Category Archives: Assignment 2

Tutor report: Assignment 2

Overall Comments

Hello Patricia, thank you for submitting your work for Assignment 2. You have submitted your work in digital form on your blog. There is a substantial amount of work and it is of a good standard. You are making very good progress.

Feedback on assignment

For this assignment you are required to:

Demonstrate your understanding of tone, colour, composition and the beginnings of a personal style.
Use techniques introduced in the exercises in Part Two.
Create even colours, use overlapping layers to create colour and tone.
Use a strong directional light.
Make several preliminary drawings.
Make a small colour study.
Label colours.

Prep work

I note you weren’t very enthusiastic about the idea of this assignment but that with further research you motivated yourself and actually took a lot of care over your preparation for it. My first thoughts are why did you position the objects in places that you found it difficult to sit, squashed in a corner on the stairs or sat on the floor. I’m guessing it was to do with the backdrop but it is quite important to be in a comfortable position. You have tried it in different media which is a worthwhile exercise. You have considered the format of the paper, different backgrounds, the outlines of the objects, drawn from several different view points and you have observed tonal qualities in the arrangement. You have also done several colour studies. I notice you haven’t really moved the objects around or tried alternative objects in the arrangement.

I think the pastel landscape composition is the strongest and the colour is rendered well here. The little brown jug in particular and the plant pot are consistently different shapes and sizes in relation to one another and the other objects. Just be aware of this.

Moving the arrangement to a different area afforded an opportunity to play around with the positioning of the objects. You did move things slightly but it would have been good to try out the jug on the left or the fruits on the right , or to take one off the plate etc. The final composition is quite strong but I would have moved the small beaker a little over to the right and the plate of fruit a little to the left rather than have them directly in front of the flowers.

The monotone painting works well and you white bloom masking is very effective in the prep work. You make a good effort of the building up layers approach. In the painting where you are trying to build up areas of washes I note you mention the shapes going awry due to a lack of pencil outlines. You can still draw outlines in very faint pencil to support the shapes of the objects if it helps Patricia.

Final piece

The final piece has some very good qualities. You have successfully captured the glistening surface of the ceramic jug and beaker and you have used the building up tone with washes technique very effectively here. The shadows from one object to another are very convincing as are the reflections between objects. The pale blue saucer with a terracotta rim is beautifully done. I think the vase of flowers is perhaps the least effective part of the painting as it doesn’t have a great dal of tonal variety. When you used the masking method in the prep work mentioned above you also added in a little bit of tonal work and this really adds depth to the flowers. You are right in saying that the green foliage doesn’t quite work and I think this could be because of the over painting and lack of definition in the outside shapes of the leaves. It might have worked better if you had done a general pale green area as a backdrop to the leaves (leaving a few areas of white for highlights) and then over painted darker distinct leaves in the foreground. It is hard for me to say without knowing exactly what the leaves were like in the first place. Also in your outlined painting (above on your blog) the red is much deeper in parts on the flowers giving a lot more tonal depth to the flowers.

I think that the fruit would have benefited from a little bit of individual close up study, you are definitely on the right lines here with the loose quality you have but have a look at the fruits in the link below by Claudia Hutchins, if you haven’t already, (I mentioned her to you in the last assignment feedback)

http://claudiahutchins.com/gallery/WATERCOLOR%20Still%20Life/target53.html

Look at the looseness of her paint application. It is about the paint, as much as the object. It is just a suggestion that is needed and it invokes the object as well as capturing the fragile quality of the medium and perhaps the essence of the time in which it was being painted.

Have a go at painting like this. Lots of attempts, and they don’t take long to execute. Just repeated attempts on one page until you feel you have captured the essence of an object. I think you are moving towards this in some of your work. Let the water and the paint do some of the work, allow some of the application to be left to chance and see what the medium does. Put water on the paper first and then drop paint in to it.

Note how vivid the colours are in Hutchins work and also in Paul Klee’s work (that you include in your log book). Different water colour pigments have greater intensity, the more expensive ones are usually the most intense. You will learn this as you continue to work with different qualities of paint and different colours. I can see that your use of colour in this section has become more intense than in part one. You are getting braver with the paint and it’s versatility.

Feedback in general .

You have covered each of the exercises in Part two very thoroughly Patricia. You definitely have some very good illustrative skills with watercolour and you are able to accurately render objects using the different techniques introduced in the section.

I think your work could be a little looser and you can afford to be more expereimental with how you put the paint on. This is level one course, it is a time for exploration, making mistakes and playing with the materials. To help you loosen up I think you could try one of two things. The first is to do paintings in one minute. Just give yourself a minute to render an object and see what comes out. Limit yourself to two already prepared colours and a pencil, a larger brush and a small brush and do a whole series of quick painting sketches – say 10. See what comes of this, (in your sketch book) and make notes – you could try doing the mango again and see how far you can go to just suggest the form and make it still recognisable. The second thing is to try painting with your left hand. This might sound ridiculous (unless you are left handed!) but try it and see what happens. Do quick sketches in paint like this and also 2 or 3 longer five minute sketches. Then compare these sketches them to the mangos you did for the first attempt at the exercise and see which you think have more energy and which have the essence of a mango.

Tone and composition. Interiors. Again you have worked very conscientiously and to a good standard. You have a good range of tones coming through in your work now, your drawing skills are very good, particularly your outlining work and some of your finished paintings are very accomplished. You have completed all of the exercises looking at light and shade in interiors and I think your paynes grey painting is the most effective, as you yourself note, in the capturing of light in a room. However the composition of an interior monotone, 34 x 48 cm is also an excellent painting. It has real character, you have certainly captured a certain light, despite your notes about the light changing all the time. The composition is nicely balanced. The choice of colour adds to the atmosphere of the room, which gives the impression of a timeless day, bright but calm and peaceful. A lovely piece of work. (One small note is the perspective is a little out on the bookcase on the right hand side).

Overall I think the remaining work in this series is of a good standard. There is room to increase the intensity of the paint still. The paynes grey with the grand piano, in this painting the piano is approaching the intensity of colour that it would be good to get in some of the other dark areas of the your interiors. The room at night shows very dark tones in the window and under the table but I think the darkness around the edges of the room may also have been more intense. Again hard to know without seeing the room but it would have added interest to the far right hand side of the painting had the light faded into the corners . And whilst the uneven surface of the walls adds interest too in this painting I wonder how intentional it is. I think it would be worth you trying a very large brush to put your washes on in an attempt to get them a little more even. Having said that these painting do have a very charming quality to them, a character which it would be good to retain and that partly comes from the brush strokes.

Warm and cold colours.

This group of paintings is very appealing. The simplicity of them makes them quite intriguing. They are like little snapshots in to a story or a puzzle that needs working out. The household objects mixed with the childhood memories works very well somehow in a conceptual way. However, I digress. The fact that you have used similar colour ranges, greens, browns, blues and yellows, throughout the paintings pulls them together and makes it seem like these are meant to be part of one piece of work. Your own observations are also very insightful regarding detail and boldness of composition. The lack of very warm colours such as reds /oranges is very noticeable but not necessarily a bad thing.

Ones from a single layer

Here you are achieving a very intense grey in your second attempt. (Great you had another go at this.)

You are puzzling over brush size in your log notes. Where the application works best here is on the right hand side at the top of the table. You see where the smooth block of colour has gone on, as we go lower down the table it starts to be come a little scrubby again, not fluid and on the left hand side of the table this is definitely the case . And then directly above the right hand side of the table is the paler grey behind and again this has gone on better, leaving watermarks from the brush to add an interesting texture

Third attempt. Definetly good to have a try out sheet. I often use the side of the paper I’m working on if I know it is going to be framed over , but that’s probably just laziness! The paint has gone on better here. I have to admit I prefer a little more contrast but I can see why you prefer the subtler approach too. I think this is definitely the most successful of the thee attempts regarding your brush work and the application of the paint. Much less scrubbing of the brush and a definite fluidity in the mark making. Well done.

A couple of other notes.

I think the following two images work very well

from a composition point of view, and paint application and general choice of subject

http://ocawatercolour1.patricia-karsten.de/?attachment_id=468

http://ocawatercolour1.patricia-karsten.de/?attachment_id=459

Both paintings are of ordinary spaces but have an atmosphere about them, particularly the first one. You have captured an essence of the place in the painting. In this first example this comes through with the shadow of the plant on the back wall and the reflection in the window. The sense of a bright lit room at nighttime, in an ordinary room, but it gives us a window in to someone elses world.

NB. The Winsor and Newton website (no plugging intended) is very informative in general about watercolours, pigments, transparency, granulation etc. Definitely worth a look at some of the simpler sections if you get a chance.

Sketchbooks

Much of the sketchbook work is commented on above. You do a good amount of preparation for exercises. Sketching is a way of trying to understand an object, place, feeling, a colour, how something works, how to capture a specific type of surface, it is like a visual representation of your brain trying to understand how things work and you are using your sketchbook to enquire in to the subjects and ideas you are painting for the project work. Remember it’s fine to draw anything and everything and not only things related to the course in your sketch books. You still need to be bolder in your drawing style – it is a little bit tentative. Regular sketching, alongside the painitng, just quick sketches, would be of benefit to you using pens, pencils, rubbers, and developing your mark making. Drawing can often be an important part of watercolour work.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

This is coming along really well. You think carefully about each exercise and note your discoveries. You also make notes on several artists for the research points. I think this research could be a little broader and I think it would be great if you could visit some exhibitions, particularly of watercolour paintings, and make notes on the work you see there. Visits to any exhibitions are always of interest and given that you are based in New York at the moment I hope you can find some time to fit some gallery visits in and reflect upon them. I would like to see you exploring other artists and also writing up and researching a little the artists mentioned to you in my last feedback.

Suggested reading/viewing

Did you get a chance to look at the work of the artists recommended last time? Could you make a few notes on what you think about their work and how they paint in your log notes.

Claudia Hutchins-Puechavy, Karen Armitage, Elizabeth Blackadder

Also have a look at Lucy Willis, her interiors and still life work are available to see here and also her African work, which I find particularly interesting.

http://www.lucywillis.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=22&Itemid=47

For the coming section the following might be of interest too.

Paul Nash, John Sargent, John Piper, Eric Ravillious. Just have a look at these and make a note if anything jumps out at you.

Pointers for the next assignment. You are working well Patricia.

Be a little more experimental with the paint, try wet in wet and see how you get on with this.
Be braver with depth of colour when needed.
Practise your washes.
Increase your sketching
Visit some galleries before the next assignment (I know you did during Part One of the course)

Assignment 2: Still life with watercolour

Preparations

Some preliminary thoughts

I had read the instructions for this assignment earlier, before approaching the two research points of project 4, and felt overwhelmed and a bit puzzled by the question what might be the value of painting another arrangement of uninteresting household items. But doing some research on the genre, even though the time I could afford was very limited, made me more aware of how I might construct the task in a way that would be interesting for me. I’m approaching the task of searching appropriate objects and composing a nice arrangement with new enthusiasm!

The task instructions: Painting a still life

The arrangement

– objects, plants or vegetables
– at least three objects with interesting and contrasting surfaces
– simple objects with personal interest and pleasing colours
– pay attention to colour, texture and shape
– use strong directional light from window or lamp

Elements of the assignment

– several preliminary drawings to capture variations of shape, colour and shadow
– optional: make notes, eg on colour tones
– make a small colour study to establish the palette. Pre-mix colours using at most three colours for each, make notes on the mixture to help you later. Remember colours can also be made by using layers. Take time to explore the colours of the arrangement
– practice to develop an effective technique if you wish to employ a freer, less naturalistic style

Technique

– paper choice: At least A3 size, 140 lb or heavier
– watercolour can be combined with a drawing medium and any technique encountered in the course so far can be used

Tackling the final painting

– begin with a line drawing (outline sketch)
– start the painting with light colours, work in layers over dry colours to build up tones. Use the colour study as a reminder of the mixtures you need
– use the preliminary drawings to help with shadows and changes in tone
– consider changing brush sizes to wash in a big feature like a shadow or paint fine details
– take time to observe the development of the painting while working on it. Be attentive for the effect of marks on the whole painting when working on a detail.

Working on the assignment

Choosing objects and initial drawings

I decided on a still life with flowers for this assignment. I thought that flowers are not simple objects, but they have nice colours and they would remain interesting as objects even with repeated drawings. I bought red and white flowers and put them in a clay vase. I combined this with a clay pitcher and a small clay mug. I added a greenish plate because I liked the combination with the green stems of the flowers. I added a mango and a grapefruit, too. The mango takes up that green too, and it gives me a second dark red accent to balance the dark red cloves. The research point on colour composition made me aware of this aspect. The grapefruit represented an interesting colour variant to the clay objects.

The first sketch depicts the arrangement where I had put it on the staircase, with the black timber which protects the walls. I wanted to get a rough indication how my objects would appear in landscape format. But I had to sit on the staircase for this drawing which was very uncomfortable, so I decided to search another place for the arrangement.

I liked how the white flowers appeared before the light yellow walls and decided to keep the idea of placing the arrangement before the wall. I went upstairs and put the objects in roughly the same arrangement right on the floor. I could draw this while sitting on the floor. Not much more comfortable but with breaks it would work.

I made the second sketch in portrait format, which seems to work better. I wanted this to be sort of a greyscale study, to explore light and dark tones of my arrangement. Upstairs the timber at the floor edges is white instead of black, which I liked for the composition. The timber repeats the white of the flowers and these will be the lightest parts of the painting, besides maybe some reflections on the clay objects.

The third sketch, another small one in landscape format. I did this as a first colour study and to see whether the colour composition would work. I chose coloured pencil. I wanted to depict the corresponding colours: white flowers and white timber beam, green stems and greenish plate and the green tone in the mango, and the red flowers with the reddish side of the mango. I think my ideas for the colour composition work well but colour pencil was not the right medium for the task. I found the colours not intense enough. Or maybe I did not employ the pencils in the right way. Also the landscape format felt again a bit like having to squeeze the objects.

Preliminary conclusions are that the portrait format seems to work better. I felt comfortable with how I placed the objects and also liked the colours in my arrangement. I think I can proceed to more detailed studies. I think the final drawing will benefit if I explore the clay forms and their shades. Probably I’ll also need to study the flowers a bit.

For the final painting, I imagine watercolour combined with pen and ink. I think fine dark lines for the floral details and sketchy shape outlines might look nice, combined with a more generous approach for colouring flowers, the fruit and the clay objects.

Studies

Pastel colour study in A3, in the sketchbook: Exploring the brown tones in the composition. Difficult to depict white flowers with a bold medium – I drew around the space that was reserved for the flowers, but this techneque does not seem to materialize them in the painting.

Pencil greyscale study, sketchbook: I like this one. I tried to capture the relative light and darkness of a smaller section of the arrangement. Maybe for the first time that I succeeded in using a broad range of light and dark tones, with real contrasts, in pencil. The sketch is bold, almost like a painting.

First and second watercolour study: These were meant to try out the colours of the arrangement in watercolour. I felt embarrassed because I found them just miserable. In the first one, the composition does not hold together, the objects much too small. The second is a little bit better for the composition and use of colour, but I’m asking myself what I’ve actually learnt so far in this course.

I don’t know whether my still life arrangement will work for me at this stage. It is much too complex, I think. The white flowers: I don’t know how to paint them. I chose a paper size between A4 and A3 but this looks much too small for the composition. I feel I should paint my objects much larger to have some space for work with colours. Or crop my objects to make them fill more of the sheet, instead of making them small to fit in the small area.

For the colours, I’m not very convinced about the dominance of brown tones in my painting. The actual arrangement looks much fresher and less yellow. The white flowers pop out, the brown tones are more neutral. Ideas for improvement are to use a grey cardboard instead of the wooden floor, this might improve the overall colour impression.

Maybe I should clean up my composition and reduce the number of objects. The arrangement is too complex. Or I should make many separate studies to tackle the complexity in smaller chunks.

More studies

Sketchbook: Details of the flowers. A closer look at the clove blooms, quick line drawing and greyscale sketch. I discovered that the outer edges are lighter than the inner parts of the bloom. I decided that I would not want to try to exactly depict this because I’d go crazy. But maybe I can use the information in the way I use the brush: When it is filled with fresh colour, then set out to paint the background of another leave (intense colour), then fade to paint the actual blossom leaf.

I moved the arrangement to a different place, from the stairs into my study, onto the drawing desk, because evening was approaching and I needed light. I had been working with soft daylight and knew I had to change something in the lightning to follow instructions of using directional light. It took me a while to set up a new composition where the light would support the composition.

The dark red was difficult because it tended to turn into black when there was not enough light. I moved around my objects until I finally found a composition I liked. I made another greyscale study of the new arrangement in the sketchbook.

Then I decided to do a larger monochrome study in watercolour. I had the idea of masking the white flowers and building up the darker tones around them. I chose Van Dyck brown and a loose sheet somewhat larger than A3 in portrait format. I had also worked on the composition to bring the objects closer together in order to better support the portrait orientation.

I enjoyed painting and like the result, despite several shortcomings. I think masking the white flowers worked quite well, and I prefer this loose approach to depicting single blooms accurately. I tried to get the tones right but this was only moderately successful. The mango and grapefruit on the plate in the front are not recognizable as objects. All objects are distorted. I did not make an outline sketch because I wanted to develop the objects through application of layers but I think it’s very difficult to get the composition right without the support from an outline drawing.

I made another greyscale study in the sketchbook and chose charcoal to take a closer look at the fruit on the table. I think that this study is quite successful because it develops three-dimensionality.

I liked working on a larger sheet for the monochrome study. On the other hand, I see the benefit of smaller studies as the charcoal one in the sketchbook, because they oblige to focus on the essential and leave out any detail. I think I’ll also do a study for the technique I’d like to employ, pen and ink with watercolour.

Compositional sketch and colour study

I wanted to improve the deptiction of shapes and made another compositional sketch, but larger this time (A3 format). I tried to pay attention to negative space. Then I made a small colour study with the intended technique for the final painting. I think this study shows significant improvements over the first two colour studys, in colour as well as in composition. I was glad because I felt that the earlier studies I made for this assignment began to pay off.

Final painting

For the final painting I had to slightly change the arrangement because the flowers didn’t look good anymore. I couldn’t find dark red cloves again, so I bought a different kind of dark red flowers. The white ones were replaced with the same kind of flower.

I only made one preparatory pencil study of the buds of the new red flowers. I think I captured the character of the buds in my lines but I wasn’t able to depict them naturalistically. I was a bit frustrated but on the other hand thought that a more generous painting style without accurate detail would suit me better and I hoped that the small study had improved my understanding of the flower. Then I proceeded to the final painting.

What I like best in the painting are the white flowers, they look very energetic. I think I chose a suitable technique by employing masking rubber and laying the background wash on top. I also think that the painting benefitted from all the studies I made for preparation. For example, the colour studies improved each time and the final painting can be recognized as the latest in a series. The pencil sketches helped to improve composition and depiction of objects, in that there’s much less distortion compared to initial attempts. The greyscale studies with pencil and charcoal helped to improve the tonality in the painting.

I think the painting has a major weakness in the greenery around the red flowers to the left. I think I was not concentrated enough when I painted that area and the colour layers I added destroyed what I had painted in earlier layers. But I decided to stop at one point because I did not believe I could improve without overworking that area.

I also decided to not employ lines as initially planned. I liked the lines in the little colour study but feared they’d be too bold for the painting. I would like to continue exploring the subject. For example try different variations like with and without lines, or practising to improve on colour intensity and painting the greenery. But in light of the time restrictions for the course it’s probably wiser to move on.