PASTEL DRAWING/PAINTING

EACH POST IS ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC & REVIEWED REGULARLY.

 

Hello all!

Ah! Now this is a subject close to my heart!  I love working with soft pastels and the effects they give…and this Post is in response to enquiries about ways to use them.

First of all though, lets talk briefly about some of the many materials available besides paint that are available these days…

1. SOFT CHALKY PASTELS formed into various shaped sticks (thin, thick, cylindrical or oblong) as well as in pencil form, all of which can be purchased singularly or in sets. These are the subject of this Post.

2.  OIL PASTELS (crayon-like) can be soluble & therefore turned into “paint” with the addition of turpentine or other solvents (not water)- giving the option of drawing and/or  painting.  (Personally, I find them difficult to manage but they would suit some artists and types of artwork.)

3.  CONTE’ STICKS which can be waxy and hard /to dry and chalky depending on the grade of hardness. These are usually thin sticks which can be sharpened for finer lines, which is another option along with pastel pencils for fine lines.  In some ways Conte’s are better  because if pencils are dropped, they can break within the wooden surround making them almost impossible to sharpen.  However, you lose some of the Conte’ if you sharpen or taper the ends of the sticks. (If you are really frugal, you can save this ‘waste’ as a fine granulated powder to dip your finger into for toning.)

4. WAXY CRAYONS, COLOURED PENCILS, WATERCOLOUR PENCILS, WATERPROOF INKS, INDIAN INK etc.etc.

SOMETHING IN COMMON IN MATERIALS: It’s interesting to note that all coloured art mediums are created from the same original powdered pigments mixed with various binders (gums, emulsions etc.)  to make them into wet or dry materials, water soluble, solvent soluble etc.  Some are waterproof when dry (eg. acrylics & waterproof inks) whilst others soluble again after they dry (eg. watercolours & gouache/poster paints). Oil based paints need Linseed oil and special solvents in their use.

NOW, ABOUT CHALK PASTELS:

Below I have pictured one of the mixed assortments of various brands of soft pastels (round and square) that I share with our students. They are no longer in their original boxes but stored in a small fishing tackle box packed in rice to stop them rubbing together when travelling or fracturing if dropped.

Note that I store them roughly sorted from LIGHT TO DARK, WARM COLOURS ON ONE SIDE AND COOL COLOURS ON THE OTHER.  This is a great tip because it helps in choosing quickly the tint and tone needed without constantly searching…

 

The quality of the pastel is closely associated with the fineness of the ground pigment as well as the type and quantity of binder used in making the sticks.

Note that all wrappers have been removed and most pastels have been broken into half length sticks. This, I feel, renders them much more useful because this way they are able to be used on their sides for blocking in as well as drawing with the ends. 

The set below is still in its original box, wrappers removed and sticks have been broken and used. These sticks are quite slim compared to the large round and square varieties and I am showing this set because of the subtle colour range it gives.  All too often we can be attracted to the bright colours, forgetting that many soft greys, blues, beiges & olive greens are needed probably more often..

Besides needing a paper with some “tooth” or roughness to hold the grains of pastel pigment (proper pastel papers provide this), it is much easier to work on a non white background. 

This way you can allow the colour of the paper to be part of the picture.  Here are some lovely pastel paper tints available – some in large sheets and others in convenient pads of various sizes…

Before you buy pastel paper, study the grain of both sides and make sure it is what you want. Some have a honeycomb effect on one side I don’t always like, whilst others are more usable both sides which is handy (if you don’t like your finished result, just use the other side!)

Here is an example of the ‘honeycomb’ effect that is OK in this sketch, but I wouldn’t want it all the time – so would choose a smoother grain…

If you haven’t tried using pastels, they are very convenient way of working in colour on location without the problems associated with working wet.   For example, Tony and I took a small box each to Europe and were able to use them on the trains with virtually no mess.  We didn’t worry about spraying them with fixative at the time because being in a pad, they couldn’t rub with movement. 

 If you are buying a set, we would advise that you choose some that are not too thin to hold (or your hand can get a bit cramped) and don’t forget to look for subtle as well as bright colours.

An optional spray fixative can be used during and at the end of creating the artwork, to help adhere the pastel to the paper.  Be aware that fixative tends to darken the pigment slightly.  When the pastel is no longer being held by the paper and is sitting on top, you need to hold the artwork upside down outside or over a bin and tap off the excess before spraying.  Don’t blow it off, as you or others near you may inhale the powdered pigment and some people may be allergic. Once a pastel work has been sprayed, it will generally accept more added pastel … in fact, sometimes we spray work in progress a number of times to avoid smudging and settle the pigment into the paper.

A few pastels pencils or slim Conte’ sticks are useful for fine detail, and a cardboard stump (these are made from rolled cardboard shaped to a point) is handy for pushing the pigment into small areas. Also a kneadable rubber may be handy.

Now here are a few examples of different ways to use pastels.

You can see how the colour of the paper or ground you are working on is so important. When it is allowed to show through, a beautiful texture appears which is to me the charm of pastels – something that can’t be achieved with paint and brush.  If you don’t like texture you can finger blend as in the last example above.

One approach (my favourite if there is time) is to sketch very lightly in willow charcoal, using my soft rag as an eraser to dust the charcoal off where necessary.  Willow charcoal can be finger blended softly to suggest shadows very early. I like to think in areas of tone rather than just outlines (see post on Drawing). Once the foundation sketch is established, I blow & dust the charcoal back until barely visible and then spray with fixative.   From there, I can apply pastels confidently. You might like to try this and see if it works for you.

Here are a few examples of Tony’s and my pastel artwork to give you some idea of the versatility of this medium…

If slideshow needs activating, click on X at top right hand corner or on ‘view all images’.

+ a couple more examples…the first of an old friend, Lana, who was keen on yoga so I tried to depict movement in the sketch…

and this one of Tony sketching on site up Coffs Harbour way…the darkish blue paper was allowed to show & become part of the finished picture.

Pastels can be used minimally too, as in this portrait of Angie…

Here are a few examples of Tony’s 9 year old grandson’s use of a pastel set we gave him.  Some illustrate books he is reading and others reflect the environment around him.  We think he is off to a great start in expressing himself in this medium.   As you can see, because most pastels are light in tone they show up very well on black background.  Unless you particularly want some white paper showing, it is much more difficult to get effects on white paper.

This is the same boy who saw leprochauns in an Irish forest and drew them for us (below) so its not surprising he has a touch of magic in his artwork!

 

 

 

Of course many Artists over the years have become renowned for their beautiful glowing pastel work – Edgar Degas (for his magnificent ballet paintings & portrait studies) and Henri Toulouse-lau-trec (for his great impressions of French characters, particularly those frequenting the Moulin Rouge nightclub.  Who can forget his amazing Can-Can dancers admired by elegant men in top hats?)  

Tony and I were lucky enough to see the originals in Paris last year and they have stood the test of time.  Pastels are usually framed under glass with a backing to prevent moisture. A cardboard matt surround prevents them from touching the glass.  We were disappointed however in most of the overseas galleries we visited to find all these wonderful paintings (oils, watercolours and pastels) presented in very dark rooms!  OK so they want to preserve them against fading, but if people can’t view them sufficiently to enjoy their vibrant light and colour – what is the point?  The exception was the top floor of the D’Orsay    Impressionist Gallery in Paris, which was flooded with natural light and a joy to the eye. 

It is helpful to approach tones as falling into 3 categories: dark, medium and light.  If your paper is any one of these to start with, you will need to add the other two in pastels. (e.g.  If paper is dark, add medium and light tones leaving the dark paper to represent the darks.  If paper tint is medium in tone, then add the darks and lights. If paper is light in tone, add the darks and medium tones in pastel. By doing this first, you may decide to leave much of the paper colour untouched.) 

Just to finish up now, here are some pastels of mine that show different forms of rendering and subject matter.

Drawn from life, I called this one ‘Relaxation’…

This next one was an on-site study of Wollombi wattle next to our camp site.  It was a glorious yellow against the incredible blue sky that day and the dry texture of the pastel suited perfectly an impression of  the dry fluffy wattle blooms.

For added interest, here’s a close up photograph of some wattle blooms.  There are hundreds of varieties of wattle (or acacia) growing in Australia, to suit every environment. They all take turns in flowering so as to provide ongoing food for native birds, animals and insects.

If you want to travel ultra light (or need to work quickly, as in a life drawing group) you can still achieve dramatic artwork by using  only black and white pastel on strongly coloured backgrounds…

This one, of Australian Eucalypts (or gum trees) I chose to render in all vertical strokes, giving it a softened atmospheric effect. You can see the colour of the paper I used at the bottom RH corner – a dark warm brown.

Here is another rendition of the Australian bush where I worked on a tough paper undercoated roughly with acrylic paint which gave a textured surface for the pastels. I used a brush and water to wet the pastel in some areas to turn it into a “paint” and settle it into the texture.  When dry I sprayed with fixative to prevent rubbing.

The painting below is a moonlit bush scene. It is done in acrylics but I plan to execute it in pastels.  The colouring is very dramatic and unusual and gives an air of mystery. I will use either a deep blue or black background when rendering it in pastel…

Here is a pastel study of one of Australia’s “bush babies” – a BRUSH TAILED POSSUM.  As a ground, I undercoated a rough watercolour paper with acrylic first.  By using a medium tone, I needed only to put in the darks and lights, letting the paper show through for much of the sketch.

I have a soft spot for these beautiful soft furry shy possums and used to feed them by hand as a child.  Being nocturnal, they would romp around noisily on our tin roof at night so my father wasn’t too pleased!

 

When Tony and I travel, we usually take pastels for convenience.  You can see some of our small ‘travelling’ studies in the post about Ireland.

I hope you have enjoyed this topic and don’t forget, if you would like to add something – please make contact via comments. 

Cheerio Pastel People!

Julie

PERSPECTIVE DRAWING HELP

NOTE: A SHORTER, SIMPLER VERSION ON PERSPECTIVE DRAWING CAN BE FOUND ON http://www.spriteland.wordpress.com

Hi all!  

First of all I would like to point out that as Artists, we are free to paint and draw what we wish – so unless you are an architectural artist, please don’t feel that guides in drawing in perspective are RULES!  They are simply powerful  guides (or tricks) to use if you wish to create a 3 dimensional illusion on your flat surface. The choice is yours!

First, let’s have a look at how powerful the illusion of perspective drawing can be!  The two blue trees in the drawing below, believe it or not, are the SAME SIZE in reality! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hard to believe? Let me show you how this illusion works…

 

Isn’t that amazing!  Just a few perspective lines can create that illusion. After all, we are just looking at a flat surface! 

 Maybe you would like to use this trick in your own drawing!  Here are some step by step sheets to print out if you want to try it…

 

   

 

You might like to draw your tree shapes on thicker paper or light cardboard so that they are stronger.  First draw one tree and cut it out.  Lay it on your card and draw around it. Now carefully cut out your second tree just INSIDE the line that you drew, so that they will be the same size.  Hold them one on top of the other to check. Colour them black or a strong colour.

 

A little blue tack will hold your trees in place and you can move them to see how they look in different places on your drawing.

Now to our next picture: Can you see the two lines below marked A and Z? Does one look a lot longer than the other?  Try measuring them …you might be surprised! 

What a difference a slight change in the angle of the lines can make! 

Now what about this next picture of the 3 men.  Which of the two SMALL men is the bigger one do you think?   

Can you believe they really are the same height? Let’s check it out!!! It is really amazing isn’t it!

 

 

 

 

 

Then there is the perspective illusion in the miraculous 3D chalk art by Pavement Artists such as Britain’s Julian Beever below… whose wonderful images are circulating freely via emails.  It’s hard to believe he is working on a FLAT SURFACE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Said to be inspired by Julian Beever’s work, Edgar Mueller produced the following amazing pavement picture…

Edgar Mueller Super Artist Great Crevasse Edgar Mueller. Hard work: Together with up to five assistants, Mueller painted all day long from sunrise to sunset. The picture appeared on the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, as part of the town’s Festival of World Cultures

 

What incredible work!  The illusion of perspective incredibly demonstrated!

You have probably also noticed lettering applied to a football field which also appears to ’stand up’. From down on the ground the image would seem incredible distorted but from the viewpoint of the camera, the illusion works!

Aren’t they absolutely amazing?   Can you see the flat paving stones he has worked on? These studies would have to be so carefully worked out to begin with, taking into account the angle from which they are to be viewed. 

OK now lets get on to the specifics of the Optical Illusion we call “PERSPECTIVE”. How does it work?

I hope to throw in a few hints that might help explain it- although I certainly don’t profess to be an expert in this.

Firstly, let’s take a look at the most commonly known “trick” for the eye – single point perspective. This is when the alignment of objects in the painting or drawing become smaller  towards a distant point, to create the illusion of distance…as you can see, the “horizon” line in relation to your viewpoint has a dramatic effect on the end result and appearance of things in those converging perspective lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

  It is helpful to draw a simple box using single point perspective if you are new to this.  Here are the stages…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you see in the next image how the angles above the horizon line can be used in a picture where objects tower above it?  Even though the vanishing point is somewhere off the edge of the page, the lines are still converging towards it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supposing your box is the shape of buildings going away from you to a single vanishing point…well here is one that you might want to print out and copy.  It will help you find the right angles for the top and bottom of the house as well as the windows and door.  Notice that I have put the vanishing point right over at the edge this time to make room for the buildings on the page.

Construction lines (or guidelines) are usually drawn very lightly in pencil and erased later but without them it is very difficult to sketch things in perspective. Naturally there are countless different shapes of buildings, windows & doors  so this is just a very basic guide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks to Art teacher, Laraine of Littleton (Denver, Colorado) for this next exercise. Laraine has completed one half of a window view and invites you to fill in the second half:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some stages to help you…(Printable pages of each stage can be found at the end of this Post.)

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below are some examples where I’ve used single point perspective in paintings… the first is called “Bringing them home, Inverell, NSW” painted from a photo taken through the windscreen of our car. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this one is a semi-abstract cityscape “Spirit of a City”…

It is rare that you can actually see a flat horizon (except perhaps looking out to sea or in a desert) but most of us have inbuilt in our balance system a feeling for “WHERE THE LEVEL OF THE HORIZON WOULD BE IF WE COULD SEE IT” and it is this “SENSE OF LEVEL” we need to assess most compositions we might wish to draw or paint.

 Here is one painted on our trip to Venice last year. Note the high placement of the “horizon” (where the perspective lines on each side of the canal would meet if they were shown to converge)…

In this country scene, perspective is softly suggested in the dimishing track and fence…

 

 

 

 

 

 

This next example (a tonal rough) is straight-forward where the street perspective is concerned but look at the crazy angles of those rooves!   How can we analyse those for drawing them into the finished painting?

Well, this is what I do!  I pretend each angle I want to draw is coming from the centre of an old fashioned clockface.  I hope you are familiar with clocks in this era of digital LED diaplays! Which number would that angle be pointing to if it were a clock hand?

 

 

 

 

 

 

It worked pretty well, though I decided along the way to alter some of the roof lines. Here is the finished painting below. I like the “not-so-precise” roof angles-I feel they look more interesting & less architecturally perfect – after all old houses tend to sag as they age, just like us! 

Sometimes in single perspective studies we find that the “vanishing point” where the lines converge is way off the edge of the area we are drawing or painting.  Here’s an example…

 

 

 

 

 

 

In some compositions, more than one vanishing point might be in play e.g. a corner of a building. The exaggeration of the perspective becomes less and more gentle the further away each vanishing point is from the  other.

 

 

 

Let’s go to using that clock method again….

So how to choose the angles when drawing from an actual subject?  If you look at the corner of your building through a viewfinder (your camera lens works fine), it helps to ask yourself  how the angles of the roof and bottom of the building relate to the angles of a clock…

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice how lines above the level eyeline converge down to the vanishing points and those below converge upward? By drawing a simple box, you can see that above the eye level we can see underneath the base of the box.  Below eye level, we can see into the box looking down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is an example of how 2 point perspective can translate into a  semi-abstract painting “Corner Gossip” where I had fun extending all the straight lines to form a semi-abstract design, treating it like a stained glass window with shafts of light…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK now – so far we have looked at straight lines in perspective – but what about curves?  Take a look at this chart…then hold a coin in your hand, flat on to your eyelevel.  Slowly turn it away from you and watch what happens to that circle…it becomes more and more elliptical – the side curves becoming more and more pointy… then see how this applies to the ovals in the teacup and saucer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

and so it happens in nature – where the bend in a road or river, or the curve of a bay becomes more pointy or elliptical, the closer to the ground is your viewpoint…so often we see a painting spoiled by a bay of water that appears to “stand up” and not “lay” properly in the landscape.   Now you will know why!  Large rounded curves belong with a bird’s eye view.

Can you see how the curves are more rounded the higher your viewpoint in relation to the horizon?  As soon as you establish a horizon in a landscape you establish immediately where you are in viewing the scene..the closer to the ground you are the more elliptical or pointed the ovals become.

There may be only one curve in a picture but it needs to be “right”… here’s an example “North Avoca Beach” which was a painting commissions many years ago…notice I have had to do 2 things:  get the overall scallop of the water edge right (each line of waves following suit) and slope the beach down to it (after all that is what is stopping the water from flowing further!)  This was easier to assess because I painted it on location right at the scene…

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this next painting the perspective is in a road and some houses and I have had to make allowances for the hilly terrain as the road snakes its way up into the hills.  Very often the ground is not level and we have to make adjustments in the drawing through close observation. “Glengariff cottages”  was a small study from our visit to Ireland . 

 

 

 

 

 

As well as making things appearing smaller as they become further away from you, they become less distinct (less visible detail), making things in the distance  become lighter in tone – so this is a way you can add to your illustion of perspective in a painting – graduating your darks from the foreground softer and softer into the distance.  Here are some demonstrations from my collection, which I pushed a bit to indicate the hazy atmosphere of the day. 

The difficulty of painting from photographs is that the camera tends not to give you this tonal softness or details within shadows (it makes them more black/dk grey)  so we as artists, need to be aware of this and compensate where needed…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another thing to realise is that as things become close to you they overlap what lies behind them, covering up part of the shape behind.  Here is a landscape to show you what I mean. First the initial sketch…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and now the finished painting…(Gloucester hills). Can you still see the overlapping?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now if you are need to do more precise architectural drawing,  there is a formula for spacing uprights towards a vanishing point. It might be fence posts, poles, tenament buildings or similar.  I haven’t had to use it much, but it might be useful for someone to include it here. My chart isn’t exact (my perpendicular lines shouldn’t lean over)  but it should be enough to give you the idea.   You have to judge or measure the first segment at left, then you can find a midway point and by drawing a diagonal line through it you will find where the next segment upright will be.  It can apply to fence posts, telegraph poles, buildings – anything uniform.  Of course the result wil vary depending on your first two lines top and bottom which converge to a vanishing point (in this case, outside the area of the drawing).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Without being too architecturally exact, I broadly used the above formula in the following painting of Sydney “Rocks” area in autumn…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, there is the difficulty of placing figures in a landscape and getting them the right size for their positioning.  This can be very tricky.   To have some sort of “norm” from which to bounce is about the only way I know of to manage it.  Since the height and shape of different people varies so much, I find it most helpful to establish first where their feet would be so that they are not ‘floating’ in the painting!  

From there I like to put a mark where the top of their head would come to, imagining I were in the painting and how high I would be in relation to other things in the composition.  e.g. a doorway of a building or a tree.

Having put down those two marks for the top of the head and the feet, I then place a midway mark for a standing figure which represents the half-way hip mark.  I can then more easily sketchin the figure in the right proportions, being careful to avoid the common trap of making the head too big. Once figures are placed correctly, a shadow “anchoring” them to the ground level helps complete the illusion.  

Of course, if you were sketching people of much the same height (e.g. soldiers marching etc.) you could use the chart below which puts the “horizon” line through the same part of each person’s body… 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you interested in methods the cartoonists use to achieve the illusion of huge towering buildings or massive chasms – there is 3 point perspective at play!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually the above example is even beginning to take in a 4th vanishing point below the horizon line from 2 to 3!

Here is is a ‘birdseye’ view looking down with 3 vanishing points:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A recent visitor to this site encountered a slight problem in finding the right perspective in the following sketch, having no ‘horizon’ to refer to.

 

 

The following solution was offered: increasing the taper of the tower and the crane to make them seem higher & curving the block so that it would appear to fit in the gap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Angles are difficult in this type of sketch – e.g. the crane sections could be at any angle from its stable base (which we cannot see) Also our eyes may not be ‘level’ as we look up (we often tilt our heads, shade our eyes etc.) and this alters the perspective of what we are seeing, just as though you were tilting the rectangle of your camera viewer. 

There are surely experts out there who can explain methods better than I can, but I think if you keep playing until it looks right to you, you will achieve success.  I use overlaid sheets of paper for this on a light table (or you can tape to a window to see through, use thin paper etc). In the example above  the artist was after drama rather than an architecturally perfect result and I think that was achieved.

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Now here’s a hard one – supposing you need to draw a pile of boxes all thrown higgled-piggly in a pile! Because they would not be flat a level surface, each would have its own different angles … therefore there could be multiple vanishing points & most of them out of the composition! What could you do then to draw such a subject?

Well,  we can always fall back on the “clock hand” method shown earlier to assess each line as coming from the centre of a clock in relation to the sides of your paper.

Whatever your need is to use this illusion called perspective, I hope something in this Post has helped you. 

One last tip: 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, Happy Arting everyone! Julie

 

PS  In response to a request, here is an example of drawing a Lolly Jar from 3 angles. Because it isn’t a huge object (like a high rise building) there is no need for 3 point perspective but because curves are involved as well as straight lines, it is a good exercise:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PAINTING PROCESS – ROCK FACES

Greetings all!

All Artists no doubt have different ways of working and in Post 18 you will find demonstration exercises in some of them. 

I thought it might be of interest in this Post to share with you my journey in painting some beach rocks north of Coffs Harbour.  

Materials:   I started by having ready a large stretched canvas, Willow charcoal, Spray fixative, Acrylic paints, assorted brushes and a painting knife.

I began with a charcoal sketch on the canvas, taken from a small on-site sketch in my crowded little sketch book, along with a few backup photos taken on our holiday. There were buildings on a headland behind the rocks in the photo, but I left them out - opting for a plain sky area as a backdrop.

 

To my surprise, as I sketched, there seemed to be some faces suggested in the forms!

This is not surprising, as Tony and often see faces in trees, rocks and clouds. I decided to go with it and see what happened.  Most of them seemed to be sleeping or kind of basking in the sun.

Before getting into too much detail, I decided to spray the charcoal sketch with Fixative and start painting.   Mixing lots of warm and cool colours in the acrylics on a nice big palette, I worked quickly to get down the dark and medium tones, leaving the lights until last.  Sorry I don’t have a couple more progress photos during this stage, but I got so carried away I truly forgot to take them!  

Next, I covered all the white canvas areas with light tones in order to evaluate the overall. While ever there is white canvas or paper showing as your painting progresses, the whole thing looks fresher than it will when covered (unless you choose to leave some white of course) – so it is important not to lose the lights. In fact I have a little sign on my easel that says 2 things   1. Don’t lose the lights! and 2. What are you painting and why?  LEAVE OUT EVERYTHING ELSE!   Of course the latter is a ‘hard ask’ but it makes me think about what I am doing a bit more instead of charging ahead trying to capture everything in one artwork!

I decide to hit the light areas with texture using a painting knife and full bodied paint. Some of my acrylics are thicker than others, so if I want more body I just add in a little modelling paste.  I think the textured lights should sing nicely against more transparent shadowed areas in thinner paint.  Let’s see if that works…

 

Ah!  Now it is time to look at the composition upside down.  I sit for some time analysing it this way because now I can disassociate myself with the shapes as rocks and sand – they are simply shapes, tones and colours to be balanced nicely.   I am looking for harmony with variation to hold interest. 

I am fairly happy with the composition, but it lacks refinement so I spend a lot of time softening here, strengthening there, warming or cooling further, glazing with thin paint for added glow etc. Another rock face began to appear during this phase! Can you see where? 

I decide to add some small rocks to the right hand bottom corner for better interest, balance and lead in to the picture.

Finally, after many hours more refining andstrengthening  the work, plus adding more texture for close up interest, I get a feeling of completion.   No areas are crying out for improvement  any more – no awkward brush strokes or clumsy lines.  The ambience is rather nice – I get the feeling of that sunny afternoon. I sit back and enjoy a cuppa with a big sigh!  All I have to do now is sign and date the painting, then give it a name…

Did you pick the final rock face to appear?  He is rather cute don’t you think – the one profiled at the bottom right hand side. I get a feeling that he might have just said the Hitchcock cliche’ “Good evening!”

TITLE: “SLEEPING GIANTS”  Acrylic on canvas C. Julie Duell 2007

Here are the stages one more time…(If slideshow needs activating, click on X at top RH corner or ‘view all images’)

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I guess I would have to say I’m a compulsive painter.  I’d rather jump in the deep end to some extent and solve problems along the way than plan things out too much.  There are always spontaneous happenings that can reveal themselves and it is nice to be open to them.  In this case, it was the faces in the rocks! This is what makes it such an adventure and so totally absorbing!   Just running on “instinct” sounds a bit vague, but I suppose it is instinct arising out of many years of painting experience.  (Like a concert pianist who just plays with feeling and emotion, having long forgotten the scales learned so long ago.)  Promptings come in all along the way like a little voice in my head when I am painting and they usually happen when I sit back between stages and ponder two little words …… ‘WHAT IF?”

Cheers!

Julie  

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BARBARA DUGGAN – ARTIST

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Barbara Duggan, a prolific Pearl Beach Artist, who has a “hair-raising” art story to tell in this post! 

Barbara lives and works in beautiful Pearl Beach, which can be seen below this amazing rock formation on Mount Ettalong – on the road to Patonga.  The island on the left is Lion Island because it is shaped something like a proud lion looking out to sea from Broken Bay.

 

I should explain that the NSW Central Coast lies about an hour’s drive north of Sydney.  It has superb National Parks, waterways and beaches and Pearl Beach is one of the most charming.   Nestled in amongst Brisbane Water National Park, you can see in the photo below its idyllic location… 

 

Here is Barbara’s Pearl Beach Studio, nestled amongst beautiful trees near the beach…

and here is Barbara inside, with some her paintings and pottery…

Her art studio is on two levels, connected by a quaint spiral staircase…

We were particularly impressed with this beautiful uniquely Australian painting…

and Barbara’s strong sense of design in much of her work, featuring local wildlife…

Upstairs, we were enchanted by Barbara’s  humorous depictons of the magpie family who perform various antics at her Studio window.  Australian magpies have the most glorious warbling birdsong, but also some of the craziest habits and each family member has a distinctive personality…

1. The three tenors!

2. Count Dracular-la-la!

3. Mother and son! 

and finally, 4. “I’m starving!”

I have known Barbara for many years through artistic avenues.  She is a talented and versatile Artist and gives generously of her time and energy to many worthwhile pursuits.  However I did not know her artistic history fully until she provided the following for this post…

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Barbara studied Dress Design and Fashion Drawing at BIRMINGHAM (England) and obtained a position in London as a Fashion Artist where she stayed for 12 years.   She emigrated to Australia in 1952-3 and obtained various jobs as a free-lance Artist.

Later working as a designer for children’s clothes, Barbara then changed direction to work as an artist to a potter.   Still later, she worked as a teacher for a Sat. morning children’s art class in Bankstown and an evening class for adults in Auburn. Following that, Barbara worked in high schools as an Art teacher for about 12 years.

Barbara became President of Bankstown Art Society and helped to organise the yearly Art Show.   She joined the Pitt Street Painters in Sydney and organised the first art exhibition held in a Bank in Martin Place and arranged many Art Shows at Pearl Beach where she now lives.  

She and husband Peter, also became involved with Woy Woy Little Theatre, designing and painted sets as well as acting in and directing some plays.   In high schools, she taught Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Pottery, Copper-work and Printing as well as History of Art.

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Wow! That is quite a resume’! Thankyou Barbara for sharing that with us.

Here is a sample of just a few of Barbara’s numerous paintings, which reflect her love of the wonderful natural environment in which she lives…

Note: If slide show needs activating, click on X at top RH corner.

Now to Barbara’s “hair raising” story, told in her own words…

“During my teaching career I had been asked if I would form an Art Class for housewives at a Junior Rugby League Club. 

I was lucky to have a very enthusiastic group of people and asked them if, apart from painting, they would like to try something different.   The idea was to make jewellery for pendants which were all the rage then.  I didn’t tell them that it could be fairly dangerous or that my friend and I had already set fire to a table at my house in our enthusiasm!

I organised some fire bricks to construct a small kiln and borrowed a blow-torch from a plumber I knew.   As I already had some glazes left over from the “table-burning episode” plus some sheets of copper, I was ready.

There was so much to carry that I asked my friend, Jane, if she would help me…so loading her up with a tray full of bricks and the blow-torch, I pushed her into the lift – not wanting the Manager to see us going into his precious Club with some dangerous materials!

We managed to get up to the top floor where my ladies were waiting and I helped them to cut out the copper pendants – while we poured the glazes.  I’d put Jane in charge of the blow- torch and we were all having a lovely time being amazed at the fascinating results as the red hot copper cooled and the glazes shone out.

It was very exciting and very nearly disastrous when one lady bent too close to the blow-torch!  “IRENE!” screamed Jane ”YOUR HAIR’S ON FIRE!” and she started bashing her about the head!

Thank God Irene was very nice about it and said “Well I was going to get my hair cut – so I’ve had a singe instead!”   With great relief, Jane said “I thought we’d have to stop this lark and start trying to make Irene a wig!”

There was a terrible smell of burnt hair which lingered for some time – but no alarms went off and no Official appeared, so I survived to teach another day!”

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Thankyou Barbara for such an entertaining story – I’m sure there must be so many art stories out there to be told!  How about sharing one through Comments and I can direct you if you wish to upload photographs.

Barbara welcomes Studio visitations on Sundays by appointment  … Tel: 02. 43417388.

Cheers!    Julie

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ABSTRACTS/SEMI ABSTRACTS

* If slideshows need activating, please click on top right hand X  or “View all images”.

Hello all!

OK hands up if you have ever looked at abstract paintings and said “I don’t like abstracts – I don’t understand them” ?

Did you put your hand up?  Well join the club! Most people have and do!   I certainly have and still do sometimes! However I now know the process taking place in my brain when I jump to that conclusion: “I don’t understand abstracts!”   Of course, we are missing the point if we want to “understand” them – they are meant to be “felt” rather than understood, like music without lyrics.

You see we all have one side of our brain (usually the left) that deals with logic.  It is the side we use the most in daily function and survival – because it recognises and names objects and stores information about them.  We need that information to make physical choices about our practical interaction with those objects … e.g. how to pick up a cup, when it is safe to cross the road, etc.etc.  

The other side of our brain (usually the right side) does not use words, numbers or logic and has much more to do with our creative side.  Rather than naming separate objects, it notices relationships between them – for example, it may pick out all the red cars in a car park that form a pattern … or it might perceive the similarity between a sail on a yacht and a butterfly wing.   It senses the patterns and drama around us formed by light and shadow – the patterning and rhythm in music – the shape of objects grouped together or overlapping…..  and infinitely more.

Our left brain logical side has no doubt been reinforced from an early age to take precedence over our right brain creative side by parents and teachers who snap us out of our “right brain” daydreaming by calling for us to “pay attention!”   Does that ring a bell?  Gazing out of the classroom window enjoying the clouds drifting by and then being pulled back to the lesson at hand! How much of a dreamer are you? 

 

Of course, abstract designs and patterns are all around us every day!    Just cut a tiny window out of a piece of paper and look through it around you, moving in and out from your eyes.  You might see a collection of abstract shapes in the corners of a room or anywhere a number of objects meet and you only see part of them.  Here are some I photographed in my studio this morning.  I zoomed in to avoid too big a view.

If slide show needs activating, please click on top right hand X

Methods of approach for abstract painting:Methods of approach for abstract painting:

The above method of photography is one way to look for reference to get started.

Another way is to paint a little of something in your room, then turn your canvas around and paint another bit you like. Keep doing this – turning the canvas around continually as you paint.  You will end up with impressions of your suroundings expressed in a more abstract way.  Abstract painting requires a feeling for design or pattern making and is a great way to develop your sense of composition.  The tricky bit is at the end, deciding which way is “up”!

Sometimes Tony and I have fun just playing with acrylic paint- trying out textures and combining run, drip, flow effects.  I usually use these as a background or base to add to – for example…these bird studies of a flamingo and egrets. In each case, I imagine what would best go with the semi-accidentally achieved background – so the process is an adventure rather than a contrived painting from the beginning!

 

The next painting, entitled “Flash Flood, Tacoma” evolved from driving through a flooded roadway to the Framers one morning. On returning home to my studio, I wanted to capture the atmosphere created by reflections of trees not usually flooded.  After giving it some thought, I came up with an experiment of flowing thick house enamels onto a large board in vertical stripes, then raking through them horizontally with a wide comb.  I  then had to line up the light and shade on the trees with the reflections – so it took quite a bit of innovation.  The touches of red brought the cool colouring to life, as did the egret.  This painting was Commended in the Wyong Festival of Arts in 1989.  Until the trees and bird were added, it was very much a watery abstract.

 

Then there is ’subliminal’ painting where you let go of conscious control over your brush & painting process and see what comes.  I have done this a couple of times and been surprised at what evolved…just following the prompts or impulses as they come, with no direction or end result in mind.  Scary?  Mmmm yes a bit, but what have you got to lose?  You can always paint over it again if something turns out not to your liking!  This is what happened in my first “let go” painting – two blue figures back to back seemed to want to turn and embrace each other in warmth.  I have no idea what it means – I just know it felt good…

This next painting took place many years later.  The placement of the colours coincided with the shakras but I only realised this later.  Any offers of interpretation anyone?

 

This next painting is one I did while my late husband, John, was under anaesthetic having his knee operated on.  It just “appeared” under my brush and is clearly he and I in an embrace.  It makes one wonder what can be accessed through our subconscious doesn’t it?

Another approach is painting to music.  Mix the colours you feel express your favourite music and play it as you paint.   I remember slowly flowing house enamels on a big board once to the Moonlight Sonata. It was a wonderful experience watching the colours meet, merge, blend and interact like a slow dance to the music and I “helped” them along with my fingers in the paint! Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of it.

Yet another approach is to play with textures by using various flat objects to collage.  Here are some examples using acrylic paint, sand, various papers and texture paste:

The painting below is my very first collage attempt along these lines, back in the 1970s.  I called it “Peace Voyage” since a boat like shape appeared along with a white dove. By the laws of gravitation, it led me to 3 wonderful women artist friends at that time.

  Nature give us the most beautiful abstract and semi-abstract patterns…just look at the interesting flat patterns to be found in shadows….(Note: detailed explanations are on Post 36 about using positive and negative shapes like this in planning compositions).

Now here are some I have photographed in the rocks, water and trees.  I tweaked them a bit with my paint program on the computer to make them look more “painterly”…

If slideshow needs activating, click on X at top right hand corner.

Some of us are more “right brained” than others.  For example, because of my solitary childhood, I had ample time to dream and imagine through play and therefore exercised my creative side fully – whereas if I had grown up with other children I would have been stronger in my left brain activity through relating and interaction with them.  This of course, like everything, has plusses and minuses but in my case, I am very grateful that it led me to creativity through art.  Here are some more of Nature’s patterns that lean towards abstraction.   Just relax and enjoy them for their colour, texture, shape, line and feeling…

 When the logical side of our brain comes up against something it cannot name, such as the content of an abstract painting,  a natural initial rejection takes place and a little voice pipes up in our head “What is it?  I can’t recognise anything I can name, so let’s move on.  It bores me.”   Has that been your reaction?

However, after a short time the logical side of the brain gives up, allowing the right side to take over, relax and explore. This is the creative side essential for expression through art, music, drama and dance.  Rather than needing to label and name things, this side perceives patterns, relationships between shapes, musical sounds, expressive movements etc.  It senses mood and atmosphere, and often evokes past memories of similar experiences, giving us nostalgic feelings.   

This is the side that senses the body language of someone talking to you while the right side of the brain is busy deciphering their words.  Because such observatons are “nameless”, we tend to describe them as “gut feelings” or “intuition”.  

Here are some more of nature’s images to enjoy…

We certainly, I believe, are more contented and balanced when we exercise both sides of our brain well. Giving the right creative side a chance to come into play relieves the stress that can build up when the logical side has been working hard.  That is why a walk in the sunshine, “stopping to smell the roses” is so beneficial…just allowing ourselves to “be in the now” and observe life around us.  For my partner, Tony and I, creating artwork puts us in this mode and it becomes a creative adventure that enhances our appreciation of everything around us.  It is this appreciation that we see as the chief benefit in creativity of this kind.  

Another example would be:

 To play music, we need to use both sides of our brain.  The logical memory applied to the learning of scales and reading written music blends with the feeling side so that we can express our emotions when playing the melody.   We can tell the difference if someone is playing music learned strictly by rote as against someone expressing themselves through their instrument – and this of course includes the miraculous instrument we are born with – the voice.   More slides to dream on now, compliments of Mother Nature and my digital camera…

My personal approach has often been that of the SEMI-ABSTRACT – recognisable but imaginative. This is a happy medium to me – however it is difficult to know which section to exhibit such works in Exhibitions that separate “Traditional” and “Abstract”! Of course that is the fault of the organisers who feel they have to pidgeon hole everything.   Here then are 2 slide-shows of my paintings with varying degrees of abstraction…

OK – did you enjoy this post?  Did it make any sense to you?  Have you anything to add?  I just felt that abstract artwork needed a bit more understanding … however like me, I’m sure you will still want to ignore the paintings that you find are just gymics and hold little interest. I guess if they evoke an emotion in you, even a negative emotion, maybe they have succeeded in conveying something from the artist to the viewer.  Personally, I feel there is enough negativity in the world without adding to it – therefore I prefer to focus on the uplifting, beautiful or humorous in my own artwork.   How do you feel about art content?

A closing thought:   MUSIC/ART

It is interesting that we allow ourselves to listen to music without lyrics without walking away from it saying “I don’t understand it!”   Yet most of us seem to desire a physical painting to be representational of something we can name.  Perhaps one way to overcome this would be to view it as though it were music – each colour, tone or shape being a “note”.   After all, music and art have much in common – particularly abstract art … most have rhythm, contrast, linear content, harmony and contrast … and just like music, good painting compositions need to have harmony with variation to hold our interest.

There is an excellent book that came out many years ago called “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards.  It has excellent exercises and explanations relating to the “way of seeing” that is necessary for people to be able to draw.  In essence, it retrains the brain to stop naming and giving information about the subject matter and allows the drawing hand to connect with and draw what is actually seen. 

I hope you have found some food for thought in all this….please share your thoughts via comments if you wish – I’m sure we would all appreciate sharing ideas about this puzzling subject.

Cheers,   Julie

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