Pictures from my application

In a small flash of inspiration, today I would like to bring to you the pictures I chose to use for my application to the course! I am proud of all four of them, despite some being not the best in pure technical terms. Making some sort of transition of one of my drawings to the computer screen is as always very nearly impossible - scanners and I have never been on speaking terms, I don't know why, and taking a photo never really conveys the full amount of detail. At least, not with the camera I've got!
So here we go. The first picture is an old one; in fact, it was drawn in 2008, I think, in springtime. As so often, my linework with the pencil is thin and delicate. I drew this mostly with a... I believe it is called a "propelling pencil"? The hardness was HB. The pictures shows one of my own dreamed-up fantasy creatures, bark-skinned and twig-haired, talking to an elf in a pair of old jeans. There's a tiny owl and a small fox hidden away, though they do steal some of the viewer's attention; and also some kind of fairy lights. This one took a while to draw, and I worked on it in several sittings. It is a pity all the detail disappears in the transition to photo.
Next, we have another one of my portraits! This being the probably third or fourth that I ever dared show. Unfortunately the angle makes it look a bit odd but oh well. As you can see, my trusty Stabilo Woody crayon has done its work well here. Portrayed is a friend, Johan. The picture is very yellow, but I assure you the paper is white in real life. I originally had some trouble with his beard and some of the lines around his mouth, but then I asked him to smile, and suddenly I could see a lot better, where they were. The crayon is a somewhat blunt instrument, but it certainly covers a lot and is quicker and more efficient than, say, pencils.
Third is a finished watercolour of a meeting on a frozen lake. This was a Yule gift for a friend. I used photo reference for the nature, but freehanded the fox and the skiing little fellow that he is so curious about. I used watercolours, working mostly wet-on-dry, and finished with some white acrylics or gouache. It took an unknown amount of hours, but I remember being surprised at its taking such a relatively short time.
Fourth is a piece that is rather special to me. It is a work in progress, but I am proud of it regardless. With the help of some photo reference for the wood itself, the rest has been painted as I saw fit. A dancing Lady of the Forest, a flute-playing Lord, stick-and-twig-men, little foxes (there can never be too many foxes) and even a more current-day take on fairies. This was a real joy to paint, and a relief as well. I learned a lot about the medium itself, even while painting, and how I wished to use it. Some cue and inspiration I took from Charles Vess, and also a few tips on technique, that were most useful. In this picture it is evident some of my own personal "main points of interest" in art are, I would say. I hope to revisit this during this summer, to try and finish it. Also, I have learned a lot of colour theory which will hopefully help me avoid some of the pitfalls I was well underway of making with this one.

I hope you have enjoyed this little indulgence! For now, the main art course is over, but I shall continue painting through the summer and, hopefully, have something to show you all every now and then.

Two portraits painted with directions

Again, this assignment was about painting in Expressionist style, two portraits. I believe that I failed that particular part of it. It simply does not come naturally to me. Part of the assignment was also to paint on 50x60 cm pieces, for which I purchased one canvas board and one canvas on frame.
The first photo here is of the painting that I made second. It is painted on canvas and I started out with a photo (of myself, taken on top of Dunadd Hill Fort) as reference, to get the general outlines of the face. I chose this particular one because the face is very tricky to get right in that angle. A mixture of black, blue, brown and some green and white was used for the outlines, and then there was a lot of blending and painting with larger, flat brushes, going on. I had immense help from the fact that my white is fairly opaque and could be used to "erase" areas where I made mistakes. There's a bit of a risk for that mouth to look like it is sneering, but again I take comfort in art being not finished merely because the artist puts the brush down - the viewer has part in it as well. I did not mean it to be sneering, I meant it to be sad, but there you go.
The second photo is the painting I painted first, and on a canvas board. Again, a photo (where Jonas is actually wearing a similar shirt) was used for reference, and I focused on the eyes, mostly. I am not very happy with either of these paintings, but they were good exercise. The shirt I am satisfied with, however; it looks good without being overworked. I started out in the same way as with the second painting, but had to make a lot more corrections. I could not get the measurements right, and it does seem to me now that I have a problem with drawing portraits and that it lies in the forehead-eye-nose-mouth and getting the same scale for all of them. This painting took two days to finish, but in hours as well, it was my so far most time-consuming piece.
I guess I am not happy because they do not look exactly like their subjects. Close enough but not exactly. Which is why I ought to redo this assignment, so that I push my own boundaries and learn something new.
All in all, I would not call either of them "Expressionistic", but they do express something at least.

An Expressionist Dunstaffnage Castle

For my second painting in the Expressionist style, I looked at the artist Gabriele Münter, and noticed how many of her paintings are of houses on hills, and the like. I thought of a picture I took maybe half an hour before the photo reference I used in the last picture, one of Dunstaffnage Castle itself. It was autumn when I visited the place with my friend, but as it turned out, that didn't have a strong enough impression on me when I chose to paint it, and so, it doesn't look much like any season at all. Maybe like early autumn.
An important point about Expressionist painting is that it's not a painting of the artists impression, but one of their own expression. Their inner feelings and emotions about the scene before them, rather than their impression of it.
I always liked castles and ruins, and their diversity fascinate me. I am also an archaeologist, and I had my reasons for wanting to become that. Castles and ruins give different impressions - some are sad, mournful, even desperate and I'd like nothing more than to restore them to their original glory. Some seem not to give the slightest bit of care to the fact that they are crumbling, and stand proud and intimidating still.

Dunstaffnage struck me as a bit of both, but mostly as a very impressive castle built well and with good defensive strategy. I painted this on a fairly large canvas, F8 in size, with acrylics. It took a few sittings and several hours. I had the fortune of having good natural light as well as a lamp, though after painting in the evening, I went back and re-did the grass because it looked too garishly yellow-green. The sky had bit of a touch-up as well. The odd yellow blob to the right side was a tree with autumn leaves. Oddly enough, without meaning to, it gives something of a depth to the painting.
There was also something mystical about the castle, about its strong walls and odd angles, and what with everything we found around it, and how magical the entire journey was, I couldn't resist painting something in that picture that's usually relegated firmly to outside the fine art galleries. The clue is in the name of the painting, "Clouds over Dunstaffnage Castle".

This was the first painting since the course began that I gave away. Feels odd not to have it at home, but it was a late birthday gift for the friend with whom I shared the trip.