my life as an artist

I can't emphasise enough how important the 'process' of creating art is for me. In other words, my real joy comes from the 'doing', the 'exploration', rather than a perceived outcome.

Every now and then I will end up with an image which I am happy with. I have certain paintings that for personal reasons I would never sell - paintings that continually give me pleasure. However, on the whole, the myriad of work that I have completed and sold over the last almost fourty years simply represents a process and my own personal creative journey. In the 'letting go' of so much work, I am continually freed up to explore new ideas and concepts.

At this moment in time, I am working on several ideas. That's just the way my mind works.
These collages are just part of a process to me.

Yesterday I bought four small calla lillies, and made some rapid watercolour sketches from them.

This sketch is spontaneous and loose on a large sheet of white paper.

I quickly recorded this lily on an interesting off cut of paper.

I then took this water colour painted a few days ago

Having cut up the calla lilly sketch I made yesterday, I then arranged the pieces on top of the watercolour. Just another way to 'see' - Here are the results.

Happy creating everyone.

A Bientot

For anyone who has enjoyed making art, they will know that for every twenty or more pieces of work produced, maybe one image satisfies the eye and soul....and so what to do with the work that we don't like?

Recycle it. Just as I demonstrate through my 'apple exercise' how the apple can be seen many different ways, the same applies when it comes to recycling artwork.

An Obvious way would be to use both sides of the paper. Less obvious, would be to put a colour ground over the old sketch, thus setting up a fresh start for a new image. Sometimes by taking a small 'mount/mat' (depending on what side of the Atlantic you live on!) and moving it around the unsatisfactory image, we can find a section that does please the eye. In which case cut it out and observe it from fresh prospective.

Another superb way to recyle artwork is to make a collage.

Basically a collage is a compostition of materials and objects which are applied to a surface using glue. In taking many elements, we produce a unifying composition, and a new whole. It's an interesting, and potentially exciting process.

Yesterday I showed very colourful collages made up of sketches from my 'apple exercise' - Today's collages are also made up with apple sketches, but in this case, I have chosen a more muted pallette.

In the next two frames you will note that I have added a touch of strong colour to the mix.

When I assemble all the different sketches, I cut them, and arrange them in such a way that they produce a balanced and harmonious composition. In other words I treat a collage in exactly the same way as I treat a painting.

Producing collages is a great way to recycle and see differently.

Another stormy looking beginning of the day in London, but compared with the floods that our friends in Cumbria and Scotland are going through, it's a fine day. Temperatures continue to be extraordinarily mild, and trees and plants are sprouting buds all over the place.

A Bientot

During the workshop yesterday I was reminded that it's easy to become 'static' in the way we view our model. We tend to 'see' the subject we have chosen to paint, in one way, in the way that it is presented to us.

I made the suggestions yesterday that as part of the warm up process, we look at our quick fire images, and cut out areas that we like....which can allow us to see the subject quite differently. This also helps us to be less 'precious' with out work.

Collage is another way to see differently.

First used at the time of the invention of paper in China around 200 BC collage can be an exciting art form.

From the french word (coller to glue) it is a work of art made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. At the beginning of the 20th century collage was brought back into vogue by the likes of George Braque and Picasso.

One of the key components to my 'apple exercise' along with becoming consistent, and technically more proficient, is to open our eyes to the many, many ways to see the apple or any other object.

Today and tomorrow I will be showing collages that I have made from my 'apple sketches' In these examples, I have cut the sketches, and placed them on a background.

These collages are made up from sketches where there is a lot of colour.

Those reading this blog will know that I am working on new images. In reminding myself of the collage work, this opens my eyes to many more possibilities.

Remember it's all about the way we 'see'

Very milky, stormy clouds skudding by my window in London this morning, but still oh so mild!

A Bientot

I am off this morning for the second part of my workshop titled 'White on White'

For today I will leave you with more pears to contemplate. A watercolour exercise and a collage.

First for Miza. Here is the watercolour pallette I have been using for over twenty years. It has nice deep wells, which are perfect for the 'juicy tube paints' that I mentioned to you in yesterday's comment. You should be able to find pallettes similar to this through most dealers. I use the middle section to mix gouache.

The pallette

Pear watercolour exercise. - I sketch out the pears, and indicate the shadows and stalks.

I begin to add colour to the pears. - Note that the local colour of the pears reflects into the shadows.

I strengthen the dark shadows on the pears.

By throwing colour behind the pears into the negative space, it gives more interest. Again note how the colours are moved around the image, which gives a sense of harmony and balance.

I then take scissors and make a collage from some other pear sketches. Why not?

Have fun exploring your creativity today.

A Bientot

In order to 'see like an artist' we need to move beyond the concept of drawing or recording objects as we perceive them in life. An artist is almost oblivous of what it is that they are actually painting' Rather their focus is on where light and shadow intersect.

I always say that visually the world is like a jigsaw puzzle, made up of infinite shapes of lights and darks. Recognising this, is to see like an artist.

In Betty Edward's book, 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' published in 1979, she uses the following exercise, which demonstrates clearly how the 'jigsaw puzzle' theory works.

Take a photograph of a portrait and draw it. For many people this exercise can prove to be challenging. However, if we take the same photograph and turn it upside down, our peceptions are changed. All of a sudden we are looking at shapes of light and dark, in other words a jigsaw puzzle, and consequently people carrying out the exercise are amazed at how positive their results are.

It's all about the way we see.

In my following fast flowing exercise of a white lily, I have used negative space to reveal the shapes of the lily. As I painted the flowers, I focused my energies on the shapes that the flowers and the negative space around them produced.

First frame - working on white paper, I make a rough sketch.

In this frame, I immediately begin to put paint around the lily shapes.

Here I suggest the lily stamens with a quick dash of colour

In the final frame it is clear that the lily shapes are revealed because of the colour in the negative space around each lily.

The following exercise is an excellent example of seeing the same image differently.

I had what I call a 'breakthrough' day yesterday, which can only come about by allowing myself to warm up and focus on my observation skills. It's called practising what I preach!

A Bientot

On what looks like the beginning of another stormy day in London, I thought I would post a colourful apple exercise.

This exercise shows the impact of adding colour into the 'negative space' - the space around the actual object being observed.

Before I show the apple exercise, here is the classic example of negative space, 'is it a vase or two faces'?

Here is my watercolour of the apple set on a white background.

Observe the changes as I begin to apply paint into the space around the apple.

Every time more colour is added, the whole image changes. It is vital to understand both in life and in art, that when we make any change, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, everything changes!

Understanding negative space as a painter can help us to understand the negative space in our life.

I have often observed artists when painting a portrait struggle with the nose. They will keep adding more paint, scraping it off, adding more, until in the end they have a mess. When in fact, all that's needed is a shadow next to the nose, and voila - there's the answer.

In our lives we can have a problem that we continue to try and fix using the same method or approach over and over again, when often the answer, like the shadow next to the nose, is not so obvious. Once seen and recognised the solution can be very simple and effective

It is now 'bucketing down' (translation for readers in other countries, raining hard) in London!

A Bientot

Yesterday stormy weather enveloped a great deal of the United Kingdom. The sort of weather that we used to see only once in a great while, but which has now become more of a regular pattern!

Of course this gives the likes of me opportunities to observe the wonderfully dramatic skies that come with such storms, and so my warm up exercise yesterday was, you guessed it, 'stormy skies'.

I used an old sketch as a 'ground' to work from. Keeping old sketches is a great idea for just this purpose. Don't throw them out, use them again to 'play' with - you might be surprised at some of the wonderful effects that can be achieved this way.

Here is the old sketch I used to work from

I add a mix of burnt umber and prussian blue watercolour and then 'bleed' permanent white gouache into the mix while it is very wet and juicy.

In a storm like yesterday clouds move rapidly and are thick and milky...in fact I could have made numerous sketches in a very short period as the skies changed.

In these images I indicate the tops of trees which were blowing wildly.

Stormy weather always has an affect on me. It seems to give me a great deal of energy, and so along with painting, I also cleaned the flat, and then later in the day my good friend Jane Carter joined me for supper, after which we watched Strictly Come Dancing, which I love

I met Jane a about three years ago when she attended a workshop I was giving. A very fine botanical artist, Jane wanted to loosen up, and so she came to me!

I was so pleased when she showed me the following six little 'warm up' sketches of skies. Using an inexpensive paper, and left over paint on her pallette Jane produced the following images. As she put it, by using this paper and allowing herself to play with paint it freed her up to explore more possibilities.

This morning the sun is shining in London. Hopefully it's the same in other parts of the UK so that people have time to clean up after yesterday's weather.

A Bientot

For the next two weeks I am working on artwork which needs my full attention, and so I will be posting my 'warm up' exercises each day.

In an ideal world I would have a life model come to my studio and do very fast poses, which I still find to be the best way to warm up. However, for now I will continue to use what is around me. Today a couple of pears.

The model:

Remember you can use any materials at hand for this exercise - newspaper, envelopes, paints, pastels, magic markers etc. I am using white water colour paper along with watercolour paints.

First frame - I sketch out the pears in a neutral colour.

In this frame I had transparent colour, leaving my highlight areas as white paper.

Here I add burnt umber, allowing some of the lighter colours to show through.

In the final frame, I add a little permanent white designer gouache to intensify the lightest areas.

Watercolours are transparent - designer gouache is opaque which allows for some interesting effects. During the Golden Age of watercolour painting, the likes of John Cotman often used what was called 'body paint' within their watercolours, which in fact was white gouache.

I used to give a lecture on the history of watercolour painting, and so maybe I will write a post on what is a very interesting subject.

From my window this morning, I see dramatic skies. Perfect for my warm up exercises today! Given that the UK is an island nation, weather moves very quickly, producing fantastic skyscapes. With today's storms the skies will be exceptionally exciting to observe.

A Bientot

Amazingly, I often hear people say that they don't know what to paint, when usually we can find all sorts of beautiful models in our kitchens.

My watercolour exercise today is of a bowl of apples.

Here is the model: -

For many years I have offered my 'apple exercise' to help artists of all disciplines to achieve consistency in their work. I have met so many people who after a workshop are all fired up to go home and explore their creativity, and some do for a short poriod, but then life gets in the way!

I suggest that by setting up a small table, which doesn't have to be moved, and then picking a fifteen minute time period in the day that works for you, you set the stage where the creative process can be explored.

If you do this for just thirty days, three things will happen. You will achieve consistency.
Your confidence will build and your work will get better. Most importantly you will begin to SEE as an artist.

Feel free to use newspaper, inexpensive wall paper lining or old envelopes. You can use paints, crayons, magic markers, anything at hand. This will free you. It will remove the fear and tension that often prevails when faced with an expensive piece of paper, and allow you to PLAY.

My watercolour exercise using the apples in a bowl.

First frame - I have used a broad brush to indicate the composition. I am working on white paper. This might be where you want to stop. Remember this is an exercise of exploration, and so anything goes I could easily see this image blown up on a large canvas. It would be very effective.

In this frame I add more colour and use alizirin crimson to indicate the darker shadows in the red apples, while leaving a cadmium red for the lighter areas....with the green I use a darker green for shadows etc. Note that all white areas are dry white paper.

In this frame, note that I have moved the colours from the apples around the image, indicating green and red in the edge of the bowl. Moving colour around, along with the basic composition are ways in which to achieve balance and harmony in an image.

In this image I show a detail from the finished sketch, which I could see being made into a large vibrant canvas. It's just another way to look at the work.

Try to remove all expectations as you approach this exercise. Doing this, will open the way for you to enjoy the creative process.

This morning in London, we actually have a gentle steady rain, something which has not been experienced for quite some time! However, it is supposed to be very stormy later on. An excellent day to be painting indoors

A Bientot

Over the next two weeks I will be working on artwork that needs my full attention. In the meantime, I will show some of my watercolour painting exercises, to remind people of the importance of 'playing' a little each day, and how in doing that, observation skills are honed.

I reminded myself yesterday when giving a workshop to a group I see just a few times a year, how important it is to allow oneself to play for fifteen minutes before actually tackling a painting. It's based on exactly the same principle as a dancer limbering up or an athlete stretching.

Use newspaper, or inexpensive rolls of wall paper lining, anything that doesn't matter. This will free you up to experiment and play, and ironically this is often when our best work is produced, because all fear and tension are removed!

My set up up with the finished water colour

First stage - working off white paper, I sketch out apples in watercolour. If you want to sketch out in pencil or magic marker even, go for it...the following frames are simply guidelines.

I now add some of the shadow tones and throw in a dark colour behind the setup revealing the white cloth. You can use any colour you want. The key is to observe the tones/shadows.

I now introduce red into the apples and the stripe in the fabric.

In this frame I bring burnt sienna into the shadows, which warms the overall image. Note that when I add a colour, I move it around the whole image, thus producing a sense of harmony and balance.

For the finished frame I have introduced a little cadmium organge. Note that all the white areas are dry white paper.

Rain and wind are forcast here in London for the next five days, and so this is an excellent time to set up a little table somewhere, which doesn't have to be moved. A place that you can go to each day and 'PLAY' with your creative spirit.

A Bientot