Sunday, October 24, 2010

24th October 2010 - Who's made a mark this week?

Artwork in the 65th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists at the Mall Galleries

One of the most enjoyable aspects of being an art blogger is when you t to meet up with the people who've got to know because of blogging.

So it was this week when I met up with Sarah Wimperis (The Red Shoes) and her husband Dave at the Mall Galleries (which is incidentally a great piece to meet up given that you can sit in amongst the pictures having a cup of tea and a bite to eat).  We spent some time pointing at pictures at saying which ones we liked from afar for doing a complete tour together - with added insight into the world of marine art from "Big Dave" - the long-time boater and man-about-Cornwall with a boat - who found he had a much closer relationship with this exhibition than he had realised.  See the links below for more on marine art

Sarah and I commented on how frames seem to vary between different places.  I might do a blog post on this at some point but for now the typology we came up with is:
  • Cornwall - white frames (ivory or ice white)
  • Cotswolds - gilt frames
  • London - neutral frames (any colour of neutral so long as it's recessive)
  • USA - solid wide black
Do please comment if you think we've got it right or wrong and/or can extend this typology.

Art Blogs

Drawing and sketching
New York Times - Line by Line:  This is the new blog about drawing By James McMullan.  Here are links to the first few posts.
  1. Getting Back to the Phantom Skill 
  2. The Frisbee of Art
  3. Hatching the Pot
  4. The Beagle Vanishes
  5. Mother Nature Decoded
  6. The Shadow Knows
Think you knew all about LS Lowry?  Think again and read this Channel 4 news item about Lowry's theatrical sketches

Landscape

The Ledges, October In Old Lyme, Connecticut, 1907 by Frederick Childe Hassam (1859-1935);
Oil on canvas; 18 x 18 inches
There is one season when the American forest surpasses all the world in gorgeousness—that is the autumnal… every hue is there...from the most golden yellow to the intensest crimson….
Thomas Cole - Essay on American Scenery (1835)
I've been out and about on blogs looking for evidence of people painting the Autumn/Fall.  Here's some of what I found:
More posts about landscape art
  • A nice post by Stapleton Kearns on landscape painting and Simplicity which includes a couple of good quotes
The root skill in landscape painting, (and probably all other sorts as well ) is drawing. Almost invariably my experience with workshop students leads me ton believe virtually all of them haven't suffiicient drawing chops to deal with the complexity of nature.
and
Design is that part of a painting which is neither color or drawing
Continuing my 'places to paint' theme, here are a couple of my posts last week about:
  • Burlington House Courtyard - and sketching locations provides details of places to sketch around and about the RA in London's Piccadilly - whatever the weather!
  • Places to Paint - Marine Scenes which are mainly links to places around the UK coastline which you can see on my on The Art of the Landscape blog.  I made the list after noticing that same places kept cropping up as I progressed round the RSMA exhibition at the Mall Galleries.
Other landscape projects include
Art Practice
Art Business and Marketing
  • For those UK artists thinking about pitching their work to the major repro houses, it may be a good idea to take a peek at the details just released of the Spring Fair International which will take place between 6-10 February 2011 at the NEC Birmingham, UK.  The fallout from the comhensive spending review will doubtless have a knock-on effect as indeed the recession did a couple of years ago.  This is the page about Art and Framing.
  • Charley Parker (Lines and Colors) reviews Southwest Art Magazine
  • For any artist who is blogging and also thinking about their business income and future income streams, here is Darren Rowse's (Problogger) take on 5 Ways to Monetize Your Blog Without Selling Out.  I like Darren's value based approach to blogging and the advice he offers is invariably sensible. 
Art and the Economy / Art Collectors

The big event in the UK last week was the announcement of the government's spending (and budget reduction) plans following the comprehensive spending review. 
  • In What the comprehensive spending review means for art I've tried to summarise the key messages arising from the details published on Wednesday. There are going to be big cuts in the funding of the arts - however admission to museums will remain free and the planned extensions to Tate Modern and the British Museum will go ahead (based on recognition of the value of these museums to the economy - see Top 10 Art Galleries and Museums).
  • Thanks also to Felicity Grace for highlighting this article from yesterday's Telegraph - Spending Review: Is austerity the mother of creativity?
    As the Comprehensive Spending Review spells cuts for the world of culture, Mark Hudson asks if hard times better inspire the arts.
Do you remember how two years ago the art world appeared unaffected by the recession - at least to start with? Well lo and behold, we have more of the same going on right now.
Art Competitions and Art Societies
Forthcoming events
  • At the New English Art Club Exhibition (Mall Galleries: 25 November - 5 December 2010) Society President Jason Bowyer, will lead a sketchbook symposium on how to use one's sketches to create a painting back in the studio. Dates and times tbc.
Art Exhibitions and art fairs

part of the painting of Queen Charlotte
oil painting by Thomas Lawrence
Art Galleries and Museums
  • Jerwood Visual Arts (JVA) - the contemporary gallery programme of awards, exhibitions and events at Jerwood Space - now has a brand new website
  • The Beside the Wave Gallery in Falmouth, Cornwall has a new art blog called Beside the Wave Gallery!  We need to see more blogs by galleries featuring their gallery artists!
Art Education / workshops / Tips and techniques

Tips and techniques
Art Studios
Art Supplies
  • Apparently the Take-it- easel (is) returning!  I shall be investigating!
  • Many coloured pencil artists will be familiar with the use of Zest-It as a solvent for getting speedy coverage of paper as an underpainting for artwork.  This post on Making A Mark reviews looks at the Zest-it Blending Sponge.  Make sure you read the comments!
Book reviews
Technology
Websites, webware and blogging
  • Various news sources have reported on the latest Google cock-up.  This is the Telegraph on the topic - Google spied on British emails and computer passwords.  You need to be aware that Google Streetview collected passwords used on wireless networks in May of this year when it cruised UK streets.  If you've not changed your password(s) since May now is the time to do because Google have still not deleted the data where the information was captured!  In the meantime I think Google could start contributing to the UK deficit by paying an almighty great big fine for having such scant regard for privacy.
The company archived all the material it had gathered, which included emails being sent by private individuals, the web pages they were viewing and passwords they may have entered as the Street View vehicle passed their homes........The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the privacy watchdog, said it would be looking into Google's admission.

and finally........

Sarah showed me how her ipad can help her with marketing her art and art business - and we will be revealing all in an interview on this blog very soon. Ive already got the photos!
Posted by Making A Mark on Sunday, October 24, 2010
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