Project 3.1: Through to Completion

Continuing the cupboard top left side I started to add boxes and try to slant them, as planned in my sketchbook. I just couldn’t get them to look how I wanted them to be, so I tried adding flat boxes instead:

British Museum: Picasso Prints

I seem to be on a bit of a Picasso hunt at the moment. The British Museum has acquired a number of Picasso Prints, and these are currently on display.  Although there are only a few of them on display, unlike the XPO Picasso, the display is well worth stopping by if you are in the area. I’ll say a few words about a couple of my favourite pieces from the Exhibition.

British Museum: African Art

I managed to visit the British Museum over the weekend, visiting the African Art and Picasso prints exhibitions. They were both worthy of the time, which much to recommend them.

Exhibition: XPO Picasso

Exhibition

We were in Bruges and ran into a Picasso exhibition. It’s a very interesting exhibition of 300+ of his pieces. Many were from Sketchbooks. One sequence, for example, was a number of drawings done about the same model. I’d speculate from the same sitting. There was quite a variation in style and approach across them, giving an idea of how Picasso approached his work.

Assignment 2 feedback

Received feedback for Assignment 2 from my tutor.

Dear David,

Thank you for your second Assignment

Overall Comments

Thank you for taking my advice and keeping to the requirements of the course so that you have submitted only some evidence of the projects as instructed in the coursebook.

Project 2.2: Spoon

Full A3 size this Time. Took longest of all so far. 

Reflection: Abstract Expressionism

So what have a learnt after my visit?

Art Analysis: United Defence

This is an interesting image, which was produced as part of the propaganda for the first world war. I thought it would be an interesting place to start applying the analysis framework proposed by my tutor. There is a fair amount of material available about it:

Reflection

So, how is it going so far?

Book: High Art as marketing

Carrying on from my consideration of Jackson Pollock and medium use in “Modernism in Dispute” [Wood, 1993]. The “High Art” discussion around p172 is slightly harder to put in context:

…the works of Louise and Noland … look like this because this is how painting must be made to look, c. 1960, if they are to offer the viewer sufficient degree of aesthetic power…”

Maybe there are clothes there

I have been browsing the OCA website and ran into Sue Gilmore’s blog related to willow and the use of it as a “Performance piece”:

Reflections so far

Pool Light

Created from memory after swimming. The basic idea worked. Created the grid of the pool tiles over a graphite “wash”. Removed the reflection light then added shading and tile lines back in. Would like to do a few more to get the “highlights” more clearly, as well as the intricacies of the reflections. Taken some photos under water to act as inspiration after the holiday.

Book: Research and this course

Approach

Reading through Visualising Research [Gray, 2004] and relating it to the course, and art practice in general, I was pondering how they fit together. Grossly simplifying the approach of the book the key steps they are suggesting include:

1. Decide on a question that needs consideration;
2. Work out why the answer is important;
3. Look for information about the subject, and use that to refine the context from (1) and (2);
4. Work out from this how to approach the question;
5. Do the work, refining understanding and context as you go;
6. Reflect of what you’ve achieved and what now.

Warm up reflections

I’ve learnt something of the mechanisms of drawing, as well as the properties of some of the materials. (Charcoal, pen, different grades of pencil.) The exercises and consideration around the start of the course have made me think on the need to experiment with materials and approaches. Even the process of drawing circles in Project 0.1 had me considering the materials for making marks.

Outside of the warm up exercises, this start up period for the course has had me reflecting on the meaning of art education – as well as the process for it. From the Introduction to Art HE course through to my confusion around Action Art’s meaning and value.

All in all, an interesting few weeks starting up. On to Part 1 of the course.

Art: The Lady of the Dishevelled Hair, Leonardo Da Vinci

For my next image I decided it was worth looking at a more famous artist and image, which would have readily available public information. I chose to consider an image by Leonardo Da Vinci, as an inspiring artist:

Female head (The Lady of the Dishevelled Hair) (or La Scapigliata) – Leonardo Da Vinci – www.leonardoda-vinci.org

URL Viewed 2nd June 2016

Artist: Lisa Laughy, Ninth Wave Designs

OK, if part of the drawing course is looking at drawings I like and reflecting on them let’s get started. One artist I’ve admired for quite a while is the owner of “Ninth Wave Designs“: Lisa Laughy.