[Jack]

Day 88 18/11/2022

• I started a third (and final) bust for BGD. It’s almost done, will finish tomorrow morning.
• (45 mins) I got outside into the garden to start a drawing of a nearby scots pine during my lunch break. Good fun this. I toned the stretched paper with ink and used charcoal/white chalk in the drawing. So a bit of an experiment. I’m hoping to get in the garden to finish tomorrow as I was having a blast.

• (1h) I also went along to Villpu’s friday draw along. Totally out of my depth. It was a bit like being hideously out of shape and trying to keep up with elite marathon runners – but it was a lot of fun too. It made me look forward to taking more figure classes.

 

Practice Time: 4h

[Jack]

Day 87 17/11/2022

• I whipped together an imprimatura drawing in paint of something for the Sketch Swap group… something that meets the criteria of this challenge, so I’m counting it as one of my days… it’s a tree. I’m painting them a tree. But nobody in the sketch swap uses the forum, so I’m golden!  I’m using the sketches as an experiment in indirect painting, and hopefully produce something I’m not embarrassed to send them.
• I worked on a few figures.

• I spent 30 minutes copying an illustration from Artistic Anatomy of Trees, before I gave up – I was tired and couldn’t focus.

Erik Koeppel

I’ve been watching more of  Erik Koeppel’s instagram videos (I succumbed and subscribed, lets see if it’s worth it). He completed a fascinating demo showing a three layer process to his painting: layer 1 is light vs shadow using burnt umber only, layer 2 is about warm vs cool using only white and brown, and then layer 3 is about applying colours (red, yellow or blue).

I was vaguely familiar with imprimatura, attempting something similar a few months back. But seeing the process has been somewhat revelatory for me as his results are closer to what I want to achieve than the impressionist approach. I’m excited to learn more.

 

Practice Time: my memory is so bad, I can’t recall how many hours I practiced yesterday. I thought I had done 3.5, but my timer only says 2… what did I do? I reckon I did 3 hours, plus the 30 minutes wasted on a sketch.

 

[Jack]

Day 86 16/11/2022

• I spent an hour on the weekend’s landscape – I’m not sure I made it any better. I’m a bit stuck where to take it.
• 45 mins on yesterday’s cast. I’ve made too many drawing mistakes I can’t erase, so I’m going to leave this one.

• 45 minutes on an oak tree sketch outside.

• 1.5 hrs at a life drawing course

Usually I hate Instagram recommending people to follow, but today it recommend Erik Koeppel – who I hadn’t heard of before. His work immediately caught my eye as it reminded me of old dutch painting. A quick scan of youtube shows he has a few instructional videos online, so I watched the introduction to one. Here are some notes:

Hudson River School

• Limited earth Palette
  • 2 reds ([warm] Burnt Sienna (calcine, more opaque), Venetian red [cool])… sometimes alizon crimson
  • 2 yellows warm/cool – yellow deep extra naples yellow / yellow ochre – he’s particular about the naples yellow
    • sometimes indian yellow for a bit of punch
  • 2 blues warm/cool: lamp or mars black / ultramarine
    • sometimes prussian blue, helps with bluish greens
  • burnt umber
  • white
• Manipulate colours using transparency (adding oil/gamsol mix)
• You can lighten colours later by glazing
• Brushes
  • workhorse is round sables, soft, with something of a point
  • work on a smooth surface
  • big soft flat brushes, for smoothing out glazes or the sky, evening out surfaces
  • rigours, for detailed work and fine lines
  • old ragged brushes that are beaten up – good for textured stipling effect
• Surface
  • gesso pannel, ultra smooth
  • smooth surface better for reflecting glazes and capturing detail
• He shows 3 panels of a his process – a drawing, and initial wash, and then detail.
  • The ‘wash’ phase was done with just three colours, ultramarine, burnt sienna, y. ochre. No white, maybe a little bit of brown.
  • No white allows for colours to stay transparent.
  • With three colours you can’t match exact colours, but you can get relationships.
  • Use white of the background and transparency achieved through medium to lighten parts of the piciture.
  • Tree is left in wash phase slightly smaller, so during detail phase it can ‘grow’ a little bit with specific leaves, etc.
  • Phase 3: working back to front.
• Process
  • very lightly tinted ground, bit of gamsol and burnt sienna, a warm colour –
  • drawing using burnt sienna and gamsol – a bit like an ink drawing

Practice Time: 4h

[Jack]

Day 85 15/11/2022

• I watched the BGD demos on the Brutus plaster cast, and finished up cast number 1. I’m going to try another couple this week before moving on.

• I got outside during lunch for a brief 40 mins of sketch/study. I took a look at a hazel tree in the garden – leaf shape/texture, bud, twigs, catkins, a bit on the bark texture.

• I started a second bust – not having as easy a time of it as the first. Maybe it’s the tilts? But all the corrections means there are heavy marks I can’t erase. Must draw more lightly in the future. I’ll try finishing it tomorrow.

[Jack]

Day xx 14/11/2022

• I read some more of Artistic Anatomy of Trees, on the subject of the effects of ageing and of wind.
• I completed a third figure sketch. Not massively successful, but the pose was fairly static. A lot of work to do yet.

• I also started the plaster cast section of BGD – watching the demos and starting the assignment. The assignment calls for completing just one, but I think I’ll give 2-3 a go this week.

I’m starting to get in a decent routine that allows for four hours of practice a day. Key is to get 1h in before work starts at 9am, another hour during the day (e.g. lunch break), and then the usual 2 hours post-work.

Practice Time 4h

[Jack]

Day 84 13/11/2022

• More compositional thumbnails before starting to paint outdoors. I didn’t feel particularly thrilled about any of them – which perhaps is a sign you shouldn’t go ahead with the painting? But I did think about a thumbnail ‘template’ exercise I could use based on Payne’s Composition of Outdoor Painting, where you use his armatures to compose a scene differently.

• 2.5 hours outside – bit of a tough time of it. Another work in progress. It’ll give me something to work on if the weather is bad in the week.

• Worked for an hour on yesterday’s painting. I’m drifting between hating and loving it. It’s a work-in-progress, going to let it dry before starting to work into it some more. It is fun working on a bigger canvas though, feels like. a ‘proper painting’. It’s also a higher major key than my usual.

• I also drew a couple figures. I’m going to make this part of my practice routine as not to lose the learning ahead of taking Force and/or Dynamic Gesture. Too lazy to take a picture, I’ll one tomorrow when I complete the page.

 

Practice Time: 5h 30m – strong day. 

[Jack]

Day 83 12/11/2022

• I spent a fantastic 2.5 hours painting outside. I began this session with compositional thumbnails – something I’ve never really done. I challenged myself to do at least 9. Useful exercise.

I was pleased what I ended up with, but it definitely needs another 3-4 hours. It’s the largest canvas I’ve yet worked on, so I’m going to try and make a mini ‘project’ of it.

• I finished up an Asaro Planes of the Head exercise. This was done in charcoal, which is not my most comfortable medium so I’m trying to use it when I can.

 

Practice Time: 4h

[Jack]

Cheers Mark, thanks for the encouraging words!

[Jack]

Day 82 11/11/2022

• I completed the BGD exercise of figures with chiaroscuro. I should probably do a few more before moving on, but I might save this for Force.

• I completed a little tree sketch from reference, nothing fancy.

• I started on an Asaro planes of the head, will finish it tomorrow.

 

Practice Hours: 5h

[Jack]

Day x 10/11/2022

• I finished watching the Vanna demo from Introduction to Portrait Painting, and completed another exercise. It was not particularly successful – I think the dynamic tilt of the head and foreshortening caused drawing issues, which coupled with painting challenges, meant the whole thing was tough. It’s pictures like these that make me think I ought to have spent more time on a head drawing course before jumping into painting. Oh well, too late now!

• I did a little tree drawing in my sketchbook, but I’ll finish it up and post tomorrow.

Practice Time: 4 hours

I’m putting in some good time, but I think I may be faffing over details as I don’t have more to show for it. Hmmm.

[Jack]

Day 81 9/11/2022

• I actually got outside to paint for the first time in a couple weeks (due to weather) – this was to make a little something for the Sketch Swap club we’ve created on Discord. Can’t spoil the surprise by  posting it here. I’ve got another two to make, and this weekend is looking hopeful weather wise.
• I worked a bit more on assignment 2 for BGD, figures made of simple forms – not totally sure I’m ‘getting it’, but hey ho.

 

Practice Time: 5h

I’m unsure this is actually right, five hours?! My Pomodoro timer says I did 4h, but I also spent an hour outside. So I guess this is right – but it didn’t feel like I did much for the time… I think I’m spending 10-15 mins on each figure, rather the recommended 5 minutes.

[Jack]

Thanks Dana! Welcome to the NMA – I look forward to seeing your work!

 

Don’t forget to check out Discord if you want to get involved in the community, it’s a bit livelier than the forum 🙂

[Jack]

Day 80 8/11/2022

• I watched the whole BGD section on gesture and figure – which was very interesting. I spent most of my practice time today on the assignments. The assignment first called for drawing figures based on a centre axes and forms, and then using passive/active contours. I’m not sure I understand the difference. Tough stuff! I’m looking forward to having these critiqued, simply because there’s such a big scope for improvement. Aside from taking Huston’s Constructive Figure Drawing course when I first signed up with NMA 2 years ago, I haven’t done any figure work.

• I also copied a series of illustrations from Artistic Anatomy of  Trees, employing a bit about what I learned from figure gesture.

A really productive day, on top of a lot of time practising – I also managed a couple hours of theory. Getting up early is definitely enabling a couple more hours of art practice. More days like this please!

Practice Time: 4h

[Jack]

Day x 7/11/2022

• I read a chapter in Artistic Anatomy of Trees. I started to copy some of the illustrations, but didn’t get very far – will do this again tomorrow as there are some beautiful sketches in it.
• I finished watching Finding Your Voice As An Artist, good to finish one of the in-progress courses. Next up, finish Traditional Composition
• I started watching the Beginner’s Guide To Drawing lectures on gesture – scary stuff!
• I spent a bit of time finishing up the previous day’s sketch. Main lesson was to work in charcoal more, it’s an uncomfortable material for me.

• I watched the Vanna demo of Introduction to Portrait Painting. I spent 2 hour on a portrait sketch, I cut myself off as not to overrun. I tried to incorporate the advice I received about clear value statements and easy to read designs. Unsure if successful.

• I read a bit of Kearns’ blog, mostly about painting in the snow, which isn’t particularly applicable to me – but interesting as always.

I’ve had a bit of a ‘road to Damascus’ moment, and want to try and be stricter with my time, cutting out silly habits that aren’t benefiting my art practice, my relationships, or making life better in anyway (e.g. reading the news). Today felt more productive already, got a fair bit of practice and probably an equal amount of theory.

Practice Time: 3h 30m

[Jack]

Day 78 5/11/2022

I’m writing this a few days after the fact and I’ve totally forgotten what I did this day. I think…

• I tinkered with yesterday’s portrait some more, unhappy with it generally.
• I spent another hour on the master study.
• I watched the 3 value thumbnail exercise for BGD and completed half the assignment.

• I also had the coaching session with Joshua, here was my week’s worth of work.

Feedback:

• Be careful, the zygomatic bone doesn’t attach to the top of the ear, but the opening. You keep drawing to too high.
• The far side eye is too close to the nose and too small. The big structure of the plane isn’t reading.
• Take note of what Todorvich is teaching, he’s emphasising a clear value statement. Yours is too mushy, transitions too muddy. Make strong design choices and clearer shapes. You need to know what the form is doing, and never do the same thing twice if you can help it.
  • From the course: “That’s always my emphasis, I want to work in a way where we see it as a sculpture that we have control over it in terms of the form and the size of planes. That’s where we’ll get our likeness if anything, is in the sculpting of these big forms, and the big sense of light and space and atmosphere, not necessarily rendering of these small shapes to a literal depiction of something we’re trying to copy”
• Joshua looked at my nose cast drawing and noted similar things, the need for clearer and simpler forms, then getting the nuance. Work on simpler constructions before adding detail.

Practice Time: 3h

—

Day 79 6/11/2022

• I watched more of BGD, drew some more thumbnails, and started turning the 3 value thumbnail into a finished sketch. I didn’t quite complete it, and forgot to take an in-progress picture.

• I think I spent 30 minutes on the master study too – it’s coming along really slowly.

Practice Time: 3h

 

 

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