If you are are in the mood for some arty entertainment you might enjoy these videos by Francis Cunningham. He has been a student of Edwin Dickinson, an American painter who is not very well known in England but has formed a whole generation of outstanding artists and whose work is mesmerising.

Francis Cunningham's paintings are beautiful and interesting AND they are often very simple pictures of models in an empty studio !

http://franciscunningham.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/painting

Edwin Dickinson

Daniel Shadbolt Show at Heatherley's next week

Chaim Soutine

For Charlotte, some images of paintings by Chaim Soutine

For Laura

I thought you might be interested in the work of
Ben Fenske

and Martin Yeoman

Interesting Interviews

Catherine Kehoe has published an interesting set of questions and answers on her website.
She is part of a small works show and all the artists have been submitted the same questions.

http://www.powersofobservation.com/2012/01/small-is-big-questions-answers.html

E. M. Saniga

Eve Mansdorf

SAFETY FIRST

        I am writing these quick few lines for some people in the class, you know who you are:
Please please
  STOP PUTTING THE TIP OF YOUR BRUSH IN YOUR MOUTH !!!
Paints and solvents contain all sorts of chemicals. I myself wash my hands every hour or so when I paint. It is important that you don't put your health at risk for carelessness.
Last session three people were chewing on the brushes, one of them paints with gloves and I bet you all go home and wash your fruit.

   Also please don't forget to use low odour thinners in class. They have vapour as well but less than other solvents. In my opinion other low risk solvents such as Zest it and Turpenoid are too oily but this is a matter of personal taste. Low odour thinners can be bought cheaper at Jackson's (Putney bridge or online) for about 11£ per litre.

For Catherine Faber:
these are two artists that I thought might be relevant for what we were discussing today.

These works are by William Bailey, an American who lived and worked in Italy for a long time.
I thought these compositions could be interesting for you, they are more airy than Morandi's and that concept of placement is perfectly developped here.

Wayne Thiebaud is another giant of American art who I think you might find interesting for the way he can depict light. 

There's a nice and wise video interview he gave here and an article of him speaking about Morandi here.

Some thoughts on palette choices

Just a few lines to explain about my palette and the suggestions I give you.
I don't really believe in set palettes, mainly because not only we don't want to all produce the same painting, but because each of us has tendencies that need to be "corrected " and therefore might need some colours rather than others.
If you think your painting is "chalky" remember to have some paints on your palette that migt be alternative to white to lighten your mixtures ( such as Lemon Yellow, Kings Blue Deep or Yellow Ochre), if you feel your colours are "dirty" beware of colours such as Raw Umber or Prussian Blue: if you find it very difficult to mix colours for skin tones perhaps you would find it easier to have more earthy colours at hand, etc.

     The composition of the palette for me should be viewed in term of needs, adding colours as we go by because we feel we can't do without that particular paint.

Another element I would like to point out is that there IS a difference between makes. Lemon yellow is very different between Winsor & Newton and Michael Harding, and Cad.  Red Deep Old Holland. is thicker and darker than Michael Harding's.  It's not that one is superior to another ( although at times they are) is that its characteristics make it more or less suitable to a certain palette. KNOW THY PAINTS !

So: when you squeeze paint in the morning be aware not only of the actual colour ( always think if you can obtain that same colour from mixing first) but also of its identity. For example yellow ochre is opaque and thicker than a transparent dark yellow such as Indian Yellow. Which one do you need and why ?

Which ones are your favourite mixtures for skin tones?
Transparent oxide red is very similar in colour to burnt sienna but one is opaque the other transparent, which one do you need ? Are you going to mix it mainly with a transparent colour ? I find that opaque+transparent works well for me, for example I like purple madder + lemon yellow, white+ green gold+ cad red deep and so on.

If you don't know about the characteristics of a paint, look at the tube. Michael Harding's will say opaque, transparent, semi-opaque. Winsor and Newton have a little square, if it's white they are transparent, if it's black opaque, semi opaque have a white and a black triangle.

Guitar players

Manet

Caravaggio

Vermeer ( see analysis here)

Frans Hals

Aron Shikler ( born 1922)

Renoir

Artemisia Gentileschi

A few images for your inspiration: models in a simple studio setting

Yedidya Hershberg

Carolyn Pyfrom

Carolyn Pyfrom

Carolyn Pyfrom

Dean Fisher

Dean Fisher 

Emil Robinson

Emil Robinson

Our New Blog

Hi Folks!

Well done Ilaria for setting up this blog so we can keep in touch outside of class. I hope that it will prove to be a wonderful resource for us all, as a notice board with information on dates, whose teaching, whose modelling etc., but also as a place to step beyond the humdrum world of schedules and continue our discussions of any ideas and topics that have cropped up in class, be they practical or philosophical, so I do hope we will all take advantage of it to ask questions and comment, to air our opinions, and to draw each others attention to current exhibitions and new discoveries.

I for one am very excited

    

Hello and welcome to our page.
I am setting up this blog to give you a bank of informations and inspiration for your work.
I am going to post images, links to websites, suggestions etc.

You can either visit the page regularly or you might sign up on the right so that you are notified when a new item is added.
I hope you will enjoy it !