Sardines

Today was the most rewarding of the course thus far. I came home on a complete high. Painting fish is a joy, and I got great feedback from my tutors (which is comforting in light of recent doubts/frustrations). Allan thinks it's my best painting to date, and George (in typically fabulous, extravagant manner) that it's 'epiphanic'! Critical acclaim aside (jokes), I really am pleased with the finished result. I had to work quickly seeing as the fishies were visibly wilting before my eyes, and this forced me to find a convincing short hand (for describing their translucence, slipperiness etc). I'm also pleased with the composition: the passage created by the slumped sardines. If I can apply the same excitement and economy to the rest of my work, then I'll really be making progress. Hope lives on!

Frustration

Here are some life drawings from my first Open Studio, two weeks ago: a sequence of short poses (done in 4 minutes). Words can't express my dejection at the end of last week's session! I desperately want to develop my drawing, to build on the 'handwriting' I already have (i.e. a linear style). But it's haaaaaard people. It doesn't help that Open Studio is frequented by extremely talented, experienced artists, who make my attempts look like doodles. Sigh. Needless to say I left Heatherley's in a stormy mood. Of course I realise I just have to plough on. Development will come with time (the tortured artist and all that). Still, it can be hard. I love life-drawing, and I like the quiet quality of my drawings. But I desperately need to loosen up, and find a way of bringing visual excitement to my observations. We'll see how I fare this Friday.

Cherries and duck eggs

I have another week to work on this still life. Haven't even started work on the eggs, for example (which are a bastard to paint), and the metal teapot has a long way to go (have only really mapped in the colours, and even then they need changing). The cherries are bangin' though! Heh. Let's see how the rest of it shapes up.

From Granny with love

Really enjoyed getting back to oil painting today - even if the finished product looks like something from a 'Help the Aged' competition (flowers bring out the geriatric in me). It's really hard to paint flowers without courting a 'chocolate box' look, especially when the bouquet in question is so garish. But what the hell, I had fun. And learning the basics of painting does require this kind of literal study, old-fashioned as it might be. Alan thought I was being hard on myself, and that my treatment of the blooms was 'very sensitive'. I suppose I'm quite pleased with the flowers themselves, though the leaves and particularly the stems need much more work.

Ratty!

Sketches from the Hunterian Museum, just for jokes. Gotta love Ratty...

New Term

And so a new term begins. After the hubbub of Christmas - exhilarating if exhausting - it's quite nice to get back into the routine of a working week. All my new art materials are meticulously lined up, ready for use: a tempting array of inks, smokey gouache paints, and unctuous lotions/potions (masking fluid, Liquin, olive oil soap). Whilst I'm carrying on with oil painting this term, I'm also taking up classes in watercolour (twee, but useful for illustration and great for learning techniques) and life-drawing. It's worth trying out different disciplines I think, seeing as I have this year to experiment.

My creativity has gone in a distinctly 'Blue Peter' direction of late. I've started collating a scrapbook from magazine and newspaper clippings - something to refer back to for inspiration and colour schemes when I come to paint, draw, or print. There's something deeply soothing about the menial task of cutting and pasting. Takes me back to the bygone, carefree days of childhood (you can tell it's the dawn of my 23rd birthday...Gulp).

On a different note, I went to the Hunterian Museum with my sketchbook today (on the recommendation of my drawing teacher, George). Located in the Royal College of Surgeons, this small museum houses hundreds of gruesome jars and slides, collected in the name of medical science: everything from preserved monkey heads to malign tumours and human foetuses. Dark. I turned my attention to an enormous rat in formaldehyde (dissected to reveal its stomach and intestines), and a jaw bone. Not the most conventional subjects, but interesting/atmospheric to say the least.