Oriel Glyn Y Weddw - North Wales

I went to this gallery in North Wales and noted some names of artists whose work I found particularly appealing. I am feeling really inspired to get back into painting right now, this always seems to happen when I go somewhere near the sea and see the work of local artists, perticularly coastal based artwork. 

Distant South Stack

Welsh Coastal Scene

Niki Pilkington's work made me think about my drawing techniques when using pen and pencil. Instead of shading or smudging to create dark areas, she uses a very controlled hatching method which is very neat and satisfying to look at. I find myself questioning her use of colour in some pieces, although the spot colours make her drawings more interesting and eye-catching, I think the strength of the neon can sometimes overwhelm her pencil work. 

'Hiraeth' / 'Nostalgia'

Ian Phillips had some linocuts on display. I have been telling myself all summer that I need to start doing linocuts because I have wanted to try it for ages and I have finally bought the equipment. Looking at his work I can see how colour separation can get quite complicated so I think I will experiment with one or two colour prints to get myself started with this process and see if it is something I would like to take further.

Bournemouth Drawings

I have been drawing whilst on holiday mainly from observation but sometimes from photographs. Similar to Majorca, I have continued drawing from my photos since returning home. 

From observation...

I think the proportions of this drawing are god considering it was a quick drawing. Some improvement could have been made to the positioning of the arms though.

These were some quick drawings from various days, the smudging of the ink on the drawing of the croc was not intentional but I actually like it. The sketches on the right took about 10 seconds, I was trying to force myself to keep up with my drawing practice using as little time as possible. 

From reference...

I really dislike this last drawing I have done. It was a day where I didn't have much time and just wanted to get a drawing done quickly which is clearly evident in the picture itself as it is so badly executed. I wanted to rip it out of my sketchbook but I held back from doing that.

In hindsight, I could have done a lot more observation drawing of people during this holiday but I do have photos of people that I will continue to draw from. 

Sock Gallery Summer Exhibition

I entered some work into the open exhibition at Loughborough Town Hall at the beginning of summer and I was pleased to receive an email informing me that my piece of work had been selected to be shown in the exhibition. 

I was a bit gutted to be on holiday for the opening night and private view of the exhibition as I feel this would have been a good experience. However, I went to view the exhibition a few weeks later and got to see my piece and the other pieces of work on display. Most of the pieces of work were of a really high standard, some were absolutely stunning, and I felt quite proud to have my work on display amongst them. 

Update: Someone bought my picture, hooray!

Russell Cotes Museum - Bournemouth

I spent a day of my holiday in Bournemouth doing observation drawing in the Russell-Cotes Museum and Gallery. The biggest struggle was not being happy with my first attempts and drawing something and then getting frustrated about it, I had to keep reminding myself that it takes a while to warm up and I can't expect accurate drawings all the time from myself. Another struggle I had was there being nowhere to sit, I find it really difficult to balance a sketchbook and draw all whilst standing and not having anything to lean against, I find that I have so much less control of my lines. I guess thats just personal preference. 

Here is an example where I have drawn the same thing more than once and the second attempt is considerably better. 

I have realised that for quite a while now I have been neglecting using graphite pencil as a drawing medium and I think it is clear in my drawings from today that I am out of practice at it. I started using pen more because it forces me to make a commitment with my lines on the page but I realise now I should keep using pencil to maintain these drawing skills. 

This drawing of 'The Messenger' statue is one of my favourites from the day. I feel I became a but lapse with my consideration of line on the skirt of her dress but other than this I feel it is a strong representation of what I was looking at, AND it looks in proportion which is always good. 

The proportions of my drawing of this statue aren't so good, I found it difficult to capture the angle at which each arm was pointing which would explain better why they look shorter than they should be. 

Quick sketches of taxidermy birds. 

This drawing was one of the last ones I drew on location and I feel that by this point in the day, I was into the swing of things and was churning out better drawings much quicker. 

I took a lot of photos whilst looking around the museum and I will be sure to be using these as reference material for the 'draw every day' brief. 

Hatch Gallery - Dorset

Hatch Gallery

I visited the Hatch Gallery in Christchurch, Dorset. It is a very small gallery focused on coastal theme artwork. Places like this really inspire me to get back to painting with oils and acrylics which is something I haven't really visited properly since finishing my a levels.

Jane Corner

Jane Corner's style is very different to how I work but I admire how brave she is with her media. I find it very difficult to keep my work loose and I think it is something I need to work on to make my images more expressive and emotive. I love looking at coastal artwork but this isn't a style I would normally be drawn to, although I think I can take inspiration from these pieces and try to be more confident with my image making techniques. I really want to start experimenting with paint again in my own time.

Alex Morton

Alex Morton uses paint combined with collage techniques to produce his coastal paintings.  What strikes me about his work is that the composition varies very little between his pieces but they all appear so individual. The only distinct changes are the placement of the horizon level and whether anything is visible in the close foreground but the textures and colours give each location its own identity. I am intrigued by his use of collage and the way he paints onto handmade paper, I think this is really beneficial to the textures he manages to create. I think this is something I need to think about in my own work, not only the media I sued but the surface I am applying it to.