My art on my smallholding

 

From my A5 note/sketch book:

 One or two notes during the three days in Talgarth:

My hands and feet are frequently acknowledged.

Sometimes our model dozes off.

After Gustave Courbet 'Origin of the World'

And here Annie is relaxing between poses......

 

 

 

 

"I didn't know I had a language"

These are the words of Natalie during a conversation we had at Niel Bally's three days of life-drawing. They refer to what I consider to be one of the most significant findings/recollections/insights from the three days. 

However, my previous posting recalls my intentions as I approached the three days, and described a fairly clear plan of work which I intended to follow. But I did say that, from experience, any plan is usually thrown out of the window once one enters the new situation. And this is basically what happened on this occasion. So, that is the second most significant aspect. Now back to the first:

I took with me a stack of old drawings, which I considered to be not particularly special (so I would probably throw them away at some time), and had a clean reverse side. As I took each sheet from my folio I glanced at the drawing on it. I gradually built up a realisation that there were significant similarities, particularly in my mark-making, between the old drawings and those I was now producing. 

I mentioned this to Natalie, showed her two examples, and commented to her that in looking back at early drawings I was identifying similarities to what I am now doing. Her response was so insightful. "It's the same with me, I look back at early work and conclude that 'I didn't know I had a language (then)'" We explored this connection between our past and our current art. And our conclusion is that there exists within each one of us a fundamental way of doing things which we are probably born with and will prevail regardless of the challenges, regardless of the pressures, regardless of influences, to change direction, i.e. 'We each have our own language!' But we take a long time to realise this.

DAY ONE

DAY TWO

  

DAY THREE

Tomorrow is another day....and I can't wait

Yes! I'm off to Talgarth to Niels Bally's studio for three days of life-drawing with a lovely and stimulating community of artists. I've been building up to this for a few days now, by looking back over recent works, the looking back many years (specially around 2013/14) to some of the techniques which I have since come to value. As a consequence I have assembled a box of materials, including pencils, fine-liner pens, thick graphite sticks, charcoals, etc. all mono-chromatic, but which I am to use together on the same drawing in a variety of ways. Now, all this appears as a plan, and as I well know from previous experience, any plan is immediately caused to be abandoned as most of the variables in the life-drawing situation are different and often unexpected, i.e. the` model, the poses set up by the convenor, the ambiance of the studio, how one feels after the journey from home, how one feels after the night before, which colleagues are there and how one interacts with them before starting the first pose, how one questions the relevance and appropriateness of one's own plans for the morning, etc., etc.

So what did I think about during the preceding days? Here are excerpts from my note book.................

October 30th 2024:

Life-drawing, 3 days at Talgarth....then in 2025 4x3days (life) and 1x3days (portrait). In parallel  I will continue with my 'Re-visiting programme'. Also I would like to try Angela's over in Brockweir, say for two days depending on who the model is - Is Penny there?

How to make the most of Niel's: 

1. my usual response is: some fine-liner pen but various other responses depending on what Niel is pushing, e.g. inks, tonal emphasis, lighting, etc. 

2. Look back on my archive and identify any particular 'events' which I feel may be worth pursuing. or revitalising and developing or responding to: e.g. heavy graphite stick, cross hatching, tinted charcoal, charcoal various.

A big question! Continue with the mono-chromatic, my comfort zone, OR engage with something different, e.g. colour, a wet medium?

My response.....

There is still loads of potential in the 'dry mediums of the mono-chromatic', and evolving my art beyond such aspects as: superimpositioning, transparency, morphing, and my aspects of cubism. AND I have the confidence in myself, now, that I can just 'go-for-it', i.e. project my reaction on to my paper without  inhibition - using my familiar/known tools/media, BUT into the unknown...........allowing the unexpected to happen.

I've been looking back thro' my blog, and recording my findings by photographing them on my phone (I can consistently refer to these during the three days if I wish to). 

This is a summary: a) squiggle drawing, b) part of a pose (even 1/2 portrait of Martin), remainder fading with soft boundaries, c) tonal drawings with squiggles, d) Quartets (12 November 2018).

Fairly certain I would like to emphasise 'multi-medium drawing', i.e. fine-liner, thick graphite, charcoal, pencil, black/grey tinted charcoal......ALL-IN-ONE.

So, Day One: quickies: one in each medium. Day Two: starting to emphasise multi-medium. Day Three: A long drawing, utilising multi-media, whilst thinking about what I'm doing whilst I'm doing it. 

However: in the past my best works have usually been quick and spontaneous! Food for thought.

Here are a few of the images from my past which I found particularly relevant:

A reflection on my fine-liner pen line drawings....

 “Art is a line around your thoughts.” – Gustav Klimt

By drawing I am helping myself to see.........

 "I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing, I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle." -Frederick Franck

Many years ago, in 2015, my very dear friend and life-drawing colleague, Marianne Hvass, gave to me a copy of Frederick Franck's wonderfully inspiring book 'Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing: Meditation in Action'.  Since then I have taken this book with me on many trips, alongside my recordings in my A5 sketch books, including to India and Nepal, and across Botswana, the Kalahari desert and Namibia, and more recently to Roman sites along the north coast of Africa, and to my Camino to Santiago de Compostela. I will cherish the support it gives me as in March next year I travel the 600 miles down the Nile to eventually witness and explore the history and archaeology of the Egyptian contribution to our classical cultures. 

Marianne was from Denmark and spent many years in Wales during which we attended life-drawing classes together, after which we spent time together discussing our art. She was so sadly taken from us with a devastating illness a few years ago. 

My act of drawing...........

 "It gives me such a sense of peace to draw; more than prayer, walks, anything." -Sylvia Plath