Was asked if I would like to exhibit some drawings as an artist had unfortunately had to withdraw at the last minute. I still have a few of my 'classics' framed so I was pleased to accept the invitation.
At 7Q Gallery in Chepstow from August 26th to September 12th. 7Q is an initiative to support local artists. It is a delightfully simple rectangular space with excellent lighting down on the banks of the River Wye, just a minute from The Boat Inn overlooking the river.
As this blog is my diary this is just a quick posting to record the event.
John: gardener and yachtsman
Bob Fowles [2014]
Two-handed 2B pencil ‘life-drawing’ on 220gsm cartridge
paper
£650.00
drawn with two hands simultaneously
my early ‘squiggle’
technique
the approach of a
tonalist (later I became a linearist)
surreal, yet
representational
morphism: creating
something greater or different to the sum of the parts
Paul: also a gardener
Bob Fowles [2017]
Two-handed fine-liner pen ‘life-drawing’ on 220gsm cartridge
paper
£500.00
I recently came across the term 'overlay', and said "Yes" this
describes what I am doing on the paper. I am drawing one pose, or part of a
pose, on top of another, and repeating this a number of times. But this does
not fully describe my process. So if I adopt this term of 'overlay', and
then place alongside it the terms I have previously employed, i.e.
'superimposition', 'transparency', my 'anagram' process and morphism then I am
beginning to describe my current genre. However, I firmly believe that
fundamental to my 'process' is my engagement with a 'spatial' aspect. The
absence of background or context places the form in space which then permeates
through, around and beyond the object.
The drawing is of parts of two 30 minute poses. The first part to be drawn is the knee and foot diagonally located from top right to lower left with the right foot curled behind it. The two arm and hand drawings were next added. Finally, I recall it took quite a bold move on my part to include the final drawing (I just went for it) of the left knee, shin and foot, from top left to bottom right. At the top of the paper the receding thigh of the last drawing conveniently linked up with the shoulder lines of the two arm drawings to complete an overall holistic, and morphed, form.
Double-model perfection
Bob Fowles [2015]
Graphite pencil ‘life-drawing’ on 220gsm cartridge paper
£500.00
Yes.......I am referring to the two
female models. Robin and Natalie, who I have been drawing for quite a few years
now. Their poses are inspiring. They bring out the best in me. And here are two
drawings, about 10 minutes each, which have emerged as my favourites from the
many I produced over the six days I spent at Stroud and Crickhowell at the end
of July.
Why do I like them so much? They are the product of a quick, spontaneous,
minimalist response. There is no reworking, no unnecessary lines, no marks of
frustration. To start with both hands with hard pencils exploring the basic
form and composition, then softer pencils selectively homing in and emphasising
the essentials. The drawings are as much a result of my feelings as what I am
seeing.
I do recall with both poses that when they formed in front of me I immediately
knew what to do. This does not mean I knew what the outcome would be. It means
I just knew where to start, and the rest came naturally.
Cacophony
Bob Fowles
Two-handed pencil and fine-liner pen ‘still-life’ on heavy
duty cartridge paper
£1500.00
CACOPHONY ‘Courtship’ …. Bob Fowles
Life-drawing
is my artistic activity. This is my first still-life drawing.
On being
presented with a diverse collection of artefacts, in order to make a start, I
adopted one of my frequently used life-drawing strategies, a linear journey up through the
composition: folded red plastic leads to
a brass dish on its side, then the bones of a skeleton framed a pile of books.
The narrative which emerged, and then evolved over the 3 days of the project,
holds a complexity of concepts, symbols and insights which are very personal to
me.
The nature
of the initial mark-making comes from my two-handed
drawing technique through which I place emphasis on tonal variation. I am not
making a representative drawing of what I am looking at. It is much more like I
am exploring my feelings about that
which is before me. Here, I soon became
aware of the emerging analogies with parts of the female body as I seemed to be
creating an organic interpretation of
the objects before me. The initial shapes were also sensuous. I began to fall
in love with this lady.
We were
moved to a new location at the end of each day. New objects came into view and
selections were made to develop the narrative. Just as the edges of the brass
dish had transformed into vaginal lips on day one, so the conveniently juxtaposed
circular forms of the wheel of a sewing machine and a ship’s brass portal
window completed the female form analogy. On day three, from my new location,
my reflection in a mirror prompted me to join my lady alongside the stack of
books which represent the foundation blocks of her knowledge, and as they pile
upwards and in perspective they extend her powers of infinite wisdom. The
straight line geometry of the books contrasts with, and so helps emphasise, the
drawing’s organic philosophy. The female and the organic are engulfing the masculinity of machines. The male puppet
has been decapitated for his voyeuristic stance.
I experiment
with ways of dealing with tonal variation. The spherical forms, which
derive from the skeleton joints, are drawn with my circular squiggly method
using fine-liner pens. The organic growth is drawn using an HB pencil in
each hand. These two pencils simultaneously explore
the shapes they are responding to, and converge to work together in places
to produce tonal intensity. In the lower left hand corner I utilise
singular hatching, with one hand, in the drawing of the puppet.
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