Check & Log 2 Perspective

I decided to draw a view from a corridor into a kitchen for the parallel perspective drawing. The floor being tiled, I think, was an advantage, although the horizontal spaces between tiles on the inside of the door were too close together. The space is too narrow to fit what is there in the available space. The architraves around the doors on the left are too narrow. Once I’d chosen the vanishing point and drawn in the first parallel line along the dado rail on the right I discovered that many angles were completely wrong, apart from the area below eye level, which isn’t too bad. Before I drew in the receding lines to the vanishing point I knew that some angles were wrong, but I didn’t realize they were so inaccurate! I should have noticed the top of the frames and the bookshelves on the right hand side as these are so obvious to me now.

Parallel perspective drawing

In the second drawing of the building positioned corner on (two point perspective), with the help of a pencil, I gauged the angles, shapes and proportions of features in relation to other points and angles – particularly the horizontal line at my eye level.  I didn’t use a ruler, but a pencil helped with the angle and measurements. Amazingly for me, I think most of it is accurate, apart from the roof line on the left of the high building on the corner, where the receding lines are at too low an angle. The vanishing point is way off the paper, so again I was guessing the angles, but I think they generally look correct.

Two point perspective drawing

Using rulers as a guide really helped me to check the accuracy of the angles.  Even with the two point perspective where the vanishing points were off the paper, I was able to estimate with a ruler where they were, and to draw in the eye level (horizon line). This is something I doubt I could have managed otherwise, even with a pencil as a substitute.

Although, I wouldn’t want to be tempted to use a ruler to draw straight lines - I’m sure they would appear far too technical looking. By not using a ruler for this purpose the lines may often be wobbly and uneven looking but at least they have far more chance of looking expressive. It is more difficult to judge the correct angles of the horizontal building, window and door lines etc. without a ruler and I found myself having to resort to using a pencil as a substitute to help with this.

Cloud Studies

"The sky is the source of light in Nature and it governs everything". (John Constable) 

Oil pastel on smooth paper

conte crayon on ingres paper

oil pastel

charcoal on textured paper - fading light, dull cloudy

pastel pencil

oil pastel on brown wrapping paper

soft pastel on grey sugar paper

charcoal on old cream pastel paper

compressed charcoal on cartridge paper- twisted round in various directions between fingers

ballpoint pen - multi directional and curved hatching

conte crayon on textured paper

NB To view some more skies and clouds see my sketches blog http://annisketches.blogspot.com/
Ohh skies, I could draw them forever....

Distant Worlds

Distant Worlds 1 and 2 - acrylic and paper on board.

My 360 degree studies partly inspired these two paintings, completed recently in time for an exhibition with my art group. The photos aren't great as they were taken when under the glare of gallery lighting.

Drawing Landscape Sketchbook Walk and 360 Degree Studies

Sketchbook Walk
Initially I didn’t see much of interest in most views on my sketchbook walks and some even looked quite bland. But on re-examining and checking the direction of certain lines and shapes I noticed that these helped to establish a directional flow around the composition. In places they had the effect of drawing the eye towards certain features such as a building or distinctive tree or trees, with the potential for use as focal points.

The biggest challenges were for me, areas of foliage such as lines of trees across a middleground and large patches of grass and heather. I squinted my eyes to try and make out only basic shapes, but if there was a continuous line of trees going across a middleground it was impossible to make them look sufficiently interesting, at the same time simplify them. This was evident in sketch no. 4, Doneraile Park, Sketchbook Walk 2. However, I think there was some progress in the right direction with the trees, by the time I did the larger more finished drawing of a similar scene. 

Sketches from the first walk (above)

I became frustrated with my lack of success in attempts to simplify the view, yet obtain variety and interest from the patterns and textures. The large grassy pastures in some sketches on the sketchbook walks looked mostly featureless, apart from the odd grazing cow or subtle shadows and directional lines which were often tricky to make out. The only detail I wanted to add here was to give some subtle impression of varied terrain, rather than leave a huge yawning empty space, so I just allowed my pencil to loosely follow the direction of them. I think the detail is probably minimal enough to still act as a welcome contrast to the more detailed areas.   A couple of sketches from the first walk
As I wasn't happy with the background in my first sketchbook walk – it was playing on my mind, so I decided to go on a second sketchbook walk almost a month after the first one and in another location. The background in my first attempts featured an old folly on a hill and I felt that this was pulling too much attention away from anything else. Because it was in the background I felt it wasn't in a suitable place, otherwise it might well have worked as a focal point. It was so dominant that any reasonable sense of distance also seemed unobtainable. With hindsight, maybe I could have made up some distant hills behind the folly, so that it could have been used as a focal point in the middle ground. On the second occasion and with different views, I was hoping that I would have more success with simplification and aerial perspective. It was easier to obtain a sense of distance and form in scenes where there were trees at varying heights, shapes and distances away, as it gave more sense of overlapping forms. To help strengthen the composition, I didn't stick rigidly to the arrangements in the actual scenes and moved certain features around slightly. 

 I was conscious that treatment of the midground had to involve adding more detail and contrast than the background, but less than the foreground. I had trouble with this in some sketches, but because of the practice the sketches gave me, by the time I did the finished drawing I think had an increased awareness of the midground in relation to the composition as a whole.

In dull or hazy conditions - as in the first 2 sketches in Doneraile Park, it was more of a challenge to discern light and shade than on a bright day when contrasts were clear. When conditions were dull and overcast, making tonal values hard to pick out, I made up shadows here and there, but none existent highlights were more difficult to visualize and I really had to squint constantly to pick anything out.

Above three pages - sketchbook walk sketches - Doneraile Park

Being able to make use of natural light and shade in turn seemed to help me enormously to create some sense of form and distance with tonal shading. Other elements which contributed to this were: the placement of objects/features as overlapping shapes, sometimes gradually reducing in size as they moved into the distance, such as fence posts, tyre tracks and pathways. The distant hills or trees helped the appearance of any atmospheric haze (360 degree and some sketchbook walk sketches) with very light uniform shading.

In the more finished drawing (Plotting Space...) I think certain areas would have improved with further study of:

(a) cattle grazing to help familiarize me with their individual characteristics.

(b) the foreground was quite uninteresting in reality with short grass in slightly dappled shade. Some studies beforehand  of rough foreground grasses would have helped to give me more idea of the best way to depict them. The actual grasses I drew are mostly upright and they could look more interesting if I had varied the direction of them with multi directional marks.

(c) the sky was devoid of clouds on the day I made the sketches and the horizon was high from the viewpoint I chose, and I thought it might improve the composition to give a suggestion of the sky by adding very light clouds.  


360 DEGREE STUDIES 
Summit of a nearby hill - Kilcruig (or Carrigieenamronety) what a mouthful! Part of a range called the Ballyhouras. Some here would call it a mountain.

A bit of a stiff climb, but a very peaceful walk. Hidden under a rock is a tin box containing a visitor’s book.

Wide open views all around of surrounding hills and mountain ranges as far as parts of  the four counties of Cork, Tipperary, Limerick and Waterford.

In a couple of my 360 degree studies large blankets of heather, interspersed with rocks, took up most of the foreground – in one of them (no. 1 below) the heather stretched away into the middleground - looking quite monotonous.

1  looking south

2  looking west

3  looking north

4  looking east

Above - the four 360 degree sketches

When I did the 360 degree studies and my second sketchbook walk there was a much stronger sense of distance in the scenes before me than with the first sketchbook walk - top. An atmospheric haze threw the background into relief,  and it was further away. This in turn seemed to help to make the middle ground more distinguishable in most cases, providing there was something in that area to use as a focal point, or to balance a focal point perhaps in the foreground, as in the second 360 degree sketch (above). Once I had completed the 360 degree sketches on the hilltop, I realized I would have preferred to have done the more finished sketch (Plotting Space) from one of these. The drawback was on that occasion I forgot to take my camera along, so I didn’t have enough confidence to use any of these sketches without photos to back them up.  I reckoned it was safer instead to use a sketch with some photographic back-up.

SOME SKETCHES AND PAINTINGS INSPIRED BY DOING THE 360 DEGREE  STUDIES

Above are two sketches which I later followed up with paintings - 'Distant Worlds'  inspired by the 360 sketches. I had no qualms about doing the paintings from sketches without photos, but then I wasn't too worried about reality on this occasion. Maybe I was a little over concerned about it before.

Research Point 3 - Monet, Pissaro and Cezanne

The Hermitage at Pontoise, ca. 1867
This is over six feet by five in size - Pissarro’s largest painting.

Artists who worked in series with the landscape such as Monet, Pissarro or Cezanne -  the challenges they faced and how they tackled them.

Camille Pissaro (1830-1903)

Although considered an Impressionist, Courbet (a realist painter) was a major influence upon Pissaro. He is believed to have been the first artist to paint with a technique and palette typical of Impressionists. Recognition in the art world was slow for the Impressionists, as their work was such a departure from art that was generally admired around this time – technically detailed realism and idealism, yet he remained true to his vision. Conversely, today his subjects may be regarded as idealistic, but they were truthful depictions rather than more popular paintings which were far removed from reality. He was a well respected figure amongst other Impressionists. Remaining so true to his vision contributed to the fact that he was almost 74 before he finally gained the recognition he deserved.

Pissaro lived in the town of Pontoise from around 1866 to 1883 and painted a series of large scale landscapes. He chose to portray the everyday life of ordinary people who lived there, challenging conventions by his use of colour and expressive brushwork. 

By painting on a large scale he sought to give as much significance to scenes of everyday life as to ‘important’ mythological or historical themes which were often painted on a large scale.

Pontoise – ‘Red Roofs’.

Pontoise – ‘Red Roofs’ he had to work very hard to achieve  the expected effect  as he believed in painting according to the first unconscious reaction – not giving more importance to one object over another - if it wasn’t for the title the red roofs might be less noticeable.

Later in his life he preferred to paint in comfort, doing a series of cityscapes of Paris at different times of day, from a hotel room giving him a high vantage point.

 

Paul Cezanne 1839-1906

Pissaro was also highly revered by Cezanne, who is regarded as a Post Impressionist as he was concerned particularly with form and structure aswell as light and colour. Cezanne sought the help of Pissaro about 10 years into his career. His approach was a great influence on Cezanne’s and had the effect of steadying his style, helping him to focus his energy. Yet, he became such a perfectionist with the way he applied each individual brushstroke, in a way that each colour and each value had to be absolutely aligned with others. The effect was to build up a clear sense of depth.

In his series Mont St. Victoire he was fascinated by its rugged geological forms. He painted and sketched it repeatedly from many angles, building up a sense of mass and solidity in his brushstrokes - I can see how his use of bold geometric brushwork inspired the Cubist style.

Painting outdoors in all weathers would surely also have presented him with its own challenges; indeed it was through his detemination to continue working for hours in the pouring rain during one autumn that caused pneumonia and subsequently his death.

Cezanne St Victoire-1886

Mont Sainte-Victoire 1902 oil on canvas 83x65cm

Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from Les Lauves - pencil & watercolour 1901-06 48x31cm

Claude Monet (1840 –1926)

Monet produced much of his series of water lilies (approximately 250 oil paintings) towards the end of his life while he was suffering from deteriorating eyesight, caused by cataracts. According to his letters to friends he would complain about how colours were getting dull and how he found them increasingly hard to tell apart. As the condition worsened, the colours in his paintings became more vibrant. This can be seen when comparing Water lilies (Rome) 1897-99, Water-Lily Pond and Weeping Willow (1916-19 and 044 circ.1920). His anxiety was such that it eventually led him to suspend work on the Lilies series until after the eye operation.  After suffering for many years, he had surgery in 1923 – only 3 years before his death at the age of 86. However, he still complained following the operation how his sight was too yellow then blue. He continued with the series, but only one eye was operated on and his binocular vision was adversely affected, with it his sense of depth. He destroyed many paintings due his frustration, though some of them were salvaged by his family and friends.

Water lilies (Rome) 1897-99.

Water-Lily Pond and Weeping Willow (1916-19).

Water lilies 044 circ.1920.

The series is now displayed in separate museums all over the world. An exhibition of part of the series was held in the Musée de l’Orangerie and since a few months after his death, eight of them are on permanent display.

Pentimenti Research Point 2

This is a term which describes an alteration in a painting made by the original painter. It is the part that has been painted over and which has become visible again due to some transparency in the overlying layer of paint, which may have increased over time. A single alteration is called pentimento (singular). Sometimes the underlying layer of the painting has always been visible i careful inspection. Others, especially in the underdrawing, can only be seen with modern methods such as X-rays and infra-red reflectograms and photographs.e paint over many years – usually centuries.

Pentimenti may show that a composition originally had an element, for example a head or a hand, in a slightly different place, or that an element no longer in the final painting was originally planned.

The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck 1434 is a typical example of pentimenti. The main changes were the lowering of the two faces and the alteration of the position of the female’s eyes. The male’s feet were moved three times in total. Infra-red reflectograms have revealed these alterations.

Arnolfi portrait - Van Eyck

Some of Lowry’s paintings are painted over other images. The 1938 painting Head of a Man (Man with Red Eyes) when x-rayed showed a female portrait and possibly a self-portrait underneath. It would not be considered pentimenti as the subjects are totally different.

The term has been used when modern painted advertisements on buildings are painted over with new ones and the paint peels away to reveal the underlying layers.

 

Joachim Patinir Landscape with St. Jerome

Landscape Drawing Research Point 1

LS Lowry b. Stretford (1887-1976)

Most of the paintings of LS Lowry – in the Salford/Manchester area, personify the northern English industrial townscape. In fact Manchester is known as "the town of tall chimneys". It certainly was in Lowry’s day anyhow!
As a rent collector in the 1920s and 30s he would travel all over the city. The subjects for his paintings were on his doorstep and that is when he started to become fascinated by the industrial scenes all around him. As these townscapes were affected later by the blitz, slum clearance and new housing they changed very noticeably during his lifetime.
As far as I can make out from reading about some of his techniques on the Lowry Gallery website, it seems that he would use sketches rather than a camera to help record the scenes. With a pencil he used smudging and erasing to work the surface of his drawings and rubbing the lines to build the atmosphere. With paper he had in his pockets he would do quick on the spot sketches. His paintings were composed in a room at his home often on a white surface using firmly drawn backgrounds and buildings. Some of these paintings were semi-imaginary.

Pendlebury 1936 -It certainly looks as though Lowry made use of smudging and erasing in this drawing, but in a very neat way.


Industrial river scene



Peel Park

Peel Park

Peel Park

Peel Park

I almost prefer these 4 spontaneous looking sketches (above) of scenes in Peel Park, Salford, to the paintings.

 

 

View from window looking towards Broughton



Dewer's Lane



Albrecht Durer (1471 – 1528) was born in Nuremberg,Germany. Aswell as being a painter, printmaker he was also a mathematician, engraver, and theorist. He was very successful in spreading his work across EuropeItalyVeniceAlps he made watercolour sketches. These are regarded as the first pure landscapes ever produced in Western Art. , on his way there, in 1494. As he traveled over the and The Netherlands and he made his first trip to through printmaking. The variety and innovative nature of his work made him a true leading light in the art world of his day. Living in Nuremburg, he was well situated to make excursions to Italy and The Netherlands and he made his first trip to Venice in 1494. As he traveled over the Alps, on his way there, he made watercolour sketches. These are regarded as the first pure landscapes ever produced in Western Art. 

In the spring of 1495 he returned to Nuremberg but continued to paint landscapes – although he is far better known for other subjects. Landscape as a category of painting, only began to emerge during the Renaissance and was usually populated by figures.



Watercolour 1494-95



Alpine landscape 1495

Below is an extract from the British Museum website and contains an interesting description of the drawing - Landscape with a Woodland Pool (below) Near Nuremberg, Germany, around 1496:

Wooded landscape with distant buildings 1640-50

On the left we see the broken trunks of pine trees rising on a grassy bank. To the right are more pine trees, their deep green tops filling the paper. In between is deep blue water which disappears into the darkening distant horizon. As the sun sets, the clouds turn a deep blue which is mirrored in the blue of the lake. Similarly, the green branches of the pine trees are balanced by the green banks around the water. Dürer's fluid brush and deep colours make it a very beautiful and harmonious depiction of restful nature.

The scene may be outside Nuremberg and was probably painted after Dürer had returned from his first visit to Italy, around 1496-97.

The drawing is unfinished at lower right where the white of the paper is clearly visible. Dürer's monogram in the upper centre was added later in another hand.

The following is a link to the website   http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/a/albrecht_d%25C3%25BCrer,_landscape_wi-1.aspx

It is generally agreed that this landscape drawing is one of the most sensitive of Dürer's portrayals of nature. It is painted with a brush in water and bodycolour. Dürer was the first artist to recognize the potential of watercolour. Indeed, his work as a landscape artist in watercolour raised the status of this medium.

Claude Lorrain (1600-1682) – better known by the French province of Lorraine where he was born. Claude Gellée was his real name. He was a painter of the Baroque style and era.

So as to follow the classical order of the times and because of commercial pressures, he included figures and gave narrative (usually mythological), as landscape in its own right was not considered important around this time. He was more interested in uninhabited natural scenes, as his many drawings and sketchbooks show. Much of his popularity was also based on his use of subtle gradations of tones. Many artists used a 

Claude glass to view scenes. This was meant to help them produce works of art similar to Claude’s.

John Constable – a Romantic artist held Claude’s landscapes in high regard and  described Claude as "the most perfect landscape painter the world ever saw". He declared that in Claude’s landscape "all is lovely – all amiable – all is amenity and repose; the calm sunshine of the heart".

Claude glass



Wooded landscape with distant buildings 1640-50



View of the campagna

Landscape with latium with farm labourers - pen, brown indian ink wash and black chalk (1660-63)



Study of oak tree c.1638 black chalk, pen &ink; brown ink with gray-brown wash on white paper