Early Drawings

These drawings were done during my early 20s. I had to set my own course when I started to take up art seriously, so drawing from books was a way to train my eye to be accurate. They were generally done in biro, but occasionally I introduced pencils or gouache. It was the only way to practice figure drawing over a sustained period of time, apart from self portraiture, as life classes offered only short poses. At that time, people thought a 40 minute pose was long enough - with a 10 minute break in the middle! 

 

Robert Hughes

Robert Hughes has been a favourite writer of mine for a long time. I remember reading his art reviews in my Father's Time Magazine, which are not only insightful but written with a texture that lifted them above his probing opinions. NOTHING IF NOT CRITICAL, published in 1987, is not only a collection of his art reviews but essays on the state of arts education, museum curatorship and the relationship between art and money. 

It's a shame he's not around today because women artists have a stronger presence in the art world from even 20 years ago. Almost all the artists Hughes has reviewed are male, but that is the fault of museums since his reviews were limited to what was presented to the public at the time. 

One of the interesting things about reading the text is that we are now the future of what he wrote about. Would he be pleased with the art world now? Perhaps not.