Another thing I realise I never got around to posting… the work from my end of year exhibition! I went through a lot of stages of not being happy with this piece, and while it came together once it was finished I still don’t feel completely happy with it. There are many things I’d do differently in hindsight, but I can just keep those things in mind for the future.
More three tone master studies. I was advised to do them smaller, as I was doing one study per page… what a difference! I was doing these in around half the time it took me to do the full page studies, and I was concentrating more on my brush strokes and where to put the paint a little more as the work area is smaller. Even after this course, I’ll definitely be doing these for a long time…
Now for the colour studies, very nervous for these as I know nothing about colour! Also, I have to mix my own colours as well, scary.
The next six master studies, I forgot to upload them yesterday. They went much better than my first acrylic attempt! There’s a lot I could improve on, but for the exercise we’re doing I’m learning so much about composition and values that I never realised before when just looking at these paintings. Now to carry on with the rest!
My legs after painting the floor in the studio in preparation for the exhibition next Friday, I wasn’t as messy as I though I’d be. That floor paint is vile stuff, that’s why I wore these cheap tights! It sticks to your skin and even turps doesn’t wash it off completely. The prep is now finished so we don’t have to be in tomorrow, but I want to get a headstart on my exhibition piece, stretch the canvas onto the pallet and get started!
I don’t ever remember posting these? I guess I should put them here now, I haven’t posted any of my own work since December last year! I actually created these pieces a while ago now, back in September when I started the first semester. I used graphite, ink, watercolours, chalk and markers to create these pieces.
(Source: senticous)
Here are some more sketches from the same sketchbook as my previous art post, which I created when I stared to develop my ideas. The shapes in my sketches reminded me a lot of coral, so I started looking at the natural forms of coral and trying to abstract them in some way in my work, so I wasn’t drawing a representation of coral, but something reminiscent of it.
(Source: senticous)
These are four sketches I picked out from my sketchbook, which are loose studies from a stone sphere, observing the surface of the mineral. I applied metallic and blue acrylic paints onto the page with a printing roller, and painted on top with coloured inks. I like how in some areas the paint absorbs the ink, but in others the ink contrasts against the paint. I used A4 Kraft paper, metallic and cerulean blue acrylic paint, drawing ink.
(Source: senticous)
My second series of hybrid fungi sculptures, shot on site with a Nikon D-90 and a 60mm macro lens.
(Source: senticous)
My second series of hybrid fungi sculptures, shot on site with a Nikon D-90 and a 60mm macro lens.
(Source: senticous)
Some of what I’ve been working on recently. These little clay sculptures were inspired by artist Vera Möller and photographs I’ve recently taken of fungus and other natural growths. I created my own fungus, using both mushrooms and coral as a starting point for their shape. I decided to paint them white, with blue and copper as the colours work well together, contrasting and attracting the eye. I decided to set them up in their ‘natural’ setting, a fallen tree next to a pond in the park near to my university. I want people to discover them as they are walking around the park.
I’ve left them there to see what will happen to them, if anything, as my own intervention piece. I’m really excitited to revisit the site on monday morning to see if anything has changed. They are made with unfired, air-dried terracotta earthernware clay, and painted with acrylic paints so they are non-toxic and won’t damage the environment I’ve placed them in.
(Source: senticous)
I just won this brush in an auction on ebay, it’s so lovely! The handle has red coral on it by the way. I can’t wait to start inking with it now.
Here’s the oil painting finished for the day. It’s still a work in progress, as there’s more I’m going to add to it, but I thought I’d share how I got along with it. Considering it’s my first time painting with oils, I’m quite proud of myself for persevering through the doubt and scariness of trying something completely new. It’s based on some sketches in one of my sketchbooks, which I will scan and put up here as well when I remember to. I mixed the oil paints with a 3:1 mix of turps/gel medium, so it will be dry by time I get back to it on monday morning. I treated the oil paints like watercolours with this painting, just to experiment with familiar techniques in a new medium. It’s painted on primed canvas stretched onto board.
(Source: senticous)
