Alan's Doodles

My first Art lesson!

2008-06-20T20:57:00.004+01:00

I took the opportunity this week to attend my local art school, who were offering a free trial lesson in watercolours. This is obviously a 'taster' in the hope of getting you to sign up for further lessons. I went along not knowing what to expect as the evening was in the middle of their term and part of a 'normal' class in what was advertised as a Beginner/Intermediary level.

The 'lesson' started with the usual introduction and welcome for new members (two women and myself, one of whom had already signed up for the rest of the term). This was followed by a very short demonstration by the tutor of a single colour tonal sketch. We then watched a 10 minute Ray Ranson video of the same technique. After this, brushes were handed out, I was given some paper and paint and shown where the palletes etc wer kept. Then it was "off you go, let's see what you all can do!"

I'd had less than 5 minutes of the tutor's time and was expected to paint! Very unnerving in a room full of strangers. Along with everyone else, I set to, using the same reference photograph that we'd all been handed.

Here's my first attempt (well, part of it - it's too big for the scanner!)

After this, we were recommended to have another go, either with the same picture, or with a different one. I noticed that the two other newbies stuck to the same picture, and so did I. "Try another colour this time", the tutor said "Paynes Grey gives a good range of tones". So I had another go.

I was pleased with the wheat stalk at top left of this one. The tutor circulated, making encouraging noises and suggestions as he went round, and all too soon the two hours was up.

My impression of the evening? I really needed/wanted more tutoring rather than just encouragement. I wanted to be told how to handle the brush properly, how to load the brush with paint, those kind of basic things. Maybe how to compose and build up a picture from looking at a photograph... Maybe it was the wrong level for me, or my expectations were too high. I'm told they don't run Complete Beginner's courses all that often - not enough demand. Instead they do these Beginner/Intermediate courses. At something like £170 a term, I'm not sure I'd personally get enough value out of them, based upon tonight's experience.

I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that they do a Beginner's Course in the future at a time that I can make - there's an Acrylics Beginners course in September, but it's in the daytime, which is no good for me.

Menhirs

2008-06-05T08:00:00.002+01:00

The last couple of old pictures for now (until I draw some more new ones!)

The first is of the Graianog Stone, at the north end of the Lleyn Peninsular in Wales. We visited this during a Bank Holiday weekend trip in 2004. The colours are a bit 'psycho', I know.

Finally, a stone that I first visited in 2004, and revisited last month - the Moorgate Stone on north Bodmin Moor. I was happy with the colour of the stone in this one, if not the lichen/moss.

Boscawen Un

2008-06-04T08:00:00.003+01:00

Last weekend we visited an artist friend (see her cracking web site) and had a short discussion about my attempts. It seems I'm trying to walk before I can run. Her advice was to tear up all my attempts once I've finished with them. That way, I won't have any attachment to them and can move on. I can see the sense in that, but part of m ewants to keep the early mistakes, so I can look back later and laugh (as many of you may be doing right now!)

Anyway, I dug out an old sketch book from a few years ago and thought I'd post a couple of pictures here, for posterity. They are some of my earliest attempts at watercolour, from 2004.

Today's picture is a slightly blurred picture, at an obscure angle, of the Boscawen-Un circle in West Penwith. If you ever see only one stone circle in your life, make it this one - it's truly magical and one of my favourite places to go to just sit and 'be'.

Carn Marth

2008-06-03T12:47:00.003+01:00

On a recent holiday in Cornwall, I took a photo of one of the old Engine Houses that the area is so famous for. One evening, sitting in the chalet we had rented, I made the following sketch from the photo I'd taken. The proportions are incorrect - the building is much too wide in my sketch, and it doesn't convey the size and power of the remaining shell of the building.

Kits Coty

2008-05-31T16:35:00.004+01:00

Sometimes I surprise myself.

We took a run down to Rochester in Kent today. The Dickens festival was in full swing and the town center was packed, so for a bit of peace and quiet afterwards (Mikki bought me a watercolour board as part of my birthday present), we swung down to take a look at Kits Coty. I've not been there for a while, but despite the proximity of the roads, it's always so quiet there.

I took along my sketchbook and pencil for a first 'on the spot' go at sketching in the field. All my other efforts have been from photos in the comfort of home. The grass was quite damp, so sitting was out of the question.

I'd parked up by the A229 and walking down, drawing a sketch, taking some photos and returning to the car took a total of just over half an hour. By my reckoning, the sketch below therefore took me less than 5 minutes. I know it's not perfect, and the scan quality doesn't help, but I think I'm improving slowly...

Stone Gate

2008-05-18T09:00:00.002+01:00

Last week, I was bought a series of DVDs with art lessons on them. One of the disks had a lovely tutorial on sketching with pencil then creating a finished piece of art in the studio later. I watched the program, which included a lovely shot of a location in the Peak District. The finished picture included a stone gateway leading to a rocky ridge.

Last night, I tried to just draw/paint a thumbnail of the gateway from memory. Again, I think my colour sense has let me down, though I'm reasonably happy with the composition of the upright stone and right hand wall. The left could do with some rework!

I've obviously got a way to go, but the good news is that I'm booked in for a free trial watercolour lesson at the local art school. Depending how it goes, I'll probably book in for a full course of beginners lessons at the first opportunity.

Chun Quoit

2008-05-17T09:00:00.000+01:00

I do love my Cornish quoits! I've previously mentioned my problem with colours. I've been told this one looks like an explosion in a psychadelic paint factory, after another attempt using watercolour brush pens. This is Chun Quoit. Please don't laugh. For comparison, I've also included an earlier pencil sketch that I did.:

If you'd like to know what any of the original sites that I've attempted to portray in this blog look like in real life, just Google their names and check
for images.

I'll add further pictures here as I and when I produce anything I consider worthy of public consumption.

Devil's Den

2008-05-16T09:00:00.000+01:00

Returning to pencil sketches, here's the Devil's Den, near Avebury in Wiltshire.

Lanyon Quoit

2008-05-15T09:00:00.000+01:00

After the success of Pawton, and just to bring me back to earth with a bump, I tackled a photo of Lanyon Quoit, also in Cornwall (a favourite place of mine!) this time using watercolour over an initial pen sketch. You can see what I mean about a lack of colour sense...

There's also a pencil outline, and a later watercolour sketch of the same picture.

Pawton Quoit

2008-05-14T09:00:00.003+01:00

Encouraged by the tree sketch, I tackled a favourite subject of mine, ancient megaliths.

This is Pawton Quoit, in Cornwall, and was sketched one lunchtime at work, on a Post-It note!

Tree study

2008-05-13T09:00:00.000+01:00

Ok, first up is a sketch of a tree that I did some while ago, after reading a book about how to draw trees. I tried to take what I'd learnt and apply it to a sketch of a photograph that I'd taken. The tree is a huge birch near the village of Chippenham in Buckinghamshire, and the sketch takes up just over half a page in an A5 book.

A place for my 'Art'

2008-05-12T21:08:00.001+01:00

I've long wanted to be able to draw and paint - my grandfather was quite gifted in this area, and sold many copies of Old Masters done in oils, during his life. My father was gifted with his hands, being a useful handyman, though he was somewhat lacking in the artistic side.

For my own part, I've always felt that these skills passed me by, but recently encouraged by my wife and partner, I've been trying a few things out over the last 3-4 years. I felt it was therefore time to record some of my efforts, humble though they are. The plan is to graduate from these simple pencil and pen drawings to tackle full watercolours. I hope to start taking classes later in 2008, though my colour blindness/lack of colour sense, as evidenced by a couple of the efforts that will appear here, may prove too great a barrier. We'll see.