(My thoughts in green)
Overall Comments
Many thanks for sending me your second assignment. Viewing photographs and writing a report online is of course limited as it is difficult to interpret the scale, texture , temperature ,tone and colour and not being in the presence of the drawing is a draw back. However I can see the intent and having read through your blog can see what your intentions were.
Living abroad has meant that online submission was the way to go on this assignment. However, this is not my preferred option for the reasons my tutor has given above. I am fascinated by the changes the camera makes in a document or photo, whether it is perspective or colour.
Material differences – this sequence of drawings attempts to create atmosphere through the use of light and tone and as a varied set of drawings fits well in the assignment. The combination of different water soluable materials and the resist effect of using, oil and watercolour and ink show a willingness to experiment. It’s probably better to use a heavier weight paper if working wet in wet. For finished pieces, stretching the paper makes for a better support.
I am trying to perfect my paper stretching techniques as the outcome differs each time! I am more aware of paper weight now and will more often go for the heavier weight regardless of what I media I intend to use.
There are many artists who have have painted interiors atmospherically that range from Vermeer to Hammershoi to Vuillard and even Degas in this early painting
Degas
But it is Vuillard who obsessively worked indoors in the flat which he shared with his dressmaking mother and sister and where the patterns on the wall and the fabrics dissolve into one claustrophobic interior.
I find his composition and texture/pattern use fascinating in this image. it is indeed claustrophobic. Contrast the intense use of pattern with the dour clothing of the tutor and student on the left.
Vuillard
And here Sickert depicts ‘Ennuie ‘ in this well known painting –
Sickert
And the Danish Artist Hammershoi is famous for his depictions of a lone figure in a room seen from the back.
I am intrigued by this perspective and depth in Hammershoi’s work.
Assignment 2 and 4 Assessment potential
(delete as appropriate)
I understand your aim is to go for the Painting/Fine Art/Drawing* Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, providing you commit yourself to the course, I believe you have the potential to pass at assessment. In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.
Feedback on assignment
Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity
Lots of students do interior views of their houses and rooms but mostly in daylight and without the dramatic effects that selected lighting can bring. They perhaps don’t use a photograph which I also thinks helps here to emphasis the shadows areas and composition.
The other photo showing the lit stairwell is a possibility which you might be able to return to latter.
The area that you did decide on doesn’t look that promising when seen in the photograph. The large empty area of floor is worrying although it does lead toward the closed door, which of course is atmospheric, but being strongly directional leaves the left and right sides to look after themselves. However through the medium of drawing and your decision making it gets transformed. I understand this in hindsight but I think I felt at the time that the space added to the sleepy atmosphere of a household late at night.
In the finished picture the door is darkened off making it even more mysterious and the lightest side with the table on the left attracts the eye at first and the diagonal shadows leads the eye across the picture so that the content can read in one directional line . The whole then moves from light to dark and the balance of the three parts of the picture is complete.
One thing to look at when using a photograph is that modern cameras such as those used on phones are designed to be wide angled which then create distortions in the perspective. This might account for the exaggerated low ceiling height but you can ask yourself does this matter and does it not increase the sense of isolation and atmosphere within the room? This comment has increased my awareness of perspective distortion when using the camera. It is something that has now caught my eye and I can no see it happening when I am taking photographs.
Sketchbooks
Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity
The sketches use for the finished piece is appropriate and suitably experimental. If you are going for assessment then keep up the sketchbooks as they are required and remember to use a variety of materials in them.
Research
Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis
Research into interiors as a subject in art is a useful thing to do and will help you to increase and broaden your knowledge of artists and art history. Make sure you go to as many exhibitions that you can and record you thoughts in your learning log.
Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays
Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis
Well laid out and planned. I had not heard of this contemporary American painter Phillip Geiger and I can see why you like him. His interiors are bright, well lit there is an element of story telling, the drawing is good and he works in an attractive painterly way.
Geiger
Suggested reading/viewing
Context
Contemporary figurative or representational painting can be found in commercial galleries around the country and groups tend to show in the Mall Galleries in central London.
Tate Britain is currently showing an exhibition called All to Human –
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/all-too-human
Pointers for the next assignment
● Reflect on this feedback in your learning log.
● Include a more varied range art historical figures as well as contemporary artists.
Well done, I look forward to your next assignment.
Tea and Doodles 