I've moved into the house.

I finished the empty studio drawing last week so I moved from the studio into the big room so I can paint the garden. The view from the studio was the bins and the car. Well usually I'm overwhelmed. The thing I like about the garden is the cacophony of colour and shapes and light. Landscape painters can simplify this, but I like it all. So, I tend to avoid it as I just don't see all blocks. But I have noticed Klimt and Lucian Freud and other portrait painters just do the detail... So, bugger it, that's what I'm doing. It's taking lots of time... But at the moment, time is what I have lots of.

I have finished the drawing of the empty studio

Blimey, the time passes quickly when you are engrossed in a drawing...its been days!!! It is wonderful to just draw, no pressure, nothing arty farty, just look and draw... Well a bit of arty farty... Cus I wanted to make expressive marks to be the light pouring in and around, and of course you have to choose which parts to emphasis slightly. I did try adding a sprig of forsythia in a jar, (you know, spring, hope n all that jazz ..) but it took the focus away from Empty... So it had to go. 

Here's the finished piece. It's charcoal on gessoed paper. 100 x80 cm  

What now?

So, I had planned to work with Blue intensively in the studio. We had been talking about intention, passive and active, the male gaze, etc. About ten years ago, I used to work with blue weekly in the studio. We did this for a few years.  The work was exciting and explorative. http://annabelmednick.blogspot.com/2010/

I had a couple of exhibitions and a few years ago I made this little video about working together. 

So what would the work be like ten years on? Exploring on from the recent life studies, I wanted to work large, have Blue wearing simple sweat pants and vest, hair hanging, hands claw like. I wanted to scrape the form from the paint....add charcol, explore large bold, swathes of paint in the background. Anyway...that’s on hold till the summer. 

 

So, in contrast I am drawing the empty studio. (I have students twice a week, this is the space without them. A comment on the socal distancing that affects even the artist in her garret!)

I still like the effect that charcoal on gesso paper makes, the darks are so black. I have discovered transparent gesso so I am drawing on some brown carpet underlay paper that I had saved for a rainy day as its hard to get hold of.

I have to say, architectural drawing is not my forte...the small studies were too small so I couldn't do any mark making but they were ok to sort out the composition... anyway, here is the development so far.

For those that know me... the trusty stick!

latest life drawing developments.

You may wonder why I still work from the model. - (often, I wonder too), and why the same one? I find I can explore more readily when I am working with a familiar form, and Blue understands what I am often striving to get.

I like to work with a semi clothed figure, as I am very aware of the objectifying of a person, that life drawing so easily slips into.  Anyway, I have gone on at length about this. 

I have been teaching life drawing and I do not really work myself when doing that as I want the student to explore their work and style, and not be tempted to please 'teacher'. I now don't instruct on a Wednesday night, so can please myself. Ha! easier said than done. 

It was a bit of a struggle, I slipped so quickly into a safe, nice, space and I felt the gestural drawings were a bit pedestrian. I worked with some water colour too. The longer paintings were not so bad, but still a bit safe (top row) so I changed the pallet.

I also gessoed the paper and the gestural drawings were much more exciting.

and the gessoed paper has the added bonus that you can work with oil into the sketch book.  (bit hard to close the book up afterwards.)

Recently I have seen Helene Schjerfbeck at the RA and fell in love. (Spot the influence.) Also, the fab Kathe Kollwitz at the British Museum. I liked the Lucian Freud self portraits, the direct, strong gaze of his models, and I enjoyed the Anselm Kiefer exhibition at the white cube gallery immensely.