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Come On Spring!
Tag: pen and ink
A Snowflake’s Chance in Hell
I have just, rashly, entered my artwork to the first round of what is the largest and most longstanding (since 1789!) open submission contemporary art show in the United Kingdom, namely the 2017 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, with its prevailing trademark chaos.
Let the nail-biting commence.
The selection Process:
- 12,000 digital entries will be accepted online – judging 16 March
- 4,000 of these entries will be short-listed for the second round – judging 18 May
- Approximately 800 works will be chosen for the exhibition – final hangings 27 May
I know, right?
Ah well, at least I know that my entry fee will contribute towards a good cause; the funds raised by the exhibition go to the Royal Academy School – ensuring tuition for their students is free.
For the very last time (promise) I created a final, final, FINAL, ink drawn portrait of my youngest step-daughter, Ruth. For once the image is large, so if you want to examine it closely, click it about three times.
Fingers crossed….you just never know! ^^
The Summer Exhibition 2017 at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, runs from 13 June to 20 August.
** I didn’t get in after all – but it was fun to have a go.
I’m still here….Yawn!
So six months of chugging away for my Zazzle store has felt mind-numbingly tedious. Not that the actual designing is boring, more the (necessary) cross-media broadcasting that accompanies each and every single item.
Anyway, the possibility of emigrating to sunny Portugal now totally preoccupies me. I’ve attended overseas property exhibitions, examined online, plots of land for sale, researched property purchasing regulations and everything about private swimming pools – it’s addictive and so much fun! If this does happen, it won’t be until 2018 after my son complete his university studies.
I’m itching to paint and draw again. At the risk of being boring, I’m considering revisiting an image of my youngest step-daughter, the composition of which, inexplicably, still stimulates my creativity. Already drawn in pencil and ink, painted with watercolour – twice. This time I plan using a mixture of media and may give pastels a go.
Here to prove that I haven’t totally given up, is the ink version, but this time with some minor digital modifications.
Improbable Quest
My head frequently bubbles with detailed artistic ideas, but actually accomplishing them isn’t always easy.
I’d like to create a series of paintings portraying likenesses of people I know, with their facial features and hands taking prominence.
You may wonder why I don’t simply call them “portraits”. Well, have you ever tried to render the essence of an individual onto paper or canvas? Obtaining a true recognisable likeness is staggeringly difficult. Formidable, even. Not least because the sitter is unlikely to view themselves in the same way that the artist does and there are always critics ready to pile huge lumps of vitriol onto the artist.
Clueless but undaunted, the first step was taken; I found a photograph that makes me want to to dust off my paints.
This preliminary ink drawing was to make me look hard at her features to familiarise myself with depicting them – also to decide which elements of the photograph to include and which to leave out in the composition.
The quick pencil sketch helped me ignore the myriad details and to simplify by considering the tonal values of her face that create form. Squinting helps with this.
My lofty aspiration is to somehow infuse the painting with more personality than the merely flat one dimensional drawing (although I do quite like flat images). To cultivate an intimacy that goes deeper than a mere likeness. Ideally I hope to reveal something of what goes on behind her eyes.
If I manage to fulfil my heady blur of ambitious imagined plans, the next post should be the painting. Any resemblance to the sitter will be an indescribable relief, but mostly I’m just happy to be doing some art again!
Now if someone could just sprinkle some fairy dust onto my paint brushes…..
Christmas comes every year…thankfully only once!
Ok, I give in…I have embraced the whole twinkly palaver and descent into mild over-stuffed hysteria that is Christmas. I have made my own card.
The halls are decked, tinsel tamed, bells jingled, mince pies baked and I have Santa’s mail-order number on speed dial. I’ve refrained from scowling when every store assaults my ears with Christmas muzac playing on an endless loop. Three cards have been received already – two from the Chinese takeaway.
The only problem is that red fluffy bits of marabou feather trim have migrated to every item of clothing and room in the house – I’m literally spitting feathers!
Wishing you all a happy, sparkly and peaceful Christmas. See you next year.
Do Not Adjust Your Eyes….
And now for something completely different….brace yourself.
Should you not have a predilection for death-metal music, you may have just a smidge of trouble appreciating the finer aesthetic points of the angry, aggressive-looking band logo below. As I didn’t know a mosh pit from an arm pit, creating it was arduous; I was like a floundering mackerel out of water.
To my untutored ears the initial shocking auditory overload of this subgenre sound seemed reminiscent of a wild animal amidst its death throes. Courageous persistence afforded me a detailed fast-track education in the core nuances of ‘extreme’ throat-screaming, (nightmarish, spine-chilling) headbanging, shredding, chugging, riffs and seven-string guitars. It’s almost time for my medication.
My endeavours to achieve the brief for an image resembling the gaping jaws of a furious wild animal were rewarded by the band members professing that my logo is “SICK”. Such obvious flattery had me agreeing to further design t-shirts and other merchandise.
Their elemental image is monolithically hardcore; ear tunnels and tattoos notwithstanding. The visceral sound pushes beyond most people’s preconceived notions of heavy music. And yet…these young men are not remotely dangerous; each one is well educated, admirably charming with impeccable good manners. They are passionate, ambitious and intensely focused on technical perfection and good song writing….although I may be accused of bias, having spawned the 17 year old lead guitarist (far left).
If you’re feeling really brave have a listen to them.
Whether or not you are an embracer of the death metal scene…it is huge and rapidly becoming more mainstream…you have been warned!
….close eyes to exit.
*Update! My son quit the band as he needs more time for his music studies – jazz: much easier on the ear And he’s decided to be a composer.*
Wedding Invitation
It was my immense privilege to design the wedding invitation for the eldest of my two amazing step-daughters.
The image was to fit on a narrow, horizontal, white card and illustrate that the event would be held on Kentish farmland boasting two fishing ponds and several animal breeds.
The happy couple were “thrilled” with my efforts and I was officially dubbed a “clever old stick! The wedding day was appropriately and sublimely magical and I even made my own fascinator for the occasion.
Shelf Portrait
Herewith only a small portion of my current reading matter.
Some are being avidly studied – others, I’m merely dipping into. They all offer me the opportunity to further develop the multiple intricacies of illustration skills and feed my insatiable curiosity about the subject.
Soon I hope to demonstrate here how they have inspired and educated me. My motto is to never stop learning and trying to improve.
Watch this space….*cue “Wonder Woman theme tune”* ♬ ♫ ♪ ♩
