Today I contacted the college to find out how long I have left to complete the course and found out it is March 2012. Phew! I was seriously panicking because it made me realise just how much I have to do. I was looking on the gallery today on the OCA student site and felt very apprehensive about my abilities. There are some extremely talented students. So I have decided that as well as completing the exercises, I need to practise, doodle and draw every day. I did a nice drawing yesterday of a vase, which is one of my strongest drawings so far. Then, Today I did a very spontaneous sketch of a chicken ornament in my house. It was liberating and I really felt relaxed and fully absorbed into the task. I pushed my concerns to the back of my mind. I think it really shows in the completed sketch how relaxed and confident I was feeling. I used colour and bold strokes and it is my largest and strongest sketch so far. I am beginning to lose my fear of the pencil and colour and you can clearly see it in this drawing. I feel very proud of it and am looking forwards to progressing with the exercises to further develop my skills.
Sunday 30 January 2011
Sketch - Chicken Ornament 18/01/2011
I like to do random sketches to put my learnings into practise and also to help develop my individual style. For me, this is a very important sketch as it is my first full introduction of colour (not very well represented in this photo). I did struggle with achieving a life like colour match with the current range of colour pencils I have. However I thoroughly enjoyed this sketch as it did not feel forced, was very spontaneous and I felt very absorbed into the drawing.
Research - Inspirational Artist - Wassily Kandinsky 17/01/2011
I am looking at artists which I admire and provide me with inspiration to develop myself throughout this course. Generally, I am always attracted to colour which is where my first choice comes from.
The artist I admire most is: Wassily Kandinsky.
Kandinsky is definitely one of my top favourites. His paintings are beautiful, bold, confident, colourful and chaotic! I am not keen on his earlier pieces, however I love his work post 1920’s.
Below are a few of my favourite pieces of his work:
'Several Circles' 1926
I love this piece. It is colourful and bold yet still maintains a silent simplicity to it. It is beautiful and I feel it is one of his more peaceful creations, like he was an inspired by a moment of reflection and inner calm. The softness of the form of the circles along with the vibrant colours give the image an aura of quiet confidence.
'Black Grig' 1922
This piece is gloriously colourful with plenty to keep the eye busy. A brilliant balance of soft and sharp shapes keep the image interesting without it being too hectic. I really like the angle he has placed the boats on, using the triangle shaped smoke clouds to lead across the page towards the dark grey cloud in the right hand corner. I like to think the collection of shapes across the centre of the image are a representation of all the colourful, chaotic and exiting experiences the ships have gathered on their journeys.
'Orange Violet' 1935
This is such an interesting piece. I love Kandinsky’s use of shapes to create almost animal like images. For example the green and grey shapes in the left hand corner remind me of the kind of fictional characters found in the Loch Ness and addition the entwined swirls on the black square remind me of a chinese dragon. I do get a very tribal feel from this image through the use of the stripes used throughout the image along with the animal like forms.
All information and images taken from www.wassilykandinsky.net
Tuesday 25 January 2011
Vase Sketch - 17/01/2010
This is one of my first drawings since returning to the course. I still have an issue with proportions as you can see from the top curves of the vase. Also, it is a lot longer in real life and I do not feel I have represented that here. I have tried to create the perception of shape by adding shading to make it appear more curved. Overall I am pleased with it and feel it shows good progress.
www.accessart.org.uk My Learnings 17/01/2011
I gained some valuable pieces of information from the exercises within this website. The outlines and negative space exercises were particularly interesting and I found them to be really helpful with opening my mind up to drawing objects. I did struggle with the solidity exercise and did not do this. I just don’t understand how you can communicate through a drawing the impact of gravity other than drawing a down arrow above it! I do still need to develop my understanding of terminology and have discovered this will be an on-going objective for me.
Returned and feeling low - 17/01/2011
Ok, so I am back and here to stay. To get back into the swing of things I have contacted my tutor as I think he has not yet received my student profile. I have re-read the hand outs, my learning log and taken a good look at my sketch books. I am still feeling low in confidence levels though after browsing the gallery on the OCA website and seeing some amazing pieces of art on there. I just don’t think I will be good enough! So, I have found a link to a webpage to boost confidence levels in drawing, on the resources section of the OCA website. I am going to work through it go from there www.accessart.org.uk.
A break - 23/09/2010
The past few months have been a whirlwind for me personally. Myself and my partner separated which has resulted in me moving around, and my art work and materials all being kept in a box until now. However I am now back at my parents and feel it is time to crack on with the course again. I have missed it and I do love Autumn as a season and am keen to get drawing again. I have reviewed my learning log and sketch book and definitely feel I am still too biased towards pencil. I need to start using other mediums a lot more and not be scared of them. I plan to get back in touch with my tutor and start working on this as often as I can. I particularly want to start using more pen and charcoal.
Mark Making Techniques - Review 04/04/2010
I am still working through mark-making and am starting to find it tedious! I know I need to do it to improve. I have reviewed some of my drawings so far and I am pleased with all of them. I feel I am making good progress overall. I do need to work on my understanding of terminology as I am still noting drawings with ‘very light’ or ‘slightly scratchy’. I feel I could be using better terminology to express my opinions. I can’t wait to start the landscapes section as there is one particular view in my area that I love and really want to draw.
'The Avenue of Trees', Kettering, Northamptonshire. Photograph taken from http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/152671
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