30 Oct 2009 12:07 AM

I am sorry, on this occasion, but I will have to be brief; my son is asking me to come off the computer so that he can get on with his lesson plans.

Having said that, I would like to thank you all for your kind comments.

Since I last wrote a blog, I have been to see too more artists at work.  The first, a man working in oils, who did not use any brushes and the end product was wonderful.

The second artist, used various colour mediums and his work was also good.  The two men, tacking the same subject, in their own way, were both fantastic.

Seeing these men work, in the way they did, has prompted me to have another look at their techniques and see if I can use them in my work. 

It is unfortunate that I cannot use acrylics, the drying agents affect my breathing, but I am now looking at a new paint baised agent and I may have better luck with this paint.

By for now and all my fondest wishes to you all.

John. 

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27 Oct 2009 3:25 AM

In today's art apreciation class, and I hope you will forgive any spelling errors, we were given a lecture about Lutchens the designer of wonderful buildings.

Like many men of his kind, to me a brilliant designer, he did not have the life you and I may call normal.

He was always uneasy about coming from a poor backgound. Never the less, he was aways working on something and loved to draw. Some of his line drawings, of people, are trully wonderful. 

He seemed to get on well with the ladies and one of his friends was Jeekle the plants women.  He knew her well enough to be able to call her 'Bumps but did not marry her.'

When he did marry, I have forgotten who he was married to, his marriage, from the day that he had his honeymoom, did not go well and the couple spent lots of time apart but their letters, and there were lots of them, were intimate and friendly. 

Having said that, Edwin did travel to far flung places when traveling was not an easy thing to do.  He went to India, for 23 years, one year at a time, while helping to design New Delie (I belive the old Delie was eventually pulled down)  and he visited places like Australia. 

For his work on New Delie, he received a knight hood.   

I am reminded, when I learn about such people, that there are some very clever people out there and for us to expect them to live what we would call normal lives is asking too much of them. 

On this occasion, in class, I was unable to take the usual note paper and pencil so I have lost out on much of the wonderful information inparted onto us.

Our speaker, who once taught in universities, always makes his classes very interesting for us.

Next month, and I cannot wait, it is going to be Mackintosh.  You will probably know that this man was a designer of wonderful furniture and building interiors. 

Mackintosh was not an easy man to work with, for he liked all his own way, but, when he went off to form his own company, I am afraid he priced himself out of the market he was keen to get into. 

Isn't it wonderful what you get to know at the U3A  meetings?

You may remember, I know my friend Deva does, about the man who takes us for drawing and he told me, when I was not doing exactly what he had been telling me to do, to 'stick to singing,' well, in the art apreciation class interval when we were learning about Lutchens, several ladies came to have a chat with me.  One lady, who could not draw when she first went to the U3A meetings, said that the same man, who had insulted me, insulted her.  Two more ladies said they had stopped going to his class for they felt intimidated by him.

The thing is, if  he could only understand that what works for one person may not always work for another person, then that  would be fine but, I am afraid to say, if you do not do it his way then it is the wrong way.

Up until I had had my ego dented by the drawing  instructor, I used to draw every day.  Sad to say, it has been a couple of weeks now since I have felt the need to put pencil to paper but I will get back to it soon.

Art, in my view, is a progressive thing that does not stop for there is always something new to learn.  At the moment, for it is a weak spot of mine, I am reading and trying to act upon the "Paint Mixers Bible."  I can do a reasonable drawing and, when I come to try and paint it, I often make an ash of the painting.
Tomorrow, if all goes well, I am going to a demonstration to watch a man paint in oils. 

If there was a medium out there, that did not effect my breathing, when it was being used, then I would use it instead of using water colour. 

For those of you that do not know, water colour painting presents all sorts of problems that acrylic and oils do not.  Water colour paints go on the canvas or 'support' light to dark and it is often thought best not to put more than three coats on top of each other.  I have to say that I have seen many coats of paint applied and the end results still looked good.

Acrylics and oils do not matter so much for darks are usually painted first. 

If you are thinking of doing some drawing, try using a 2b pencil and a 'putty' rubber.  An ordinery rubber often scuffs the surface of the paper you want to use. 

What I have to say to you now may seem crazy but it works.  Before putting your pencil on the paper, try using the hand that you normally do not use.  I am left handed so I would use my right hand.  When you come to use the correct hand, the one you usually use, you will note how freely you pencil strokes are.  This is exactly what you are looking for.

There is, in my view, no right or wrong way to draw but you really do need to learn how to make the pencil strokes fluid isnstead of laboured. 

One method I use, depending on how I feel at the time, is to draw as lightly as is possible, so that I can see my lines, and, when I have finished honing in on the finished work, I can begin to darken the lines with stronger strokes and shading.

Some people swear by cross hatching /// \\\\, you could say it is a way of putting the two lines, I have shown here, on top of each other.

You will find, on some occasions, that your drawing skills are far better one day than they are the next, it is just how it goes. 

Last year, just for the experience, I decided to take my drawing pad down into the woods.  I was early and expected having the wood to myself.

There was still dew in the air, the pine trees let off a wonderful sticky sweet smell, the sun had still to get up out of the sky and there were shadows everywhere. 

There was a slight breeze and I soon learned that elastic bands would always have to be carried, to keep my pages in place. On this occasion, I had taken several pencils with me and a good job too for I had forgotten to take a pencil sharpener. 

I used the trees as supports and I also tried sitting on old logs.  The peace, quiet and tranquility of the wood was wonderful and, for the first time, I gained lots of inspiration from the feeling I received in the wood.

To my surprise, when I had been drawing for some time, and out of know where, a young women came through one of the darkest parts of he wood.  She was using a mobile phone and had two wonderful dogs with her.  When she reached the spot where I was standing, she stopped talking, on the mobile, and passed the time of day with me as though she had known me for years.

Later, that same morning, a young man, walking his dog, again coming from know where, came to have a chat with me about my drawings. 

Looking back to those times, for it was a summer's morning when I went to the woods to draw, it seems a long time away for autumnal days are here and they are unpredictable. 

I suppose I aught to go down in the woods now that the leaves are falling.

By for now,

John.               

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23 Oct 2009 2:02 AM

On Wednesday, I was able to visit another art class and the man running it was one of those rare people that went out of his way to make the class room experience as jovial as he could.  Not only did he make the subject matter easy to understand but he also showed us techniques to get us started as quickly as possible.

Of course, due to being the nervouse type, I always find it easier to go along with the mood of the day and it was not long before I too was trying to crack one or two jokes.  Once the ball was rolling, the quietest of mature studnets found it easy to get involved and, before we knew it, it was time to end the lesson.

One student remarked on the larger number of students attending the class and, for a joke, I said it was always the case, when I went anywhere, that class numbers increase.  I will not tell you what the reply was.

I attended one art group, in another part of the area I live, and when the lady, who ran the group, commented on the ammount of people that were now going to her meetings, I told her it was because I was attending.  This lady called me a 'male shovenist pig.'

I just smiled.

The one thing that I have learned, while visiting all these art groups, for some of them only have demonstrations, is that each artist may do one thing differently to everybody else.

That is the thing about art, there is no substitue for being time served.  You have, as an artist, to find your own way of doing things and that cannot be achieved over night.

I am trying to visit as many demonstrations as I can, if only to get one extra piece of information, and, of course, read as much as I can without taking up too much time from my actual hands on work.

Until recently, for you might say I have had 'the wind knocked out of my sails' by an ungarded remark from a friend, I have been drawing or painting everyday but, since my altication, I have not been as active of late.

For some reason, my mood has been altered by my friend's remark.  I know I should not let people get to me, in this way, but the truth is I am working so hard, to try and perfect my craft, I now feel that it is all in vein. 

I feel I will eventually get over my dented pride and start up my art again but that may take longer than I had thought. 

Over the past few years, while I have been trying to make my art work better, there have been many times when I have said that I will pack it all in, out of frustration from not being able to achieve what I want to do, but, so far, I have heald steadfast and, when I look back at my earlier work, I am pleased that I have continued.

Of course, there are all kinds of artists and I suppose I have 'to find myself' yet but I do reap great satisfaction from trying to draw and paint flowers and anything to do with nature.

By for now,

John. 

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18 Oct 2009 9:40 PM

Yesterday, on Saturday afternoon when everybody was shopping, I went out for my first walk since feeling poorly a couple of weeks ago.  It is surprising how the old leg muscles get out of being used and because I knew that it would not be a good idea to go far, I walked down to the canal.  Some of you will know that I have been to this site several times. 

The site, now a disused canal, has areas where the canal is much higher than the fields that surround it.  Once on the canal, it is surprising how much of the countryside can be seen.  To my left, there were fields as far as the eye could see, and to my right, there were more fields, a roadway, some houses, yet more fields and a view that lead the eye, in the far distance, to woodland and to a high spot that, once you were able to get there, gave marvellous views over a valley. 

This particular valley, as the sun set, was a place frequented use by courting couples that could not find privacy, to talk and make plans for the future, in a house full of well wishing parents and family.  I was once one of the people who went to the site to watch the sun go down and find piece from the incessant enquiries as to when I was going to 'tie the knot.'

I digress, once on the canal toe path, where older people can still remember ‘bargees’ walking at the side of barges (that were once their  homes and places of work ,) I noticed there were lots of red berries on the hawthorns and thought that Fieldfares, from Scandinavian ‘ climbs,’ would soon be here to peck them off the trees.  Their familiar call would soon be there for me to listen to. 

I passed an area, on the canal, that was chocked with 'duck weed' and noted that a pair of Swans were mopping the food up in much the same way as we would vacuum a carpet.  Coots and Moorhens called out, as I passed by, but it was to be a return journey before I was able to get good views of the birds. 

Men were fishing the site but I knew, for there was now a cold feel in the air, they would not be on site for long. 

Once in an area, on the canal, where I was on my own, I took particular note to see if there were any water voles on site but, I am sorry to say, earth moving disturbance, from landscaping, had made the voles move on.  It is not as bad as it sounds for there have been vole sightings seen on a local nature reserve; I helped develop when I was a young man.  The reserve is only about a 20 minute walk from the canal I was now standing on and could be reached by the voles.

Some time ago, before moving on to do other things, I became involved with the re development of the canal and I am pleased to say, when it happens, that the whole of the canal stretch, for a good few miles, will, eventually, be re instated to its former glory. 

Today, there were several ‘dog walkers’ on site and one of the walkers was a local man that grew up in the same area as my wife.  This man went on to say that he could remember barges on the stretch of water we were walking on. 

At one point, on the canal, there is a bridge and I was about to cross the bridge when someone called out my name.  The man and woman walkers were dressed well for the quickly cooling down air.  These people, more friends of my wife and I hope they are friends of mine too; have been looking after puppies, for the blind dog society, for many years.  They do ‘sterling work’ and not only do they look after the puppies; they also collect money for the charity. 

Today, the ‘couple’ were walking a beautiful black Labrador.  They began training the dog, when it was a puppy, but the blind dog society rejected it saying that it was not suitable.  My friends decided to keep the dog and what a beautiful, kind, gentle and fussy animal it was. 

I did not touch the pet for there were signs of the dog having its fur coat shaved off, on its back, and there were signs of the animal having been put to the knife.  In fact, my friends had had the dog to see a ‘vet’ where it was discovered that the poor animal had a tumour on its back.  My friends were distraught, for they had become so attached to their pet, and decided that the only thing was to allow the dog to be operated on.

The operation took place not long ago and to say that the animal had been under the anaesthetic a short while ago, the animal looked fine but, at the moment, only short walks are advisable.

While we were talking and the loving animal responded to their voice patterns, I pointed out that Bullfinch were calling close by and my friends said they had been watching Long Tailed Tits.  I had been listening to Long Tailed Tits but could not see them.

After a time, the dog needed to go back into the warmth and comfort of my friends’ home and I walked on. 
The last time I was on the canal, at the far end of the section I was standing on, landscaping was taking place and, today, the land had all been levelled and on top of the landscaping, in anticipation of the new playing fields being seeded, it looked as though a thin layer of sand had been put down.

Light was now starting to fade so I decided to turn back and head for home and when a reached the area I had earlier met my friends, on the bridge over the canal, a well dressed young lady crossed the path and I stood back so she could walk on, in piece, with her very well behaved German Sheppard dog.  Normally, I would have smiled back at the  young lady, in acknowledgement of her realising that I had stood back to let her get through but, today, I did not think that it was appropriate and let her get well ahead of me before I walked back up and off the canal.

Throughout, the walk was dull and gloomy but the falling leave, all the wonderful bronzed and red leaves, the sights and sounds of the birds and animals and the people I met made my walk very pleasurable.

By for now,

John.   

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17 Oct 2009 5:45 AM

Earlier in the week, I attended an art class that was run by a man.  I say this because most of the art classes, I have attended, were taken by women.

I had learned, last week, that we were going to be using Gesso in this week's class.  Prepared, as usual, I took kitchen gloves and an apron.  I did not want to get the paint on my clothes or car steering wheel.

The first part of the lesson was done with pastels and I was then too involved to remember to put on the protective clothing. 

Eventually, out came the gesso.  We were given two pots, one with white and the other with black.  Two small scoops would be plenty for what I needed.

The lady next to me decided to be very helpful and dealt out my paper, after taking hers, and found me a decent brush too. In no time at all, we were doing our stuff and were able to get some really surprising artwork results. 

I have never used this art medium before and did not know what to expect and was very surprised to see how good my first attempt looked.

By painting on black and leaving it to dry, followed by a white circle, leaving that to dry, and then painting on, in differing widths, black lines that resembled tree trunks, I eventually built up a night woodland scene that looked very good indeed.  I am determined to have another go at this task.

You do not have to use Gesso, we used it because it dried quick.  If you have some old black and white gloss or mat finish paint, this will do just as well.  For a trial, you do not have to purchase any special paper either, anything will do. 

Later, when you have had a few goes at building up a night scene, you could go to the art shop and purchase a few blank cards and, when they are finished, they will grace the room of any friend's house especially at Christmas. You will, after only a short time, be amazed by your finished product.

Try a woodland scene and then a waterfall.  For the waterfal, use only one downward long stroke and leave it to dry.  When you are on top of the work, while it is drying, it will not look so good but, once you are arms length, it will look fantastic.

After we had finished painting, we chatted, amongst ourselves, and when I left the seat I was in, I had several blotches of paint on my trousers and my jumper.  One wag, when I pointed out the paint to them, said I now looked like a real artist but my guess is that my wife would not see the funny side of it, I felt a real fool when I could not get the paint off my clothing.

Speaking of artists, although that is now not the case, many of them, at one point in history, were treated like street urchins.

Today, art comes in many shapes and sizes and, as we sometimes see, it also takes the form of anything that might come to hand.  What one person sees as being cheap and vulgar, another may think it is the best thing to go to a gallery for many a year. 

One of my friends, now in her 80s, who studied at the Royal Academy, consentrates on drawing and carving. 
"If we wish to keep a good standard of drawning," she said, "we must draw everyday." 

Tonight, as is now usual with me, I will be painting when I have finished my blog and will probably continue until late in the evening; it all depends if there is a 'kill em and shoot em' film on T.V. for I love escapeism.

Just digressing for a moment, T.V. is not one of my favourite 'pass times' for my family did not see a flickering screen until I was in my teens. 

Before T.V., I can remember my mum's friends coming round, for a cuppa, and telling amazing community stories.  I listened, wide eyed, to some of their tails and I believed their stories helped shape my inquisitive mind and imagination and I miss all those kind of gatherings. 

Sometimes, when it was a special occasion, mum would serve up, in large plane brown bowls, a supper of peas and pies.  On such occasions, I was sent to bed but I did not always do as I was told and used to sneak downstairs, hiding under the stairs, to try and find out what the women were talking about.

Much of the conversation would be in a style of speaking we might, today, call common, but there were other speakers, who were articulate and their usage of word forms was eagerly copied by me and my older sister.

"Over there, in the avenues of your mind, one could easily loose all sence of reason and time."  I may have head said.

Others, who were trying to have what they termed as a good time, may have found such a command of English too much for them. 

To draw or paint, on a regular basis, it has to be something that you really enjoy doing, in much the same way as I used to try and emulate an 'elaberated code' of speaking,

I find, once I get started, I do not know where the time has gone.  Once, not so long ago, when I was trying to finish a portrait of a class friend, it was 2 A.M. before I knew where I was. 

For any of you, out there, that have, like our lovely Deva, wanted to do something and just did not get around to doing it because there were always a million and one jobs to be done first, I would say now is the time to have a go.  Who knows where your new found interest will take you.

Some of my Internet friends, on another site, took up poetry, late in life, and are now writing some of the most beautiful poems you are ever likely to read.

Another friend of mine, now in his late 80s, usually finishes a beautiful painting in a couple of hours.  We are all different and this is why art apeals to so many people.  I may take a week to do one flower or, on another subject, I may have completed in a couple of hours.

So far, there have been many times when I have said that I am not doing another brush stroke but this has been born out of sheer frustration when the finished article does not come out in the way I intend it to.

Today, after six years of trying, I think I have just learned a new technique that will serve me well when painting individual flower petals. 

The thing is, no matter what you want to do, you will never know how good you are until you have a go.  If you do find a new hobby, stck at it, you can only get better at it.

By for now,

John.         

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