Just realised I hadn't posted this to my blog, so here is my tutor comments from assignment one (and my responses in italics)
General
comments
I see that you want to be assessed and
indeed go eventually for the degree. This report is given in that context i.e.
degree level one. Could you please make
sure that all works are labelled on the reverse with your name, student number and
project /exercise titles. Please identify your assignment piece also.
Feedback
on assignment
Project,
Basic paint application
Ex,
Getting to know your brushes.
As with any piece of equipment brushes can
be a positive or a negative when used within the creative process. It is
beneficial to keep an open mind on their use and avoid using them in the same
way for every painting or part of painting. As with holding brushes it is
important to get your painting position right. You should paint vertically using
your painting tool at arms length. A work might begin ‘faster’ and then slow as
you develop and decisions become more critical. It is important to let a
painting breath both in its making and in its final outcome. Vary the sizes of
your painting tools and the substrates that you paint on which will also help
you to approach your work openly. The apples are reasonable attempts but the
brushwork is very tentative on the 2 made with brushes. Try to apply your paint
more openly using your paint more plasticly even though applied with brushes.
Shadows are a fundamental part of any composition and need to be treated as
such and not generalised as you have done here. Shadows are made up of object
colour and ground colour and variations thereof; mix off the canvas.
I do
find it quite difficult to paint at arm’s length – you feel as if you have less
control over the marks you are making (and sometimes you do need to be in close
for accurate or delicate work.) But I
keep practising, even though I do find I still tend to get closer and closer
when I am painting so have to make a concerted effort to step back. Re applying paint more openly and
plastically, I think this comes with being more confident in your brushstrokes
and having the confidence to apply paint more thickly, without dilution. Yes, I have had some problems with shadows –
as you say, they should not just be “an afterthought”. The research I conducted into various artists
and colour theories in assignment 2 has helped me address this so I hope this
won’t be too difficult going forward.
Ex,
applying paint without brushes
Your tryouts for this exercise are fine but
again they are rather tentatively approached. Really experimenting with paint
and application would have paid dividends; even painting with your fingers as
long as you wear latex gloves.
Remember there is a reason for doing this
exercise in that it demonstrates how media can be used in a more unconventional
ways to build paintings literally and use paint opaquely and inventively. Look
at some of Clyde Hopkin’s paintings from the 80’s and some of Kiefer’s work.
I
struggled to find images of Clyde Hopkins paintings from this date, although I
did find some very expressive descriptions of this paintings and their surface
structure. More research here so I can
have a proper look.
Anselm
Kiefer – there are a number of his works on Bridgeman Education so easy to have
a good look at the surface texture and application methods using the zoom
function. I must admit that, although I
appreciate the work and thought that has gone into these pieces, I really don’t
like most of them. I find them too
heavy, dark and quite depressing – although after reading more closely about
his concepts, this is probably what the viewer is supposed to feel.
After
I had found some images (both on Bridgeman, and the Saatchi Gallery), I read
about Kiefer on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anselm_Kiefer that précised his style:
“His
works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. The
poems of Paul Celan have played a role in developing Kiefer's themes of German
history and the horror of the Holocaust, as have the spiritual concepts of
Kabbalah. In his entire body of work,
Kiefer argues with the past and addresses taboo and controversial issues from
recent history. Themes from Nazi rule are particularly reflected in his work
…”.
“His
works are characterised by a dull/musty, nearly depressive, destructive style
and are often done in large scale formats. In most of his works, the use of
photography as an output surface is prevalent and earth and other raw materials
of nature are often incorporated. It is also characteristic of his work to find
signatures and/or names of people of historical importance, legendary figures
or places particularly pregnant with history. All of these are encoded sigils
through which Kiefer seeks to process the past; this has resulted in his work
being linked with a style called "New Symbolism."
There
are a number of his works in the Saatchi Gallery and, because they
are photographed “in situ”, you can really see the huge scale of these
paintings.
Das
Wölund-Lied [Wayland's Song] 1982 Oil, emulsion, straw, photograph on canvas
with lead wing 280 x 380 cm
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| copyright Bridgeman Education |
“Monsalvat, 1996 (acrylic, emulsion &
shellac on canvas)”
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| copyright Bridgeman Education |
This is not painting with pastels; it is a
drawing. Really have a go with some oil pastels and see what happens; explore
the medium for its full potential.
Geoffrey Rigden uses oil pastels in his paintings often. Because you
have used pastels in the drawing course it does not mean that you don’t use
them here in a painting context.
I haven’t had chance to do this yet but recently found an article in a magazine about oil pastels and using turps with a rag for blending. I tried this once at a local college but found the colours became very muddy very quickly – the article I saw just used one colour pastel for a monochrome finish – blending the pastel for background tone, and then using as a stick for detailed mark making and finishing. Will have to try and get some better quality oil pastels (mine are very cheap ones) and have another go. I struggled to find any works of Rigdens in oil pastel - everything I could find online appeared to be acrylic so, as with Hopkins above, will try to do more research here.
One
artist I did find was Valentina Piacenza http://www.valentinapiacenza.com/pub/paintings_08.htm – particularly her works
“unititled” and “Le Parche” because of the strong colours and the mix between
the areas blended with turps and those using straight pastel. I also found a webpage for the Oil Pastel Society– particularly liked the works of two artists: Marie Piemonte and
Janice Rangel.
Marie
Piemonte’s work was landscape but close up of woods and undergrowth. Because you cannot zoom in too closely to
these works it is difficult to see exactly how the artist achieved certain
effects. In “Door County – Day in the
Woods”, you can clearly see the marking on the trunks of the trees but I can’t
work out whether they are pastel marks or scraped back. I think scraped back over layers with when
with turps so will have to practise with this effect. In “Along the Fox River” there are spindles
of black twigs – again it looks like these have been dragged slightly into the
grey and white background which creates a ghostly effect.
Janice
Rangel’s website shows a full range of her work – ranging from still life and
landscapes to more abstract works. I
particularly liked Juventa Fons, a semi-abstract work, both for its textured
background and solid blocks of red and yellow colour.
Transparent
and opaque
These examples are much more expressive and
have some good abstract qualities in themselves, even though they are try outs.
You have looked at Rothko in reference to these which is great. Have a look at
Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler also. Mali Morris uses staining in her
work also. The 2 tree pieces are well
executed especially the opaque over transparent which has a greater depth to
it. The subject is somehow rendered more effectively this way round probably
because you ‘found’ the trees rather than painting them directly. It is
important to learn from this.
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| copyright Bridgeman Education |
This
work is very calming, using thin layers of acrylic resin paint in shades of
blue, green and complementary red in a fan-like formation from the base of the
painting. The thin layers have a glazing
effect – creating a third colour by layering on the canvas. The artist has made the simple composition
more textural by allowing some colours to dry before layering over the top but
allow some colours to mix “wet in wet”, such as the red to make a more muted,
delicate colour.
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| copyright Bridgeman |
This
painting by Frankenthaler looks more at the contrasts between opaque and
transparent paint. Much of the
background is very dilute paint, applied wet to allowed the colours to run and
spread on the canvas. The artist has
also introduced a backrun technique her in the lower right corner of the
painting. There are thicker strokes of
paint running through the middle (mainly white), although there are lots of
other colours in here if you look very closely – pinks, purple, dark blue –
which appear to have been dotted or spattered onto the already wet paint and
allowed to bleed. My initial thought
when looking at the painting was of a seascape (which it may be, albeit heavily
abstracted) with the sea running through the middle of the painting.
Mali
Morris’s work is mainly acrylic – with strong coloured streaks of transparent
paint over thicker, more matte paint. I
had a look on her website and her work appears to be very much about
the paint, and the way it has been applied, which takes precedence over
composition, and sometimes even the colour.
Her latest works are a series of transparent paint, applied with a large
brush to give a very streaked effect, whether circles, lines or short strokes
of the brush. Within these brushstrokes,
small circles of paint appear to have been created by removing the paint layer
while still wet and applying a much brighter colour in the void created. Even after viewing these online a number of
times, I’m not quite sure whether I like them or not. After viewing her website, I visited the RA
Summer Exhibition in which she was displaying a number of works (too many in my
opinion!). I found then very repetitive
and quite boring – once you had seen one, you had seen them all really.
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| image from Tate Website |
Project, Working on different coloured grounds
Ex, tonal study on a white ground/ Ex Tonal
study on a dark ground
The tonal range that you have employed here
is wide enough to form the objects in 3 dimensions. However your brush work
needs to be much more sympathetic towards shape and form to capture the objects
even more successfully. When establishing objects in paint it is often
beneficial to lose the defined edges of them to fuse them into the composition;
similarly with shadows and how they relate to the ground. I can see that you
have looked at Rembrandt and Carravaggio to help you with this so try to
assimilate what you see as you paint.
Look at Matisse also to see how he uses colour as tone and shadow; look
at some of his fauve paintings from the early 20th century for example ‘Woman
with a Soft Hat’ otherwise known as ‘Portrait with a Green Line’ to see how
this idea can be translated into full colour.
You need to consider more where objects sit
in relation to the whole painting. Composition is a fundamental component of
painting which you will do more work on as you progress. The composition on the one on the dark ground
is somewhat awkward but the one on a light ground feels just right. You have
looked hard here resulting in 2 reasonably successful pieces. Think about your
actual application of paint again here; there is too much smoothing out; it is
important to let your colour/tone and brushwork form and build the paintings in
an inventive and open way.
I
agree re the two compositions – the painting on the light ground was drawn in
first and then painted, while on the darker ground, I began painting directly
onto the card. I did find it much more
difficult painting from dark to light, and I think this is why the objects
aren’t quite right. Also point re hard
edges and too much smoothing of paint – again, I think that is a confidence
issue (being the first real composition of the course) and getting used to
painting in oils. I do tend to see
things with defined edges and concentrate too much on the shape, rather than
the tone, even when drawing so must try to vary my approach more.
The reasoning behind how this course is
organised is that having done the exercises and projects you can bring the
experience, knowledge and know how into the resultant assignment pieces. This
is a very important aspect of the course structure. Assignment pieces should be
more ambitious in terms of what you are willing to take on in painting terms
whilst still keeping their life and openness.
Good preparatory work is crucial as part of
the working process as it inevitably leads to better end results and allows you
to get to know your subject matter really well. It is always beneficial to
implement good practise at an early stage in your development.
Assignment
1
The reproduction of your assignment piece
that you sent me is inadequate; the one on the blog is better but still not
satisfactory. I really cannot see it properly; I know it says in the course
document that you can do this but for me it remains unsatisfactory. If it is in
acrylic another couple of days to let it dry would have been fine.
As I
stated in my notes sent, this was done in oils and was not dry as I had been
fiddling with it up until the time I posted the assignment, but point taken re
the quality of the reproduction sent.
From what I can decipher the painting looks
to be ambitious in what it takes on and it looks to be well executed and well
observed. The painting looks to have presence and the colour combinations look
effective. The brush work looks appropriate to the subject matter and you have
given the room and objects an engaging atmosphere.
You have not done enough prep work for this
painting. You need more drawings in various media and more colour studies
exploring the nature of your subject. These should be on loose sheets so that
you can vary the format as well as in the sketch book. Making at least 2 versions of the assignment
piece will pay dividends in the long run and will prevent you being overly
precious about what you do and give you some options to select for assessment
when that comes round. You should be looking at composition, colour, light and
light source and tonal distribution. Exploring your subject very thoroughly in
other words. All these aspects need to come together to form a successful
painting. Send me the original with
assignment 2.
Thank
you for the feedback on this – and noted what you say about doing more prep
work to fully explore the nature of the subject. The problem I have is that I find I lose my
enthusiasm completely looking at and repeating (albeit in a different
medium/format/composition) the same subject but, as this is a course
requirement, I will have to find a way round this. Perhaps I will need to work on a number of
projects at the same time to avoid this – will let you know how I get on.
I will give you some general advice here
about both execution and perception.
You do need to look very hard when you
paint from life, paint what you see, not what you think that you see. If it
doesn’t look right you need to alter, re work, re look until you get your
subjects operating in 3 dimensions/space effectively.
Try not to respect the edges of
objects/parts of views too much especially when working more tonally. Merging
these areas more will help the object sit better in space and relate more
pertinently to the ground. Let shadows peter out rather than abruptly stopping
and break the line between object and ground. Work more openly in other words.
Vary the speeds that you work as working
quicker can often open up new ways of seeing as can holding your painting
implements differently.
Quickly executed paintings can be good and
bad. Paintings made more slowly likewise.
It is the intent and nature of the outcome
in reference to what your subject is and the quality of the execution itself
that matters.
Work on the relationships of one
object/parts of a view (seen or imagined) to another and then to the whole, DO
NOT concentrate on irrelevant details too soon which can be distracting to the
whole composition.
Try to apply your paint much more boldly
where necessary
Find equivalents in terms of handling and
inventive brush work for what you are looking at or imagining.
Work vertically as I have already
mentioned, especially when working above A3 size, holding your implements
between thumb and forefinger i.e. NOT like a pen when you write.
It is imperative that you LOOK HARD at all
times at your subject; look, paint, alter, paint again, change, look, you need
to build up a dialogue between yourself, the subject and the paint and the
painting.
All
very good comments and will endeavour to incorporate into what I do in future.
Ones I picked up on most (ie I know I have a habit of doing!) are your comments
about concentrating on small details too soon; and respecting edges too
much/shadows being too abrupt (already addressed above).
Also
tried holding painting implements between thumb and forefinger – have tried
this a few times now and, although it is quite difficult to get used to
(uncomfortable on the hand and arm) I can see the benefits to applying paint in
this way.
Sketch
books
Your sketch book is not enquiring enough in
a real sense at this stage. You are going through the motions to an extent
here. Sketch books need to have focus and intent in how they relate to what you
do and be a real help to your practice.
You need to be doing more work in your
sketch book to augment your creative practice. Studies using a variety of
media, on different scales and with a variety of approaches will enhance the
work that you do in the projects and assignments. Doodling is good to tease out
ideas and subconscious thoughts. You are writing far too much in the sketch
book; this can short circuit the visual processes which you need to develop at
this stage. I would avoid sticking in cut out images also; this looks too much
like a scrap book and to an extent looks like filling pages.
Learning
logs/critical essays
A learning log/blog is a professional
document to assist you in your learning and to some extent give you a context.
A learning log should contain objective
writings about your work, analytical and comparative is best with comments on
‘what have you achieved’. It needs to have in it the set theoretical studies
and research points. Evidence of artists and work that you have looked at and
art that you have seen annotated where necessary. Import images of other
artists work also as you have been doing as well as your own. The learning log
is there to help you develop as a practitioner. It has to be more than just a
simple narrative.
A learning log is a professional document
to assist you in your learning and to some extent give you a context.
Your blog is well presented and is clear.
The research is thorough and you use images well to augment what you are
talking about. Comment more on the qualitative outcomes of what you do; compare
one piece/version to another.
Try to assimilate what you look at into
your own practice.
Suggested
reading/viewing
Look at the artists that I have suggested
in the report and put your findings in your learning log saying what you think
and how you could maybe use ideas and ways of doing things that you see in your
work. Look at Manet, Pissarro, Bonnard and Vuillard, Monet, Van Gogh and
Cezanne all of whom will be of great benefit to you whilst doing this course.
Other
Overall this is a reasonable first
assignment with plenty of scope for improvement as you progress. You have the
wherewithal to be successful at this level but you need to take on board advice
in this report and learn from the successes in your own work which you need to
recognise and build on.
I know that you want to go for assessment
and from your records I can see that you have been successful at Drawing 1 and
Understanding Western Art. You do have the wherewithal to be successful on this
course also but avoid short circuiting your creative processes at all costs.
You have more chance to fully reach your potential that way.
