Monday 29 November 2010

Still Life Study 1 - Watercolour pencils

I found this a good exercise to help to study things closely when drawing. 'Getting your eye in' is the phrase used to describe the process of looking ever more closely at an object to observe all aspects of it's appearance -  tones, light and shade, texture, form etc.

The idea here is NOT to use a rubber (eraser) but to fade out pencil mark mistakes using water on them. This produces some interesting effects in itself so that the piece becomes a mix of two techniques.

You can use watercolour papers (which are expensive) or pre-stretch cartridge paper so that the paper will always dry flat once dry.


How to Stretch Paper
Wet your paper thoroughly but running it under a tap. The idea is to ensure every part of the paper is wet but not soaking. Carefully lay the paper on a completely flat and smooth board, gently smoothing out crinkles and air bubbles as you do so. 

Using gumstrip (available in most stationers and Art Shops) tear off four strips, each longer than each side of the paper. Damp the sticky side of the gumstrip with a sponge and stick each side of the paper to the board. Ensure there are no air bubbles or crinkles as you do so. Leave to completely dry out before beginning your artwork. 

So long as you never completely drench the paper when working the paper should always dry flat again. If your work does get soggy, leave it to dry before resuming work. Even watercolour papers have their limit so if you are overly generous with water you will need to stretch your paper regardless. You may require patience too!

An exercise in observation
With your paper pre-prepared you are ready to begin. Select 3 or 5 objects for your study. They can be organic (fruit, flowers, etc) or man-made or a mixture of the two. Pictures tend to be more instantly appealing if things are arranged in some sort of triangular arrangement.

For this exercise I would recommend a range plenty of contrast between size and shape of the objects you choose as it will force you to really start to look at things closely. 

TIP: Always stay in the same place each time you look at your still life arrangement. If you sit up straighter or begin to slouch it will alter the angles of everything you see.

You Will Need:
* Paper
* 2 x watercolour pencils in contrasting light colours
* 2 x watercolour pencils in contrasting darker colours
* Jar of clean water
* 2 x soft watercolour brushes, one broad, one narrow

STEP 1: With a very pale coloured watercolour pencil begin your drawing. Hold your pencil lightly so the marks you make will also be light. Roughly sketch what you see in terms of broad shapes... are your objects roughly rectangles, squares, triangles, ovals, round, circular etc? 

As you work bear in mind the relationship between the shapes i.e. how big are they compared to one another. How much taller or shorter is one object to another, how much wider etc. 

As you explore these things begin to correct your original marks by pressing a little harder with the pencil.

STEP 2: Using clean water and a brush lightly fade the marks you're not happy with by washing them away. If you end up using a lot of water, let the piece dry before you continue. It's a good idea to take a break between each colour you use anyway.

STEP 3: Pick a slightly darker coloured pencil and this time try to be even more accurate. By taking a break you look take a step back and see things with a fresh pair of eyes. Be warned you may find you're horrified by what you've done, but stick at it. 
If you think you've made a horrendous mistake, good!  That's what this exercise if all about. Don't go back on it... move on to the next step.

Look closely and you will start to see if you've got the comparative sizes and shapes of objects right. You may need to make something much bigger or much smaller. Ignore your previous marks made with the first pencil now and draw over the top. 

This is why you're using a slightly darker coloured pencil. It makes for an interesting piece of work and remember, this is a study; studying is all about learning and we learn best from making mistakes so enjoy making them! 

At this stage also try to look at the shapes within the shapes and start to suggest them.

STEP 4: Using clean water and a brush lightly fade the marks you're not happy with by washing them away. If you end up using a lot of water, let the piece dry before you continue. Have another break!

STEP 5: Pick a slightly darker coloured pencil and be even more accurate. This time you're looking for a bit of detail and tone, where it's lighter, where it's darker.
Notice here is where my jar tops started to go a bit crooked!

STEP 6: Using clean water and a brush lightly fade the marks you're not happy with by washing them away. If you end up using a lot of water, let the piece dry before you continue. Have another break!

STEP 7: Pick your darkest coloured pencil and be even more accurate. This is where you tighten the whole piece for those finishing touches and finalise those details.

With a lot of practice, patience and perseverance you can end up with a piece that's like a photograph. 

If anyone can identify the organic items are in my picture... well done! And if someone could straighten the neck of the bottle and... and...

A wise person once told me: "All art is a process of correction. The fun is in the doing."


Final Tips
It's best for learning and to help with concentration to choose very different colours for each of the drawing stages of this exercises. It's also a good idea to try out the colours first on a scrap of paper. Try them against each other, over the top of each other and try them each out with water. 

Some colours go a lot darker than you might expect when wet, so it's best to be prepared for that and use it to your advantage. 

The pencil colours I used for this piece were: 
Step 1: Light Blue
Step 3: Light Orange
Step 5: Medium Dark Blue
Step 7: Dark Orange/red

Variation to this exercise
1. Try repeating this exercise without the use of rubber with ordinary coloured pencils i.e. no water.
2. Try using watercolour paints to do the same exercise.

Aside from anything else has helped me to learn a little bit about watercolour and pencils. There are no rules on how you may wish to vary and experiment. Enjoy!

Saturday 27 November 2010

Quotations - Words of Wisdom 3

Jewish and Yiddish Maxims
The point of all these quotes from round the world is about illustrating just how much we have in common, so How much nicer it is to focus on what we share than what we disagree on!


"Words which come forth from the heart enter into the heart."



"What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth." 


"No man sees his own disabilities."


"A man is motivated by his own interests, and no man incriminates himself."


"The well from which thou hast drunk water, do not cast a stone into it!"


"Who is the valiant man? He who controls his passions."


"He is wise who learns from all men."


"He is rich who is content with his portion."


"There is no wage in this world for doing good deeds."


"No prosecutor becomes an advocate."


"The world is built on loving kindness."


"The smoothest way is full of stones." 


"The truly rich are those who enjoy what they have."

"Confidence is half of victory."

"If you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm."

"Better ask ten times than go astray once."

"Beautiful is not what is beautiful, but what one likes."


"A bird that you set free may be caught again, but a word that escapes your lips will not return."


"A pessimist, confronted with two bad choices, chooses both."


"Don't be sweet, lest you be eaten up; don't be bitter, lest you be spewed out.


"First mend yourself, and then mend others."


"If charity cost nothing, the world would be full of philanthropists."

"When you have no choice, mobilize the spirit of courage."


"Don't approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side."


"Pride joined with many virtues chokes them all."


"First learn, and then form opinions."



"I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes -- until I met a man who had no feet."



"If there is bitterness in the heart, sugar in the mouth won't make life sweeter."



"Whoever does not try, does not learn."


"If you don't aspire to great things, you won't attain small things."




"When con men meet a legitimately honest man, they are so bewildered that they consider him a greater con man than themselves."


"Let your ears hear what your mouth says."

"Life is the biggest bargain. We get it for nothing."

"Locks keep out only the honest."



"Pray that you will never have to bear all that you are able to endure."



"Pride is the mask of one's own faults."


"The good fellow to everyone is a good friend to no one."


"The man who gives little with a smile gives more than the man who gives much with a frown."



"It is easier to guard a sack full of fleas than a girl in love."

"Don't sell the sun to buy a candle."


"The only truly dead are those who have been forgotten."



"The person who only accepts friends without faults will never have any real friends."



"There is no book that contains absolutely nothing bad, and there is no book that contains absolutely nothing good."



"What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul."



"When a father helps a son, both smile; but when a son must help his father, both cry."



"If the rich could hire someone else to die for them, the poor would make a wonderful living."





Sunday 21 November 2010

Monoprinting

Monoprinting is a quick way to make lots of pictures. Ideal if you want to make some quick greeting cards for anything! Every print you make is a one off and by experimenting you learn what pressures produce each effect.

It does require you to be fairly quick as you don't want the ink to dry out before you've done your drawing. This is especially true of water-based inks.

You will need:
* Printing ink (and white spirit if using oil-based ink, water based ink is cheaper)
* A glass, plastic or perspex completely smooth sheet
* A printing roller
* Plenty of paper
* Pencil, pens, rubbers etc 

Roll out a blob of ink (about as much as you'd put on a toothbrush) onto your smooth sheet until it is slightly tacky. As with all printing, if the ink is too thick it will spoil your print, if it's too thin it won't pick up enough to make a good impression (image).

Take a piece of paper and place it on the ink. Different types or paper will absorb the ink differently so experiment to find out what ones you like. Newsprint is quite thin and not a pure white but it picks up ink well, but sometimes you might not want it too.


Draw your design or picture on the paper. Add shade and texture by pressing you finger or using the rubber onto the drawing where you want some shading. Texture and shade can also be added using dots, cross-hatching and pressing other objects against the page.

When happy carefully peel the picture away from the ink and you have a print! Roll the ink out again for a new print.



TOP TIPS: 
  1. Try out lots of different marks with your first few prints. It's common for the ink to be a bit thick when you start out, so use these ones to really go wild and experiment to find out what marks you can make, and which you like best.
  2. Varying the amount of pressure you apply when using pens, pencils, rubbers and fingers will give you lighter or darker shades.
  3. You can use a mask before applying your paper to the ink so your print has a nice clean edge.
  4. Thoroughly clean and dry your roller and sheet once the ink starts to get dry and start afresh... trust me it's less frustrating that way!

VARIATION: You can also draw into the ink before laying the paper onto the ink, then you can use a dry roller on the paper to get the image. Or you can combine both techniques.






What to do with the the prints you don't like
Use them for collage material and create a new artwork out of them. You can cut and tear them up for interesting textures, make them more colourful using pencils, paints, pastels and tissue paper or bring out the design again with felts, markers or... a gold or silver pen. Remember though that if you have used water-based ink it will smudge and run if you apply liquids to them afterwards.




Tuesday 16 November 2010

Five Colour Satsumas Sketches

When people think of pictures they tend to think of two things, photographs and painting. Yet when we think back to art lessons at school most of us were given many other things to create our pictures with.

REMEMBER: In Art there is no such thing as a mistake only experiments! We learn by exploring and don't have to share our efforts with anyone. Do not be fooled into thinking I have not made many a mess along the way, but I only share what I feel I'm comfortable with.

TIP: NEVER throw an artwork away if it is less than 6 months old. The reason for this is that no matter how disgusted or disappointed you may be with it at the time, you may find that if you put it away for a while and then look at it after a long break, you will not only be able to see where and how it didn't seem to work for you more clearly, but also where it went right! That record of your development is invaluable. Besides which what you may dismiss as rubbish, another person may adore and think of as a masterpiece.

Each of the following mediums (materials you use) has it's own range of techniques, but it is only ever by experimenting that you learn what works for you.

Here are five conventional colourful reminders...
Colour Pencils
Colour Pencils
There are two types of colour pencils, ordinary ones and watercolour pencils. Here I've used the ordinary ones and even without sharpening the points produced this. There are so many techniques you can use with pencils that I will eventually do a posting devoted to just that.

Remember that a pencil can be sharp or blunt, pressed hard or be just gently stroke the paper. By varying all these things you will discover you are capable of much more than you thought possible.

Watercolour pencils, as the name suggests are pencils which you can then apply water to with a brush to blend the pencil marks together.


Watercolour

Watercolour Paints
When we talk of paints in Art there are so many types to choose from it can make your head spin. I've included watercolour paints in this blog because I use them as a sketching tool to quickly note down ideas in colour. The main two things to remember with watercolour painting is that you must keep your colours clean by always washing out your brush between each different colour. The second thing to remember is to work from you lightest colours through to your darkest ones.

I'm an untidy sort of artist most of the time, who likes sloshing paint making a mess and who is not good at keeping her brushes clean, so Am a long way off becoming a master at watercolour which is something else you need to bear in mind. If one medium isn't working for you, there's bound to be another that will. Equally if one techniques of working doesn't work for you, try another.

As a general rule of thumb watercolour tends to suit the tidier artist, but there are always exceptions in Art to any rule. See if you can find some!

NOTE: People who take degrees in art start with a foundation course to explore as many disciplines as possible before specialising, so do the same!

Soft Pastels
Soft Pastels
These are not chalks as their composition is far softer than harsh chalks and the reason I've chosen them above chalks is because of the wonderful range of colours you can get in pastels. Soft pastels lend themselves to blending; in fact it's a challenge to avoid smudging them, but try the same experiments with them as you would a pencil i.e. hard, soft, fine and broad marks.

Oil Pastels
Oil Pastels
Bold colours and broad marks are what I tend to associate with Oil Pastels. The colour range is not as broad as you get with Soft Pastels and they don't blend as easily. I've personally not come across work with fine detailed marks... which automatically sets me a challenge of seeing if it is possible.

The other thing you can do is a technique called Scraffito, which entails scratching into the wax... I'm definitely going to be doing some of that!

Collage
Collage
Collage can be anything you like, here I've used tissue papers but you can use bits of material, magazines and even objects e.g. paperclips and safety pins. Your only restriction is how strong your glue is. This is a different 
discipline entirely and forces you to do are to look for shapes within each object. Light and shade become a series of flat surfaces for you to look for. I find I enjoy the random accidents it throws up, particularly with tissue paper and the vibrancy of colour is gorgeous.

From doing some collage work I was inspired to have a go at painting in blocks in an almost cubist way. That is what all these techniques should ultimately lead to... inspiring you to explore further and trigger more ideas.

Wednesday 10 November 2010

Ten Writing Exercises

I've pinched some ideas for this posting from my a posting called 'Ten Excuses to be Silly' on my other blogsite http://mindwalking-ajournalofdiscovery.blogspot.com to help people get started; but I have adapted some and added a few extras to get you going.

1. Inventing Characters 
In your mind create two characters. One with all your favourite qualities in looks, colour, things it can do (give it special powers if you like) and personality traits. Create the second out of all the things you dislike. Given them names. What do they like and dislike?

These characters can be any person or creature you like, a mix of many real and invented creatures or an entirely new being such as a magical creature or an alien.

Think how they might communicate, get about, react to different things. Describe the lot. Where were they born? How old are they? what does it like eating? When creating a new character it's best to know it very well indeed as it will start to develop a life of its own!

2. Adjective Game
This is an old exercise from my schooldays. Think of setting such as a beach. Now start describing it using lots of adjectives (describing words). It is hot, cold, sandy, rocky, deserted, packed with sunbathers? Where in the world is it? What time of year is it? What time of day? What's the weather like there? Is there any plant life near by? Can you see any wildlife? What are they like? Are there any man made structures about - buildings, boats, cars, planes. How did you get there? What feelings do you have? Is it welcoming, hostile? etc etc

3. Writing Comedy
Make a list of all the things that make you laugh and try and write a joke or funny story or poem. It's not easy, but remembering things that made you laugh can help as a starting point.

How about imagining what else you could go into an office for beside asking for an argument from the Monty Python team... A moan? A queue? A sulk? What else?

Or... what else might be an arrestable offence besides walking down the street in a loud shirt (Not The Nine O'Clock News).

Or... if the term for an electrician who gets fired from their job is delighted, what other ones can you can come up with, de-composed for a musician, de-posed for a fashion model? (Dave Allen) 

4. New words
Start a fictionary dictionary of new words to describe things or new verbs (action words) e.g. if you turn rampant into a verb we get people going out rampanting. Write a definition so you won't forget what was in your mind when you look back and finally give an example of the new word's use. 

Rampant (verb): The act of being flirtatious that goes beyond mere flirting but stops short of full blown seduction; usually done to help alleviate feeling randy. e.g. "I'm off our now for a spot of rampanting!" 

I don't advise you do this for real in case you get arrested or sectioned!

5. Develop your imagination
Imagine doing something in Topsy Turvy Land like laying a lawn by digging a tunnel under the ground and pushing each blade up out of the ground from underneath and painting each blade of grass a different colour. How else do you think Lewis Carroll came up with Alice's Wonderland?

For descriptions try using words that you don't usually associate with things are they really are e.g. a squidgy car or a green sky.

6. Writing a poem
A poem doesn't have to rhyme or rhythm, be loaded up with adjectives or deep meaning. For example, a friend of mine wrote a poem called 'The Hundred Mile An Hour Leaf' about a leaf getting stuck on his windscreen when driving. Poems can be anything you like and as long or as short as you please, such as this one from me which I wrote to counter myths about poetry.

IT MUST BE A POEM
By definition it must be a poem
Because it is short
It may not rhyme
Because of what it says
The lack of an iambic pentameter
Is excused of course
Due to the imagery -
Mud-flat pork pies.

Poems can be thoughts and reflections if you prefer. When I write one, I don't worry about the style of it, what matters is what I'm saying; I only worry about the rhyme afterwards if I want to. 

7. Creating a plot
I heard once that there are only seven basic plots e.g. boy meets girl and they fall in love. What stimulates us is how many variations there are to those plots and what makes them interesting are the characters, the situation and how both develop. 

So as an exercise for devising a plot turn it on it's head and look at it from a different angle. What else could happen? Would the story take on a new feeling if you altered the characters, setting, circumstances? These are all key features to developing an interesting story. Does is have impact? Drama? Highs and lows, like light and dark in a picture? Tragedy works because of it's unfulfilled hope. Comedy by its misfortunes.

The traditional format for a three act play is, Act One, set the situation and introduce the characters; Act Two complicate the situation and Act Three, resolve it. In all cases the audience be they at a theatre, cinema or just reading needs to be taken on a journey.

So, the girl may not like the boy at all to begin with as in Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. They may get separated once they fall in love because of various unforeseen factors as in Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane EyreCharles Dicken's 'Great Expectations'

8. Dialogue 
Here again, experimenting with the unexpected can often yield interesting results. Eavesdropping on snippets of conversations is often a good starting point for inspiration. I heard one the other day from two lads walking down an alley while I was in the garden and all I caught was, "The girl in the pizza van." 

Instead of imagining a storyline or plot, imagine how that line came into conversation and how it could go on from there. In doing so you automatically start to tell a story. And again, think in terms of situation and characters. What would happen if the lads were old age pensions, or if "The girl in the pizza van." came up as a random remark in a business meeting about sales in dustbins! 

You can even decide who the characters are after you've written the conversation which is all that dialogue is. How many stories can you think of which have animals talking?

9. Mimic other people's styles
This can be done by swapping alternative words into a piece already written. From there you can start to explore writing a new piece in a similar style. Handy if you want to do a pastiche to turn something tragic into something comic, but also a good way of exploring what suits you best to develop your own unique way of writing.

10. Bringing ideas together
Look around you at what you are inspired by already and start to bring those elements together. The Internet can help you research all kinds of things to help you glue all the elements together, from information about foreign lands and cultures to detailed facts on history, lifestyles, costumes or technical gadgetry. 

Be selective of what you do and don't want in your written works when you want to develop ideas further. Never be afraid to change your mind. It is after all your own word. Most of all be true to yourself.

FINAL TIP:
Walk away and let your masterpiece rest. Come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes after you've forgotten it - in the interim write more. Like anything through practice we develop our skills. Even now (and it's true of all my work) there are pieces I still hate, have loved from the word go and many, many others that I continually change my mind about whether I like them or not! Let others  be the judge... if you dare! They will like, loathe and be as ambivalent as you but may surprise you by liking the work that you don't and vice versa.

Sunday 7 November 2010

Quotations - Words of Wisdom 2

Many collections categorize quotations, but I prefer (on the whole) not to so that the reader is free to interpret things as they wish. Often we can then end up with something very different from the original context the quote came from, which might be annoying for its originator but abstraction is a valid form of art and a good starting point for exploration. I collect them as a reference for inspiration.


This time, I've collected a few Japanese proverbs. What I like about sayings is the thoughts they provoke. They trigger a poem, short story, a painting, sculpture, a piece of music; some stand as profound truths, some as a source of inspiration, some a comfort. They can stimulate reflection and act as vehicles for learning more about ourselves. Some even turn into mottos and mantras to live our lives by. And then there are some, that are so quirky, you wander what they've about at all.

"A good sword is the one left in its scabbard." 

"Laughter cannot bring back what anger has driven away.
 "

"One kind word can warm three winter months." 

"One who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger." 

"The crow that mimics a cormorant is drowned." 

"The day you decide to do it is your lucky day."

"The reverse side also has a reverse side." 

"The pebble in the brook secretly thinks itself a precious stone."

"The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention."

"If you believe everything you read, better not read." 

"The tongue is but three inches long, yet it can kill a man six feet high." 


"The tongue is more to be feared than the sword."


"To wait for luck is the same as waiting for death."


"Wisdom and virtue are like the two wheels of a cart."


"The go-between wears out a thousand sandals." 


"The beggar's work is pure profit."


"Better the arrow pierce your breast than your back."


"To teach is also to learn."


"You can know ten things by learning one."


"If he works for you, you work for him."


"If we didn't have ordinary men, how could we tell the great ones?"


"Lazy people have no spare time."


"Don't plug your ears when you go to steal a bell."


"Bad and good are intertwined like rope." 


"Darkness reigns at the foot of the lighthouse."



"Forgiving the unrepentant is like drawing pictures on water."



"If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master."



"If you understand everything, you must be misinformed."



"Every extra thing you own is extra trouble."


"In the mountains we forget to count the days."


"Affinity is a mysterious thing, but it is spicy!" 


"The naked man never mislays his wallet."


"It is a beggar's pride that he is not a thief." 


"Knowledge without wisdom is a load of books on the back of an ass."



"Once uttered, words run faster than horses."


"The old forget. The young don't know."


"A pig used to dirt turns its nose up at rice."