Short Poses from Life Classes

These drawings were done about 30 years ago. So many poses in life classes are too short, as if there becomes a problem when the model takes a break and resumes the pose. While quick poses are good, sustained poses are more important because the complexities and subtleties of the human form can be explored even more. 

I can't remember which of these drawings was a 10 minute or 20 minute pose. The black and white ones are drawn with ink and the last two are oil paint wash.

David Hockney's line drawings and Degas' essence drawings (oil paint thinned with turps) were always an inspiration.

 

Drawing from Life

In my early 20s, when I started out to be an artist, drawing from art books was fine for a while but it couldn't be limited to this practice since you need to explore other avenues of making images in order to find your own voice. With this in mind, I began going to life classes and asking friends to sit for a portrait drawing. The face was important as I wanted to create a person and not just a 'model', as if he or she was just an object to draw. There is not much background in most of the drawings as time was extremely limited and my aim was to capture the figure. 

These are some of the drawings I did from life. The life drawings were done from 4 x 20 minute poses and the portraits perhaps 2 hours each. The aim was to develop a fairly accurate observation from life and explore different mediums and papers, such as pencil, pastel, conte and oil paint wash.

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.

The Birth of Cinema

The Birth of Cinema, 2022, oil on canvas, 20.25 x 25.25 cm

 

Many years ago, a great friend of mine had a part of his house converted into a cinema and it's been my good fortune to be invited to many of his screenings. Ross had an eightieth birthday recently and for a birthday present I thought it a good idea to paint a scene in a cinema. But what to put-on the screen? Eventually the idea came to me to make an image of the moving picture that is regarded as the beginning of the cinema as we know it today. 

It was made by the Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis, in 1894 and it is known by the title L'arrivee d'un train en gare de La Ciotat ( The arrival of a train at Ciotat train station). There are 3 versions of this motion picture which are known to have existed but the original film created a new artistic medium that has developed in a way that would have astounded the Lumiere brothers. No doubt they would have been proud to know they were the spark that created film history.

My Early Beginings as an Artist.

When I decided to study art seriously, at 20 years old, I couldn't get into an art school, so there was only one course of action to pursue. The hardest question to answer was how do you become an artist? How do you make the kind of images you see in the art books? After trying out many ways to paint pictures and without success, I travelled to London when I was 26 and saw the small painted cloud studies by John Constable which were done directly from life. It was a revelation and from that time on I have painted  almost all of my pictures from life. 

I didn't stay long in London so when I got back to Melbourne I painted scores of still life pictures. Almost all of them I destroyed but I kept about a dozen. At this time I couldn't paint skies, clouds or things in front of other things. In these still life paintings, very few objects overlap that much. But these few paintings are some of the ones I've kept from 40 years ago.

Still Life with Ceramic Container, Oranges, Glass and Corkscrew, 1981,

oil on masonite, 39.4 x 44.7 cm

Still Life with Teapot, Apples and Oriental Porcelain Container, 1982, 

oil on canvas board, 47.5 x 59.3 cm

Still Life with Glass, Bananas, Spoon and Beads, 1981,

Oil on masonite, 31.5 x 35.5 cm

Still Life with Brandy Bottle, Two Glasses, Bananas and Knife, 1983,

 oil on canvas board, 45.5 x 59.25 cm

 

Empty Frame With Reflections

Empty Frame with Reflections, 2022, oil on canvas, 40.4 x 30.5 cm.

This is a paintings I did while I was the artist-in-residence at Geelong Grammar School recently. The tricky part was to convey the feeling that you are looking at an empty frame with glass in it

reflecting an image but not enough to look like a frame with a picture in it. 

The reflection is a suggestion of my face but I needed to adjust the tones to make it seem like there is someone there. Whether I succeeded or not is up to the viewer.

 

Christening Dresses

 In 2013 I bought 3 Christening dresses as subjects for still-life paintings. In 2022, I finally painted the final one. 

From a painting perspective, rendering the colour white and capturing intricate patterns are two challenges that are a pleasure to tackle. A Christening dress has both, which add delicacy and  elegance these these objects. These gowns also suggest the spiritual since they have an association with  the newly born. Below are the 3 Christening dresses with some details of hems, cuffs and collars.

Christening Dress #1, 2013, oil on canvas, 91.25 x 50.25 cm

Christening Dress #2, 2015, oil on canvas, 102 x 66 cm

Christening Dress #3, 2022, oil on linen, 122 x 61.25 cm

Storm on the Lake

Storm on the Lake, 2022, oil on linen, 46 x 61 cm

This work was inspired by Lake Wendouree in Ballarat, which is a never-ending source of ideas for paintings. This painting is a studio invention though I like to constantly visit the place of the initial inspiration as it helps me to develop the painting over time. Visiting the sight reveals the little things that are important and which make a difference to the result of the work. It could be the colour and shape of a cloud, the reeds pushed towards the shore, the trees and buildings along the horizon or an orange buoy in the water. Sometimes real life has surprises that inventions overlook.

More Pics from Geelong Grammar School

I thought I would post a few more pics from my residency at Geelong Grammar so here they are. 

The art students have an art award called the Coriobald, an annual portrait prize opened to Geelong Grammar students only, and the name is of course a play on the Archibald. I was a little surprised when I was asked to be one of the judges when I arrived at Geelong Grammar School to begin my residency. In general, I'm not a fan of Art Prizes or Awards as they are a kind of censorship. By that I mean the finalists and winners are filtered through the prejudices and agendas of those who judge the artwork. Then there is the inevitable compromise amongst the judges as they seek a common ground to come up with a winner that will suit all the judges. It might not even be the winner you would choose if you were the only judge. 

I was also asked to open the award so I thought I would point out to the students that time alone is the only judge of an artist's legacy and that this fact should always be borne in mind. 

The opening itself was amazing as so many enthusiastic people turned up for the event and the catering was exceptional as it always is at Geelong Grammar School. I was given a bottle of wine as a thank you, a wine cultivated from the Timbertop vines and it was such a warm and tasty brew! Thank you Geelong Grammar School.

Opening remarks at the Coriobald

left-right. Hugo, Peter Bajer (Head of Visual Arts), me and Charlotte. 

Unfortunately I didn't get the surnames of the students who 

introduced me and presented me with a bottle of wine as a thank you

The Clock Tower

Inside the Clock Tower

Inside the Clock Tower

View from the Clock Tower

 View from the Clock Tower