Food Observational Studies

I have been editing my art portfolio and came across these observational pencil studies of pineapples that I thought you would like to see. The focus of these pencil drawings was to show texture through the depth of line.

This second collection are mixed media pieces based on Japanese food. I used tracing paper as a base and used acrylic paint and marker pens to create the sweets. The noodles are represented with strips of masking tape.

The next study is mixed media using a combination of collage, watercolour, acrylic and varnish. The packet on the left is Japanese Miso paste with a small red box of chewy sweets bottom right. Shitake mushrooms and birds eye chillies complete the composition.

 This final piece was based on Gluttony; one of the seven deadly sins. I used a combination of magazine collage, watercolour, designers gouache, inks and wax crayon resist techniques. All studies of food were from observation rather than from a secondary source.

Food is a subject matter that I come back to again and again. I especially like the juxtaposition of the textures and colours of natural food versus the graphic text and patterns of packaged food.

Have you got any 'go-to' things that you like to draw or paint?

Check out lots of other cool crafty blogs at #handmademonday organised by Julia of Sum of their Stories.

Tate Modern O'Keeffe Art Course Part I

As an end of term summer treat I booked myself onto an evening art course at the Tate Modern. It is ran by Sheila Wallis (who ran the Marlene Dumas art course in 2015) who is encouraging us to be inspired by O'Keeffe's approach to art. Nature, Image, Abstraction, Looking through O'Keeffe.

The course started last Monday with a visit to the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition. We were given a clipboard and pencils and had 40 minutes to capture our favourite O'Keeffe work using monochrome. Initially I found this task quite difficult as O'Keeffe is famous for her beautiful sense of colour.

I was taken with this abstract piece based on the view of Lake George.

Georgia O'Keeffe, 1924, Onto the Lake #1

Here is my 40-minute monochrome interpretation using pencil, felt-tip and graphite.

Last night on the second class of the course we were asked to create three different abstracted compositions (portrait, landscape and square) based upon the work we had produced in the previous week. Again, only in monochrome. We were given five minutes for each composition. I sketched mine out quickly and finished them this morning.

I used black watercolour for the landscape composition focussing on the bold contrast between black and white. The portrait composition was a quick study using pencil and graphite and the final square composition is a a mixed media piece using marker pen, felt-tip, graphite and water.

Before launching into painting we had a fun warm-up activity where we listened to a piece of music and were asked to respond. I have done this before and really enjoyed the flowing mark-making outcomes. You create marks and shapes you wouldn't necessarily make without the music guiding your hand! It's a very free-ing activity.

The warm-up exercise: A mark-making  response to music (the theme tune to Tomorrow's World)

During the rest of the evening we produced observational paintings based on plants and flowers. I selected this striking green flower below (I think it is a chrysanthemum?):

Below are my 30 minute and 10 minute studies using watercolour and then acrylic paints:

30 minute study using watercolour paints with an overlay of acrylic

10 minute study using acrylic paint

5 minute abstracted study using the curves of the petals to inspire the flow of the lines

Raku Clay Effect Shells

I have been exploring the simple properties of line, texture and form in the art classroom with students and really enjoyed creating these examples.

Observational studies of shells using mixed media. Collage with pen and ink.

I then started to investigate texture and form using clay. Using a basic thumb-pot / pinch-pot method I produced a likeness of the shells then imprinted texture and used shallow relief techniques. The tools I used were the traditional clay tools alongside old screws, a metal fork and a handle of an old paintbrush.

  

If you do not have access to a kiln you can use air-drying clay or Fimo home-oven bake polymer clay. 

After firing the clay shells I decided not to use a traditional glaze but to layer acrylic paints on the surface. First I used a layer  of black paint ensuring the paint goes deep into the cracks and textural areas. The next step is to wash away the paint using a cloth - it's best to do this quickly before the paint has a chance to dry onto the outer surface.

This leaves the dark paint in the crevices of the clay. I then used a pearlescent paint and a dry brush method and gently brushed the silver paint over the surface of the clay shell.

The final finish is to create a raku effect glaze but without the need for fire-pits and sawdust. The process of what you would need to do to create raku pottery is quite dangerous if you don't have the specialist equipment!

After firing the clay in a traditional kiln, whilst still hot you move them using metal tongs and place the pottery into a metal container that can be sealed. In this container you can use sawdust / dried leaves / dried seaweed which when the hot pottery is placed into the container will ignite and burn. The container is sealed so the fire continues until all the oxygen in the space is exhausted. This process causes chemical reactions that affect the pottery and glazes and produce the most beautiful effects.

Image source: Clayhouse Studios

What do you think? I really enjoyed making them. You could you use them for ring dishes or use them purely for decoration.