The Status Quo

I’m feeling a bit inhibited. I think this is due to not having closure on my first module – Drawing Skills. I will receive my grade for this next week.

Also, it’s a bit “fussy” always ensuring there are no spots on my prints and that the edges are clean and well placed. I can understand the reason for this as it is a discipline. But I feel like a round peg at the moment. Squeezing myself into an uncomfortable space is not helping me to get into flow creatively. I’ve thought about this a lot. I dont want to switch modules as it’s a bit late for that. But my instinct is to take the prints that didn’t work as actual finished outcomes in their own right and cut them up for collage – a favourite medium/method of mine. It’s a messy and instinctive way of creating images which a like. It is in contrast to the immaculate, almost OCD approach required for Printmaking.

I shall persevere with the Printmaking module. It has the potential for being frustrating but fun. It is a big thrill to pull a print that meets the strict criteria for a finished outcome. I like a challenge. I was nearing exasperation for the first few attempts at creating prints that met the grade. Things are improving very gradually.

I’m aiming to submit for assessment in November 2021. This gives me roughly 6 weeks between assignment submissions, plus a bit of wriggle room. It should be plenty if I get the basics right now.

I officially started this module on 14th October 2020. I have yet to submit my first assignment. This I’ve scheduled for the first week in January. With a bit more effort I should make this deadline with passable coursework under my belt. I don’t feel quite as confident as I recall being this time last year. But it’s a different discipline. Perhaps I’m being too literal in my understanding of what’s required? Perhaps I could be having a little more fun with the process? Perhaps I had similar questions in my head at the start of the Drawing Skills module.

I think that this time next week I will know whether I’ll need to pause to rethink last year’s submission and that it is this which potentially holds me back from progression rather than any lack of ability.

I’ll update this “thinking out loud” blog post next week when I have received my grade for Drawing Skills.

Spirals

I’ve always liked spirals. I’d drew them constantly as a child. Starting in the centre of my paper, I’d link them up to form a plant like structure with spiral branches leading off to further sprouting spirals until I’d run out of space. Then I’d gift these to family members (whether they appreciated them or not).

I have mixed feelings about Matisse’s Snail (1953). I’m always trying to make sense of the form of a snail within these sections of colour. Rather than bang my head against the wall in pursuit of the impossible, I think I’d get more joy from appreciating how he has chosen colours that bounce pleasantly off one another.

References:

Tate. ‘“The Snail”, Henri Matisse, 1953’. Tate. Accessed 1 December 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/matisse-the-snail-t00540.

Part 1: Project 2: Positive and Negative Masked Monoprints Continued

I learned last week that my ceramic tile plate lacked the definition required for clean sharp print edges, so I returned to using a glass plate. The template happened to fit this glass plate all but perfectly. I brushed the ink onto the plate this time, rather than using a brayer like last week.

Have the workings of a decent collage from leftover stencil and templates

Initial print from template with “f” holes pre cut

Unfortunate lines left due to imperfectly fitting stencil

Ghost print (once initial print, first ghost print already taken and template removed)

I still need to be more scrupulous with keeping plate and inking surfaces clean to avoid spots on my prints. I’m pleased that the placement of the paper has improved markedly on initial experiments. This is due to lining up the long side of the plate parallel to the table edge. Then by lining up the short edge of the paper parallel to the short edge of the plate and then rolling the paper carefully down onto the plate – keeping both the long and short edges parallel.

I am as yet confused by definitions of what constitutes a negative print and a positive plate and vice-versa. I need to return to the course text and update this post accordingly.

Research Point: Still Life: Part 4 of 4

Vincent Van Gogh

I chose the Van Gogh as I drew the featured image above partly as a more optimistic reaction to it.

I bought the jug at a charity shop with the intention of putting yellow flowers in it to offset the blue. I found a full unused set of Conte sticks at a car boot sale for a bargain price and used these to create my drawing. I feel I have taken Van Gogh’s subject of these gorgeous flowers and produced an enlivened atmosphere. My flowers are far from overblown. As I use a complementary colour palette, it brings them to life in a vibrant way. Van Gogh was no doubt going for an atmosphere with a bit more gravitas. He appears to be expressing a melancholy state with his late blooms all but died off. His palette is very “buttery” and similar earthy colours have been used to depict this timeless and iconic image. However, these have also been trimmed with cobalt blue which, in my opinion, saves the over all effect from being too bland. Given the man’s untimely end, the artist’s use of brush strokes surely must be expressive of his general state of mind.

I would, of course, like to do more than draw “pretty pictures”. Personal expression around a subject comes partly naturally, through mark-making, but also through one’s colour and compositional choices. Perhaps I am wrong to think that expressions of joy are less “serious” than those of melancholy. Although it would be beneficial to be taken seriously as an artist. I feel it would be necessary to take oneself seriously first, but then not all of the time, surely, and only in as far as life in general should be viewed thus.

Ethel Sands

I saw this painting by Ethel Sands in the Fitzwilliam Museum the last time I visited Cambridge. Perhaps it was the blue patterned jug that caught my eye (There was one very similar item in the gift shop which I narrowly avoided buying) I like that the artist has “sneaked” a landscape into her still life. It avoids being too “chocolate box” by the use of primary colours and by the inclusion of the view onto the cemetery. Apart from first noticing the jug in the foreground, the sight of the crosses through the window dominate this image for me, though they take up so little space on the canvas. It’s as though Ethel Sands was pointing out the fact that death is never far away from us, even during uplifting summer days. It reminds me that just because we live in a land of plenty, doesn’t mean we always shall.

Sands, Ethel; Still Life with a View over a Cemetery; The Fitzwilliam Museum; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/still-life-with-a-view-over-a-cemetery-4566

References

Still Life with a View over a Cemetery | Art UK (no date). Available at: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/still-life-with-a-view-over-a-cemetery-4566 (Accessed: 7 November 2020). Vincent van Gogh | Sunflowers | NG3863 | National Gallery, London (no date). Available at: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-sunflowers (Accessed: 7 November 2020).

Sketchbook

On Saturday I did some investigative play into cubist-inspired art. This is something I began in the previous (Drawing Skills) module. I began with drawing one large spiral on my iPad mini. Instead of colouring in between the lines I deliberately scribbled over them using the spiral as a guide only rather than as a rigid framework.

I then drew onto a printed copy which I then glued into my sketchbook.

I then drew four seperate spirals in my sketchbook.

Bisected and highlighted with white pencil

I then thought about my violin shape.

I need to find a way to turn this design into a successful print. Perhaps by using the calograph technique.

I then drew a simple horse design and cris crossed it at strategic points with white lines. I then highlighted areas with white pencil again and then shaded in others using a B pencil.

Research Point: Still Life (part 3 of 4)

Georgia O’Keeffe

Oriental Poppies (O’Keeffe. 1927) speaks to me of unabashed sensuality – both in the viewing as well as (I dare to assume) in the process of creation itself. In an article with Griselda Pollock interviewing the artist (tate.org.uk), the possibility of her work having been “reduced by” associations with sexuality, is discussed. I would debate that by focussing on sexuality in art, one is somehow debasing the art – art being an extension of oneself. I don’t think sexuality or sensual pleasure, or their expression, are “out of bounds”. Surely this is more of a hangover from our puritanical protestant history, than something which should be encouraged right here, right now. I think that a woman, as well as a man, (if she is brave enough to do so) can express sensual associations through her work. Denying oneself this is surely to deny oneself a whole avenue of personal expression? Equality of the sexes means being on an even footing across the board, right? Failing that, we at least have the right to have our work, and therefore ourselves, treated with due respect. But I do agree that to focus solely upon the sensual aspects at the expense of other facets of the artist’s work, is a blinkered view.

In an ideal world, women would be able to express their sexuality/sensuality through their art, as men have for years, without fear of being branded “harlots” or becoming limited to doing that exclusively. In art, the possibilities are without bounds, except for those limitations the artists themselves place on their projects in order to enhance their practice. But, alas we do not live in that utopian fantasy.

Judy Chicago

It must have been incredibly frustrating for women artists, prior to the 1960s/70s sexual revolution, to attempt to elbow their way into a male dominated Art world. But this is what they eventually did. Women today are benefiting from that gender struggle. Although the fight for equality goes on, it is difficult to generalise about women’s struggles as though we were not all individuals. Do we benefit by grouping ourselves together as a generalised amorphous entity? Women’s rights need to be fought on an individual basis, I feel.

While not strictly speaking a “still life”, Judy Chicago’s installation speaks of the disparity between the sexes. As an artist of the female persuasion myself, I baulk at the level of confrontation involved in careers such as Judy Chicago’s. Women are not to be generalised as though we work as one unit. Women, as men, are subject to the ravages of daily life. The continuation of demands for men to change their behaviour needs to be directed back toward women as well. Who among us is letting the side down on a daily, moment by moment basis? My own hand could be up in the air right now. We do what we can. But we need to choose our battles wisely.

Lisa Milroy

More like a section from a wallpaper pattern than the pleasing arrangement of items one has come to expect from a still life, there is something of the pub wall art about this that I rather like. It is an “OCD” approach to the genre. It does what it says on the tin. It is a collection of light bulbs. Whether it seeks to represent anything beyond that, I have no idea.

Squeak Carnwarth

Not strictly a still life, more of a message of hope. It is welcome right now.

References:

‘Artwork-Squeak Carnwath’. Accessed 7 November 2020. http://www.squeakcarnwath.com/. ‘Still Life with a View over a Cemetery | Art UK’. Accessed 7 November 2020. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/still-life-with-a-view-over-a-cemetery-4566. Tate. ‘Artist Interview: Judy Chicago’. Tate. Accessed 7 November 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/ey-exhibition-world-goes-pop/artist-interview/judy-chicago. ———. ‘Griselda Pollock on Georgia O’Keeffe – Talk at Tate Modern’. Tate. Accessed 7 November 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/georgia-okeeffe/griselda-pollock-on-georgia-okeeffe. ———. ‘“Light Bulbs”, Lisa Milroy, 1988’. Tate. Accessed 7 November 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/milroy-light-bulbs-t05217.

Part 1:Project 2: Design for template/stencil/mask

Perhaps not the best sketch I’ve ever completed, but it illustrates my thinking adequately enough to move on to a finished design for my first positive/negative masked monoprint.

From this outline, I produced the following design. I took several photocopies of this so that I could produce a few different masks.

I’m quite happy with the final first design. I’ve left out the bow on this occasion as it’s so much longer than the violin and would require my scaling the design down in order to fit in the bow. I will add this into the mix as well as any other items such as gloves and/ or musical notes in a later version, I think.

Part 1: Project 2: Initial Sketches

Gradual simplification process in progress

This is “Vera”, my most precious and prized possession. I’ve been learning for over three years now. I am just around the stage where music fills my ears when I play. A few months ago I was still making a bit of a racket.

The process of simplifying these images is very gradual. I find myself reluctant to “let go” of details such as strings and the spiral of the scroll. But they must both go as to include them in my template/stencil project would likely detract from, rather than add to, the effectiveness of the final outcome.

These sketches, which I chose to draw directly using a sharpie in order to reduce “preciousness”, read top down from left to right. I think you can tell by the lack of simplification how I am loathe to part with detail. My partner sent me this image as encouragement.

Not a bad rendition in my humble opinion.

References:

Purchase. CJ. (2020) “iPhone sketch” Private collection

Research Point: Still Life (part 2 of 4)

Research into various artists’ approaches to still life:

Giorgio Morandi

I like the subtle use of oil colour which I feel expresses the fragile lightness of these objects. The artist has treated the spaces between with equal importance as the items depicted.

Roy Lichtenstein

There’s something deceptively “disposable” about this image. It’s a little like a photo of food in a fast food joint. The contrasting primary colours have inpact as well as hinting further at the country of origin with the red, white and blue.

Armand Fernandez

I feel that, if I were so inclined, I could become rather offended at this piece. It suggests that a human being can be summed up by a collection of the detritus of her life. But, as I am not in the habit of taking offence at anything much, I shall view this with an open mind. Perhaps the artist had his heart broken recently, or had an unpleasant relationship with his mother? Perhaps the presence of the pedestal is significant. It appears to be an insecure arrangement, a glass case balanced precariously upon a plinth, as though one push could send it tumbling.

References:

Tate. ‘“Condition of Woman I”, Arman (Armand Fernandez), 1960’. Tate. Accessed 3 November 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/arman-condition-of-woman-i-t03381. ———. ‘“Sandwich and Soda”, Roy Lichtenstein, 1964’. Tate. Accessed 3 November 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lichtenstein-sandwich-and-soda-p77811. ———. ‘Search Tate. ‘“Still Life” Giorgio Morandi’. Tate. Accessed 3 November 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/search?q=Giorgio Morandi.

Research Point: Still Life (part 1 of 4)

Research into various artists’ approaches to still life:

Georges Braque

These first two images leave me mystified as to how they were produced. I find it intriguing that Braque came to cubism after suffering and recovering from a brain injury. It’s as though the objects were viewed through a kitsch 1970s frosted glass window pane. I like them. This is not due only to their visual complexity but because they are aesthetically pleasing and balanced compositions.

The following work I find less appealing due to the colour choices the artist has made. It’s as though he was using up left over paint from his palette after completing a far superior outcome. Although, having said that, there is a quality of light from the reflective surfaces of the objects that keeps me looking.

Glass on a Table 1909-10 Georges Braque 1882-1963 Bequeathed by Sir Antony Hornby through the Friends of the Tate Gallery 1988 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T05028

This next image I really like a lot due to its lightness of touch. It is a line drawing using graphite on paper. I wish I had drawn it myself.

Still Life 1924 Georges Braque 1882-1963 Bequeathed by Elly Kahnweiler 1991 to form part of the gift of Gustav and Elly Kahnweiler, accessioned 1994 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T06804

References:

Tate. ‘“Bottle and Fishes”, Georges Braque, c.1910–12’. Tate. Accessed 2 November 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/braque-bottle-and-fishes-t00445. ———. ‘“Glass on a Table”, Georges Braque, 1909–10’. Tate. Accessed 2 November 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/braque-glass-on-a-table-t05028. ———. ‘“Mandora”, Georges Braque, 1909–10’. Tate. Accessed 2 November 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/braque-mandora-t00833. ———. ‘“Still Life”, Georges Braque, 1924’. Tate. Accessed 2 November 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/braque-still-life-t06804.

http://www.people.vcu.edu/~djbromle/modern-art/02/Georges-Braque/index.htm. Accessed 2 November 2020