EDAM Week 4: Drawing in Space and Light ( 1 )

Week 4 of Extended Drawing for Artists and Makers with new tutor ( Anne Teahan ) and a new 3 week project  starting with drawing in space ( seeing the world transparently ).

We started with  an introduction to  artists  who'd explored the idea of space  using 3D media  (  have tendency to think of space as nothing  but it's integral  to seeing in the same way as gaps in music are important) - how they treat space inside a room, a landscape or the human form. 

We looked particularly at the work of Chiharu Shiota  ( I regretted  not getting to the exhibition 'Lost in Lace' )  looking  at how objects take on the characteristics of the process of 'drawing' with thread 

 The work of Cornelia Parker  where space appears trapped  within the charred remnants from  a suspected arson  ( I was lucky enough to see her retrospective at the Whitworth  and more recently at Turner Contemporary)

The gestural  marks from her 'bullet drawings'  share similarities to Antony Gormley's 'Domain Fields' (below ) with space intruding into the forms.  

The spiralling lines of  his 'Feeling Material'  contrast with the overlapping parallel lines of 'Matrix 1 and 2'  with a feeling of  crosshatching, building up layers of density.

Giacometti's 'The Artist's Mother'   also shows space built up in layers and cross hatched marks. 

Then to work,  ' harvesting marks' from these artists  to build up layered drawings in charcoal, using different grades ,lightness, thickness,  lots of dusting off, trying to keep  a feeling of space , going back in with  a rubber when it started getting too heavy . 

 The second one  I did contrasting the 2 Antony Gormley pieces  was more successful. Before lunch  we set up a layered  background for the observational drawing in the afternoon ( we  put a border of masking tape around the edge of the paper and then drew a charcoal frame within it  to define and enclose  the  space from the start ) 

 After lunch we looked at the work of Jenny Saville and Ginny Grayson,   how they'd layered marks and made continual , visible adjustments as they drew  which added to the richness and complexity of the surface. 

 The objects I brought in  were the pewter vase which I've drawn several  times before ( above)  and  for transparency, a glass pyrex jug . Who knew that it would be so satisfying  ( if difficult)  to draw! 

 Rather than setting up a still life , we started with one object  and then added  another, building up layers and composition. Challenging  but interesting, one of my problems is that I've done very little drawing with charcoal as I hate the mess and it irritates my skin and  so usually wear gloves. Fine for gestural marks but  clumsy and awkward  for detailed observational work, but I persisted! Perspective is all over the place too   but looking down from an easel , my position kept moving. 

The next session is  drawing in light ( seeing the world as a series of surfaces touched by light)- I'm off to  look for some black and shiny objects ! 

Ways into abstract painting week 4: Tate Modern Visit

I've spent most of the last week stitching and painting my entry for SAQA 'Made in Europe II'   but  with that completed ( a day before the deadline!) I can concentrate on looking through my notes and sketches  in preparation for tomorrow's final session of 'Ways into Abstract Painting' . It's gone so quickly!

Last week we had an 'off site' visit to Tate Modern to research the work of a variety of artists , looking at the ways they use colour, composition, paint application etc.   We  were working in small groups , finding   artists who used one of each of a range of painting techniques  eg impasto, directional brushmarks and then discussed what their starting point was ( observational, memory, random ) and how treatment of the work affected the atmosphere or feeling of the piece) . Then individually  we did sketches of composition looking at tone and colour study.

Duncan Grant Interior of Gordon Square

We started in ' In the Studio' and the group I was with looked at works by Duncan Grant and Matisse . I wouldn't necessarily have chosen this work myself but  I  like how it's obviously based on a room and easels etc but interesting composition and colour choices.  Then the security guard suggested I deposit my rucksack in the cloakroom/lockers and on my return  it was difficult to get back into discussions so contrary to instructions , I went and looked at work on my own.
It's probably just as well, I'm not very good at looking at artworks with others unless it's a tutor pointing out key features etc. When I go to exhibitions with friends or Ian , tend to go round separately

Max Ernst The Entire City

Jean Miro Painting 1927

It was interesting to look at work with an initial focus on painting methods - picking up on the 'grissage' of Max Ernst and the outlines and subtle layers of Jean Miro. The intense blue initially looks flat but looking closer you can see directional brushmarks.

Nicolas de Stael Marathon 1948

Nicolas de Stael  was an obvious example of impasto! The notes on the wall/ website suggest that the title perhaps indicates the comparison with creating a painting and the extended exertion of a race. 

However the composition to me looked like a head  or helmet like the ones worn at the battle of Marathon  ( Ian' s interests in military history obviously rubbing off on me....)

Tsuyoshi Maekawa Two Junctions

I was so wrapped up in analysing this artwork with its' combination of burlap, paint  and a colour palette similar to the coastal ones I'm using at the moment that I lost control of my crayons . One rooled behind the security wire so I had to ask a security guard to retrieve  it for me!

Pierre Soulages Painting 23 May 1953

Nearby was this large work by Pierre Soulages,  with its calligraphic heavy directional brushmarks.

I paid homage to Gerhard Richter  and did a quick sketch of Winifred Nicholson's calm  piece in ' Art and Society'  I like her quote about abstraction:

"the nature of abstract colour is utter purity – but colours wish to fly, to merge, to change each other by their juxtapositions, to radiate, to shine, to withdraw deep within themselves."

By the time I'd looked once again at Shozo Shimamoto's ' Holes' I'd run out of steam so had a quick look around the Giacometti before meeting up with the class for coffee and to discuss our findings.

It was really interesting to see what others had discovered, some had concentrated on just one or 2 paintings,  others had  a different mix to my own selection. I'd missed the Kurt Schwitters and the Peter Doig  so had a look at those before returning to City Lit. With browsing in the bookshop and getting sidetracked by Magdalena Abakanowicz I only had  10 minutes to eat my lunch!

Shozo Shimamoto  Holes 1954

In the afternoon we started on a project working from a similar starting point to the artist we'd chosen.  Most people were looking at composition  but my starting point was the process used by Shizo Shimamoto of layering newspapers . I was interested to read more about the Gutai group  having coincidentally  looked at work by 2 members.

I  had a happy afternoon glueing  pages and torn up bits of text and pictures from that day's Metro onto cartridge paper and then applying white paint using different methods ( credit card scraping, brushwork etc )  ready to tear up and layer the following week. . Reading more about  his work  and the process involved  I realised that the  delicacy of the orginal piece come from multiple layers  of newspaper glued with flour and water  contrasted with the use of enamel paint - I don't think what I've prepared will work in the same way. 

I've also been thinking about  why I wanted to do this class ( to help with  abstract composition in my textile pieces) and how I could best use what I've learnt so far in a final project.   Further work on holes and tears requires  more attention to materials and process than can be achieved in a days' class so I'm putting that interesting topic to one side for the moment.   

So for tomorrow I'm looking at the brushmarks/ impasto of De Stael and Soulages  and have printed and laminated photos so I can do some colour mixing , (particularly of greys)   in preparation for the next in my ' Birchington Breakwater ' series.  

Giacometti Pure Presence at NPG

 On Monday afternoon  I used my new ' National Art Pass' for the first time,  visiting the Giacometti exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.    I've got more interested in portraiture over the last few months,   ( the display at the Whitworth was intriguing even if the labelling  was infuriating!) Also , examples of  drawings by Giacometti  were referred to several times in my City Lit course  along with other artists in relation  to the use of line  to  explore and build up a sense of shape and volume ( and the 'ghosts' of rubbed out drawings  adding richness ).

There have been lots of  very favourable reviews  about this  exhibition  but  I wasn't prepared for how moving   it was. Showing artwork from a very early age, drawing his  close family over decades again and again,  you could feel how he  used drawing  not only to look  intently but to  try and capture  life.  It was intensely personal yet universal.

Among my favourites were the drawings of his mother, particularly the one above , on loan from MOMA.  The connection of  lines to from the  body to the room  draw you in, linking the subject to their surroundings ( as well as being an excellent lesson in perspective!) . There was also a lovely , loving painting of her knitting.

 

 It was touching to see the  work   recording his brother Diego from childhood onwards, again I like the ones that set the subject in their surroundings, in this painting  a bed in the studio. Of the sculptures, the one  above, in 2 flattened planes, was the one  I returned to several times.