Not Quite A RWS Contemporary Watercolour Competition 2012 Review

I would like to say I perused and absorbed all the paintings last Thursday night at the RWS competition exhibition, really taking my time in order to put down my thoughts in this post with a wealth of viewing knowledge behind me. However I cannot. After a series of travel nightmares that involved even more expenditure on train tickets and running up London Underground escalators, Suzanne and I arrived at the Bankside Gallery hot, sweaty and very late.

I'm so pleased we made the effort. It was great to meet up with Jonathan Pitts (also showing) and his lovely wife and yes next time we will go for food afterwards! The exhibition was also well worth the trip. The subject matter on show was incredibly varied as was style, which to me is what you want to see in an open exhibition. The conceptual ideas in my opinion seemed much stronger than the Sunday Times exhibition last year although maybe in terms of technique the RWS was slightly behind. I don't want to degrade anybody's work, so it's just as well I didn't have the time to make any notes, but there was the odd sucking teeth moment as I stalked around the gallery.

Needless to say the show is well worth a visit and the winning pieces stand up well to scrutiny, unlike my review. For a more informative and frankly better written review visit Katherine Tyrrell's Making A Mark.

Arnold XIV

Above is a whimsical illustration that I produced for Suzanne's Birthday card last year. The style is very similar to that of the children's book I am currently working on but as I can't release any images from that project I thought Arnold XIV would do. Arnold might just be a stuffed toy who resides in our home but he does comes from a rich heritage of Arnolds. At the beginning of April I tend to discover another portrait taken from the Arnold family tree and present it to Suzanne so she can fill in another gap in Arnold's geneology. I think the 'Who Do You Think You Are' TV crew are missing a trick by not featuring Arnold in their new series, maybe I should persuade him to write a letter.

Levi Art Order Challenge Pt 5

By the end of Tuesday morning the ArtOrder Levi painting was looking like this (above). I had just about taken the watercolour as far as I wanted, there was still an abundance of elements that need refining such as the faces of both characters, weapons, leather doublet, background, rocks... I could go on. My plan was to use gouache, gradually becoming more opaque, until I had sorted all the problems and ended up with a finished painting.

Below you can see the final artwork which I finished Thursday evening. I'm pleased with the outcome but still feel I can push further with the gouache paints. No doubt I shall bear that in mind for my next fantasy illustration.

38 x 29cm

Center For Media And Democracy

 
I had a lovely email from Rebekah Wilce recently who writes for the online publication PRWatch requesting the use of my 'Cracked Matador' watercolour. The metaphor 'a Bull in a China shop' was used in her article to describe a well used (in the U.S) herbicide where the China shop was you. I thought her cause a good one so I agreed the use of my image. Read her article here.

Levi Art Order Challenge Pt 4

How would you like to see some more WIP photos? Well, you're in luck! Above is the pencil for the final colour artwork I will be entering into ArtOrder this Friday. The following shot shows the background blocked in with watercolour, this is how the painting looked by the end of Monday 6th.

Pen Drawing Of Marlborough Town Hall

I shall be getting married in the above building this summer and this drawing will be featuring on the front of the invitations. I was attempting to channel Franklin Booth as I hatched away.

Selected For RWS And Bath Society Of Artists Open

'Cracked Matador'

 'It's Raining, It's Pouring'

Who'd 'av thunk it!? (yes that's thunk with a U). Both 'Cracked Matador' and 'It's Raining, It's Pouring' have been selected for the Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Competition. The exhibition of all finalists will be held at the Bankside Gallery from 24th February - 14th March. You can get a sneaky preview of all the selected artists by visiting the RWS website and downloading their PDF list.

I'm especially pleased that 'It's Raining, It's Pouring' was accepted as it didn't make the cut for the RWA last Autumn.

*Added 27/03/12
Both the above paintings have also been selected to be exhibited at the Bath Artists Society Open Exhibition 2012 .

Levi Art Order Challenge Pt 3

The sketch deadline for the ArtOrder Levi Challenge is today! Above is my entry. If you've been following my recent posts you've seen how the composition and anatomy of the figures has developed. If you haven't click here for part 1 and part 2.

Another recommendation I picked up from Andrew Loomis in 'Figure Drawing For All It's Worth', was to sketch with a soft pencil, using the point for line work and the flat of the lead for tone. I tried it out with the above sketch and I'll be sticking with 3B pencils for now on. Using a softer pencil gives me a broader range in tone and speeds up drawing no end!

Levi Art Order Challenge Pt 2

Above you can see some recent studies I sketched for the Levi Challenge over at ArtOrder. Both sketches I fleshed out using an incredibly useful figure drawing book and no photo reference. 'What is this book?' I hear you cry. It's 'Figure Drawing For All It's Worth' by Andrew Loomis. Originally published in the U.S 1946 and aimed at commercial artists who wanted to draw the figure quickly and convincingly with little or no reference. The book was a huge success and seems to have been devoured by just about every representational illustrator and comic artist working in the U.S today. I've noted lots of references online over the years by artists quoting the 'Loomis way' and calling for his instructional books to be re-printed. Titan Books have listened to these requests and acted on them. All I can say is I wish it was printed while I was still in University.

The above studies have helped me to establish the correct perspective and horizon line (just above the knee) I am going to use in the final pencil work for the Levi Challenge. I'm hoping to have the sketch finished before Friday.

John Atkinson Grimshaw At The Guildhall Art Gallery

Happy New Year!

I must apologise for my absence but I'm sure you won't begrudge it giving the time of year?

Let me kick off 2011 a quick highlight on the Atkinson Grimshaw 'Painter Of Moonlight' exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery in London.

Fortunately last week I spotted a preview of the exhibition on Charley Parker's excellent blog 'Lines And Colors' which I urge you to visit. Seen as I had to be in London yesterday to pick up some artwork I took advantage of my situation and hot footed it to the Guildhall.

The Victorian oil painter Grimshaw was believed to be self taught and I agree. His colour control was masterful and he seemed to have developed a muted colour formula for his ever popular nocturnes but his drawing skills were perhaps a tad wobbly. This would explain his reliance on photographs for reference which didn't go down well with his contemporaries. However painting at night in the 21st century is a challenge so it must have been a ridiculous task in the 19th century (no head torch back then).

I don't think Grimshaw tried to hide his use of photographs which I'm sure other Victorian artists did. In fact in one painting at the exhibition it appears he has painted directly on top of a sepia photograph then added the odd figure from imagination but only halfheartedly as if to say 'this bit is mine and this bit... is a photograph'. 

The exhibition finishes on the 15th but will then be travelling to Harrogate for a long stint at the Mercer Art Gallery. It's well worth a visit with the added benefit of being close to Leeds so you can see how the streets in Grimshaw's paintings have changed.

As for the Guildhall gallery's permanent collection, it is a quality collection of Victorian painters. Alma Tadema, Rossetti, Tissot, Frederick Leighton and Millais all make stellar appearances and if that wasn't a good enough reason to visit there are the remains of a Roman Ampitheatre in the cellar.

Next Time...

I'll try to post some artwork but it could prove difficult because my current projects have to be kept under wraps.