NEW AND LOVELY THINGS FROM ELIZABETH

Elizabeth has been beavering away, and has sent in the following :- 

" I am still finding it difficult but I sending you a selection
of this month's work. The roses are inspired by Stephanie and trying to get
the feeling and memory of roses. It was nice to see the others last time but
I have not been out with anyone so I feel this is scrappy."

John

Passion Flower

Roses after Stephanie

The couple

The Garden

Three Figures

Waiting

Churchyard

I love them all, Elizabeth! The portrait of John is so sensitive - I can almost hear his voice.

The figure groups are your usual beautifully observed and felt drawings.  I think that's what really comes out of your drawings - the empathy you have with the scenario.  Your lovely line just catches it all.  We are left wanting more - what was the conversation? who were the people?  I especially like "waiting" - it's sensitive tonality, the fall of light and the counterchange - absolutely beautiful.  The "three figures" holds our attention because of the uneven distribution of the threesome, creating a tension-filled space in between.  We wonder "what are they to each other?"

Then "churchyard" again is interesting because of the rhythm of the light and dark forms, withy the hints of green just tying the whole thing together.  "The Garden" takes the colour idea a bit further, but still retains the strong tonal shapes as being the main compositional device in the picture.  The brave, strong diagonal with that lovely light trunk against the dark - super.

Then we come to "Passion Flower", which again is still predominantly a drawing, with the clever dark accent of the green leaf creating a fizz.  I love the way you've really brought out the distinctive patterning in the middle of the flowers, and made less of the petals.  that is, after all, what Passion Flowers are all about.

Then....the roses.  How lovely are they??  My one possible comment before I saw the picture blown up was that the green 'foliage' was too generalised, and didn't speak of 'rose' as such. However, there are (just) one or two suggestions of a rose-leaf shape.  It is a difficult thing to strike the balance between something all about 'feel', and still adding in just the littlest hint of something that says 'rose'.  You have to think how this can be read as 'rose', and not as .... 'pink azalea', for example.  Having said all that, it is simply stunning - beautifully and sensitively painted, and very evocative.

Well, for a month where you didn't feel you'd achieved much, you've done pretty well!  Great stuff Elizabeth - so good.  Thank you.

NEW WORK FROM PAT WIGDAHL

Pat W. was sadly not able to join us at the Royal Festival Hall a couple of weeks ago.  She has sent in some images to share, and so here they are.
This is what she said : "At last here are a few bits and pieces which I had hoped to bring up to London last time.  Being somewhat more housebound these days  I am having to find some homebased subjects.  The drawing (which is quite big) is a corner of our conservatory with a somewhat aggressive plant
The black/white ink and the painting is a sort of abstract of a topi arid bush and some metal
Birds I made for a very plain bit of wall.  The painting of pines is in the Sandringham Woods and the quick drawings were at Kings X."

Pat 1

Pat 2

Pat 3

Pat 4

Pat 5

My goodness Pat, what a selection!  You get stronger every time.

The drawing (no. 1) is STUNNING.  So beautifully observed, down to the magnificent spider.  

My one tiny comment would be the shadow on the floor.  The leaf shadows nearest us are a bit dark compared to the shadow of the pot, when they would actually be the same depth and degree of sharpness, as they are at the same level off the floor.  However, if you were wanting to make a statement about the aggressive claw-like reach of the shadows - then great, but you need to maybe alter some other aspect too, just so that we know it's a deliberate exaggeration, and not just over-zealous drawing.  I love it  -do more, of anything within reach, with the twist of the spider-equivalent of beautiful observation.  These could be your finest moment!
Your skills with drawing also come out in no. 4.  I especially love the chap looking up and holding his hat - SO expressive and good - I can just picture him there.  Then the drawing at the bottom of that sheet is creating a more imaginative world, with the glass structures becoming almost fluid.

Nos. 2 and 3 are the inventive Pat we know and love! I think the black and white one works best, in a very effective graphic way. It's descriptive, but not too much so, and the black and white patterning of the whole thing is very well balanced and arranged,   the coloured one works less well, because you are being drawn in to describe the swallows/leaves etc. a bit more than is necessary.  They work best when the y are suggested (no.2), meaning the viewer has to work a bit harder.
Then, no.5 is different again, being a very well executed painting of the pines.  I like the tall format, and you haven't been sucked in to becoming too 'conventional' in terms of the painting.  By that I mean that sometimes, when you start to paint, you fall straight back into the 'how-to-do-it' mode, and lose sight of the actual idea behind the painting.  Here you haven't done that, and it's a fine painting - well done.

All in all, Pat, it's a great set, one of your strongest yet.  Pretty amazing when you've got so much going on!  Thanks for sharing it with us.

NEW WORK FROM ELIZABETH

Elizabeth has been very hard-working, and has sent me some more work to show you all!  Anyone else for any more?

Here's what she says :- "I have been trying to work up some of my previous drawings to make paintings .  The one at the V& A  of reflections I felt worked but I am not sure about the other two. " 

Figures in the cafe

Girl in the cafe

In the garden

Mother & Child

Mother & Child II

Random Figures

Reflections

Waiting

As ever, Elizabeth, your drawings are complete works of art in themselves.  They exquisite little glimpses into private conversations, or moments of reflection. I cannot add to these, or suggest anything further.  My only comment, really, is that they should be done on respectable paper, and shown as pieces in their own right.  I LOVE 'in the garden' - the little glance of the figure, caught just as he's about to look away.  They are all absolutely great.

The paintings are not far behind!  I still feel you have too great an awareness of 'watercolour' per se.
You sent me a beautiful card by Matisse "Woman in a Kimono" (anyone looking in, look it up).  The thing to notice is how the marks in the background match the quality of marks in the fantastically animated mark-making in the figure.  You are still tending to go for 'watercolour wash' with painting and drawing on top.   The washes can end up looking a bit bland.  Having said that, I do very much like both the mother&child ones.  Why not have a go doing a painting just in chalky gouache colours, then you can make decent marks in both the background and the figures.  It feels and behaves like watercolour, but might just know you out of the essential need to do washes.  The ghost of Lorna (for others, a mutual early influence for both Elizabeth and me) still hovers behind you!
The reflections painting is OK, but doesn't read as reflections particularly.  That's because you can't see the actual thing AND its reflection.  It's more like 'silhouettes'.  I would say it doesn't have the magic of all the others, being honest!

Super stuff though.  Try doing something different with your backgrounds - that's your next task!

AND THEN THERE WAS JANE!

JANE has also now sent in some work, saying :-  "Elizabeth and I had a lovely day sketching. I took my coloured pencils with me because i could spread out on the table. Anyway here are the results."

Jane - Debenham's Cafe Reflections I

Jane - Debenham's Cafe Reflections II

Jane - Debenham's Cafe Reflections III

Jane - Debenham's Cafe Reflections IV

They look like a very good source of ideas Jane.  They have shape ideas, colour ideas, & perspective ideas (esp no. IV) .  It's difficult to know what you're going to do with them.  The reflections are so perfect that there's not even any distortion in the panes of glass, so it almost looks like we're looking through at the structure.
I think you've played very safe here, and gone for the plain observation drawings.  Nothing wrong with that, not at all.  However, it's quite nice to just start pushing at little ideas when you're on the spot, and not leave it all 'til you get back to the studio.  Live a bit more dangerously - I would have liked to have seen your THINKING.
Sorry Jane - as I'm not there on the day, I need to be a bit more direct at this stage, otherwise you'll just slip.

Now is the time to start working up some of this stuff, before you go and get any more info. drawings.  Even if you just work through some possibilities - not reaching a finished piece.  I want to see some courage and risk-taking.  Uncomfortable, but necessary.

I can't wait - I think you've got the material to some really exciting work.  Thanks, Jane.

ELIZABETH'S WORK - Wimbledon 5/4/16

And then there was one!   ELIZABETH has produced the following.......

"Another month gone by and I could not get any ideas on how to develop my sketches into paintings. I decided that I would do a little watercolours  to try and find out what excites me about watercolour and if  later I could use them in paintings  so I have a little book which I am doing paintings as I feel like it. I attached two for your comments. I don’t know if it will be useful but it is just something I wanted to do.

Jane and I once again enjoyed our time and some of the drawings are not very good but I enclose them all. I had an e-mail from Pat W and she would like to meet at the Festival Hall so Jane and I have chosen 3rd May.   We hope some of the others can come to discuss work and if possible draw."

Wimbledon 2

Alone

Wimbledon 2

Wimbledon 3

Wimbledon 4

w/c abstract 1

w/c abstract 2

Again Elizabeth, a great set of studies of people.  I especially like nos. 2 & 3, where you have used touches of colour, and a combination of line and tone drawing to create a richer visual language.  Lots of food for the eyes!  These all tell a story, which is what I mentioned last time.  The two drawings involving mothers and children are intimate and draw you in to the space between them, and then 'alone' makes us feel as if we're looking across at this solo figure in an empty space.  Very good - definitely telling that story.
What happens to these now?  Do you do paintings from them?  It's back to the old debate as to whether your 'in situ' stuff is the complete statement, in which case it needs to be done on separate sheets of paper, or do you then subsequently work from them?  Maybe they are complete in themselves - maybe that's why you couldn't think how to paint more from them?

Now, the watercolour abstracts.  I think it's extremely good to keep experimenting with you materials, and seeing what they can do for you.  However, I think all this points to a fundamental issue.  Your 'sketches' are not somehow lesser that subsequent 'paintings', and either stage does not need to have specific ways of handling them.

The language you use in your 'in situ' pieces (I'm not calling them sketches, because it can be used rather pejoratively) is SO honest and lovely, you don't need to suddenly change it to a more 'accepted' painting style when you work them up.

Work up you drawings to contain the same mix of language - line, tone, colour, pattern - just as you naturally do anyway.  Yes, some of the lovely watercolour effects you have achieved here can be used too, but IN COMBINATION WITH, AND IN CONVERSATION WITH all the other marks you make.

End of rant!!  Have a go.
Thank you Elizabeth, for being such a sensitive and brilliant watcher of people!

It was Elizabeth and Jane who met up this time, as you will see.  If anyone else has some work to send in and would like comments on, please do!


ELIZABETH  said :- "I think both Jane and I enjoyed drawing together in Wimbledon although it was difficult but interesting as we went to Debenhams’s café and it has large windows with reflections and views over Wimbledon so had something interesting for us both. I continued my theme of people and also reflections. However the  Daffodils and swan were done as an experiment with the thought of experimenting with light against dark and dark against light."

Elizabeth 1      daffodils & swan

Elizabeth 2   Daffodils & Swan

Elizabeth   Station Waiting Room

Elizabeth   Wimbledon Reflections

Elizabeth   Mother & Child

Elizabeth  Wimbledon Vies

Wimbledon

What a super set, Elizabeth.  Unfortunately, some of them are a bit bleached out - I've tried to boost the delicate pencil lines as much as possible.  Just looking at the window/reflections ones first, I particularly like the Station Waiting room drawing.

I've cut out a particularly special bit ( right) - just look at the skill in drawing this person.  Most of the actual figure is not there - just bits of shadows that add up to the whole.  Brilliant.  You are so very good at this sort of drawing.
That piece is lovely also, because of the story it implies.  There's the conversation going on between the two silhouetted figures, and that's contrasted against the isolation of the figure reading.  It's a great study in body language, and the human condition.  MORE PLEASE!  I think you really need to use your skills - drawn and compositional - to tell these stories now, so we become a fly on the wall to your groups of people.

Then, your daffodil and swan pictures are an interesting exploration.  I don't know whether the contrasting pair in no. 1 were intended to remain together as one piece, or were 2 paintings done on the same piece of paper, but I think they work really well as a whole unit, especially as the horizontal lines follow through.

As ever Elizabeth, you have triumphed.  see what you can do by way of development of these drawings?










Then we have a submission from JANE :-  "Elisabeth chose the venue, because she thought I would like the structures, which if course I did.

It was an interesting venue and I would like to go there for our next visit on 5th April. It has great possibilities for me. Though I am finding it difficult to work on my recent drawings while I am printing the Wellcome Institute prints and other happenings keep cropping up!"

Jane 2 - reflections in and out

Jane 4 - inside, but missed a panel!

Jane 5 - trying out ideas

Jane 6 - last drawing of inside

Jane 3 - inside and out

Jane 1 reflection inside looking out

Yes Jane, very difficult to open up new possibilities when your head is still full of the current work!!  However, you've ended up with a very strong set here, which will wait patiently until you're ready!

I like them all, and they have a great strength as a set.  Lots of exploring and trying things out.

Your BIG challenge here is going to be what you do about the immense amount of perspective.  You could not have chosen a more tricky subject from that point of view!

Originally we explored the possibilities of flattening the perspective, so that you could maximise the abstract possibilities.  However, you showed us all another way, with your Wellcome drawings.  That was to include a certain amount of perspective, but skew it.  Your stairs became a sort of flattened ribbon, and yet the actual steps were solid.  Your tiled floor had an overly steep perspective, which played with our sense of where we were in relation to the space.  So.......... those are the sort of games you want to try and play.  Acknowledge that it is a 3D space, but then squidge it and squash, and twist it, and flatten or over-emphasise it - and create a new reality.

Phew - good luck to you!!  It's a difficult game to play, but has great possibilities.

EVERYONE'S WORK - V & A 9/2/16

I think it was only Elizabeth and Jane at this meeting, but other people have sent in work anyway, and that's great!



First of all, ELIZABETH said "The conversation (no. 1) I worked on using my imagination from the Kings Cross Sketch, Two drawings in the café and one of reflections in a display case. "

Elizabeth no. 1

Elizabeth no. 2

Elizabeth no. 3

Elizabeth no. 4

Elizabeth, all I can say is BRILLIANT!  I really love the 'Conversation' (no.1).  It has a feel of Karolina Larusdottir fused with Lonia Lawson.  The clever counterchange of the light table in the darker half of the picture, and the listening head of the figure against the light are superb.  If I had any suggestion, and it really is very minor, I would just say that the head on the left could have been more suggested, and just let the hands do the talking (literally!).
I am really so pleased with this one, because often when you work up something for a second time, you lose what you had originally, but this time you have vastly improved on the first version.  Super.
Drawings no. 3 & 4 have the same qualities, and could be spun with magic in the same way.  the only one I am less sure about is no. 2.  I have to think about why.  Visually, the flat red and pencil areas don't really go with the little scratchy bits of drawing.  However, I think more than anything, it's because it doesn't draw me in to a story.  the others are like eavesdropping on a conversation - you are compelled to look in.  That's why I chose those two artists to liken them to, because they have the poetic, human narrative quality to their work.
So lovely Elizabeth.  I think you can truly say that you have found 'you'.






Next up we have JANE, who was also at the V&A, but then went back to the Welcome Institute.

Jane drawings from V&A

Jane - Wellcome stairs

Well done Jane.  This version of 'stairs' is looking promising!  I think we are up against 'how precise' to be again.  The very formal candy-stripe on the inside of the stairs is mesmerising, but just a bit too mechanical for the rest of the painting.  The rest has a slightly organic look, as done by a human hand.  You need to decide.  If you think about Bridget Riley paintings, they are precise to the nth degree, and that's what makes them what they are.  .Tthey wouldn't work if an area was done like we know them to be, and another area was more painterly.  You need to decide.  This is the tightrope you walk on, being a painter and a printmaker!  Are your paintings going to be like prints, or like paintings?  Both valid, but not intermingled so much!
having said all that, I like the 2D / 3D discourse that you're exploring in this piece - keep that up.

Your set of drawings looks interesting, and the comments above absolutely apply to whatever you go on and do with them.  the little drawing on the bottom right looks especially promising.  I can't say much more about these until we see what happens next.








STEPHANIE has sent in some work, saying "still on my painting course.  Have been working more slowly, and making a lot of mistakes!  Currently working on a New York city streetscene which is not going too well, but am having ideas for tackling it again next week.  Here are a couple:  the first, white landscape needs a little more work on the right foreground — it is quite big; the second is a fairly straightforward Canadian lake scene, the third a portrait in progress."

Stephanie no. 1

Stephanie no. 2

Stephanie no.3

It's great to see what you're up to!  Image no. 1 has a lovely soft mystery to it.  I like the blue in the bottom right corner - it's a nice spike against everything else.  i think the only thing you need to change, actually, is that curve of blue, over the green splodge.  If that wasn't there, and the blue was just in the corner, it would all work very nicely.
No. 2 - I am less convinced by at the moment, if I'm being honest!  I love the courage of the colours on the right, but then it all goes a bit soggy and splodgy on the left.  Again, it seriously does come back to 'what are you trying to express?'.  Is it to show that you can do large conifer trees in oils, or is it about the rocks in the foreground, or is it something to do with the layers of colours and textures in the landscape?  Even if you're just experimenting with a new(ish) medium, you need to just know where you're heading in each case.
No. 3 is very much more certain in it's direction, and I like the simple colouring and the brave, strong lighting. Those strong shadows are a great way to define form (of the head, in this case).  I'm assuming this is from a photo?  I do like the way you've worked the subtle shine on the skin, and really got a sense of the volume of the head.
Without knowing exactly what you are being asked to do on your course, I can't comment much more, because maybe you were aiming for something specific.  It's looking exciting, but just remember - what's it about??????