iPad paintings stroke by stroke on you tube

Recently I have been experimenting with the ipad as a painting tool.  I don't think there's much chance of it taking over from pencil, charcoal or ink for drawing - it is still not responsive enough to be really useful as a drawing tool - but for painting studies where areas of colour are being massed in, it is really useful.  The advantages for me are primarily:

1.  It's mobile (until it runs out of batteries) - no need for a whole box of bits and pieces for painting

2.  It saves a huge amount of time in mixing paint - you can just select the colour you want, and colour pick anywhere on the canvas.

3. You can use the tablet to photograph a drawing and paint over it as a way of beginning, or photograph a painitng and paint over that in order to try things out.  

4. The app that I am using to paint with, "Brushes", has the advantage of recording the process of the painting, stroke by stroke so you can look back at how you approached the process.

 

I have made a Youtube channel and put a few videos of these stroke by stroke sequences up at:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx8WotSn6QX_W4ECOLu3Oeg?feature=watch

 

 

Creativity resources

A friend posted the link below to a lecture given by John Cleese on creativity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VShmtsLhkQg

This is one of the very best discusssions I have seen on what is scientifically understood about the mysterious process of coming up with original solutions or ideas.  It is also one of the most practical - John Cleese is an astonishly brilliant guy, and evidently not just because of the Ministry of Silly Walks.

One of the key insights from this lecture that really rang true to me was the idea that creativity is a process of bringing together ideas or frames of reference such that a new meaning or solution is produced.  Seen this way, a huge portion of our actions are somewhat creative.  For example, simply drinking a glass of water from a glass you have never seen before involves taking the learned action of drinking a glass of water and applying it to the new situation with a new glass.  The link in this case is easy but the fact remains that a connection was made within the new context.  Of course, this is not what we usually call creative - but it seems that the difference between the glass of water and an unexpected insight that we would usually think of as true creativity is really a matter of degree: in the latter the parts that are brought together for the solution are conceptually further apart and not usually seen together.

This leads me to another resource that I was recently told about, The Creativity Web by Charles Cave that has an excellent section on Synectics:

http://members.optusnet.com.au/charles57/Creative/Techniques/synectics.htm

Synectics is defined on the site as :

The term Synectics from the Greek word synectikos which means "bringing forth together" or "bringing different things into unified connection."

Max Ernst is quoted as saying that :

"Creativity is the marvellous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition"

As well as the discussion of syenctics and other relevant quotes, this website has an excellent list of "trigger questions" that are highly relevant to the artist:

http://members.optusnet.com.au/charles57/Creative/Techniques/syn_quest.htm

The rest of the site is worth a look too.


Returning to the lecture by John Cleese, I found the distinction of an "open" mental state to the "closed" mental state particularly useful.  Cleese describes the "open" state as one in which the mind is able to comfortably play with ideas and problems, and is allowed to make any connection, in the hope that a workable solution could be around the corner.  In contrast, the "closed" mental state is about getting stuff done - often associated with a feeling of tension or mild anxiety, where working through in a linear way as efficiently as possible is desirable.  As he points out, to be creative, we need to be able to get into both states - the open state in order to come up with new ideas, and the closed state while following through and bringing the idea into existence.  Managing the two states seems to me one of the central problems for any creative pursuit.

 

 

 

 


 

Practise Hand and Foot Studies

These are studies that I often do in the morning as practise.

 

I would love to be able to work from the model daily instead but hands and feet have the advantage of not asking for payment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Atelier Art Classes Summer Show 2012

Atelier Art Classes students and teachers, and the rest of the family at Salisbury Studios Queensland Incorporated is currently holding the end of year show.  A very high standard, well worth seeing, including technical student studies through to professional artists in a variety of media.    

 On until 16th December 2012

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Selected Life Drawings

 


 

 


 


 


Workshop for QAGOMA at the "Portrait of Spain" Exhibition

Recently I had the privilege of being asked to conduct a couple of still life painting workshops for QAGOMA Members, as one of the events organised around the "Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces from the Prado" exhibition.  About ten enthusiastic people, with a range of artistic experience took part in each workshop.  For our subject we used the beautiful vegetable, fruit and bread still life centrepiece in the Spanish-themed La Sala del Prado within the ‘Portrait of Spain’ exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery.

In order to keep the workshops suitable to a range of experience levels, and also in order to relate the workshop to the methods used by many of the old masters in the exhibition itself, I suggested we take the groups through the "wipe-out" painting method, sometimes called the Bistre method.  If you have done any painting classes with us at Atelier Art Classes, you will be familiar with this method.    The method uses just one colour paint - usually a dark neutral, in this case raw umber.   The canvas is covered with this paint, such that an approximately mid tone is produced, with lights made by wiping back into it to the required degree and the darks produced by painting more heavily.  

Using oil paint, the surface remains active for at least several hours, even with a relatively fast drying colour like raw umber.  This allows the process to be very plastic - changes can be made easily.  This plasticity and the fact that the complexities of colour are left for a later time make it easier to take a broad approach to laying in areas of the composition, steering the painter away from a process that has them work on just one object or area at a time without establishing the tonal and colour context first.  It also allows the strategic softening of edges that we see in great artists such as Velazquez and Goya.  

The power that tonal composition and sense of light has to move us is exemplified by many of the works in this exhibition (The room of prints by Goya are a case in point).  The relationship between choice of painting method and the expressive intent of the painter is vitally important to understanding painting in general. 

Here is the demo piece I made for the workshops using this method.

I often employ this method or variations of it heavily in my own work.  Some time ago, I uploaded some step by step examples of this method to the Atelier Art Classes blog which can be seen at: 

 

 

Life Drawings 1.5 - 2hrs

 

 

 


Life Drawings 5 - 15 minutes

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

Quick Gesture Drawings 1-3 minutes

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

 

 


 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New life drawing studies

Tessa, Graphite on Bristol, 4 hrs

Maeva, Leeton Agency, Graphite pencil on Mi Teintes pastel paper, 13 hrs

Analytical form drawings for Maeva

Compostional sketches from life for Maeva, conte pencil on toned pastel paper

Help "Deliverance" get to Berlin!

See the earlier post about Stella Electrika's "This Trick" that I drew from in rehearsal.

Now they are taking a new piece, shown recently at the Adelaide fringe Festival to enthusiastic reviews to Berlin.  Help them make it - only 6 days to go!

http://www.pozible.com/index.php/archive/index/7255/description/0/0

Tuesday evening at Absoe with Brett

With Dr Manny's Tuesday sesh being displaced from Tuesday, Brett Ryan has started one at the Absoe studios, opposite 3 monkeys in West end.  Poses range through 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 minute poses.

Bertie - www.lifemodel.com.au

Graphite on cartridge

 

 

 

Monday evening life studies

Kat - Leeton Agency

Graphite pencil on A2 drawing cartridge