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Thursday 30th January, Abstract Art with Frances

30/1/2020

4 Comments

 
How do you portray an abstract idea, thought, or plan in a 2-dimensional painting or drawing? 
Frances quoted David Hockney: 
“All painting, no matter what you are painting, is abstract in that it's got to be organised.”
Picture
Frances had brought many books to demonstrate her thoughts on her subject.  She first showed us some famous, realistic paintings, pointing out the way the artist had organised his work for greatest effect;  she drew our attention especially to strong vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines, to extremes of light and shade, and to the careful use of colours, the same considerations you might apply to an abstract work.  
Picture
We then looked at more modern works, from Bridget Riley's intertwining circles to Mondrian's rectangular black framing, also some interesting Japanese works by Horoshige.  See examples, left.
​

Our first short exercise was to draw interlocking circles and add colour to them.  The second exercise was to use rectangular shapes with considered use of colour.  See below.
Picture
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In our longer task the idea was not to draw the three objects we were asked to bring along, but to observe interesting shapes or patterns in them in order to make an abstract picture.  Some of us were rather less successful at this than others!  However, it gave us all food for thought which would apply whatever your style of work.  We appreciated all the thought and effort Frances put into the preparation for her morning session.  Many thanks,, Frances!
Picture
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Here are more quotes from Hockney:
" ... art is about sharing: you wouldn't be an artist if you didn't want to share an experience, a thought" and "Anything simple always interests me."

Next week, if you have signed up for it, we have a workshop on pastels with Laina West - all day, so remember to bring some lunch.
4 Comments
Freda
31/1/2020 11:13:02 am

What a very productive enlightening morning!
What I discovered will keep me going for always aware of the art
around us.The session very well explained Thankyou.Noreen
Thankyou Frances

Reply
Noreen
31/1/2020 02:17:29 pm

Your interesting comments are always appreciated, Freda. A thought that has stuck with me since Frances’ session is to look for shapes and their relationship in organising a picture. As I often get bogged down in detail, this thought could be very helpful to me.

Reply
Sally L
1/2/2020 11:21:49 am

An inspiring session, we could have continued into the afternoon.Frances always comes with such a wealth of inspirational material and background knowledge.
Thinking about taking a more ‘abstract’ direction is always a challenge, and here were some clear and simple guidelines for ways forward.

Reply
Frances
20/2/2020 09:21:51 pm

Thank you for all your comments. I am pleased that the session was helpful.

Reply



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