Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Artistic Subtlety

Am still doing Jane Davies online workshop.  It's a 10 week commitment and is getting harder each lesson.  In the past two lessons we have gone from the sublime to the gorblimey, or vice versa depending on your point of view.

In this lesson we were to use as many and varied techniques as possible, making each quadrant of the piece completely different.



On the left is a start...but we were asked to push it further, so the image on the right is the result. Similarly in those below....






In the following lesson...quite the opposite.  We were to make images with as little contrast as possible, but still make them interesting.




This was not as easy as it sounds. I really had to overcome the hurdle of thinking of them as backgrounds, but regarding them as complete works. It was a lesson in subtlety...and one that I needed.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Online workshops

Doing online workshops is every bit as good as doing them in real life. You get to see the work of your co-participants, get feedback for each lesson from your tutor, and can work at your own pace.



 


The above are part of my Lesson #4 work in Jane Davies '100 Drawings on Cheap Paper' online workshop.  This workshop, despite it's name, is a serious class in process. The object is to pursue, within Jane's guidelines, variety in all aspects of mark-making.

Working on at least ten 'drawings' at a time has forced me not to get too precious about each  mark, and to allow more freedom of expression.  We are not expected to complete a 'finished' work of art, but to get in touch with the muse within ourselves.  It's working for me.

For ten weeks I'll be 'playing'....and loving it.

Meanwhile there is some serious painting going on as well.



...I never stop trying....