MARCH 17 - NEW WORK FROM ELIZABETH

 
Elizabeth is so determined to keep producing work, and challenging herself - it's great.  She says :  "This is my slim work for March and I have done some scratchy sketches.  I went to David Hockney exhibition and really enjoyed it."

Elizabeth no. 1

Elizabeth no. 2

Elizabeth no. 3

Elizabeth no. 4

 

 

Well, I can't think of a better person for you to be inspired by at the moment, than David Hockney.  His quality of line, his willingness to experiment, his intimacy of ideas, all chime so well with what you do, Elizabeth!

On to specifics....   I think the two flower studies are very sweet, and it's good to see you painting again.  No. 2 is particularly lovely, and I have no comments about this one other than that.  It's great!  No. 1 struggles a bit with the strong blue overwhelming the delicate yellow - it's that tonal thing again.  It gets away with it, but struggles a bit!  The blue pattern tends to dominate the gorgeous yellow daffs.  If you made the background less white, maybe a blue/grey, or, give the more delicate daffodil a stronger centre, like the other one, just to make it come forward a little.

Your two figures are OK, but I've seen so much better from you.  I think you were possibly doing this with other people around, so you were more self-conscious about how they 'should' look?  They just been a bit over-titivated, and lost their spark.  Your very suggested and spontaneous drawings are always your best.  I do like the pose of no. 3 though - your awareness of that slight lean, as if she's about to move.  Very nicely observed.

 

So, keep going - keep experimenting.  You put us all to shame.  Always be 'you'!!!  Think how open and honest David H. was.  he did what he needed to do, and that was that.  His line was fluid and honest.  His colours were immense, or very sensitive a brief in other, drawn pieces.  Why not try and do a couple of drawings/paintings of your subjects, but in the style of a D. H. piece - choose a line piece with discrete areas of colour?

FEB. 17 - NEW WORK FROM ELIZABETH

Hello all, and I hope this finds you well.

Elizabeth has made another set of work to share - thank you Elizabeth!  She says :  This is a composition workshop we did at Sutton Watercolourists, not to see who could do the best picture from a  photo, but to look at the range of composition ideas we all had from the same photo.  If you want to see the other ideas they are on Sutton Watercolourists Facebook page.  I found it stimulating and rewarding.  I liked trying out different ideas."

No. 1

No. 2

No. 3

No. 4

What a good idea.  The various versions are not very clear on the Facebook page though.  The big challenge with a photo is always not to become too slavish in the way that you 'copy' from it.  You have steered clear of any bear-traps very nicely.  Your drawing (no.1) is really fabulous.  It is people in the rain, but it's also so much more.  I particularly like the light jacket against the dark shapes on the left, in contrast to the more drawn line.

To be very honest, I am not keep on the intense blue/red pieces - the colour rather takes over from anything else.  the painted forms are interesting, but it's quite hard work accessing them because that colour gets in the way.  What do other people think?
I do, however, very much like no. 4 with its touches of pink.  It all comes back to that relentless conversation about colour and tone.  These are all effectively tonal pieces (drawn/painted shapes on white paper), and so the colour intensity needs to be knocked back, and it's the more neutral pieces which work best.  I do really like no. 4, especially that poor, damp looking person on his own in the centre - telling a story.

No. 5 is very delicate and has a charm to it, again with that single person in the middle.  It maybe needs a little bit more oomph on the left, or trim that left edge off.

Super stuff Elizabeth - now you know it works for you, you could do some more work from photos?  But just remember - try not to us very strong colour in a predominantly tonal pieces.

No. 5

JANUARY WORK FROM ELIZABETH

 As ever, ELIZABETH keeps on working and experimenting, and coming up with new and lovely things!

She says : "Happy New Year.

Here are the best of the sketches which have not been very good this month.
I have worked on the paintings you last saw and I tried some painting on gel
after seeing Manfred's but these have not been great either. Just a slow
start but although nothing very good I thought I would send something of
what I had done!  "



1. Landscape on gel (2)



2. Lorraine

3 .Old Lady

4. Quick sketches



5. Teashop

And a Happy New Year to you, too!
Well done Elizabeth - you've put us all to shame!
As you say, a bit of a mix here.  My favourites have to be the sketch of the "Old Lady" and the "Quick Sketches".  They are very different, but equally lovely.  The quick sketches are just so deliciously brief, and so expressive.  I love the pattern down the back of the left-hand one, and the sheer stillness and poise of the rhs one.  These are gorgeous.
Then the Old Lady piece is so beautifully observed.  The fragility of the old lady comes through, and I love the way this has been emphasised by being set against the strong and un-fussed lines of the flowers in the foreground.  Just one thing though, the flowers look a bit like a cheeky piglet leaping into the picture (to me - does anyone else see that) - just be careful what you end up with!  Really super work though.

Now, the portrait of Lorraine is less successful. I'm thinking you were more 'conscious' of the need to do it well, and make it look 'like' her, so you've lost a bit of that spontaneity.  I think the main problem is that you've lopped the back of her head off rather, and made her features just too big for her cranium!  You can't win them all!

The painting on gel is interesting. It seems to have freed you up to think more about mark-making in paint?  I imagine it was very slithery to paint on, compared to paper. I do like it, especially the sky, but it's not quite there, a feeling you obviously got because you felt the need to add the touches of black line-work.
I think it would be a good thing to explore further, but try and think of it in terms of drawing, and specifically mark-making with paint, rather than trying to colour in.  Whatever Manfred managed to do with it was his way.  You don't have to change your handwriting with the paint and do what he did - use the gel base to enhance what you already do so well.  I hope that makes sense.

Teashop - with some clutter removed!

The "Teashop" drawing is OK, but again, think about what you're putting in.  The figure and chair are nicely drawn.  The stuff beyond the figure is very distracting.  That strange thing on the left going up to the corner, and then the even stranger curved post on the right??  I have removed both of these, and now the drawing settles into something rather contemplative.  What do you think?



So, to round up .............  keep experimenting with the paint, making it more personal to you with your very unique mark-making/drawing, and keep drawing freely and openly - don't become too aware and self-conscious of what you're doing.

Thank you for sharing this with us, Elizabeth.

Sadly, Stephanie wasn't able to make our RFH session, but has sent me her images for comment via the blog - so here we go! 

She says :  "As you will see from below I have been having quite a few adventures in my class this term with a tutor called Alison Hand.

 So here are three.  I am still using a roller, basically, in a lot of compositions.  I still want to keep it simple, and these are nothing like what I have shown you before but I have been advised 1. to improve my materials.  2.  go larger. 

 But first, we had an exercise to work from some form of digital information.  Hence a piece from last week, called Empire.  it comes from a map of 1897 — I had to do a lecture over the weekend before on the Empire and my head was too full of it  to do anything else.



The colours, sadly, are not at all true:  at least the pink is, but the ground is really a sort of salmony pink. The lines are done in black pen - shipping routes. This is quite a large canvas:  at least a metre wide.  I am not sure what I think of it; one side of me says it is not finished.  My tutor said not to touch it anymore so I am going to let it be for a bit.

 

The second comes from an exercise when we were asked simply to blow or scratch ink and paint around.  It’s quite big:  600 high by 1.5 metres wide and done on lining paper for walls.



 

 

 

 

The third was done yesterday.  A real adventure — designed to make me deal with making huge marks.  It’s a bit like a wall hanging:  it’s on unmounted raw canvas 2 metres wide by 48 inches (forgive inconsistency) high.  It’s not finished yet, and I notice it’s been cropped a bit hard at the top.   I’m not sure where it’s going, and photo repro not the best, but I thought I’d send it along for you to see.

With all good wishes to you, and everyone at City Painters."

Oh, my word Stephanie, what a departure!  She is certainly pushing you into new territories.  What I'd really like to know is - what do YOU feel about it?  Are you enjoying it (I get the feeling you are)? Is this work exciting you?  I'd love to know.

It certainly excites me.  Really interesting.  So, the big question is how to assess work like this.  How do we know whether it's working, whether it's 'good'?  Well, that's the 64m dollar question.  I still say it's to do with how the elements communicate - with each other - more than anything else.

When I first looked at no. 1, I was very excited by it.  I love the rhythm of the pen lines, and the placing and energy of the pink splodges.  There is a simplicity to the language which makes the whole thing more energised and exciting.  There's not too much going on, so the looping of the lines is what counts, against the pink accents.
Now, here's an interesting thing - I looked at it and enjoyed it before reading your text.  Knowing what it's based on, and what the looping lines refer to, actually takes something away - for me anyway.  What do other people think.  Maybe just to know it's to do with Empire is enough - that's great.  The reality of what the lines are somehow sucks away some of their originality and energy.  Very strange.  I felt surprised by it.

No. 2 is great - have you seen the Abstract Expressionists?  If you look at Jackson Pollock and how he works, it's very illuminating.  Every swoosh of the brush is to do with rhythm and movement across the canvas.  Too much or too little, and the piece wouldn't work.  You have a lovely rhythm and movement between the black splodges, and their 'dangly bits' are really important, because they create a linking energy.  The space left around them, and between them and the edges of the paper are really important too.

No.3 I am less moved by.  Why - difficult.  You have many more elements. 4 different colours, many different shapes and movements, and different tonal balances.  I think it struggles to say one powerful thing.  Which is the primary statement.  Is it the yellow swoosh, or the heavy green marks/blocks?  Whatever the scale and degree of abstraction, in the end it all comes down to the same thing..... what's your no. 1 statement?  Clear in nos. 1 and 2, not so much in no. 3.  Is that fair?

None of this is to take away from the enormity of what you are doing - absolutely great. Keep it going.
We will meet again in June (such a long time), but do feel free to send me more entries to be handled like this.
Have a great Christmas, and a creative New Year, in EVERY way!!

A FEW PIECES FROM JANE

JANE is bringing along most of her new work to our get-together on December 6th (be there, or be square!!).  
However, there are a couple she wants to share now, so here we go.  She says :"The images of Wellcome Below are worked up to the size I will print. They are still roughs. I have also attached my original roughs from which I have made a few changes. The colours have come out better on the original roughs."

Wellcome Below I

Jane, I think you only sent these two Wellcome ones.  Send the others if you wish.

Basically, what we have here are two interpretations of the same design, taken from looking through to a lower floor with the spiral stairs.  Great bit of drawing.  It has that quality which I first remember noticing and Samuel Johnson's House, where you have flat planes and 3D planes in the same space - very clever!

'Wellcome Below I' is, in essence, a tonal picture, using a fairly narrow range of a pair of complimentary colours - blue and yellow.  The tonal design does the really hard work, and the pops of colour add a frisson to the image.  The greys are beautifully judged and set the whole thing off.  Those floating blue bars at the top are brilliant, and definitely come forward, creating yet another space.  I cannot fault this piece.Very nice indeed.

Wellcome II

I could add to the last sentence   ".......but quite safe".  
'Wellcome Below II' takes more risks.  Many more.  It uses colour in a far more powerful way.  The difficulty is the tone of the colours (oh yes, here we go again!!).  The lovely mustard yellow is a LIGHT colour, even though it is very strong and vibrant.  The red and purple are dark colours, even though they are very strong and vibrant as well.
So we have that old, old problem of how to read it - do we read the colour, or the tone?  For example, the dark red/aubergine colours of the two curved forms in the lower left, against the yellow.  These are very dominant, and rather squash the yellow.  Which is more important - the yellow, or the dark forms?  As it is, the eye tends to jump from these dark curves across to the light 'steps', and pay less attention to the yellow.

So, if it's the tonal forms you want, maybe reduce the yellow a bit.  If it's the colours you want, decide where your main tonal blocks of light and dark are going to be, and tie the relevant colours into that.  This all comes back to your original intention, and ...... where do you want the eye to go?!

This is me being very picky though.  They are both really good in different ways.  I especially commend you on the way your are playing with 2D and 3D.  So clever.

I hope that helps, and see you on Dec. 6th.  I hope you will bring these along too?

More from Elizabeth

Well, here is our monthly treat, courtesy of the brilliant Elizabeth!  She says :

 "There is an amendment to Vauxhall Bridge done last month. There is black and white painting form a sketch at V&A  and then a painting of reflections in the river.  The last are Mercia and May. I am taking up courage and doing some sketching of friends.   I don’t think the Vauxhall Bridge works."

Greenwich View

Mercia and May

V&A sketch

Vauxhall Bridge

River Reflections

I am not sure I've got them in the order that you write about them, but it's quite clear which is which.
Elizabeth, I think these are just brilliant.  I've run out of superlatives for you!

Firstly the two drawings... how super!  Both of them are sensitive and honest, and beautifully drawn.  I think the Marcia and May one is just exquisite - so tender.  The additions of colour are just right.  What can I say - except that I think you must carry on, and do all sorts of your friends, and total strangers, and that they should be seen somehow.

Then, next on my list of loveliness is the painting of reflections in the river.  This, I would say, is the first painting of your which really, really works as a painting.  My way of defining that is that I can't imagine it being done better in any other medium. The paint is a delicious wetness, and the colours are well thought through, and the tonality is spot-on.  Those rich darks against the simple light shape in the middle - great!  I also love the fact that the REFLECTION makes you want to turn it over, but it's a reflection, so that's how it is!  The way you've used the simple marks to suggest movement in the water chimes in with your drawing skills.  so good.

The Black and White drawing I find intriguing and mysterious.  I can't say it touches and funny-bone in the way the others do, but it's still a good painting with clever counterchange and it makes you wonder.

The only one which I think works less well (as do you) is the Vauxhall Bridge.  I just think, compared to the others, it looks a bit mannered maybe - over-thought?  A few months ago, I would have said 'well done', but all these others are now so good, that it's got a bit left behind!

So, you just need to spend time rendering your world through your very special eyes.  Maybe try and do some more painting in the manner of this River one?  Certainly more drawings.  It would be great to hear what others think?  You could e-mail 'reply all' if you wished?

ELIZABETH IS SHARING SOME MORE WORK

Elizabeth is showing us all up, and producing more lovely work!

She says :  "Another month and I do not feel I have put in enough time to my work.   Time seems to go so quickly.  This is the better work of what I have done.   I have gone back to some old drawings for British Museum figure  and Vauxhall bridge . I  don’t know if this is a mistake but I have been going through my work throwing a lot of old work away and trying something different with those I still think have some life in them.   Garden 2 is another version from one of last month’s garden.   I have a lot of ideas which I feel have never been done to my satisfaction ."

Elizabeth 1 - Garden

Elizabeth 2 - Barbara

Elizabeth 3- British Museum

Elizabeth 4 - Tessa

Elizabeth 5 - Vauxhall Bridge

Firstly, I don't think it's a problem going back to old drawings at all.  You've got a great pool of information there.  going back to old paintings can be a problem, because you are working with a different head on now!

The drawings first of all - 'Barbara' and 'Tessa'.  These are as sensitive and beautiful as ever.  In fact, I can almost hear Tessa's voice! It's not the first time I have likened your work to Sonia Lawson.  the same grit mixed with sensitivity.

I really like the simple magic of 'British Museum'.  All I would ask for to really make it work is a slightly better shape on the head.  So much gesture can be implied by the head shape, and it is just a bit balloon-like at the moment.  other than that, I think the other-wordly composition is most compelling.  The same can be said of 'Vauxhall Bridge' . The clever triangles of dark implying water movement and reflections.  Here I might suggest the figure being a little less strong, and a bit more enigmatic, to be discovered as you look into the painting.

The one painting that I'm not sure about is 'Garden'.  The structure is brave and interesting, but it's just not composed enough to hold together.  The top left corner looks unfinished compared to the weight of the bottom right.  It's a brave idea, but just a bit too polarised - I think anyway.  What do other people think?  Having said all this, leaving the interpretation open is so brave - ie. not putting in leaves etc. to describe 'garden' - just leaving it as these forms and shapes.

Great stuff, Elizabeth.  Thank you.