Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Hiatus
Hi there dear reader. I do apologize for my absence but I'm going on a self-imposed hiatus from a regular blogging schedule.
As I mentioned a few months back I accepted the task of assisting the local library art co-ordinator in putting together this year's Lilac Tea Art Show and Sale, an event that started just last year and was enormously successful both in promoting local artists and its main goal of promoting literacy in our community through various fundraisers such as the Lilac Tea. We're getting down to crunch time now for application deadlines and we're also starting to plan for the advertising of this event and while I knew that this would be a time consuming venture I didn't count on just how time consuming it would be helping out with that and all the other things I have on my plate right now.
So.
I'm still going to update my blog but it will be a bit willy-nilly, if you will. I'm still trucking along with my VG project and plan on doing another post related to that either on Friday or Sunday and, having mentioned that, you can expect to see more posts taking place on week-ends as that seems to be when I have a bit more free time to indulge the part of me that enjoys writing.
There you have it. I'll be back later in the week with sketches and more on Van Gogh so until then keep on art-ing!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
It's not work
Copyright Rita Woodburne
So I'm back with another installment on my VanGogh project. I'd like to have a bunch of sketches to show you but those are going to have to wait until next week because my camera battery is charging right now. Guess I should really check these things before hand, eh?
That said, I still want to touch on the subject of the importance VG attached to sketching/ pre-planning for larger works and my own feelings about the process. This isn't going to be a post heavy on VanGogh himself but more a post for myself and what I've worked on over the past week and a half in regards to my sketching.
As I mentioned before, and as anyone who is familiar with VanGogh and his working process will already know, he attached a fair bit of importance to sketching (meaning practicing one's drawing skills in general) and also to planning out any issues that one might have before delving into a larger piece. After all, who wants to get half way through an 18x24" only to realize that you should've moved that birch tree behind the rock rather than in front of it? It could be changed but you just know it'll irk you as you work on the rest of the piece.
I bring this up because there's a large work I'd like to do with the culmination of what I "discover" along the way in doing this project. It'll be done in coloured pencil (and possibly some pastel) but in order to get the image I want I need to cobble together several reference pictures and do some colour, value and shadow adjusting. No small task for myself as I don't often find the need to use several different pictures and collage them together, at least not as many as I have lined up for this piece.
What have I gotten myself into?
I've never done a lot of pre-planning (heck I can't remember the last time I did any pre-planning) for any of my works. I've always felt it was a buzz-kill and this is something that I'm hoping to change or at the very least resolve to embrace as an important learning tool. VanGogh seemed to delight in the whole process of working out problems before putting paint brush to canvas and I often wonder if it had something to do with the immediacy of both his medium and process. Oil paint can be very forgiving and painting with it, without question, is much faster than coloured pencil even on the best of days. Labouring over a piece doesn't strike me as being particularly enjoyable but then again, I could adopt the attitude that it's not labouring over a piece so much as it is savouring the creation of the piece, right? How's that for trying to change one's mind-set? ;)
I'm really kicking myself for not making sure that I had my battery charged because I really did enjoy doing the sketches and I'm noticing that it is slowly turning into more of a habit rather than something I feel I need to do. I had also done some sketches for the larger piece I mentioned earlier and I felt that in doing them little things were falling into place that would help me tackle the larger, final work.
Last week was quite higglety-pigglety for me so I didn't get to do as much sketching as I would've liked but life tends to get in the way of having fun from time to time. When I wasn't sketching I found myself thinking of what I'd like to try next so the fact that it's entering my mind as something to do for fun to pass the time is a good thing, a very good thing. Let's see if it can persist...
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sooooo lazy....
"The Muse" ACEO can be bid on here.Copyright Rita Woodburne
Hi there, dear reader!
I'll be honest, today I'm feeling quite lazy and have absolutely no idea as to what I should write about. Also, today is 'Family Day' in Ontario and for many folks it's a holiday and they have the day off as a result, which I suspect is contributing to my overall sense of laziness. I haven't been a complete lump today though, I did make soup this morning and spent the majority of the day working on art.
Yup, the excitement never ends.
So I just wanted to let you know that I have returned and will be posting more on my VanGogh project on Wednesday. Until then, have a good one! ;)
I'll be honest, today I'm feeling quite lazy and have absolutely no idea as to what I should write about. Also, today is 'Family Day' in Ontario and for many folks it's a holiday and they have the day off as a result, which I suspect is contributing to my overall sense of laziness. I haven't been a complete lump today though, I did make soup this morning and spent the majority of the day working on art.
Yup, the excitement never ends.
So I just wanted to let you know that I have returned and will be posting more on my VanGogh project on Wednesday. Until then, have a good one! ;)
Monday, February 11, 2008
Gone this week
Copyright Rita Woodburne
Hi there, dear reader! I'm just popping in quick to say that I'm going to be MIA this week. Some stuff has come up that needs my full attention so while I won't be updating this week you can expect me to be back next week with more art and more progress on my Van Gogh project.
...maybe on Saturday if I get really fidgety though. Toodles!
...maybe on Saturday if I get really fidgety though. Toodles!
Friday, February 08, 2008
Artists and their multiple personalities
"Beyond Black & White I" ACEO can be bid on here.Copyright Rita Woodburne
Happy Friday, dear reader!
Well, today I'm going to forego the silliness. Instead I'd like to pass along to you a few posts that were done by Maggie Stiefvater this week on the subject of style, more specifically, developing one's style. I figure that these would be relevant reading since I had touched on the subject of developing style briefly in my post this week on Van Gogh. Also, Maggie has a very dry (that's the polite alternative to saying 'sarcastic') sense of humour much like my own so you'll still be entertained. Trust me.
The relevant posts can be found here and here.
She also did a follow up to some comments/ questions that readers had asked her but if you want to read those I suggest you head to her blog yourself. I can't do all the work for you.
My own thoughts are that she's pretty much hit the nail on the head. Artists should explore, play and experiment with different mediums and styles until they find what's comfortable for them. After that, try working that style and medium to your liking in order to create art that's satisfying for you. Gently forcing the development of one's style isn't a bad thing... unless you get carried away with it in which case you're quite likely to suck the fun right out of doing art. And that should never happen.
Looking around my own studio I can see a bit of a mish-mash of styles but, happily, what I do notice is that my more recent works are more consistent. On the down-side, it makes me want to hide away those works that don't fit.
Many of the ACEO's I've done lately aren't really consistent in style. However, they're small and I do them specifically for the purpose of both experimenting with different subjects and techniques and also to supplement my income. They're not the be all and end all to who I am as an artist (or what type of an artist I want to portray myself as) because that's what the bigger pieces are for! If I start to become labourious over a piece that size then I'm going to be in a heap of trouble when I get to the bigger stuff.
There's nothing wrong with experimenting because that could be when you get your next big inspiration or revelation about what you want to tweak in your style. Artists, and their collectors, should expect change and try to harness it in the best way they can to make it work for them.
So, that's the post for today. I highly recommend trying out what Maggie suggested and putting all your work together and weed out: the pieces that almost caused you to have an aneurysm, the ones that even your Grandmother would say "Ick" to and the ones that just didn't feed your artistic soul (I know, how airy-fairy). What's left and why?
Homework? For the week-end? You betcha!
Well, today I'm going to forego the silliness. Instead I'd like to pass along to you a few posts that were done by Maggie Stiefvater this week on the subject of style, more specifically, developing one's style. I figure that these would be relevant reading since I had touched on the subject of developing style briefly in my post this week on Van Gogh. Also, Maggie has a very dry (that's the polite alternative to saying 'sarcastic') sense of humour much like my own so you'll still be entertained. Trust me.
The relevant posts can be found here and here.
She also did a follow up to some comments/ questions that readers had asked her but if you want to read those I suggest you head to her blog yourself. I can't do all the work for you.
My own thoughts are that she's pretty much hit the nail on the head. Artists should explore, play and experiment with different mediums and styles until they find what's comfortable for them. After that, try working that style and medium to your liking in order to create art that's satisfying for you. Gently forcing the development of one's style isn't a bad thing... unless you get carried away with it in which case you're quite likely to suck the fun right out of doing art. And that should never happen.
Looking around my own studio I can see a bit of a mish-mash of styles but, happily, what I do notice is that my more recent works are more consistent. On the down-side, it makes me want to hide away those works that don't fit.
Many of the ACEO's I've done lately aren't really consistent in style. However, they're small and I do them specifically for the purpose of both experimenting with different subjects and techniques and also to supplement my income. They're not the be all and end all to who I am as an artist (or what type of an artist I want to portray myself as) because that's what the bigger pieces are for! If I start to become labourious over a piece that size then I'm going to be in a heap of trouble when I get to the bigger stuff.
There's nothing wrong with experimenting because that could be when you get your next big inspiration or revelation about what you want to tweak in your style. Artists, and their collectors, should expect change and try to harness it in the best way they can to make it work for them.
So, that's the post for today. I highly recommend trying out what Maggie suggested and putting all your work together and weed out: the pieces that almost caused you to have an aneurysm, the ones that even your Grandmother would say "Ick" to and the ones that just didn't feed your artistic soul (I know, how airy-fairy). What's left and why?
Homework? For the week-end? You betcha!
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Van Gogh- "There's Nothing So Delightful As Drawing"
Copyright Rita Woodburne
Onto the next installment of my Van Gogh project, and today I’m going to touch on VG’s drawings of which, as I mentioned before, there are many.
Van Gogh drew on seemingly anything and everything: sketchbooks, large sheets of paper, letters to his family and friends, envelopes and who knows what else? Heck, I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised if one found him sketching ideas on napkins at cafe’s and bars. He just seems like he would've been that kind of person.
Van Gogh’s earlier drawing style, to me, doesn’t indicate what his painting style would be like and this is especially evident in his earlier drawings which look more like drafting plans rather than free-hand sketches. It’s been suggested that when he was starting out he went over some of his drawings/ sketches with a ruler, particularly when rendering buildings such as that of the Loyers’ House which can be seen below:
"The Loyers' House, Hackford, London" 1875Vincent Van Gogh, pen and ink
He also did many study drawings of hands and faces, as well as peasants working, as this latter subject was very near and dear to him. More importantly, these sketches served as important studies for his well-known work “The Potato Eaters”, the first work he did that was declared as a Masterpiece, as well as for the many figures he incorporated into his landscapes and for the numerous portraits he did. I find that with his renderings of people it gives a much better indicator to his painting style as, like his paintings, they tend to be less rigid/ exacting and the strokes he uses are much heavier and thicker. Also, while they look deliberate in their placement there's still a loose quality to them that can also be indentified in his painting style.
Van Gogh never underestimated the importance of having good drawing skills and even made the proclamation that it was the underpinning to being a good, nay, excellent painter. His excellent paintings and scores of drawings suggest that the man who was, I daresay, a few sandwiches short of a picnic may have been onto something.
So what does this all mean? Well, it goes back to my bringing up the drawing challenge that some folks have taken... in case you missed that post, you can find it here. I mentioned in that post that I’m not one for sketching. I’ve never thought it was a waste of time, that would be pompous of me, it's just that I just never got “into” it and now I’m thinking I need to change my thinking.
In last year’s project I did a few sketches one being after Van Gogh’s work and the other being an original:
"Figure on a Road"- After Van Gogh
"Path & Broken Windows"Copyright Rita Woodburne
They were fun to do and provided a nice relief/ outlet for me since I normally work in a tighter realistic style. In relation to what I mentioned before about linking Van Gogh's drawing and painting style together it also got me to wondering if my own sketching and finalized drawing style could be visibly linked. It's not critically important to me to make sure that the two are but I'm curious now... and that's always a good start to an artistic experiment. :)
I haven’t had the chance to do any sketching since last week’s post but this week-end I plan on doing some sketching of random objects, horses (of course) and possibly some QDOS. That’s right QDOS. Now all you computer people out there don’t get too excited, it’s not a trip down pre-Microsoft operating systems memory lane, when I say QDOS I mean Quick and Dirty Outdoor Sketches. I'll be doing these weather permitting (we are, after all, still in Winter) but in the event that I can't get outdoors I'll pull out some of the many outdoor pics I have of local places and take a stab at them until the weather will co-operate.
I’m not well versed in rendering trees, buildings, laneways, fences or anything that would be typically landscape work related and I figure what better time to get some practice in than by doing some sketches of them? After all, they’re sketches and the whole point of doing them is for practice and refinement. And who knows where that will lead? An equine work with a landscape in the background? Maybe...maybe...
Back on Friday!
Monday, February 04, 2008
A Sure Sign of the Apocalypse
Copyright Rita Woodburne
That's it. The world is going to Hell in a handbasket.
How do I know this? Well, this morning on the radio they were doing the reviews of what the movies in the theatres grossed over the week-end. There was no surprise with some of the rankings, apparently the movie featuring Eva Longoria-Parker as a bitter deceased ghost wife didn't even break the top 10 (oooh, really?), and the new one featuring Jessica Alba was right up at number two. So what was number one, you ask? Well, again no surprise, it was the 3-D Miley Cyrus (aka- Hannah $$'s Montana) concert... and here's where the Four Horsemen enter.
You see, not only was Miley Hannah Cyrus Montana's concert number one, it also grossed $29 million smackeroos which makes for some very happy theatre owners. There was such a demand for it and it made the theater owners so happy, in fact, that they'll be running more of the 3-D concerts past the original cut-off date. In doing so they're going to be bumping U2's planned 3-D theatre concert.
That's right, Miley Cyrus has bumped Bono and the Edge.
Oh look, there goes one of the horsemen now. I'm sure his friends aren't far behind. Me? I have to go make sure all the windows are closed so none of these pesky locusts that just showed up get into the house.
Back on Wednesday with more on Van Gogh!
How do I know this? Well, this morning on the radio they were doing the reviews of what the movies in the theatres grossed over the week-end. There was no surprise with some of the rankings, apparently the movie featuring Eva Longoria-Parker as a bitter deceased ghost wife didn't even break the top 10 (oooh, really?), and the new one featuring Jessica Alba was right up at number two. So what was number one, you ask? Well, again no surprise, it was the 3-D Miley Cyrus (aka- Hannah $$'s Montana) concert... and here's where the Four Horsemen enter.
You see, not only was Miley Hannah Cyrus Montana's concert number one, it also grossed $29 million smackeroos which makes for some very happy theatre owners. There was such a demand for it and it made the theater owners so happy, in fact, that they'll be running more of the 3-D concerts past the original cut-off date. In doing so they're going to be bumping U2's planned 3-D theatre concert.
That's right, Miley Cyrus has bumped Bono and the Edge.
Oh look, there goes one of the horsemen now. I'm sure his friends aren't far behind. Me? I have to go make sure all the windows are closed so none of these pesky locusts that just showed up get into the house.
Back on Wednesday with more on Van Gogh!
Friday, February 01, 2008
Playtime!
"Buck Wild" ACEO can be bid on here.Copyright Rita Woodburne
So earlier in the week I was tagged by Ann from Nemcosky Art. The requirements of this particular tag are that I have to reveal 5 things about myself that others probably don't know. I participated in a tag last year and here are the 7 things I posted about myself so now I have to tell you 5 more things...
1- Today there's a snow storm and y'know what? I don't care because I love Winter!! I'm just fulfilling my duty as a good Winter-loving Canadian, but I don't love it when it's any colder than -15C, I need to draw the line somewhere.
2- I had nothing to do with horses before moving to the country 4 years ago. I've always admired them and routinely pointed and yelled "Look! Horses!!!" on road trips when I saw them but other than that the only times I had ever been near or on a horse was as a small child at pony rides and the 2 times I went horse-back riding in a group which doesn't really count.
Moving here and getting a horse was a dream for me, in fact it was something I didn't think I'd be able to do until I retired... so now I have to find another dream to fulfil when I retire. :)
3- I have met, shaken hands and spoken briefly with Prince Charles. It was when I was 15 years old and was at the Terry Fox Centre in Ottawa for a Fine Arts program they run there. Meeting him was absolutely surreal, and he's much shorter than I imagined and has a handshake that could easily crush every bone in your hand.
4- I'm, supposedly, one of the very few women on the face of the planet that doesn't find Brad Pitt overly attractive. He reminds me of a chipmunk, what can I say?
5- I used to volunteer as a Wildlife Watcher for the Ministry of the Environment. An entry level volunteer position, unless you have extensive bird knowledge, involves sitting in a marshland area in early- mid Spring and listening to frogs... at night. So, for 2 years that's what I did, I sat in a marshy, swampy area and listened to frogs and recorded it, time, date, male or female and so on. You really have to love nature to do something like that... trust me.
So there you have it, 5 things you might not have known about me. Pair that with the 7 things from last year and I'm quite the open book now, aren't I?
To keep this going I'm supposed to tag 5 other people in the hopes that they'll reveal nitty-gritty info about themselves. However, I can't think of anyone who hasn't participated in this already so this week-end I'm going to troll the internet and see if I can find some folks that 1- haven't participated already and 2- look like they might have some interesting and/or embarassing personal information they'd like to make us privy to.
Happy Friday and I'll be back next week with more fun in art!
1- Today there's a snow storm and y'know what? I don't care because I love Winter!! I'm just fulfilling my duty as a good Winter-loving Canadian, but I don't love it when it's any colder than -15C, I need to draw the line somewhere.
2- I had nothing to do with horses before moving to the country 4 years ago. I've always admired them and routinely pointed and yelled "Look! Horses!!!" on road trips when I saw them but other than that the only times I had ever been near or on a horse was as a small child at pony rides and the 2 times I went horse-back riding in a group which doesn't really count.
Moving here and getting a horse was a dream for me, in fact it was something I didn't think I'd be able to do until I retired... so now I have to find another dream to fulfil when I retire. :)
3- I have met, shaken hands and spoken briefly with Prince Charles. It was when I was 15 years old and was at the Terry Fox Centre in Ottawa for a Fine Arts program they run there. Meeting him was absolutely surreal, and he's much shorter than I imagined and has a handshake that could easily crush every bone in your hand.
4- I'm, supposedly, one of the very few women on the face of the planet that doesn't find Brad Pitt overly attractive. He reminds me of a chipmunk, what can I say?
5- I used to volunteer as a Wildlife Watcher for the Ministry of the Environment. An entry level volunteer position, unless you have extensive bird knowledge, involves sitting in a marshland area in early- mid Spring and listening to frogs... at night. So, for 2 years that's what I did, I sat in a marshy, swampy area and listened to frogs and recorded it, time, date, male or female and so on. You really have to love nature to do something like that... trust me.
So there you have it, 5 things you might not have known about me. Pair that with the 7 things from last year and I'm quite the open book now, aren't I?
To keep this going I'm supposed to tag 5 other people in the hopes that they'll reveal nitty-gritty info about themselves. However, I can't think of anyone who hasn't participated in this already so this week-end I'm going to troll the internet and see if I can find some folks that 1- haven't participated already and 2- look like they might have some interesting and/or embarassing personal information they'd like to make us privy to.
Happy Friday and I'll be back next week with more fun in art!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)