Hands Over

At long last, I have finished my hand-drawing goal:

01. Fill a sketchbook with artwork/studies of only one subject

I chose 'hands' as my subject because I have always struggled to draw them, and after struggling some more back in 2015 when I started on this goal, I gave up, only dipping into it every so often to scribble down a hand sketched from a reference on google images.

Then at some point towards the end of last year/beginning of this year, I began making more of an effort again. For a while I drew a lot from the timed exercises on Line of Action (which you can see in previous posts) which really kickstarted my drawing again!

But I soon began drawing from my own references, too (as in this post) and filled my camera roll up with hand photos I'd snapped on my phone!

I attempted drawing without a reference, but that turned into drawing with a reference (of my own hand) because it started going badly very quickly!

In fact, some days my attempts still go pretty badly!

As for whether I've improved, here are the first and last sketches from the book:

First Hand

Last Hand

I have definitely improved!

After starting this goal so long ago, it's a relief to finally get it finished! In the process of drawing, I've found that pastel pencils make really light work of shading (but are a pain in the butt when they break). I've also found that my favourite pencil to draw with is a 6B watersoluble graphite pencil, like these ones by Derwent (and no, they aren't paying me to say that). It's easy to achieve a variation of shades, and being able to shade larger areas with the side of the pencil gives me more control than if I was using a traditional pencil. So I'm kind of glad I've got two of them!

Over the course of this goal, I have drawn over 150 hands! I haven't posted all of them online. Some are just little doodles from trying to draw cartoonish hands, where I didn't really put any effort into drawing, so I didn't post them. But everything else is are here on this blog.

You can see all the sketches I posted by going to my Goal 01 Tag.

Hands Together

I am still (yes, still) working on the very first goal of The List: to fill a sketchbook with studies/artwork of one subject.
This ended up being a study of hands, and I am just fifteen pages away from filling the sketchbook!

In the meantime, I'm still drawing from references...

Most of these have been photo references, and I have had a few 'bad' days of drawing, where it all went to hell pretty quickly (eraser? What's that?)

To challenge myself, I also tried drawing 'from life'--using my own hand to draw from (except I was holding a stubby pencil rather than a cigarette! That picture was drawn after failing at drawing a character with a cigarette, and wanting to practice).

It's starting to get a little easier to draw hands, though given a blank sheet of paper and no reference it would probably still look a mess! But I'm definitely getting better!

Hands Out

Just a little update on the first goal on The List:

001. Fill a sketchbook with artwork/studies of one subject.

That subject being hands, and me actually applying myself to sitting down and working on this goal, I have been drawing so many hands that I'm starting to get sick of the sight of them!

Despite that, it can be soothing to sit and draw from a reference, and as I'm listening to the History of the World in 100 Objects podcast whilst I work, I'm learning things as well!

Some of my sketches definitely come out better than others, and some poses are easier to draw than others, but the level of effort I put in certainly effects how well the pictures turn out.

It might seem as though I've drawn a million hands already (it feels that way to me!) but my sketchbook still isn't filled.

I have 28 pages left...

Guess I'd better go hunting for some more references!

It's In Hand

Another hands post, another stupid title. :)

I've been drawing yet more hands, with a focus on drawing hands interacting with different objects.

Things like teacups, little bottles, binoculars, lighters--basically whatever comes to hand (pun intended).

Drawing hands interacting with different objects keeps things a lot more interesting!
My ability to draw from these references definitely waxes and wanes. It's as if having a day or two break from drawing makes my brain and my hands completely forget how to draw!

I am at least around 2/3 of the way through the sketchbook now! Which feels very close to complete, until I consider that means about 50 more pages to go...

Hands Up!

Since my last post about my hands-drawing goal, I have drawn a lot of hands.

Once again, Line of Action has proven useful for getting a lot of poses sketched out, with a time constraint that forced me to work quickly, rather than get hung up on one tiny detail.

How Handy

The first goal I wrote on The List was:

001. Fill a sketchbook with artwork/studies of only one subject

In a moment of absolute madness, I decided the subject would be hands.

Because I'm rubbish at drawing hands.

I've been working on this goal since towards the end of 2014, though I didn't initially get much further than a few half-hearted scribbles, and the picture above!

Though I've posted some other hand drawings, until now I haven't shared any more, so here's my progress so far...

Wanting to avoid spending hours at the computer to draw from on-screen references, I cut hands from magazines instead. Some of the results turned out pretty good, and mostly I switched between pencil and biro.

But I got bored of that, and decided to draw from on-screen references again, using some different materials (in the above instance, oil pastels, and below, pastel pencils).

Finding reference pictures online was starting to become a little annoying, as I couldn't always think of poses to search for.

But my problem was soon solved...

Hyper Japan Christmas

After going to Hyper Japan's Christmas event two years ago, I was unsure about attending again when a group of friends suggested going. It had been fun last time, but the venue was cold, and the huge crowds were exhausting to my introvert brain (not to mention the stalls being exhausting to my wallet!)

But I went anyway, and I'm glad I did!

This time, we went on the Friday, which was still busy but thankfully quieter than the Saturday we went last time. I guess going at the end of the week is a good move!

As usual, Hyper Japan had a lot of things going on, including shopping, demonstrations, exhibitions and performances.

We had a good look around the 'Illuminight' exhibition--several rooms that displayed Japanese 'akari' lanterns (seen above!) With the rooms dark and gentle, traditional music playing, this exhibition was really peaceful to look at--a nice sanctuary away from the rush of the shopping area!

Of course, food is always a prominent feature in any day out, and as usual Hyper Japan did not disappoint!
I opted for the mixed set (Takoyaki, gyouza and pumpkin croquette) as I'd eaten last time from PEKO PEKO, Chicken katsu don  from Don Panko Katsu House, and a smores waffle from Miso Hungry!

Among the many demonstrations at Hyper Japan, one we stopped to watch was Taro Fukushika's demonstration of Shodo (Japanese calligraphy). As soon as I saw a guy with a bucket of ink and a huge piece of paper, I knew it was worth watching!

He worked super-fast, creating this piece in a matter of minutes! I hadn't seen anyone do calligraphy like this before, and had always been curious about how the larger characters are drawn (answer: a really big brush). It was impressive to watch!

We also watched part of a karate demonstration, but had to rush off for the next thing...

...a performance by FEMM!
Anyone who has followed this blog for a while will know I first heard FEMM during my one year music challenge. I'd missed their appearance in London earlier in the year, so it was great to have the chance to see them play at Hyper Japan. They only played a short set, but were very engaging. I enjoyed their mannequin-esque style of performance!

After that, we headed for home. I was pretty exhausted by then so was more than happy to take up my shopping bags and go!
(I'd post photos of my shopping here, but it's just nerdy stuff-- One Punch Man DVDs and various charms/pins of anime characters!)

It was a good day out; depending on what's on next year I may go again!

Fall Weather and Forgotten Saints

Autumn Wanderings

One of the goals on The List - in fact, one of the first I wrote down - has been continuously pushed aside due to lack of inspiration/time:

006. Paint a picture on canvas

I chose this one because though I had a couple of blank canvases, and certainly have enough paint, I'd never painted on a canvas.

As with creating an assemblage, this is one of the goals I wanted to get done before the year was up, and I completed it today!

I ended up with a lot of gold paint left on the palette after the first picture, above...

So I painted a second canvas, too!

Forgotten Saints #01

This one was a painted a lot faster, and has more of a primitive style to it--simply because I was using up paint left over from the first painting.

I was a little worried with this second one, because as I was painting on the gold background (which I painted across the entire canvas), it started to go baggy, as though I'd overstretched it with the wetness of the paint.

However, it tightened up again once it dried, which was a relief.

Of course I can nitpick issues with both paintings, but I think that's something every creative does!

I won't be rushing to paint on canvas again any time soon, though mostly because I don't have ideas (or canvases) and canvases take up a bit more space than paper does!

Another goal complete!

Assembled Regression

Regression

As the end of 2016 looms, I've been looking over the goals I've completed this year and - perhaps in a bit of panicked, 'I've not done enough!' kind of way - been considering what I can achieve in the last few days of the year.

One of the goals was this one:

015. Create an assemblage

I've been procrastinating over this goal for ages, but today I finally knuckled down and got it done!

The items I used came from a number of sources, collected up over the years for this or that reason, or some found objects collected for another goal. The old London Transport Bus ticket (stamped for 7 old pence!) was found in an old book I found in a charity shop. The book was redonated, but I kept the ticket :) The screw goes through the punch hole.

Through this project, I finally found a use for some things that I'd been hanging on to for ages--a single earring, an escutcheon that ended up unsuitable for what I bought it for, a broken link from a watch.

Peer to Pier

When down on Brighton seafront at the end of October, I happened upon Tides, one of the exhibitions in Brighton Photo Fringe 2016, which took place 1-30th October.
Photo Fringe is a free, open-access festival of new photography that includes things like talks and workshops alongside its exhibitions.
I actually didn't realise that Photo Fringe was on, else I might have made the effort to go around more of the exhibitions. As it stood, I found this one by chance, but had limited time in the city before having to catch a bus elsewhere!

Tides was an exhibition of photography by The Peer to Pier Photography Group, a group of six photographers who collaborated to capture the story of the stretch of beach where the exhibition was held.

The photographs were displayed on chunky columns, the bases of which were those cages of rocks used as sea defences and retaining walls (I don't know the real name for them!) and the top part being of equal dimension but with wood inside the cage to act as a background for the photos. It was great that the method of display matched both the topic and the location!

I liked the fact that the six photographers produced such different work. Each had their own distinctive style, but by working with the same subject matter and theme, the group created a really cohesive exhibition that fulfilled their aim of telling the story of this part of the beach.

I particularly liked Audrey Marshall's moody, off-season black and white shots (as seen above, on the left) and by contrast, Colin Miller's brightly-coloured street photography images (above centre). Colleen Slater's macro images, arranged in sets of eight, were also interesting! Together with David Wilsdon (portraits of the seafront's workers), Leon Bellis (documentary images of work on the seafront development project) and Steve Boyle (silhouette-like portraits), these photographers made a really great exhibition--I wish I'd had more time to look at it!

Working With Hands

Men At Work

Usually, I try to take photos for the theme challenge on Delightful Aberrations.
But after skipping last week (no time) and having no ideas for photography this week, I decided to break with tradition and draw something this time around!

I used the prompts record and site, and practised drawing a hand in the process (because I still can't draw hands...)


Though I drew this in a different notebook, I may cut it out and stick it into the sketchbook I bought for Goal 01:

001. Fill a sketchbook with artwork/studies of only one subject

Though I haven't written about this goal much, it's one I started a while ago!

It's actually been an ashamedly long time since I attempted to draw any, but here are a few I've drawn using photos from Google image search as a reference:

 

 

I found that I like drawing with biro. If I make a mistake (which I have done in Every Single Picture) I can fix/hide it, rather than rub out part of my work and spend hours redrawing the same line over and over until I get it 'right'.

Of course, drawing from a reference picture is much easier than drawing in other styles. Am absolutely not sharing my halfassed hand-doodles today!

...this post was meant to be for the theme challenge, but ended up being more about goal 01. Oh well!

Free Art and Lots of Walking

Yesterday, I met up in Brighton with my friend, Victoria, and we braved the rain and rumbling skies to See Some Art (and, as it turned out, Do A Lot Of Walking).

First off we headed to Fabrica to see Luminary by Ron Haselden (shown above). The artist works with LED light rope and likes to work from the drawings of people considered 'less visible' in society, such as the elderly, children, and prisoners. Luminary works from the drawings of older people in particular.

Taken from Fabrica's website:

"[The exhibition] combines two ideas in one: literally that the artwork itself emits light, and metaphorically that older people bring important knowledge and a longer perspective to the rest of society."

I'll admit that I had to look up the meaning behind this piece, as it really wasn't obvious to me, and I didn't read the information displayed on the wall (I rarely do when I go to art exhibitions, because I want to see rather than read).

I found it interesting how the different sections of Luminary overlapped when viewed from different angles, but the meaning was pretty much lost on me! (I really struggle with a lot of contemporary art!)


After leaving Fabrica, Victoria and I wandered through the soggy Pavilion Gardens and headed for the University of Brighton Gallery, which we reached just as the storms really started and the rain became torrential!

The current exhibition at the gallery is Turner Prize-winner Gillian Wearing's piece, A Room With Your Views, and is a co-commission between House Festival 2016 and Brighton Festival 2016.

The piece takes the form of a film made from video snapshots of the view from rooms around the world, each one submitted following simple guidelines.

Shown in a house-shaped room built in the gallery itself, visitors can settle down on beanbags to watch the videos of views across the globe (or in the case of a lot of other visitors, stand at the back and hope somebody moves soon!)
I found this work interesting in the way it connects people around the world, and it appealed to my curiosity of what other people look out on from their homes, but I wasn't engaged enough to stand through the whole thing.

The last art that we saw was happened upon by accident after the weather had dried up. We found this 'Street Gallery' on Ann Street, between Ransom's and St Batholemew's Church.

This 'Street Gallery' is currently set up on the boarding around a building site, and showcases a number of surreal images.

Obviously, being in the middle of the street, some of the images have been subject to acts of vandalism. It's bound to happen, but I would have liked to have seen all of the original images!

I don't know anything about these pictures, not even an artist or anything: the only information visible is what you can see in the photos: the image titles, and 'Street Gallery - Open: Anytime - Admission: Free - Owned By The Public'.

A lot of people walked straight past these pictures (maybe the images have been there a while?) which is a shame because of all the art that we saw yesterday, these were the ones I liked the best!

As for the walking, well...

There is definitely a reason I was exhausted after this day out!
I'm counting yesterday as one of my 3 weekly walks, because nearly 19k steps and over 9 miles is significantly more than I usually do, as you can see from the screenshot!

I'll update more about my walks when I have more to tell (it may be a case of, 'Look at these cute animals I saw!')

For more of the museums/galleries/exhibitions I've seen, check out the tag for goal 10!