I am not a fine artist yet...

So now comes the time to reflect on personal targets...targets I say? Surely one has to know what they are and assuming I know shouldn't I know whether they're smart or not? How can I review if I haven't stated them...Didn't i say at the start of this blog that I wanted to create a blog to keep an account of all my creative pursuits...perhaps I need separate blogs or perhaps I just need to go with the flow and record whatever happens naturally and intuitively.

OK this posting is an admission that I am not an artist, that I've always loved and supported the arts and the development of culture in our lives but that I've never done anything serious in the fine arts field. I am a beginning artist and shall try to post my endeavours as they happen...time will tell if I as a late bloomer can progress and achieve enjoyment and satisfaction in developing the skills required.

Today, I ventured into Lyn Raymer's studio. What a wonderful space created...In two hours I learnt so much that I felt compelled to immediately write it down...

1) work from the elbow not the wrist; make long confident strokes especially needed in gestural work
2) use reductive methods...start with the darks then paint with light
3) the importance of taking photos and keeping a sketchbook
4) the importance of drawing things that speak to you...making the art yours
5) blind contours don't only make the artist 'see' the object but allow for the development of purity in a line
6) using plastic cutouts to obtain clean edges when doing ink work
7) u need to know the rules so u can break them
8) disappearing lines where contrast with the background is slight
9) knowing what to leave out in a final composition
10) to measure angles imagine your pencil is a windscreen wiper working on a flat pane of glass (translating 3D to 2D)



Lyn as teacher

She's a fantastic teacher because she states what the aims and learning outcomes for the lesson are...I know exactly what she is looking for.

She's an encyclopaedia of knowledge and draws on so many experiences; from renaissance treatment of light to the blind contour works of her Year 10 IGCSE students and the purity of line that's achieved as a result.

Her studio's alive with breathing, inspirational pieces of art; pieces she's purchased herself, her own work and that of her students.

Books; instructional, philosophical and albums complement the fine paintings and props which she regularly draws upon.

She oozes a contemporary, experimental, refreshing and down to earth style (quintessential Australian - but then I'm biased :p)

She's so caring...she wants her students to feel good about their work...to experience joy and satisfaction (even if they are late-bloomers!)

She is simply amazing!!!

I'm so looking forward to tomorrow's lesson...a graphite drawing of some detailed jewellery...

And this is my outcome, a drawing of a ceramic pot in charcoal with the lights and darks carefully drawn in...

I am really happy with this outcome because there is beauty in the contours of this form which I have tried to recreate...the crevices and the slight bulges give this drawing the roundness of form and a 3D feel.