that the struggle would be fruitless. And so it proved in the life session. I am not much enamoured of quick poses, even within my comfort zone of drawing, and the added unfamiliarity of paint reduced my efforts to primary school standard, without the charm of innocence. Realising belatedly that this disaster would quickly become public humiliation via the Blog Gallery, I scanned my data banks for an achievable source of inspiration, and Paula Rego came to the rescue, in mood if not execution. It is now possible that there is too much colour in the painting, but it does illustrate my struggle with the dark side, which appears to be winning.

All of this is by way of introduction to the Radio 4 programme to which I listened on the drive home to Scarborough. In an interesting study of the relationship between language and colour, Steven Fry was demonstrating to David Hockney  his apparently effortless command of English, whilst The Greatest Living Yorkshireman failed to be impressed and kept making awkward observations between drags on his Capstan Full Strength. And therein was the kernel of the programme; Fry is erudite, beyond words, but can only muster the detached command of colour that limits the observer, whilst Hockney is a user, seeing colour as an act of squeezing, mixing and smearing, but having limited ability to say so. Radio favoured Fry, but it was ”his” programme, and I don’t think that television would necessarily have redressed the balance, nor even a live discussion in a gallery. The even playing field is the studio, or the Wolds landscape in Hockney’s case, where he might be observed communicating in colour and where the description and naming of colours could be seen to be the same inexact process as translation from language to language.

I arrived home feeling reconciled with the inevitability of colour, and painting in general, performing as an unspoken language, where bright lies cannot conceal a dark truth.    

Paintings and drawings by Barry, Catherine, Cathy, Chris, David, Dick, Fiona, Hadyn, Ian, Jill, Roger H, Russell, Sue, Teresa, Terry, Tom, Tony and featured artist Roger S. (Please note if I have wrongly assigned a name to your work let me know and I will change it immediately. Alert me via the comments box. Thank you).

Alleluia the mural is finished.......

After weeks of hard work the mural is complete! Here are a few photographs to show it's progress.

Life Drawing Thursday 9 August 2012

A pencil drawing of Belle by Tony

'It's the only thing he can rely on in his chaotic life' said the teacher as the aggresive boy turned up once again to my summer workshop. It had been hard, challenging as we're now taught to say, this young man had driven me to the brink of despair with his shouting, swearing and anger and yet each morning he turned up throughout the summer. School was all he had, breakfast was a bag of crisps and every morning glowering in the corner he would munch and glare, a ball of weary anger that would gradually subside as the day wore on, but the next morning we'd be off again. Eventually he settled down and we talked about films and his ambition to be a film director and especially the bit where everyone would listen and do as they were told and he would have loads of money.

I often think of this young lad and wonder if he ever came close to realising his cherished dream, I suspect not but at least for awhile in his mad life, the school provided the one point of stability he could rely on. I sometimes wonder if our life drawing sessions serve a similar function, they provide stability and continuity in our creative lives, the steady light on the horizon glimpsed weekly (or is that weakly) as we navigate unpredictable currents. Is it wrong to be predictable, is continuity such a bad thing, why do we always equate creativity with change? I suppose the answers are fairly easy, a creative person is so often considered to be a restless person, a person ill fitted to the humdrum routine of daily life, a person full of questions, the mighty 'What if', a person who is both catalyst and vessel for change, change means progress, advancement, the old Modernist notion of a ladder to the stars, we stand upon our parents shoulders to see the next horizon, but I wonder.

I wonder if the journey is actually inwards, if the external manifestation (the artwork) is but a meaningless drone, a chant to enable inner enlightenment, our hand moves, marks are made, relationships established but in the quiet of the studio we're seeking some form of peace and stability by joining up all our previous drawings and knowledge, gathering this amorphous matter into some workable form which we hope might just be the next rung in the ladder, the ladder that might allow us to glimpse however briefly the further horizon. The solid ground of repetition and continuity may well be the means by which the firmest foundations are made. This is not an argument against change but an argument for continuity, it's an argument against my own capricious nature and one for the steady certainty of those who week in week out seem to do the same thing. I see them now as monks collectively gathering those cosmic forces of memory and tradition to create enlightenment, I feel this spiritual journey beckoning if for nothing more than the stability, reassurance and inner peace of humdrum routine.

The model was the lovely Belle and the fine drawing is by Tony and all this talk of ladders and foundations and horizons might be something to do with my present day job.

The paintings and drawings this week are by Barry, Chris, Clare, Dick, Fiona, Hadyn, Ian, Ivan, Patrick, Sandra, Steven, Sue, Terry, Tom and featured artist Tony.

   

 

Life Drawing Saturday 4 August 2012

Acrylic and pastel drawing of Guy by Emma

There's no escaping the Olympics but then again why would you want to especially on 'Super Saturday' with three more gold medals in the bag and the exquisite Jessica Ennis at her talismanic best. For me the finest image was the look of shocked exaltation on the face of the beautiful Mo Farrah as all his dreams came true, eyes popping, mouth wide open, skin gleaming, his face should for ever more be the standard model for any witness to the Ascension. I say this because Sandra kindly brought in a lovely little book on Piero della Francesca in which people in 15th Century Italy routinely witnessed the most spectacular of miracles with nonchalance verging on the bored. Of course this was Piero's cunning plan to make the most extraordinary seem ordinary. I'm almost tempted to say the BBC have repeated the feat in reverse where a man jumping into a sandpit is described as 'something we may never see again in our lifetime' but that would be churlish and surely we're in a hyperbole amnesty after all.

Guy our last minute stand in model was also a revelation, tall, muscular with the bearing of a quiet Olympian, he sat with a grace and stillness appreciated by all. Russell in a fervour of Olympic excitement handed him the laurel crown and in doing so transformed his painting from a study into a narrative that accessions the space beyond the picture so that the viewer wonders where the model's gaze is leading and what is the story that is unfolding. It's a simple device but an effective one. Maybe on the East Coast in those long dark nights with a slate black sea and the mists tumbling from the claggy moors down to the desolate rocks below, stories are told and myths are born. Bren, the Sage of Scarborough, can't help herself and like Russell she has to tell a story. However the stories Bren tells are full of tragedy, they are laments for a defeated life, tragic faces imbued with the spirit of loss, wraith like, melancholy twins dredged from the subconcious and paradoxically created in the Life Room. I always think of Fiona's slab assembled heads in the same way, their life is within, their gaze directed inwards like parched Peruvian mummies they speak of a rich past and bone bare future.

In recent times (on Thursday anyway) we've had young vital models, somehow appropiate for our current celebration of healthy, wholesome youth, I think Guy suggested resting strength, like a competitor awaiting his turn. Russell said, he felt the session had an air of tranquility about it, and I agreed, it was the tranquility of problems being solved in a considered way, having extra time is a bonus. In her last post Sandra mentioned her search for the poetic, the paradoxical quest for the ineffable in the physical, Bren has found it, Teresa also, Russell has gone for the long epic poem and I think Sandra heself is there with an ethereal blue and delicate highlights suggesting something revelatory.

Blue as we know is the colour of Heaven as imagined by Giotto and the blue Emma chose is a particularly warm cobalt, sky type of blue. It's a blue that enables the fleshy pinks and fiery oranges to glow, a blue that locks all the other colours into a harmonious whole, it is in fact a heavenly blue. Emma's work is the kind of work that just looks good at every stage like one of those infuriating people who just look lovely however you photograph them (Jessica Ennis fits this category). So often the temptation is to say, stop it looks great but you know half an hour later it will still look wonderful so you watch and wait and see what twists and turns it will take. I'm always pleased when Emma joins our circus as her high wire act is always a joy to watch, there might be a wobble here and a stutter there but altogether it's enthralling. The Kitaj colours and the mythic stance make it a tremendous piece of work, I really like it.

Finally I would like to say it was good to see Colin and Sandra again, both getting into their stride and producing fine pieces of work and also Ann who made a lovely careful drawing where each detail was scrutinized with unsparing precision, is this the antidote to the burgeoning poetic tendency?

PS. Tony really nailed that curly hair and wispy beard although the scheming look seems a little unfair and reminds me so precisely of a young Peter Ustinov as the awful Nero in Quo Vadis.

Alumni News

Steven has a drawing on show at the Edinburgh College of Art, you can see it here

Russell has an exhibition of his work at Ken Spelman's Bookshop, York, details here

Tony has a portrait on show at the National Portrait Gallery, details here

Paintings, drawings and constructions by Ann, Bren, Cathy, Colin, David, Fiona (1&2), Hadyn, Russell, Sandra C, Sandra, Steven, Teresa, Tom, Tony and featured artist Emma.

 

Life Drawing Thursday 2 August 2012

What draws us back week after week to the life drawing studio?

Well, I admit I am a long standing life drawing addict, not to mention a persistent chocoholic and cannot kick either habit.

It is not just about creating an accurate likeness, though that is often crucial when the model has a ‘historical’ demeanour or a physical dramatic attitude, for me it is about responding with whatever method and tools are at hand to attempt to create something ‘other’, something even poetic.

Ruskin said ‘A picture becomes a text to be read and understood as we might a poem. Pictures even poor pictures are lessons made visible. But their instruction is not to be had for the asking- we have to work for it’ I know he was referring mainly to Turner’s landscapes but I believe it is just as apposite to life drawing and painting.

Tom often advises creating chaos on a surface and then imposing order in various ways repeatedly as a means of getting in to the painting and building a history and perhaps some poetic sequences. Well my life is often chaotic due to several various interests and responsibilities so I do not fear chaos I am used to it.

Last night I made the mistake of not allowing the chaos to reign for longer and I stamped order on to the painting too soon, ergo, it lost immediacy.

Our model, Joseph, is a flawless specimen of the human form with such strong and noble facial features so the desire was to wire into it and ‘get it right’. Within the first half hour the gouache painting though delicate was soft focussed and lightly chaotic, it had potential. The paper had been unintentionally still wet and marks made soon ran and dispersed into almost abstraction. The thing would have been to identify this and go on further with this abandonment, but I didn’t, I established order too soon. We have to be alert to recognising the faint magic when we see it and as Ruskin says work at reading and understanding it. However I accept this and have aspirations for that poetic vision which could have been and that is why I shall be back next week

I was so wrapped up in my own work that I did not get chance to really see what everyone else was working at. Looking at the blog though there are two drawings in boldly done in black and white which particularly stand out as portraying the youth and physique of Joseph .These are by Haydn and Catherine.

Also I have to say it is very refreshing to see new faces mixed with the regulars on a Thursday evening.

Now my grand daughter will wait no longer for a trip to the shop for a lollipop and I might just have a very small treat, well maybe just only a Yorkie bar with raisins and perhaps ……………………

by Sandra Cowper

Paintings and drawings by Barry, Ben, Catherine, Cathy, Chris, Claire, Hadyn, Roger, Sandra, Steven, Tom and Tony.