It's nice to watch art videos in which talented people reveal their skills. I find the process very therapeutic and for a little while those videos take you away from the exigencies of everyday life and the jarring noise of current affairs. Through art videos, we may remind ourselves how brilliant human beings can be - making wonderful images with the aid of simple tools and remarkable patience.
Above you can see the German illustrator Axel Scheffler revealing the way he goes about his artwork. For many years he has worked with the English children's author Julia Donaldson. Together they have made wonderful books and there cannot be many British family homes in which their work will not be found. Phoebe and Margot have both loved those books and parents and grandparents generally love reading the aloud when many other children's books can prove tedious.
Below, an artist shows us how to create an image of the sea at night using pencils, graphite, charcoal and rubbers (American: erasers). There is something rather magical about watching the scene emerge and it is certainly interesting to observe the artist's techniques
It's never too late to practise and improve artistic skills. That's what retirement is for! Go for it!
ReplyDeleteSo what are you telling us? We're going to see some new art? Bring it on. Many people do not use their artisitic skills.
ReplyDeleteThe second work is marvellous.
ReplyDeleteI have proof of your artistic talent right here in my home - the drawing/painting you made of Fred Fox has recently moved from my tiny hallway into the kitchen, where I look at it several times a day.
ReplyDeleteWhen my Mum still used to read once a week to the children at a kindergarden in our neighbourhood, the Gruffalo books were always popular, too.
I tried to watch all of that, but had to give up at 11 minutes because the piano was putting me to sleep. I have very little natural artistic talent and usually just copy what other people are doing though my drawings rarely look as good. That's why I write instead.
ReplyDeleteOne of my cousins married a commercial artist - he used to do brilliant thumbnail sketches of people's heads, just a few pencil strokes would capture the essence of the individual. He had done the artwork for the Gales honey Winnie the Pooh adverts many years ago.
ReplyDeleteI always liked to draw back in my childhood/youth, and later on also had a period when I took up watercolour painting - attended a weekly evening class for a year or two, and a few concentrated summer holiday courses. An accident in 2000 more or less put a stop to that though - because of long-lasting problems with my neck and right arm, including difficulties to hold and handle small objects like pencils and brushes. Then with digital cameras (and blogging) I turned more to photography instead.
ReplyDeletePopular culture reference: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." Just because it's a cliché doesn't mean it isn't true.
ReplyDeleteAnyway it's an elegant variation on your old standby of rivers running to the sea.
How's the Stanage ode gestating? By my reckoning we are well into the second trimester.
It is never too late to develop your talents. The next gallery show I am curating, has several first time exhibitors, who are near our age.
ReplyDeleteGrab a piece of paper and just sit down and sketch a little; you never lose the ability to draw and it will come back in time.
ReplyDeleteWell, there is no reason you can't get your sketch book out and draw a little each day. My oldest son is a graphic artist and he always takes time each week to sketch in his sketch book. Let's see what you can do, Neil?!
ReplyDeleteGlasgow School of Art accepted me as a student in 1969.
ReplyDeleteI went to Glasgow University instead. A bad career move.
When I tire of literature & history I read about painters & sculptors & architects.
First drawings date from 73, 000 years ago - red ochre on stone. South Africa.
Drawings in Lascaux Caves, France, 40, 000 years ago.
Artists were trained in drawing skills in pre-historic times !
Glasgow School of Art (Charlie Rennie Macintosh) burned down twice.
Our city's most iconic building, gone forever. Criminal negligence.
You know I love to draw but unlike you I didn't get any formal training or qualifications in it. In fact I had a really bad experience in art class, the teacher wasn't nice to me and had favourites. I dropped art and almost gave up drawing at that point. But I kept on doodling and my art was just for me, only the last few years I decided I'd try sharing my drawings online.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you'll be sharing some of your work with us soon.
It's never too late to revisit your art skills. Draw for your grandchildren. Those will become treasures. Your talented writer, too. Write some stories with illustrations for your little ones. Lots of possibilities out there!
ReplyDeleteArtists make it all look so simple.
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