Learning and discovery are what drive me to get up in the morning. Once life gets down to mundane routine, I start to feel very uncomfortable. Art is playing an increasingly significant part in (almost) day-to-day life now – in part thanks to the Pet Portraits, etc. – so I thought it was time to explore other aspects of artistic work. ---- All rights reserved. nd.com Read on...

I have always wanted to explore more abstract works, and having not made it to art college – I aimed myself firmly in the direction of the graphic arts at the time – I have never really got around to experimenting.

Thanks to the book Abstract Painting by Rolina van Vliet, we now have many weeks of unique projects to work through. The book walks through abstract principles of composition and colour – and breaking such forms – through a series of guided exercises. Each exercise aimed at  experimenting with one particular technique, be it paint or drawing medium, colour, composition, texture, etc.

The initial project was so rewarding to the two of us, we decided to create a little website to document each project and post up our works side by side for all to see and comment. The site at Doing Stuff, presents our personal experiences and thoughts about each work, but does not say which of us produced which piece. We thought it might be fun to have visitors guess who did what, and already the results are intriguing. I hope friends and all will continue to follow the site and comment/guess each week.

I don’t like rules

That is perhaps the main realisation I have stumbled on now that I have worked the sixth project this weekend. Most so far have developed along the lines of:

1. Follow the directions while feeling increasing animosity towards the developing image
2. Try to beat back the urge to release whatever is bubbling to the surface
3. Plod along, following the instructions until something snaps
4. Respond to the urge, let out a surge of energy, and create something that is bordering on satisfactory

(One such surge-release ended up in a dead canvas, ripped and splattered with black paint!)

What I am learning is that there is something instinctive that gets released when painting like this. I’m not saying these surges of energy produce masterpieces, but they do reflect elements of what I am feeling and how I am reacting to the creative process. It’s uncomfortable, disconcerting, exhausting, but fascinating, and I am intrigued to see where it will eventually lead.

I don’t know how to handle acrylics

That’s the second realisation. I do have an excuse, having not touched acrylic paint since I was in school; I’m just a tad rusty! How artists cope with working wet-on-wet on large canvasses, I’ll never know. There are drying retarders and other techniques, but the paint still requires very different, and more spontaneous working style compared to oils.

That goes a little against my inclination to consider a painting’s development. It means that the work must generally be completed in a single sitting – at least if I want paint to mix with other paint on the canvas itself.

Oils, for example, allow time to sit and ponder the next stroke, to examine the work as it progresses and direct it based on developing ideas. Acrylics bring out the spontaneous in me, which though bursting with far greater energy, does leave me rather deflated afterwards.

The result perhaps is that I will ultimately select the medium based on the image I want to create. If that is what I learn from these exercises, then it is a valuable and ultimately productive lesson.

Go make a guess

The first project is up on the site, and a few guesses as to who produced which piece have already been left. No clues, but it is fascinating to read why a particular individual matched which piece with which artist. Above all, it is fun, so if you have not commented already, get yourself over there and make your guess!

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Having this week purchased additional gear to make the most of drawing and sketching on-site (as opposed to snapping photographs and sketches then working purely in my “studio”), I set out in the glorious sunshine to visit a few locations tagged earlier as “possible places to draw”. ---- All rights reserved. nd.com Read on...

First it was the roads

I am sure Britain’s drivers were conspiring against me. No matter where I tried to end up, something would spring up to bar my way. Inconsiderate parking, traffic queue, or simply no access to the particular area without a long walk (by long I’m talking a mile or more).

Two near collisions in the car later (people were mad this morning!), the sprinkling threat of rain showers, and the total obliteration of the initial good sunlight, forced me to head home in a stressed huff.

When the roads improved, the weather did not

I tried again later. This time heading to a particular church which now was in the closing stages of a wedding, with the accompanying hoards of cars removing all hope of gaining access. The light then failed once more.

This time, however, I did stop back at Maidenhead bridge for a little – and I have to say desperate – look around. Sadly, I could not “see” the drawings there, either. Perhaps all hope was lost on the day, so I returned home, in a double-huff.

Let it stew

I needed a task that was so straightforward that I could leave the day with having achieved something, anything. I opted for “watching some television”. I succeeded.

Determination (read: bloody-mindedness) kicked-in and I began pondering once more about those places I had visited. The detachment of time and geography allowed my mind to filter out the details and work purely on visual composition, contrast, and the image as a whole. A few spontaneous scribbles later and I had three strong potential compositions of and around Maidenhead bridge.

Too much information

I have this problem in supermarkets where on being sent to forage for a particular item, I fail to spot it in the cacophony of colours, shapes, and words. My brain struggles to filter out the noise to find the one detail I need.

Visiting a location to draw, I think I must have the same problem.

I should explain for the non-initiated: Rarely does a scene make for a good piece of art entirely as it stands. You know the phrase “artistic license”? Our minds work differently when looking at art compared to photography. Somehow, we understand a photograph represents a true capture of the scene. But far more consideration, particuary to composition, must be made in order to draw the same scene with success.

One must move a tree a little – for example – or remove it entirely. Perspective must be distorted, tonal values altered to increase contrast and represent depth. Thought must be applied to the focal points of the drawing, deciding what to leave in and what to leave out. Without these considerations, one might as well just have a photograph.

This is what I have learned today: I cannot simply turn up at a place and immediately “see” the means to render it artistically. I must visit, look, sketch, photograph, then allow all that information to simmer, allowing my mind and memory to let go of the details that are irrelevant to the scene, while enhancing those that matter (to me).

I suppose the devil really is in the details.

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The very reasonably priced day (just £30) appears to be packed with informative sessions tailored to the fledgeling writer. ---- All rights reserved. nd.com Read on...

Sessions cover specifics of the publishing business, talks from literary agents, and appearances by authors willing to share their personal experiences on the road to being published.

From my experience in the past I do have some reservations about how useful this will be. Now and then such events can be too dumbed-down for my taste. Fingers crossed there will be some valuable insights to help on the road ahead.

I’ve held off the next round of submitted query letters this week just in case I learn something here that will help.

A proper report on the day once it’s all over and suitably digested.

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