Below is a collection of paintings and initial drawings I did at the City Lit Abstract Painting Weekend Course. It was fun. There were lots of other painters there.
Some of us ate at Itsu Covent Garden on the pavement at lunch and watched as the Free Masons tried to recruit more members from people (men walking by. Our lunchtime vista was a strange mixture of men wearing dark Crombie coats, hell’s Angels, and a couple of Harley-Davidsons on the pavement.
Perhaps that inspired me to create this really feminine piece of work below. Some of the feedback in the crit was that I have a really light hand. I felt light creating it, so that was nice to hear.
I’ve realised that product photography needs a story and an artist. I found that product photography needs to be approached like a painting; there is creativity and artistry to behold. So this week I was making decisions about the story behind my by-products and the kind of story my buyers would like to see.
The story is for the adventurous and about charting new ventures and horizons while keeping a reflective eye on the past.
My buyers are unique individuals; they subscribe to goth, dark academia, light academia, steampunk and heirloom. I also note they are comfortable with maximalism and the odd bit of quirk here and there.
I found it worth exploring new setups with product photography this week. I was also inspired by those food stylists that deconstruct a blueberry pie and trickle crumbles of pastry and jam on the table because they sign up to the messy, over-the neat minimalist vibe.
Below is a sneak peek of behind-the-scenes setups I was playing with. They are not out yet. I’m curious to know what my product photography teacher thinks of them. As I clicked away, I thought, at least he’ll see I’ve been trying. It’ll give him something to discover about me to help him understand what I need to improve. But I’m inspired by seeing the photo like a painted canvas. I can work with that.
A whole load of new shades are being uploaded this weekend. Wait till late on Sunday to look at the shop or even late Wednesday evening.
Our teacher took us through some portraits this week in my art class. The usual classics were there for us to study composition, tone, paint strokes etc. But I was struck by how much I was drawn into Julian Opie’s work.
I’d never seen his work before, and I noticed how my eyes were pulled into pattern finding.
However, I took on the challenge of seeing what my marks and finish might be like if I painted in the style of Julian Opie. I initially thought it might be easy; perhaps I was being lazy, but when I realised the attention to detail demanded in getting the contrasting tones right. Another hurdle I had to surmount was the light and the dark shapes to make sure those correctly gave the impression of light and shade. I discovered in class that trying to do this using oil colour is another difficulty because Julian Opie probably uses acrylics. But never mind, it’s all practice.
This week I joined my oil painting class. It was interesting to join an art class online. We use Padlet to share our work after taking pictures using our phones. I rather enjoyed experimenting with the different tones of yellow that could be seen and how the shade of the fruit was reflected in some of the shadows, and it was important to convey that in the paintings. What surprised me was how long it took for the oil paint to dry. But I’m learning how oil painters appreciate the wetness so that you can keep returning and doing this magical chemistry work with the paint.
I noticed the magic as I became mesmerised by the texture, getting colours blended to do the highlights. I was chuffed with the teacher’s comment that she noticed a great 3D effect in my work.
I was nursing that awful cough & sore throat that everyone in London has. It meant that I didn’t make anything this week. Instead, all I could do was lift a finger to order the oil colours that my new art teacher suggested the class buy.
Managed to get my order of oil paint medium
I was so sick that I wasn’t in the mood for painting in the class this week, but because it was an online course (oil painting), I could log in and meet my other classmates, see the setup and observe. They seem like a nice bunch from around the world including the USA. I like how the teacher wants us to show our painting on screen so that she gets the effect of looking over our shoulders. I find it fascinating what teachers can do in the online learning space.
Being a mutted observer for my online oil painting lesson.
I was so sick this week I completely forgot about the Friday evening class in abstract painting. However, I am on the mend and feeling less under the weather.
Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash
Next week I hope to join my art classes and show you more of what I’m doing.
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