Graphite and watercolour - two NEW guides

Two new publications by leading artists who demonstrate expertise in their respective fields

• one is a new book about his watercolour portfolio by leading watercolour painter David Poxon RWS NWS
• the second is a detailed guide about using graphite for scientific illustration by Rogério Lupo.

[Note: This post has been revised since first published]

Watercolour Heart and Soul by David Poxon

Watercolour, Heart & Soul is David Poxon's first book about how he paints in watercolour.

To me that seems somewhat surprising given he's been a leading watercolour painter with an international reputation. Indeed he's moved on to being one of those artists who you see a lot of other artists trying to emulate his paintings!

David is an elected member of the prestigious R.I. (The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours) and serves on the R.I. Council. He is also a signature member of N.W.S (The National Watercolour Society) in the USA and has served on the jury for selection (in 2015).

The book is now published.

Watercolour Heart & Soul contains an eclectic collection of his most iconic paintings together with a detailed section describing the artists techniques. Author's website

I confess I've not yet seen a copy as it is so new, however if it's as good as David's paintings.....

UPDATE: Please note I am only suggesting this book for people who want to see David's paintings. 

You can order this 190 page book in one of three ways

• from his website via this link for £29.90 + flat rate shipping at £3.90
• order via Amazon - with free delivery
• or buy it at the upcoming annual exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour at the Mall Galleries - although I expect it will be in stock if you are're in the Galleries before then

Graphite for Scientific Illustration by Rogerio Lupo

Graphite for Scientific Illustration by Brazilian illustrator Rogério Lupo is a new English translation of his Guide (in Portuguese) about how to use graphite for scientific illustration of botanical subjects.

This is a FREE guide which can be downloaded as a PDF file from Slideshare (just click the link in the title above)

It's intended for:

• anyone interested in learning about the fundamentals of graphite 
• anyone who wants improve their knowledge and skills in the use of graphite for scientific illustration generally and botanical illustration in particular.

The guide covers the following:

• how to observe and render light and shadow and nuances accurately
• How to sharpen, handle and move a pencil to achieve better application and coverage of the support with graphite
• How to use pencil delicately so as to make good use of time, achieve a good finish and preserve the integrity of the paper
• how to render shade gradually from the lightest to the darkest tones
• How to render the different textures and colours of subject matter in monochoromatic shades of grey
• How to recognise and represent luminosities, reflections and contrasts; 
• Practical and fast methods for rendering of hairs and thorns.
• How to prevent errors, cope with problems with paper and damage which cannot be repaired

He also provides a very useful commentary on both brands and grades of graphite and different types of paper suitable for working on when using graphite.

Rogério Lupo is a Brazilian Natural Science Illustrator based in Sao Paulo. He has won first prize in several competitions including the very prestigious Margaret Flockton Award - for international 'strictly botanical' illustrators in 2010 and 2013. He graduated in biology from the Universidade de São Paulo. Much of his work is dedicated to the illustration of scientific botanical articles/papers. He has also researched different approaches to illustration and artistic techniques.

Judging by the traffic to my blog post yesterday on my Botanical Art and Artists website, there's very great interest in getting hold of this Guide!

Hence why I decided to share it with a wider audience.

The Heatherley School of Art Staff Exhibition at the Bankside Gallery

The Fifth Staff Show by The Heatherley School of Art. is currently on display at the Bankside Gallery.

I went to the Private View last night (I'm a Visiting Lecturer at the School).  The artworks on display cover a wide range of subject matter, media and styles.

Artwork by Hero Johnson on the left and Melissa Scott-Miller on the right
The Principal Veronica Ricks is bottom left.

My general recommendation to people seeking any sort of art tuition is "look at the art produced by the tutor". If you don't like the art it's entirely possible you won't have any empathy with the tutor. Plus it also enables you to check out skills levels!

Heatherley's maintains a diary on its website of where you can see its tutors exhibiting throughout the year.

Very impressive it is too - with staff exhibiting in a wide variety of open exhibitions and prestigious art competitions as well as other solo and group shows.

However once a year they all exhibit together for a few days at the Bankside Gallery. This year the exhibition continues until Sunday 28th January.

Last night's preview was packed - but I got there early on and managed to get some shots of some of artwork I liked as I moved around the show (but not all I hasten to add!)

Woodcut prints by Hilary Daltry

Hilary Daltry RE is a London based printmaker who is Head of Printmaking at Heatherley's, a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and specialises in woodcut prints. She studied painting at the Slade School of Fine Art and printmaking at Chelsea School of Art and was awarded the Prix de Rome scholarship. Her prints are often included in The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and she is a council member of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. She hand prints on Japanese paper. Jacksons Art have done two interviews with her

• about her art and printmaking
• about how to make prints without a printing press

Paintings by David Stubbs below were not cheap - but that didn't stop them from selling! He teaches part-time at Heatherley's and trained at the Slade School of Fine Art, graduating in 1981.

A still life and landscape by David Stubbs.

The three portraits below are by:

• Minna Stevens MA (RCA) - Cindy - a painter who works predominately in portraiture, with a particular interest in portraits of children and animals. She is also the Course Director for the Diploma in Portraiture
• Adebanji Alade ROI - Adebanji can be seen painting regularly on The One Show on BBC1
• John Walton RP - Self portrait at 91 - ex Governor of the Federation of British Artists 1983-96 and Chairman 1990-96

Three portraits

I particularly liked the portrait of Jose escofet by Miriam Escofet. She has been a working artist since she graduated from graduated from Brighton School of Art in 1990. She was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2014 and is a past winner of Winner Of The Burke's Peerage Award For Classically Inspired Portraiture. She's been selected four times for the BP Portrait Award exhibition and several times for the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

Jose Escofet by Miriam Escofet
(oil on linen over panel)

 I hope you enjoyed this taster.

The 2014 Art on Facebook Challenge

This is an invitation to a CHALLENGE for all of you who have enjoyed art on Facebook in 2014.  

SHARE the 10 favourite places on Facebook where you found art you enjoy this year! 
#ArtOnFacebook2014

Between now and 31 December 2014 I'm inviting you to celebrate and share up to 10 sites on Facebook where you have enjoyed the art in 2014.

You're not sharing a specific post - you're sharing your cumulative EXPERIENCE over the whole of 2014 of enjoying a SOURCE of art on Facebook.

The source of art MUST be on Facebook and can be any of the following

• Facebook Pages or 
• Facebook Groups or 
• the Personal Accounts of Facebook Members (but I suggest you make sure these are ones which are mostly public - so you can share)

Below I've identified who might own some of the Facebook sites you want to highlight

Organisations or Groups

• Art Galleries and Museums
• Groups of artists with a common cause
• Newspapers / Journals employing journalists who write about art

Individual artists 

• professional artists
• semi-professional artists
• artists who are keen to improve their work
• people who are beginners

Teachers and writers and video-makers

• art educators online
• individual tutors who share art education on Facebook
• people who curate and share art
• people who write books about art
• people who make videos about art

Art Business / Art Economy

• people who write about the art business
• art supplies people

It's entirely your choice!

Please use the tag #ArtOnFacebook2014 to indicate this is a post which forms part of this challenge. If you want to explain to people what's it about please feel free to link to this post - but you don't have to.

How you share them is up to you - on Facebook or on your blog or both.

• You can post all the sites in one day 
• Or spread out the sites you've enjoyed between now and 31st December - maybe doing two per day!  
• You can also reshare those sites shared by others!

I'm going to be sharing sites on my Making A Mark Facebook Page between now and the end of the year - and then will post links to them all on my blog on 31st December. 

Will you accept my Facebook Art Challenge?

NOTE

How this idea came about:

1. I'm not running the Making A Mark Art Blog Awards this year for a variety of reasons - I've been mightily distracted from reading blogs by writing my book plus health issues - for me and my mother - kept me running around and continued the distraction. Overall it meant I looked at a lot less blogs in 2014 - so it didn't seem fair to do the MAM Awards. 
2. However I did keep track of people via Facebook and I've been trying to think of a way of celebrating art in 2014 - and this is it!

BP Portrait Award: Inspiring portraits by teenagers

Inspire a Generation is the official slogan of the Olympic Games.  However inspiring the next generation is not just limited to sport - it applies to art as well.

Participants in BP Portrait Award: Next Generation Taster Sessions, July 2012
Photograph Othello De’Souza-Hartley © National Portrait Gallery

BP is a premier partner of the London 2012 Olympics.  One of the Museum activities associated with the London 2012 Festival - part of the Cultural Olympiad - is the National Portrait Gallery's BP Portrait Award Next Generation programme which is about:

• bringing together leading artists with young people 
• widening the horizons of young people 
• enabling them to participate in learning about making art
• encouraging them to draw and paint portraits
• inspiring a permanent artistic legacy.

See my previous post The Next Generation - Portraiture for Teenagers which reviewed the BP Portrait Award Next Generation activities for 14-19 years olds interested in art and portraiture.

The Next Generation is a project run by the National Portrait Gallery which is all about inspiring 14­-19-year-olds (aka "The Next Generation") about portraiture. It provides different opportunities for teenagers to meet with and gain insights from past BP Portrait Award artists and to share their own artwork.

A Next Generation Taster Session

I recently attended a BP Portrait Award: Next Generation Taster Session at the NPG and this post is a report on what happened.

The aims of the Taster Session are to

• Achieve engagement and participation - nobody learns unless they're interested!
• Try out a range of portrait techniques in the Gallery spaces and develop an understanding that there's more than one way to record a figure and make a portrait
• Meet artists who have had work in the BP Portrait Exhibition

The Facebook Debate

For those who followed the debate on my Facebook page following the last blog post (prior to comments by a certain indiviudal being deleted by me), here are the answers to what actually happens.  As I very much suspected, it's very wrong to criticise the guidance offered by the NPG and/or to assume that it's always appropriate that young people follow a traditional atelier approach and are taught how to draw a face in conventional terms!

The reason for this is that these are young people who are interested in art - but they have very different experiences in relation to portraiture.  From what I could see a fair number of the young people had little prior instruction in drawing a head.   Any session therefore has to be geared to involving everybody - whatever their experience or skill level - and to generate engagement and participation within a three hour time slot which in turn is likely to promote future engagement.

In this post I'm including some of the comments from the young people on the feedback forms which they complete at the end of the session.  From these you can deduce the value of the Taster Session from their perspective.

‘I found it really useful and it helped me have an insight into the artworld. I hope to go to artschool and this has broadened my experience of art’
Participant in Next Generation Taster Session, 2012

The structure of the taster session

I'm going to describe the way in which the 3.5 hours were structured - but first a comment on how well the young people engaged with the sessions.

The Next Generation - Portraiture for Teenagers

One of the interesting aspects of art museums and galleries which doesn't often get a high profile is the work they do in relation to education generally - and the education of younger people in particular.

The Next Generation is a project run by the National Portrait Gallery which is all about inspiring 14­-19-year-olds (aka "The Next Generation") about portraiture.  It provides different opportunities for teenagers to meet with and gain insights from past BP Portrait Award artists and to share their own artwork.

There's a display about the Next Generation  Project in the NPG -  in the Room 36 Lobby (as you make your way towards the BP Portrait Award 2012 exhibition).   This tells the story of Next Generation through a short film and a selection of painted works from past Summer Schools.

On Sunday I'm going to be observing the last session of one of the initiatives -The Next Generation Taster Session. Below here's what I found when I investigated the nature of the different opportunities on offer

If you know young people interested in portraiture
I suggest you bookmark this post and send them a link to it.

BP Portrait Award: Next Generation Taster Sessions

Try your hand at portrait drawing and meet practising artists in one of five short Taster Sessions, kicking off on the first weekend of BP Portrait Award 2012. Bookings essential on a first-come, first-served basis. Please book for only one session. All materials provided. Please supply your full name and contact details, mobile number, age and preferred session date.

On Sunday, 24 young people will work in three groups within the Galleries hosting the BP Portrait Award exhibition.  It provides them with an opportunity to meet other young people interested in art, to try new techniques for drawing and to meet with some of the artists who have won the BP Portrait Award.

You can see some of the ativities which occur in photos in the National Portrait Gallery BP Next Generation's photostream.

This is a link to the slideshow view of those photos.

A number use the Taster Sessions as a launch pad to their application to and involvement with the Summer Schools

BP Portrait Award: Next Generation Summer Schools for 14-19 year olds

After a more intensive experience? Apply for a place at one of our three-day Summer Schools in August to work with past BP Portrait Award-winning artists and experiment with painting, life drawing and other portraiture techniques. Applications are encouraged from these boroughs: Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Newham and Greenwich.

The Summer Schools are free and materials and refreshments are provided. You can download Summer Schools information and application forms from this link to the BP Portrait Award: Next Generation Summer Schools

Who can apply
If you are interested in portraiture, are studying art in a secondary school, live in London and the Home Counties and are aged between 14-19 years old you can apply.  Applications are particularly encouraged from the young people who live in the London 2012 Host Boroughs – Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Greenwich, Newham

How to apply

• Entry is by application. This is a link to the application form (Word doc). Note the Artist Statement of the application is particularly important.
• There are only 18 places in each of the two summer schools
• There is still time to apply for the Summer Schools.
• Applications close onTuesday 24 July at 5.00pm

Dates and times

• Summer School 1: Wednesday 15 – Friday 17 August 2012 11.30 – 16.30
• Summer School 2: Monday 20 – Wednesday 22 August 2011 11.30 – 16.30

BP Portrait Award: Next Generation Flickr Group

I'm very impressed with the quality of the painting I've seen posted to the Next Generation Flickr Group.

• This is a link to the BP Portrait Award: Next Generation  Flickr Group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/bpnextgeneration) where young people share their paintings
• you can also view the painted portraits which young people have shared in the Online Flickr Gallery with other young people in the NPG's online gallery

Some of the portraits by young people in the BP Portrait Award: Next Generation Flickr Group 

BP Next Generation on Twitter

The twitter feed for the project is https://twitter.com/bpnextgen

Meet the Artist

Tomorrow (Wednesday 18th July) a one day event is being held for secondary school art students and their teachers called Meet the Artist. You can read about previous Meet the Artist events and the processes and approaches for portraiture used by different artists.

The artists involved are photographers or painters and have typically been involved with the two major competitions run by the NPG.

Secondary art students and teachers can meet three past BP Portrait Award-winning artists through the BP Portrait Award: Next Generation project. This full-day session includes presentations by artists, an artist-led portrait drawing activity followed by Q&A. A viewing of BP Portrait Award 2012 and a feedback session with artists on hand to support and encourage students’ sketchbook work concludes an exciting day.

National Portrait Gallery Youth Forum

The Youth Forum meets on the first Thursday evening of the month and is an opportunity for young people to have a voice at the National Portrait Gallery.

Facebook
This is the Facebook Page for The National Portrait Gallery Youth Forum

Podcast
The National Portrait Gallery’s Youth Forum has developed their first podcast, ‘Tune In’, responding to key works and key themes in this year’s BP Portrait Award 2012.

• It's aimed at other young people and general visitors
• it's FREE and downloadable from the NPG website and from iTunes.
• It can also be listened to within the Digital Space at the National Portrait Gallery.

The NPG and its projects are also part of The English National Youth Arts Network (ENYAN)

19th September 2010 - Who's made a mark this week?

Oil Baron by Martin Roberts
(who I met at the Threadneedle Debate about Arts Funding
of which more next week)

I find September in the UK is always a month when a lot if happening in the Art world.  Major new exhibitions open, major events take place and major competitions are making significant announcements.  This last week has been very busy!

The Liverpool Biennial

The Liverpool Biennial (or Biennale is you're going to be European about it!) started yesterday in Liverpool and runs from 18th September to 28th November.  It's the UK's leading festival of Contemporary Visual Art.    

• Lots on the biennial website and you can follow what's going on on Twitter as well.  
• This is the BBC News on the Biennial - plus a slideshow of the event.  

The big question this year is going to be whether this will be the last time we see the Biennial in its current form given the fact that public funding cutrs loom large on the horizon and one of its funding sponsors has already been axed.

For ten weeks every two years the city of Liverpool is transformed into the most amazing living gallery of new art, showcasing the best contemporary artists from around the world.

and

Works by almost 900 artists from around the world are going on show as part of the UK's largest contemporary arts festival, the Liverpool Biennial.
The event attracted 975,000 visitors the last time it was staged, in 2008.

BBC News - Cultures clash at Liverpool Biennial of art

Major UK Art Competitions and Prizes

The John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize is also based in Liverpool - with the exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery - and is always associated with the Biennial.  On Thursday night - just before the Festival started we heard the announcement that Keith Coventry (won the) £25,000 John Moores Painting Prize 2010

Building the Riverside Museum by Patricia Cain

Which was 24 hours after Wednesday night here in London when I heard who had won the Threadneedle Prize for contemporary figurative art.  Now if I'd got digitally enhanced I could have written my blog post while sat at the dinner table listening to the speeches - but instead I took photos - including one of the winner who you can see and read about in Patricia Cain wins £25,000 Threadneedle Prize 2010.  She's a very nice lady and it was really good to see a pastel drawing win a major prize!

Jonathan Jones on the Guardian was rather less complimentary about the Threadneedle competition and figurative art - which I'd be a tad more persuaded about if he didn't keep trailing the artist (Michaelangelo) he's just written a book about because it increases the chances I'll think he's writing advertising copy rather than critical commentary!

Meanwhile this is My Threadneedle Prize shortlist - right artist - wrong pastel drawing!

Art Blogs

Audio Interviews with/about artists

• This is a post about an audio interview with Kurt Jackson about his new exhibition - words and pics are definitely worth listening to and looking at - see Kurt Jackson and the River Dart
• You can also listen to Lisa Jardine's A Point of View The Sistine tapestries about the four huge tapestries from the Sistine Chapel which the Vatican have lent to the Victoria and Albert Museum to mark the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.  The V&A is the home of Raphael's huge Cartoon (preparatory drawings for the tapestries). The tapestries were not seen alongside the cartoons by Raphael in his lifetime as they were not completed until after his death

The reuniting of Raphael's Sistine Chapel tapestries and their original designs is little short of a miracle

Raphael: Cartoons and Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel, at V&A, Seven magazine review

Drawing and sketching
There's a new drawing blog Line by Line - on the New York Times of all places.  Thanks to Rose Welty for the tip-off. 

•  This is how it describes itself (below).  I've added it to the drawing blogroll and will be keeping an eye on it to see how it does.  Quite a lot of these type of blogs start well and then peter out....however this one has a limited life of 12 weeks.  I wonder how much he will post in that time?

LINE BY LINE:  A series on learning the basics of drawing, presented by the artist and author James McMullan. Line By Line begins with installments on line, perspective, proportion and structure, and continues from there, using examples from art history to illuminate specific issues. Pencil and paper recommended.

• This is the first blog post Getting Back to the Phantom Skill.  According to 'search', tis is the first and only item ever tagged 'drawing' on the New York Times!

Coloured Pencils and Pastels
I've got the 'official posts from UKCPS News about the 9th Annual Open International Exhibition below.  Here are the artists who've been blogging about their pictures being in the exhibition!

• Sue Clinker (Pencilpix) is 15/09: CHUFFED AS A MAGGOT!! to have won Reserve Best in Show.  She'a also pretty pleased about having sold her picture in her first outing at the Society of Feline Artists Exhibition.  Sue is also a member of Made in Whistable
• Bev Lewis (Animal Artistry by Bev Lewis) won a Highly Commended Award for her Silverback 'Rainforest Dreaming'
• Pauline Longley (Pauline Longley's ArtBlog) was also very chuffed to get a Highly Commended for her coloured pencil portrait of a small boy.  Pauline is demonstrating at the exhibition on will be demonstrating on 29th and 30th September.
• Sue Smith (Sue's Sketch Blog) is back with us after a prolonged absence due to illness.  It's very good to see both her and her work - with the latter being in the exhibition

Portraiture

• Philip Glass Talks About His Friend Chuck Close (one of my favourite contemporary artists) “Everyone He Photographed That Day Became Famous”

Art and the Economy / Art Collectors

• There are 10,035 signatures on the the Save the Arts petition already!
• Lehman's corporate art collection goes under the hammer at Christies - An auction of works held by Lehman in the United States will take place at Sotheby's in New York on 25 September. This event boasts a star-studded contemporary collection, with works from John Baldessari, Anish Kapoor, Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman, John Currin, Richard Prince, Roni Horn and Gerhard Richter.
• Metropolitan Museum Cuts Sales Staff.  If they're suffering, it's not surprising if others are too....... 

Art Competitions

It's fascinating to see that we now have Visitors Choice awards for paintings chosen by people on Twitter and Facebook!  So here's the update for the BP Portrait Awards

• Winner of Twitter Fave BP Portrait Award painting is Alan Rickman by Raoul Martinez. It's now the background image on the National Portrait Gallery's twitter page - see NPGLondon - how about that for a marketing wheeze!
• Winner of the NPG Facebook favourite BP Portrait Award painting is Geneva by Ilaria Rosselli del Turco - and became the profile pic for the exhibition. Many congratulations to Ilaria (Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco - News  I think that might make up for missing the PV! :)

Art Exhibitions

New exhibitions, viewing today......

• Dulwich Gallery's new Salvator Rosa show Salvator Rosa (1615 – 1673): Bandits, Wilderness and Magic (15 September - 28 November) - see Salvator Rosa at Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Arcimboldo, 1526–1593: Nature and Fantasy (September 19, 2010–January 9, 2011) is at the National Gallery of Art - Washington, DC USA

Sixteen examples of the fantastic composite heads painted by Giuseppe Arcimboldo will be featured in this exhibition, their first appearance in the United States. Bizarre yet scientifically accurate, the unusual heads are composed of plants, animals, and objects. 

Opening next week.......

• Angus McEwan ARWS RSW - his new work "Resonance" opens at the Open Eye Gallery, 34 Abercromby Place Edinburgh EH3 6QE on Thursday the 23rd of September 2010 and continues until to 12th October 2010. Click the link to see works in this show about Cuba
• Hilary Paynter - an exhibition of Wood Engravings at the Bankside Gallery 22 September - 3rd October.  She has a very weird website but it's worth the effort.

Art History, Galleries and Museums

• Winsor and Newton have a an article about Article: Palettes of the Masters - JMW Turner
• The Guardian has a couple of items about Kitagawa Utamaro: the Japanese artist who loved women
• This is a slideshow of prints by the Japanese master who drew the intimate world of courtesans and geishas.   Images are from an exhibition at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham which opens on 21st September
• Kitagawa Utamaro - Laura Cummings explains in her article how few artists have captured the intimate world of courtesans and geishas as dazzlingly as Kitagawa Utamaro

Art Society Exhibitions

Loire Valley Harvest by Janie Pirie

These are the posts relating to the the 9th Annual Open International Exhibition held by the United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society at the Stamford Arts Centre

• Winner of Best in Show 2010 is... Janie Pirie (Mrs Thorogood).  Janie tells me that she intends to donate £20 for each print sold of Loire Valley Harvest (now re-named All Is Safely Gathered In) to the St. Elizabeth Hospice in Ipswich for the untiring work they do for all terminally ill patients.  Contact Janie if you're interested in a copy as she hasn't got it up on her website yet.
• 9th Annual Open International Exhibition: Other Prizewinners
• Highly commended at the 9th Annual Open International Show 
• New signature members of UKCPS (2010)
• UKPCS Annual Exhibition 2010: Private View

The ‘THE NATURAL EYE’ - The 47th Annual Exhibition of the  Society of Wildlife Artists opens at the Mall Galleries on 22 September and runs to 2 October 2010

Art Education / workshops / Tips and techniques

Art instruction books

• Mitchel Albala (Essential Concepts of Landscape Painting) is following up his best-selling book about landscape painting by teaching about The Lessons of Fog: Massing, Values Zones, Edges and Neutrals
• Deborah Secor (Landscape Painting in Pastels) continues her blog book about Landscape Painting:
• CHAPTER THIRTY -- TWENTY-STROKE PAINTINGS
• CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE – UNDERPAINTING IN COMPLEMENTS
• CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO -- FROM STUDIO TO PLEIN AIR this includes a very helpful overview of the merits of studio versus location painting and a list of materials for plein air painting

Art class / workshops

• Deborah Secor also uses a blog to deliver her schedule for her painting class and then to post results afterwards.  It's a way of using blogs which other tutors of regular and one-off classes could well emulate.  See her posts:
• Class 5— September 2 — Class Collage and Class Collage Results (and some other classroom work)
• Class 6— September 9— Memory Painting Exercise and Memory Painting results
• Class 7— September 16— Emotion of Color and Emotion of Color class results

Art Demonstrations

• You can see award-winning botanical artist Susan Christopher Coulson demonstrating her coloured pencil work using Artists Pencils at the Cumberland Pencil Museum on 28th Sept 2010 and 29th Sept 2010

Art Videos

• This is Marc Dalassio's extremely helpful and very short video on how to use the sight-size approach to plein air painting - which I've posted on The Art of the Landscape

Tips

• Richard mcDaniel (The Pastel Pointers Blog) has A Few Suggestions for Photographing Paintings | Part 1 

Art Studios

• Billie Crain (Art by Crain) has a new easel.  Do you have a new easel you;d like to share?

Art Supplies

Billie also alerted me to Daniel Smith's Watercolor 66 Try-It Color Sheet which I wrote about on my Making A Mark reviews blog - and then daniel Smith sent some suggested videos they'd loaded on to YouTube about to use the sheet (and the post is now updated with those links)

Colour

• I've only recently discovered the fact that back in 2008 Marc Dalessio did a colour test of different paints in relation to vermilion.  You can read about it omn his blog in Color test: Vermilion I followed up and posted Product review: Marc Dalassio's Vermillion Test which provides the link to the website to the paint he recommends
• Winsor & Newton - who have one of the most helpful manufacturer's websites - have a Spotlight on colour: Vandyke Brown page.  Of course I looked a bit further (not easy!) and found
• Spotlight on colour: Payne's Gray
• Spotlight on colour: Turquoise
• Spotlight on colour: Cadmium Orange
• Spotlight on Colour: Phthalo Green

Websites, webware and blogging

• Tina Mammoser (The Cycling Artist) is running courses on how to use your blog to improve your art prospects.  See Blogging - with Tina Mammoser:  Blogging for Beginners: Your Way for Your Art 4-29 October 2010
• Did you know? Check out these posts on the ColourLovers blog
• The Most Powerful Colors in the World
• you could Use Color to Increase Participation?

Using Color to Increase Participation

and finally........

This was amusing - Revealed: the colour of the social web is the colour of Twitter.  What grey, blue and pink say about you on Twitter.  Maybe avoid the pink? ;)

Ted Seth Jacobs and Sadie J. Valeri

Thanks to Paul at Learning to See I came across the invaluable set of notes by Sadie J. Valeri (Sadie J Valeri) about Ted Seth Jacob's teachings about how to see and how to draw.

I've organised links to her posts below with a commentary on what they are about

But first a caveat from Sadie

My notes don't necessarily accurately reflect the teachings of my instructors, in fact my teachers may disagree or find some of my expression of their ideas to be inaccurate. The best way to understand their teaching is to buy their books and take their classes.

Ted Seth Jacobs - Figure Workshop
I've begun Ted Seth Jacobs' 6-week figure drawing workshop, offered through the Bay Area Classical Artist Atelier.  So far I have come up with this summary of my impression of Ted's method for figure drawing. (Note: This is my impression, and not a direct quote, he may describe it differently) My favorite concept so far from Ted:

The simplest definition of a 'gesture' is an action showing intention, or desire.

TSJ on "Structure"
Ted lectures in the mornings, and in the afternoons we draw from the model.  Below I've summarized some of his concepts and diagrammed my drawing to show how I am attempting to apply his techniques

All the forms of the body are arranged on curving pathways, never straight or angular.

TSJ Workshop: Melissa, Day 1 and Day 2 - focusing on feet  

You can see Ted's sketches of the structure of the foot and head in the top image, which he drew for me when he came around to critique my drawing.

 

Day 3: pencil on paper, 12 x 18 inches, detail

copyright/courtesy: Sadie J Valeri 

with annotation on drawing feet by Ted Seth Jacobs

TSJ Workshop: Melissa Day 3 - trying to create the smaller forms according to the philosophy Ted has been teaching us.

 TSJ Workshop: Melissa Day 5
My idea is melding the two approaches. Blocking-in with straight lines to get all the tilts and distances to be accurate. Then using Ted's way of seeing to express the myriad organic structures that make up the whole form.

TSJ Workshop: Head Study - I decided to try a new drawing of just the model's face and hand these last two days of the pose.

TSJ Workshop: Head Study Day II
Ted has been teaching us about "rounding and ending" a shadow. This is where a shadow is shaped by the light falling over the rounded edge of a form, which makes a soft gradated edge. Then the shadow ends in a crease, a hard edge, before the next rounded form begins.

TSJ Workshop - Reclining Nude I
We are now in the 4th week of Ted Seth Jacobs' drawing workshop at BACAA.  This week we started drawing a 3-week pose. Today is the 4th day, and I spent the first 3 1/2 days struggling with the block-in.

TSJ Workshop: Reclining Nude II
I have transcribed some more of my notes from TSJ's teachings. These are some of his overall themes, the ideas he repeats no matter what specifics he is showing us:

"I am not your teacher: nature is your teacher. But you have to have knowledge of the principles of form to understand what nature is showing you. These principles are helpful only as far as they help us see nature. If nature disagrees with a principle, nature is right, the principle is wrong. Nature is our teacher always."
Ted Seth Jacobs

TSJ Portrait Workshop: Mona
Ted is showing us how the principles he taught us for figure drawing apply to portraiture.

 Melissa
18 x 24 inches, pencil on paper (about 30 hours)

copyright/courtesy: Sadie J Valeri 

TSJ Portrait Workshop: Melissa
I feel like Ted's lessons are really starting to sink in, and my drawing is much improved since I started working with him. He's taught me to think of the 3-dimensional forms of what I am looking at (and subforms, and subforms and subforms...), and to try to understand everything in 3 dimensions, instead of just "copying" a pattern of lights and darks. The result is a much more solidly volumetric drawing.

TSJ Portrait Workshop: Bridgette
When I am drawing now I feel like my pencil is actually touching the surface of the form, like sculpting. Previously I only thought about copying lights and darks, so this is a totally different approach for me.

Ted Seth Jacobs - Drapery Study
A recap from 12 weeks studying drawing with Ted Seth Jacobs at BACAA. Highlights the 4 main principles Ted taught Sadie to apply when analyzing form

Other comments

I've got Ted's book - Drawing with an Open Mind - and am kicking myself right now as it's not where it should be (on the shelf of drawing books) so I can't quote from it!  He's always struck me a very thoughtful man who aspire to instill excellence in all those who study with him.

However Jeff Hayes commented about him as a teacher in this 2005 post about Ted Seth Jacobs

Although he has a very kindly and unassuming manner, I was immediately thunderstruck by both the depth and breadth of the knowledge and insight be brings to bear on the practice of painting and drawing. In the space of just a few sentences, he would touch on physics, anatomy, geometry, optics, engineering, art history, pedogogy, physiology, materials, perception, oh, and philosophy to boot. And these were not the abstracted mental meanderings of a scattered intellectual. Rather, all his comments had direct relevance to the subject at hand, which is to say aspects of drawing the human body. It was really a virtuoso performance, indicitive of a lifetime spent deeply pondering the problems of making art.

More resources for portraiture and figure drawing

I'm going to be developing a post for next week which is about portraiture and figure drawing.

In the meantime here's a link to my information site about Portraiture - Resources for Artists

What's in the iPad for artists and illustrators?

The Apple Ipad

Today the iPad launches in the USA and this post speculates about what it might mean for artists and illustrators. (Here in the UK we have to wait until late April to get our hands on one!)

I've been watching videos of one in use - by Apple - and by reviewers (such as MacWorld and Wired) - and have begun to twig that this is hardware/software which is going to be hugely useful for apps for artists - especially ones who are interested in innovatives ways of marketing their art or learning about art.

I'm just wondering whether anybody has started on developing those apps as yet.

Features which are going to be very helpful

To quote Apple these are:

• a 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology. IPS (in-plane switching) provides for a wide, 178° viewing angle. So you can hold it almost any way you want and still get a brilliant picture, with excellent color and contrast. (If it's anything like my new iMac screen you'll be very impressed)
  
• the multi-touch screen is very precise and responsive
  
• the 25-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery provides a ten hour battery life. Which is great for when you're 'in the field' all day (eg at an art fair) and don't have a chance to recharge a battery - it can display videos which fill the whole display for up to 10 hours
• YouTube videos stream wirelessly so can transmit straight away
  
• a choice of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of flash storage
• it uses a 1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip which (I'm guessing) means that it's very heat efficient and the unit doesn't get hot

The official Apple visuals: If you've not watched them yet - here they are:

• the tv ad
• the video
• the guided tour - which explains how all the different apps work
• the technical specification

What are the ways artists are going to use the iPad?

Here's my list of ways in which I think the iPad could be used by artists and illustrators

• showing your portfolio to a client - it offers the opportunity to show a portfolio on a website to a potential client (eg for portrait commissions or pitching for work) in a much more accessible way than you can using a laptop - plus it looks like any picture is going to look great on an iPad with the glass screen, the and the LED backlighting!
• demonstrations by a tutor in a workshop or class - it's a fast and easy way of showing a pre-recorded video of how a technique works. It's more accessible as it's easy to pass around and the technology allows for a wide viewing angle. So when you're preoccupied with setting up or waiting for a wash to dry, you now have a way of continuing to demonstrate and show people how to do things
  
• virtual private views - where artists write about / talk about / display their art in an exhibition any which way they choose. The sophistication as to presentation may take some time to become accessible to artists - but the scope is amazing - and you can see an example in.....
  
• a completely new way of delivering art magazines. The trad. publishers better be fast on their feet with this otherwise they may end up being followers rather than leaders. The potential of the features (for example See Wired Magazine on iPad as explained in a YouTube video) are absolutely amazing! This is a recommended watch for all those who communicate via magazine or newsletter.
• creating a comic/graphic book app - using your own illustrations. Maybe a little far-off as yet but I'd suggest this will come in time. Comics and graphical novels which already exist will get there faster - and I predict will create a surge in interest in this form of publication.
  
• a completely different way of delivering art books - for art instruction and art history - using ibooks which uses the ePub format — the most popular open book format in the world. I'm also thinking what's happening re the scope to show magazines is completely transferable to art books - and I predict will completely change the economics of expensive art books. For example.........
  
• expand visual presentation in art history books - the ability to feature several photos 'docked' in one place against a piece of text means that when explaining about an artist many more examples of his or her work could be used to provide evidence of the points being made

Maybe you've also had some ideas - in which case if you'd like to share please leave a comment below

Incidentally - isn't it rather clever to launch a product like this on a Saturday on one of the major 'holiday' breaks in the year? That'll be lots of time to spend time checking them out online or in the store!

Anybody notice that it's only taken a few weeks and I'm already becoming an apple nerd! I'm very seriously thinking of getting one of these. I'm very happy with my imac but when I want something portable I think this is highly likely to suit me better than a netbook.

and finally.....

The good ladies over at etsy are already hard at it producing arty sleeves and cases for the iPad.

Apple Links:

• Apple - the iPad
• iPad Features
• the design and the tech specs
• and, of course - apps for the iPad

Video Review Links:

• Macworld Video: The iPad Up Close (YouTube video)
  
• Wired - see the Wired Magazine on iPad (YouTube video)
  
• PCMag: Apple iPad video review - this guy goes a mile a minute! (YouTube video)
• CNet - Apple iPad 16gb

MAM Poll (November 09) Results: What makes a good art teacher?

What makes a good art teacher?
copyright Katherine Tyrrell / Making A Mark

The Making A Mark Survey for November was about what makes a good art teacher. It gave readers of this blog an opportunity to select more than one response from the choice on offer. 113 respondents in fact provided 651 responses - which gave an average of 5.7 important attributes per respondent. This is much higher than in any other survey I've conducted to date. Obviously MaM Poll respondents like their art teachers to be well rounded characters!

You can see the results in the chart above - right click and open in a new tab to see the chart more clearly.

Interestingly what this means is that while a number of characteristics were identified by most people (see below), each characteristic as a percentage share of total responses is actually quite low (as represented by the yellow green bar in the chart) due to respondents' emphasis on teachers having a range of attributes .

The post announcing the poll MAM Poll (Nov. 2009): What makes a good art teacher? received a number of comments and I've highlighted extracts from these below.

What are the characteristics of a good art teacher?

So what does this all mean? It's interesting to see that people value a teacher's overall approach to teaching art rather than an art teacher's own particular skills at creating art or their knowledge about art.

What really matters is whether they are oriented towards learning, can explain and show what they are teaching and provide good quality feedback to those trying to learn.

Six top characteristics of a Good Art Teacher

Out of the 12 attributes identified, the top six are as follows.

A good art teacher is

• Encouraging - providing constructive feedback (72%)
• Good at demonstrations and explaining techniques (65%)
• Enthusiastic and passionate about art (57%)
• an effective communicator (53%)
  

A good art teacher also promotes independence in their students through:

• learning and self-evaluation (56%)
• originality and creativity (not just copying) (54%)
  

Commentary on different attributes

• Encouraging - Teachers who are encouraging were identified as good teachers by 72% of respondents and this was by far the most popular attribute with nearly three quarters of the respondents identifying this as being important. I do wonder whether this characteristic explains why some artists do particularly well as tutors.

I have two art teachers and both are great in different ways.......In both cases developing an individual style is encouraged and there is always lots of supportive feedback - even if the end result is less than perfect! I find this encourages me and other members of my art group to remain passionate about the art that we produce.
Bella

• Demonstrator - Learning by watching a tutor is obviously very popular (65%). it's very clear that art students do like a nice clear explanation backed up by a demonstration. For teachers the clear message is that this has implications for teaching tools - like step by step guides - as well as the approach with class. I've been amazed at times at the different approaches tutors take to providing documentary support for their tuition. These days it's not actually difficult for anybody to provide clear guidelines about how to tackle a particular skill or technique. Artists who provide guides in written form or as books or videos can generate a steady stream of income.
• Enthusiastic - I take students' enthusiasm for tutors who are enthusiastic and passionate about art (58%) as being a vote for those tutors who are both positive and energising. There's nothing quite like a tutor who is able to ignite your enthusiasm for making art!
  
• Effective communicator - It's interesting that being able to articulate what's important is less important to respondents (53%) than the ability to demonstrate. I do know that many artists will sign up for workshops with certain artist tutors who are recognised to be very able as painters but who (without naming names) are also known for being less than articulate. They do virtually all their teaching through demonstrations and a few incisive comments by way of feedback.
• Enabling and empowering - Teachers are particularly valued if they
  
• enable a student to learn and develop skills in evaluating their own work (56%) and
• promote the innate originality and creative skills of students (54%) rather than trying to create carbon copies of the tutor's own work. I have very little enthusiasm for the tutor whose sole aim is to create copycat students so I was particularly pleased to see this attribute being so highly valued.

I teach workshop style with students setting their own agenda with subject and medium..... I see my job teaching them as being a catalyst to develop their own voices and interests.
vivien blackburn

the most important training technique, I believe, is guided-discovery
Don

The worst artist/teacher is someone who gives their time and experience mainly to those students who reflect their own ideas and style. It is dispiriting to sit in a class when this is happening. The best teacher for me is someone who is able to encourage you to keep working despite what you produce.
GB

Some surprises? Less than 50% of respondents thought that the following were important

• Practising artist - More than half the respondents (48%) thought that a teacher need NOT be a good artist. I guess we could split hairs on this one. I've seen a fair few 'bad' artists in my time who attempt to sell their skills as a teacher. I've always recommended prospective students to take a very close look at an artist's own work BEFORE booking a course or workshop to avoid potentially nasty surprises and a waste of money. However I do agree that it's not essential that an artist make a living as an artist in order to teach. Being a 'good artist' AND making a living from your art is not always possible.

there seems to be no correlation between the quality of the art the teacher produces themselves and the quality of their teaching. The most famous, most professionally successful, artists and designers who taught me were generally speaking the worst tutors.
Julie Oakley

• Teacher knows best - Only 31% of people thought that it was important that their teachers should be very knowledgeable - about matters relating to e.g. specific art media (e.g. painting in watercolours) or art history. I found this really surprising. However I suspect that this is an attribute which is maybe valued more by those who know what a big difference this can make. My personal experience has always been that those who have studied art (through years of practice and/or formal learning) and know an awful lot about their own specific area of expertise usually provide the best value - although the learning may come as much from conversations over dinner as it does from work in the studio or plein air. I know that in future I'm certainly going to make sure that I explain why I think certain art instruction books are better than others - in terms of demonstrable knowledge and expertise.
  
• Teaching methods - 42% thought a teacher's ability to set appropriate and challenging goals was important while 45% thought it was important that the teacher could be flexible and adapt their tuition to a students' learning style.

Personally I found having a teacher who was flexible, encouraging yet pushed me slight was the best.
Tina Mammoser

• Peer groups - Very few people (9%) thought that it was essential that they were taught in classes which were geared towards their ability.

With a good concept and structure it is much easier to have participants of different levels within the same group.
Astrid Volquardsen

Did you have any surprises? What did you think about the results of the poll?

Does it have any messages for you - as an art student or as an art teacher?

Tomorrow I'll post the poll for December - which is a fun one!

Link:

• The Making A Mark Poll - Resources for Artists - all the past opinion polls recorded and summarised on one website