STREET ART IN LONDON

I love London and my favourite place is the South Bank. I'm only 20 minutes away by train and there's always something going on. I love strolling or cycling along the river and I love the fact that when the tide recedes, there is a little beach that no-one ever seems to notice. Not yesterday though! As I strolled along and came Gabriel's wharf I noticed a crowd peering below and the 'beach' looking very nice and sandy (could have closed my eyes and imagined myself in the Mediterranean. Closer inspection revealed 2 street artists at work on the 'beach' - one was creating wonderful shakesperean busts out of the sand, the other had created a couple of nice sofas for him and his 'companions' to sit on so he could serenade the crowd with his guitar. Just fabulous. They were advertising http://www.dirtybeach.tv/  who are enthusiasts who clean the beaches of the world and make beautiful, environmental friendly art out of sand. There we are! A fine start to the weekend.

 

Enhancing the Blog

I've taken a week out to learn how to make my Blog more interesting. It's been quite a technical journey but I am happy with the results and hopefully if you are vising my Blog you will find some interesting links on the right hand side. The slide show features drawings of artist featured in the Drawing 1 coursebook (taken from Bridgemaneducation resources. There are also links to art news, websites and blogs I want to follow.

Now back to the drawing................

P2 Detailed Drawing Research - Two artists who exemplify mastery of detailed drawing

This was a bit of a challenge which led me to spend several hours looking though websites.

I knew immediately who was going to be my modern artist except I could not remember his name but then I remembered that his nickname was 'Human Camera'. The person I mean of course is Stephen Wiltshire.

Stephen Wiltshire is an artist who draws and paints detailed cityscapes. He has a particular talent for drawing lifelike, accurate representations of cities, sometimes after having only observed them briefly. He was awarded an MBE for services to the art world in 2006. He studied Fine Art at City & Guilds Art College. His work is popular all over the world, and is held in a number of important collections.

Sadly none of his works are on the Bridgemaneducation website and I could not find any copyright free images to include but his work can be viewed on his website http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/

My pre 20th century artist is Albrecht Diirer.

The rebirth of Western drawing in the 15th century came with the widespread production of paper. At the same time the artist became interested in representing in great detail the physical world around him. Renaissance artists made innumerable exploratory sketches and studies of objects, figures, and nature. They formulated laws of perspective, foreshortening, shading, anatomical proportion, motion and direction, and other principles and techniques of drawing. The primary aim of many Renaissance draftsmen was to create the illusion of visual reality in their works.

Albrecht Diirer, a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci, was also among the first great graphic artists. Diirer is famous for his detailed studies of anatomy, plants, and animals, as well as for his religious subjects, which include the Holy Trinity (Boston Museum of Fine Arts) and St. Catherine (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City).



Hands of an Apostle, 1508 (brush drawing)

http://www.bridgemaneducation.com/ImageView.aspx?result=62&balid=487

Another attempt at P1 Observing Shadow and Light formations on a surface

I've had another go at this but am REALLY finding tone hard to do. I feel 'line' are now coming along but 'tone' still needs a lot of work. I can see the different tones by following the screw your eyes up mrthod but I just can't translate what I can see visually into what I am drawing. This is just an area where I have to keep trying and trying more.

Another attempt at P1 Supermarket Shop exercise

I enjoyed this exercise first time round -  I think it was because i enjoyed using coloured pencils. I think this attempt is an improvement on the last.

Flickr and slideshows

Although I have been doing some drawing (yet to be uploaded) quite a bit of time since my last posting has gone into improving resources etc. I have been spending time re-organising my OCA folders and files and also this Learning Log. I've started to add labels to posts and a slideshow of drawings done by artists featured in my Blog. I'm pleased witht he results.

Another attempt at P1 Jars and Jugs exercise

I've taken more care to pay attention to the lines in my collection of jar and jugs. I've noticed the elliptical shape the tops of circular objects become and I've tried very hard to keep lines straight. I'm pleased with the result