Painting Paddington - "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

I have been neglecting this blog lately, but I have been busy painting. I am continuing with my project of producing paintings with the feeling of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" set in the suburb I live in, Paddington, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

I think illustrating the story is not the right thing to do, but it is rather the atmosphere and richness of the text which I want to emulate.

Paddington houses, streets, trees, gardens together with portrait heads, animals, and all things botanical are the subject matter. It feels hugely daunting to be attempting this and in some ways I feel I have been heading toward this for years. Trying to put so much in comes with its own set of problems.

I have started about 5 largish canvases and several works on paper just to sort out ideas.

I thought I would post a studio shot to give the general feel.

Trees of Paddington

I have been really loving drawing more of the local Fig Trees around Paddington, Bardon and Milton. In fact it is becoming almost a Zen meditative experience for me while doing them.

This is Fig Tree Drawing No 2. Just drawn in black and white charcoal on a tinted paper.

This is the third in the series. I do feel I am getting better at them.

Annoyingly I framed this one before taking the final photo. So this is just a progress photo and the finished piece is a bit more "finished".

I do see these as real "portraits" of individual trees. In fact just this morning, I had a couple of ladies in my studio who recognised a particular tree. They knew exactly where it was, knew the exact species and told me that is actually a protected heritage tree. Good to know there is such a thing!

Recent Drawings, Trees and some Fantasy

I am really loving working with very basic materials at the moment. I have done quite a few drawings just with charcoal. Some with both black and white pencils on a neutral paper and others on plain white paper with just a hint of colour. I can't resist that touch of bright colour.

This is a giant Moreton Bay Fig Tree that I walk past every day. I spent about a week on this drawing. I don't think I have done anything so detailed for a while. There is a love heart with initials on the branch to the left.

Kangaroos are really a subject I can't seem to leave alone. They keep reappearing in new work when I thought I'd gotten them out of my system with the Terra Australis show last year. I have placed this little guy in front of Brisbane's Story Bridge. Something about the reverse curves got me going compositionally.

This is one of what I call my "fantasy" drawings.  I did quite a bit of sketching when the Brisbane Ekka was on, hence the Ferris wheel and the people on the left. My kangaroo and my Fig Tree are also in there plus Michelangelo's Sybil and a skeleton fleshed out. Don't ask me what this is about. There are orchids in there too.

Another skeleton. This has come no doubt from my concentration on anatomy this year. Glasshouse Mountains in the background, tree, owl, Watteau's Minstrel, all outside a Paddington gate, waiting for the mail.

This is a clump of Jacaranda trees down in my back yard. I haven't done anything like this before and it did take several days. It is a pretty accurate representation of what is there.

Paintings of Paddington

I am sorry I have not posted much lately but I have been working extremely hard. I have been drawing and painting my local area. I have read that many artists produce their best work when they find their subject matter not far from home.

The timber "Queenslanders"  and the wealth of plant life around this area of Brisbane are quite inspiring. I keep returning to things botanical and animals also even when I am looking at the architecture and hilly streets around here.

Here is just a small sample of what I have been doing.

None of these works are actually totally finished which is another reason I haven't posted them. I will get back to them when the spirit moves me.

This is image is looking up Cochrane Street towards Mt Lindsay. The elkhorn has made its home in a frangipani tree. Compositionally I was playing around with triangles.

This one shows the detailing of a typical veranda. In the distance is the Paddington/Bardon water tower. The flowers in the foreground are Bauhinias I think.

I couldn't resist putting in the scrub turkey crossing the road. They are everywhere around here. On the left is an amazing Moreton Bay Fig Tree. I am becoming obsessed with them and have done lots of drawings of them.

This one is looking towards the west. The gap between the hills is actually the suburb called "The Gap". Now I know why! I was experimenting with the effect of the sunset lighting on the fruit and am quite pleased with the result. Something new for me to focus on. I want these works to have the feeling that life is going on, (my life probably) hence the cups of tea, teapots etc.

Another scrub turkey. This image has turned into a bit of a fantasy with the street scene and the animals added! It is actually Haig Road looking towards Heussler Terrace. Again the giant Moreton Bay Fig Trees. The purple shadows against the glare of the road were what initially motivated me with this one. I still visit Lone Pine Sanctuary fairly often and this kangaroo is one of my mates.

The galvanised iron roofs around here are also painted interesting colours. The crows are daily visitors too. One day we could see twelve from our back deck. They are amazing, very clever birds and so beautiful with their blue/black sheen. Three on a telephone line.

I will mention again that these are not totally finished. I will probably spend some time refining them.

Botanical Gardens Drawings

I am thundering along with my promised year of study and experimentation. As well as the cemetery drawings in charcoal which I posted last week, I have been drawing in pastel at the Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens. We have had so many rainy days lately I have had to find a spot under cover. The narrow seating area in the Japanese Garden has fit the bill nicely.

All the following drawings have been done from life sitting in the gardens somewhere.

 This was done overlooking the lake. I have always wanted to find a spot where I could paint reflections from life.

This is me channelling Monet although I hope he does not have a monopoly on such subject matter.This was done not far from the first drawing spot. It shows the last of the water-lilies before the cold sets in. There were plenty of ducks around and I did get some good photos of them but I am trying to stick to my new mantra of just working from life. They don't quiet sit still long enough for that. My eye/hand needs to get much quicker.

This is a view from the Japanese Garden. The forms are all very contrived and sculpted and the views all pre-arranged. It is very beautiful but is like the processed food equivalent of other more natural bush settings.

Another view in the Japanese garden. This shows the little waterfall and rock-pools.

This was done in a more rainforest type area of the gardens. I got very cold sitting here hence it is not quite finished.

This drawing was done much closer to home. It is actually the view from our summer house down the back of our yard. It looks into a gully between the houses. Amazing to have this here in such an urban suburb only 2k from the city centre.

This is a slightly larger more finished piece.  It is a view of Paddington just around the corner. Huge old fig tree on the right and in the middle distance you can see the church on Enoggera Terrace. The workers cottages around here have such a charm when they are still in their original state.

Toowong Cemetery Drawings, - from life drawing to dead drawing.

I have discovered a wonderful new place to draw!

It ticks all the boxes I am currently concerned with.
a) I am outside
b) I am working directly from the subject, no photos etc
c) I am really building up my observation skills
d) I am working on my rendering skills.
c) I am not bothered by people

For the last month or so I had been going to the Botanical Gardens and have captured the last of the water lilies and the flowering trees of the Japanese garden (I will post these images at a later date).
There were too many people there however and they felt that I was there simply for their entertainment. So I switched to the Toowong Cemetery which is close by and I have suffered no such interruptions.

The Toowong Cemetery is an amazing place to sit and draw. I can drive my car in, pull up virtually anywhere and set myself up with my little stool, my pad and pencils and my thermos of tea. I am particularly interested in the plant life, the incredible trees and the shadows they cast. In fact on my first day driving in it was the strength of the shadows patterning the ground that struck me first. The sound of crows kept me company. (I love the much maligned crow. They are very intelligent.) I also realised I needed to be very well prepared with fruit and snacks as I am so used to taking breaks whenever I like in my own studio.

There is so much subject matter here.

* Firstly the natural landscape, the trees, the weeds and the bird-life.
* The historical aspect of course,
* and what I would call the "hand of man" in the carvings, inscriptions etc, different cultures represented
* and most excitingly the phenomenon of nature taking over once again in the crumbling of the tombstones, and the tree roots growing through graves etc.

There is distant traffic noise, aeroplanes flying overhead, birds everywhere especially scrub turkeys.

The overall colour is stone colour, dead leaves, sharp sunshine and lime green against the black of the trees in the shadow. There are little vistas everywhere and the place is very hilly.

I think there is beauty here. It is a place filled with emotion, memories and history. It really interests me.

These are the first four drawings.

I was basically working in charcoal but decided to add just a touch of colour with pastel to each drawing. 

There are some lovely pink and green weeds in the foreground here.

I have put some lime green on the bush at right.

 Again I added the lime green leaves as they were actually there.

The drawings are actually quite accurate as far as composition goes. I haven't changed anything or added what isn't there. At this early stage I am simply recording what I see and getting a feel for the place.

I don't believe in the supernatural and I am not religious but I do feel the overwhelming force of people's emotions and grief especially in the choice of inscriptions on the headstones. I can cope with that as it is part of life.
I joke to myself that I spend so much time doing "Life drawings", these are my "Dead Drawings".

The names and dates interest me also.

I am not sure where these drawings are going to take me but it is enough for now to be simply drawing.

I have posted images on Instagram of each drawing in front of the subject.
http://instagram.com/robynbauer#

I would like to be artist in residence for the cemetery! Friends of the cemetery take note.

Robert Hannaford Workshop

About a week ago I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop by Australian artist Robert Hannaford. I have long admired his portrait work particularly his self portraits from unusual angles. I am certainly not alone in admiring his work as he one of the few artists who are loved by both artists and by the general public as his numerous "Peoples' Choice" awards gives testament.

This is Hannaford's amazing portrait "Bill" which won the 1990 Doug Moran Portrait Prize. I will return to it later but first some details about the workshop.

The class was for two days and Hannaford began with a brief overview of his thoughts and methods and a demonstration piece which he continued to work on over the two days. I took brief notes which I will reproduce here.

Robert Hannaford's Ideas

* Art is an "act of discovery"
* Don't have a plan
* Importance of a viewfinder to try different compositions and then the "That's the one I want" moment. As most of us didn't have this essential piece of equipment he proceed to make several out of paper for us.
* SHAPE  COLOUR  TONE
* Abstract pattern / Abstract shapes of the masses, and Light/Dark
* Objectivity
* Squint to see tone and open eyes (till they blur) to see colour,  Shift between these two.
* Don't fiddle
* Don't rush in
* Using viewfinder try vertical or horizontal composition/ different sizes of head/ inclusion of body etc.
* There is a psychological horizon in a portrait ( eye height if standing in front of it)
* Re-see every day, don't follow your drawing from the day before or even from the previous sitting before the break.

As far as his method goes, Hannaford started on a white canvas, blocked in using charcoal which he then wiped off just leaving traces. He also started with lots of paint which he wiped back. He did even put in some highlights early on ( not details, details were last) so I guess you could say his approach is an instinctive one.
Filbert brushes
He did a tonal block in, around the head etc.

* Only when you cover the whole canvas can you really see what's going on.

 And his main point which he repeated throughout the weekend

* DON'T EVER USE PHOTOS TO WORK FROM!!!!

He quoted Rembrandt as saying  "Nature is my master" and made the point that all the big leaps in art history have been made when artists returned to nature, i.e. Leonardo, the Impressionists etc. The Impressionists, painting plein air noticed that shadows were blue/purple and not the brown that Rubens painted.

He stressed the importance of composition from the start.

* Always rely on your own vision, not on your painting from yesterday.
* For his commissioned portraits he takes 6 to 7 days with a 3 hour sitting per day.

* Seeing is everything.
* Don't worry about technique, technique will look after  itself. Everything will look after itself.
* Spend 90% of your time looking, 10% painting
* Stand back /use mirror to view your progress.
* Don't copy other artists

He spoke about when he was young, taking his own work to his mentor Ivor Hele. He said Hele never said much he just looked, and Hannaford could then see his own mistakes as he felt he was seeing his own work through Hele's eyes.

Hannaford made an interesting point that we are on the verge of a Renaissance with our eyes.
* You can make unique discoveries.

I asked several questions about the painting of Bill (above) most notably about the dog and did he use a camera to capture the dog. He said he did not. (It is the artist's own dog.) There were over 100 sittings for the painting and the dog was there for about 50 of them. He says while other people train their dogs to fetch sticks,  he trains his dogs to pose.

                                Painting of Brett by Robyn Bauer

This is my effort after the two day sitting. I had a full-on profile which I did not choose as we drew easel positions out of a hat, but but I soon warmed to the possibilities (after using my viewfinder) and deciding to do landscape format which  I would not otherwise have done. The green curtain had been placed behind the sitter and framed the head very well for most of the painters but I ended up finding the book shelf very exciting (surprise surprise). I am sure I have never painted a bookshelf before.

Hannaford was very generous with his information and gave plenty of individual attention. There were some great painters there and some great paintings by the end of the weekend.