Sketches

Cabo San Lucas

black and white charcoal on mi-tientes
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I've been practicing a lot with charcoal lately on tinted paper. I like the extremes of darks and white highlights that let the paper do most of the work and save time. I wanted to let the heat of the scene come across in this image. The orange paper and the highlighted sheen on the face seem to do that without a lot of effort on my part.

I'm in the midst of reviewing parts of my art life and trying to rearrange life to give myself more time to create. I'm slowly making progress but haven't gotten to grips with anything meaningful in terms of a drawing or painting in awhile. I have some ideas floating around, but they don't seem to settle for long and I end up doing sketches like the one above.

While I get frustrated at lack of time, sometimes deadlines are the incentive that move me forward and make me produce. Seems there's no happy medium at the moment.

Insomnia

Storm clouds
Charcoal on mi-tientes
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Insomnia seems to be present a lot lately and it has both benefits and drawbacks. In the predawn hours I can achieve a lot once I get some coffee and my head clears a little. The disadvantage comes later in the day when fatigue sets in early.

This is the result of this morning's early rise. I quite enjoy drawing with charcoal lately. The tinted paper fills the midtone nicely and allows me to create contrast with lights and darks.

Its been awhile since I've tried drawing clouds and the filtered light drew me to this. On my drive to work in the early morning, I often see these rays of light hitting the surface of the ocean and always wish I'd had my camera with me or the chance to pull over away from the traffic to take a photo and capture that fleeting moment.

Teaching observation

In life class my instruction is loose and relaxed. I go from easel to easel, encouraging, guiding and instructing less experienced individuals on how to construct the figure in front of them, but so much of that instruction is teaching the person how to observe.

I use a sketch pad and show angles of limbs and body contours, how to measure and judge proportion, using intersecting body parts as markers and invisible lines to measure angles. Each time, I find it interesting to see how much people really don't' see when they look at the subject. When a correction is pointed out, it becomes apparent and they can refine their drawing, while I try to remember what I observed in my very early days of drawing.

I'm sure I was the same. I didn't see the subtle changes of value representing shadow or the slight curve of the torso, the angle of the leg, how it intersected with the foot or calf of the other leg and so on.

After 30 years or more of drawing, I can capture lines fairly well, but if I did not practice daily, that skill would slow and limit my ability to draw effectively. Some individuals who attend life class don't do any drawing between classes. Something that I am trying very hard to change!

There are a few commonalities in those learning to draw the human figure.

1. There is little knowledge of human anatomy and proportion. Facial features are not symmetrical or in proportion. Torsos and limbs are either lengthened or shortened and generally not in proportion to the rest of the figure.
2. There is a habit of getting caught up in detail and forgetting the global view, especially in very short poses.
3. The habits of childhood are still ingrained in the adult and they flow forward into the drawing. Whether 16 or 60, the 10 year old's drawing still prevails until practice and ability grows.
4. The ability to observe the reality of the subject and translate that accurately onto paper is not suffciently developed and it can be a source of frustration for the individual.
5. Overall shape of hands and feet are challenging to draw and many individuals don't know how to block in overall shapes then refine the digits. (my mantra to them is 'think mittens and socks!'

Victor
charcoal on newsprint
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I didn't manage much drawing on Monday night, due to my attention being with those drawing. These are a few very quick sketches done mostly to demonstrate a line or form to another person.

Visual art is a way of seeing and expressing that thing seen in a manner not given to everyone. That statement could be misconstrued as prideful, but anyone engaged in painting as a profession knows that isn't true. (Ed Pointer)

Cat scan

Tabby cat

2.5 x 3.5 coloured pencil on Stonehenge
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I have played with tiny drawings lately and am thinking of a small group of three or four in the same type of frames to exhibit at a show coming up at the end of March. These small drawings have impact in a frame that reflects their colour and gives impact to the piece. I'll be using a barn board frame in an almost khaki colour that is fairly deep, almost like a shadowbox in some ways for this piece. I just need a little mat to go around it and it will be complete.

The scan, as always, is disgusting and I'll take a photo if I ever arrive home or am at home in the hours of daylight. Work seems to capture most of my time lately and meetings are relentless an at all hours.

I did teach the life class last night, and didn't manage much more than a few lines in between doing the rounds of easels to help others. Next week, I'll be back on the other side of the easel and I can relax again!

Concentration

Sketches - kids drawing class
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Sketches - kids drawing class
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I love seeing the concentration on some of the kids faces when they're engrossed in the drawing process. That little tip of the tongue poking out from between clamped lips is the flagship for concentration. I don't know quite why that happens in some individuals when really concentrating. Its more prevalent in children than in adults and is an unconscious movement.

While the class draws, I take the opportunity to do a few quick sketches and their concentration usually lets me get away with it unnoticed. Spontaneous expressions and natural poses make for good sketches.

Shiny inspiration

When my muse decides to take a nap for awhile, I need to find other sources of inspiration and they turn up in strange places. Stores of all kinds inspire me. Especially supermarkets as they have piles of colourful vegetables and fruits and stacks of colourful tins or displays.

Today I was picking up some things at the supermarket and as I came around the corner of an aisle there was a self serve coffee bean display. The colours, shapes and reflections in the chrome made an interesting image, so I took out my cell phone which has a handy little camera in it and took a couple of shots.

People tend to give me odd looks when I take photos of supermarket displays but so far, no one has said anything. I still have niggling worries in the back of my head of being escorted from the supermarket...

What I'd love to know though is when you take images of highly reflective surfaces, how can the photo be taken without the photographer showing up in the reflections? I know it can be done as I've seen professional photos of shiny objects that don't reflect anything but light. But how do they do it???
In my wanderings, I also came across a little pair of rubber ducks with a life ring. Into the cart they went too and I played around with a sketch of one of them in coloured pencil.

Where does your inspiration lie? A store? A cupboard? An activity?

Animal portraits

"Saved" (1856)

by Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-73)

In my own quest to find the perfect formula for animal portraits I wanted to examine what's gone before. And the first person who comes to my mind is the quintessential animal portrait artist, Sir Edwin Landseer.

Landseer was a brilliant animal painter whose work had added appeal in the Victorian age because of his tendency to give his animal scenes a moral dimension, such as this Newfoundland dog who is depicted as having rescued a child from drowning. So popular and influential were Landseer's paintings of dogs in the service of humanity that the name Landseer came to be the official name for the variety of Newfoundland dog that, rather than being almost entirely black, features a mix of both black and white; it was this variety Landseer popularized in his paintings celebrating Newfoundlands as water rescue dogs, most notably Off to the Rescue (1827), A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society (1838), and Saved (1856), which combines Victorian constructions of childhood with the appealing idea of noble animals devoted to humankind — a devotion indicated, in Saved, by the fact the dog has rescued the child without any apparent human direction or intervention.

This appeal of having animals representing human emotion seems to have carried forward in some areas, as some of the most popular pieces which are purchased are those in which animals seem to mimic human action or feeling, either in pose or action and props or the viewer identifies with the animal's predictament or situation.

There are of course many animal portraits that stand on their own without any strong emotion tied into them, but these tend to be more formal commissioned portraits that owners want to represent their living or dead animals.

How much does the 'awwwwwwww' factor come into play when purchasing or creating animal art? Does wildlife art have the same appeal as that of domestic animals? Does the setting play a factor in the appeal of a painting or drawing? How much does the viewer or buyer need to relate to the animal or the situation to make them want to inspect it further or purchase it?

Sympathy - Briton Riviere

Painted in 1877. The girl is the artist's daughter

Riviere was an animal painter, and was widely regarded as the successor of Landseer. He was also one of the few painters with an Oxford University Degree. He was the son of a well known artist. Riviere lived near to London Zoo, where he spent much time studying the physiology of animals. He painted glorified, romanticised pictures of wild animals. Another speciality was sentimental, rather humanised paintings of dogs, which found a considerable market. Rather surprisingly he only was narrowly beaten to the Presidency of the Royal Academy by Edward Poynter in 1896.

I've been reviewing how I present animal images and what my style is in comparison to some more traditional animal artist of the past. I think my images are mostly standard portraiture - simple images often without background, but I introduce the 'awwwww' factor in some drawings as well, such as Mother Goose or Eric. Animals in both of those pieces are represented in poses or interaction that is humanlike.

The Victorian painters seemed to have a sentimental view of animals and children and the interaction and I'm sure that appeal is still there today, but with a less intense view perhaps. I'll continue to examine animal portrait artists, both past and present and taking pieces from past and present, I hope to improve both the subject matter and the viewpoint.

Art series

Before the snow on Saturday, I was out in the woods burning off branches from trees that were felled to clear a new field. The snow was just starting and there wasn't any wind and it was quite peaceful.

I was enthusiastically adding branches to my fire and the flames were licking skyward on the dry boughs forming a golden curtain that I could see through so I had to photograph it. I should have brought some marshmallows for toasting...

The path out of the newly cleared field holds possibilities for drawing and painting as well.

I've been playing around with some ideas for a series of drawings. I keep talking about a series but never seem to come up with the goods. But I do have good intentions! Life rather gets in the way sometimes it seems.

Art series always appeal to me and they don't need to be huge numbers to be effective. I have some catching up to do to meet some of my goals for the year. I've only done one of the Flatrock series yet and still have another to produce for January. There are ideas spinning around in my head, I just need a few days to put them in perspective and see what is realistic and what is simply my imagination outdoing my ability.

Being in charge

Natalie
graphite 18 x 24
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I've started making some decisions around my art career that I hope will push me further forward. Some decisions are small ones, some are larger. Some have risks associated with them and others are risk free.

I've started with resigning from my position as drawing instructor for my tri-weekly classes. The numbers of people attending are slowing, yet I still do the same amount of preparation work for minimal return. I need to recoup that time to invest in areas of art that will have higher yields, such as workshops and tutorials. I'll consider my private classes and whether they will provide what I want or still more of the same - lots of prep and little return. I'll finish my commitments to registered classes for March, but after that, I'm on my own.

I prefer the idea of larger groups in a one or two day format. Once I have the formula in place, it can be done again and again for little pain. It also would leave me with a lot more time to concentrate on my art, which has been slowing due to all the time I spend creating lesson plans.

Then almost as a portent, Alyson Stanfields' I'd rather be in the studio book arrived in the mail today. It my birthday present to me (I always buy myself the nicest things...)

The first statement in Alyson's Principles of No-Excuse Self Promotion is:

You are in charge of your career.

I am in charge and this is the beginning of the transition phase. You can look at some of Alyson's principles on art marketing in her blog post here. They serve as good beginning thoughts for forward movement.

The sketch above is of last night's life model. We had a small group and I was leading them. I wanted to draw and sneaked in a few sketches in the longer sessions between going around the easels to provide direction to others drawing. I brought along my nephew to his first life class. He hopes to get into a fine arts program at Sir Wilfred Grenfell in September and this will be good practice for him and hopefully provide some fodder for his portfolio.

Persistance of vision

We can think of ourselves not as teachers but as gardeners. A gardener does not 'grow' flowers; he tries to give them what he thinks they need and they grow by themselves. (John Holt)

I taught a children's drawing class today and had all girls in it. They were quite productive, as we concentrated on making thaumatropes and developed some designs. While they were intent on their work, I took the opportunity to do a little sketching of them working.

They were delighted to see themselves captured on paper and that fueled a discussion about how they could sketch and how to develop shapes that turned into people.

Mouths

Roller - Self Portrait
Black & white charcoal with conte 9 x 12 grey Mi Tientes
copyright Jeanette Jobson

This self portrait was a combination of insomnia at 4am and reading Drawing magazine's article on Julia Randall's work at the Jeff Bailey Gallery in New York. Julia's done these amazing coloured pencil drawings of tongues and mouths.

"... Randall makes colored pencil drawings that incorporate depictions of her mouth, resulting in images that are voyeruistic, suggestive, slightly grotesque, and quite humorous..."

Julia's pieces are all that the article's preamble suggest and more. The are fascinating and repugnant at the same time. What else could I do but try out the concept to break my dry spell? The self portrait above is the result.

I enjoyed using charcoal in a more controlled way as I'm usually weilding large chunks of it at life class. There is something a little disturbing about the light and dark with the touch of colour, but that's what I was aiming for. I may do a few more drawings in this medium and subject before its put to rest.

And yes, I can roll my tongue. Can you?

Boots in art

Blundstone boot
Red ink
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I'm doing a little sketching while I regroup and think what my next project will be. These are my most comfortable boots - a pair of chunky soled Blundstone's that wear forever and keep getting more and more comfortable. They're not the most elegant or feminine, but I'm at the stage in life where I don't need to care what others think - and probably rarely did! They're not great for summer as they're too warm and heavy but perfect for trekking through winter snow and ice.

In 2007 Blundstone held Boot It Up where individuals painted Blundstone boots and they were auctioned off at a silent auction in Toronto in September, with the proceeds going to Sketch.

Sketch says:

"Sketch creates art making opportunities for young people who live street-involved and homeless or who are considered to be at risk.

Sketch programs provide access to youth who are at different places in their lives.
It offers a progressive learning framework that can lead to long-term sustainable change. Or you can just stop in for a day. Youth choose their entry, their tools and determine the process. True to Community Arts practice, the process is as important as (sometimes more important than) the product. It is a framework that can be transported to any place."

There have been a couple of weeks where I've lost a bit of direction, likely because I've been busy doing all the peripheral things around art. The marketing, planning, writing, demos, teaching - everything but creating art itself - or at least not in any major way.

Now its time to get down to it and produce some work or there'll be nothing to market, plan for, write about, demonstrate or teach! I sometimes get sidetracked into doing everything around art, but little that produces art and it becomes difficult to get out of that rut sometimes.

I will revisit a couple of planned projects and see if they can inspire me and I also have a few ideas kicking around in my head that I may experiment with this weekend. Tomorrow's looks like its going to be a snow day, with around 15cm of snow expected (6 inches). A good day to hibernate and produce.

What is art?

Creature Comforts is a claymation series produced by Aardman Animations that mixes animated animals and interviews with real people (in this case “real” Americans who share their views on art.

Teaching drawing

Hotdog
coloured pencil on Canson 11 x 14
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I've been reassessing what I teach and how I teach and figuring out what I enjoy teaching, and what I need to improve, eliminate or add to what I currently do.

I sort of fell into teaching and it has taken up a lot of my time. I'd done tutorials and run private classes off and on previously but hadn't provided regular, structured classes. Its taken awhile to prepare the initial format as I was going into a program already in place, but I was left to put my own mark on it with no external direction. Reaching the stage where I have enough material and ideas in my head and portfolio, I'm now deciding if this structure is the way I want to go. Do I want to be tied to this structure or be able to behave in a more freelance method?

Part of me enjoys the interaction with people - and its children and adults that I teach. Part of me dislikes elements of it. I haven't had much experience in teaching children prior to this and was quite up front with that fact when inquiring about the teaching position. Children are, in some ways, easier to teach than adults, but the content and instruction is at a very different level. The inability to move ahead or the process of repeating over and over the same class even if the students are different sometimes becomes a little monotonous. There are demos of drawings I do in my sleep, I swear. Because I deal with complete beginners in most cases, that in itself is a challenge.

I will be teaching a workshop in May and am looking forward to the experience. It will be adult based, multi-ability and based in graphite and realism, my comfort zone. I am in the process of developing the demos and content for it and once that in place, it may form the base from which to move forward into other workshops.

It amazes me how the twists and turns of life place you, and usually that place is somewhere that you never expected to be. My intention in art wasn't teaching, even though I have done adult education in various forms. I don't think it will be my final resting place, but the journey to that point will be interesting.

Life class

I finally got back to my life class last night and did 16 drawings during the two hours on newsprint with charcoal. The poses are the usual warm up 1 minute, 2 minute, 3 minute then up to 10 and finally 20. I'm beginning to get a little frustrated with the shortness of the poses, as I feel I'm just getting the form down to a reasonable degree and the pose changes again.

I think at the next class I'll concentrate on a tighter view and see if I can develop it more in one of the 2o minute poses. I have been asked to tutor the next two weeks classes as the regular tutor won't be available. Its a mix of interest and frustration to do this. Its always interesting to guide others as they develop their work, but frustrating not to be able to draw at the same time.

Here are a few of the sketches that I did last night of the male model that we had. He's highly energetic in the initial poses, and some make me wonder how he'll ever get up out of them again. He does settle down in the last half of the class and is usually sitting by then which lets me breath again!

Warm up sketch

Before the Mirror
Robert Barrett Browning

I have life class tonight after it being cancelled the last two weeks, so I'm anxious to get back into again. So lunchtime I was loosening up a little with a sketch of this painting. I love the pose, but don't know if I can convince the model to hold it for 30 minutes to do it justice.

And now for something just plain silly.

Click here if your computer screen is dirty.

Shades of blue

Waterman's Pond
copyright Jeanette Jobson

My week has been pretty busy and I haven't had much time to do any significant drawing. I'm feeling the withdrawal of it. Saturday is my day to rush around and do errands, clean, cook and by the time I've done that I usually collapse on the sofa by late afternoon and fall asleep. Then Sunday is teaching again. It may be time to cut back a bit.

I've made some starts on portraits, both animal and human, but they haven't amounted to anything that I'd want to show the world. I have so many ideas spinning around in my head, at times just nothing comes out.

I love the shades of blues in this photo of a pond that's along my walk route. Its usually quiet there with just some wild ducks appearing to take up occupancy. Until the ice leaves the pond, the silence is interrupted by snowmobilers. Living in the country, most people think its a quiet, idyllic life, but at times, its quite the opposite, when either snowmobiles or ATVs race up the trail to the woods and ponds beyond the house in the wee hours of the morning.

Roll on summer...

The human head

Lancashire Man

graphite 8 x 10
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I always have a desire to draw faces, either animals or people. I think its been something that I've gravitated towards since beginning to draw as a child. There have always been people in my art. This is probably why I find it so difficult to branch out into landscape, floral, etc., etc. I prefer my comfort zone.

Explaining how to maintain proportion in drawing the human head is repetitive for beginners and they don't usually 'get it' right away. I teach that by letting students measure on themselves and others physically to find out where the relevant points are in relationship to each other. Once students are able to make the connection between measurement and getting proportion right, they often make great progress. Its partially understanding the principle of anatomy and part switching over to the right side of the brain. It also takes a lot of practice and time, another stumbling block for learners who want a perfect drawing and want it right now without much pain involved getting there!

Not all drawings need to be long and complex to obtain the spirit and likeness of an individual. A sketch, like the one here took about 30 minutes and provides an accurate records of that moment in time, the lighting, the clothing, the expression that all go together to create the character of this man. Sketches are great warm ups to a more structured drawing. I just transfer the main lines to my new paper, enlarging or reducing if I need to then I'm ready for a longer session to achieve the detail and realism that I want in a drawing.

Style

Elephant study
graphite, Canson sketchbook
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Style is what makes an artist's work recognizable as their own. Its like a signature, identifying at a glance that the work belongs to a specific person.

Style does take time to develop and in my case comes with several identifiers. I've looked at my art and see some aspects that make my stamp on my work.

1. I prefer dry media, either graphite, coloured pencil or pen and ink (ok not quite dry but close)
2. My method of drawing follows traditional lines - a master line drawing, then shading or colour
3. Many of my drawings have a delicate touch to them. I don't go for large, bold drawings, I prefer precise lines and softer colours.
4. Subject matter. Many of my drawings involve portraiture of animals or people. I do stray into other subject matter, but always come back to the living.

Do these all add up to an identifiable style or are they my comfort zone? Or does my comfort zone lead me into my style of drawing? It probably is both and I'm sure my style changes from time to time as I experiment with other mediums and supports. Developing style is a lifelong learning experience.

Every artist who evolves a style does so from illusive elements that inhabit his or her visual storehouse.
(Mary Carroll Nelson)

Why do you draw?

Xhosa child
graphite sketch 8 x 10
copyright Jeanette Jobson

I've explored this question before and the answers, while many, come back to the same things.

I draw because I like to intimately explore objects and recreate them in detail.

I draw because I have an instinctive need to do so. It becomes as automatic as breathing. There is no pressure externally to make me draw, but there is something internally, unspoken, unseen that urges me to make marks on paper or canvas.

I draw because it takes me away from the mundane world and lets me escape into the end of my pencil where nothing exists except the scritch scritch sound of graphite going onto paper. I am always surprised when I snap out of that meditative state and realize that time has passed.

I draw because I feel a connection to the past and need to keep the craft alive. From the time man scored marks on cave walls to the digital images of today, there is still that need to continue what our ancestors started.

Why do you draw?

Have you closely examined the process and what the pleasures and challenges are for you?