Drawing and Painting People E-Book

Emily Ball

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Drawing and Painting People - A Fresh Approach is about confident and defiant art. Written by a practising artist and tutor, it contains inspiring examples, thought-provoking insights and practical advice about how to become more expressive and adventurous with your work. It is a book for people who are serious about painting and want to develop work that is personal and exceptional in quality. An unpretentious, non-academic approach to painting and drawing, which avoids 'painting by numbers' and offers strategies for independent working, building confidence and taking risks. Includes examples from notable artists and is superbly illustrated with colour paintings and black & white sketches.

Leseprobe

Drawing and Painting People

A FRESH APPROACH

Emily Ball

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2009 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2014

© Emily Ball 2009

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 184797 788 5

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1.

Mark Making – a Dictionary of Possibilities to Create a Visual Language

2.

Drawing and Painting the Head

3.

The Gaze

4.

The Primitive, the Goddess and the Now

5.

Out of the Ordinary

6.

To Move Forward You Can Look Back and Sideways

7.

Artists in Their Own Words

8.

Open the Door

References

Index

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book is dedicated to John Skinner, artist, tutor and friend, for his inspiring teaching and generosity with his experience and passion for painting. He is a fantastic painter who I consider myself privileged to know and work with.

The following people have all also made it possible to write this book: Jane Nash, friend and writer, whose wit and perceptiveness kept me focused on what was important and gave me the confidence to write it in my voice; Gail Elson and Katie Sollohub, who have taught and painted with me for many years – we have shared inspiration, experiences and the highs and lows of being artists together; Katie Sollohub for also being a beautiful model; Georgia Hayes, Roy Oxlade, Rose Wylie and Gary Goodman for their fantastic paintings and wealth of knowledge that they generously shared with me during many conversations; my students, who enthusiastically experiment and take risks with their work and, as a result, encourage and sustain my passion to teach; George Meyrick, who fastidiously and tirelessly photographed all the paintings and drawings; Jeff Hutchinson, who beautifully photographed the artists at work and Katie modelling; Rob Walster at Big Blu Design for his sound advice and feedback about my writing to ‘keep it real’ – just as I would teach it; Seawhite of Brighton (suppliers of art materials and family-run company from whom I rent my studio), where I paint and teach, for their support, vision and belief in what I do; Mum and Dad (George and Lesley Ball): for positively encouraging me to choose a career that was not financially secure and ordinary: and for generally being lovely; Luke, my wonderful and supportive husband; Will and Eve, my beautiful, bright children – my inspiration and motivation to do extraordinary paintings.

For more information about Emily Ball and her work, visit www.emilyballatseawhite.co.uk and www.emilyball.net.

INTRODUCTION

In 1992 I discovered a well-thumbed, plain blue, slim, hardback book written by artist and teacher John Epstein. I was searching for inspiration in the library and on this occasion found a gem. The essays and illustrations within it were the beginning of my understanding of why I find particular methods of working important to me. They felt like a philosophy grounded in something solid and true to my consciousness about creating paintings, but with many possibilities branching off from it.

This was the beginning of my journey to discover what was important to me as a painter and teacher. I incorporated the idea of working with a combination of sensation and observation into my work whilst doggedly pursuing my passion for painting. I then discovered another very important person. This was John Skinner, an artist and teacher who was based in Dorset. John is mentioned a great deal in this book and I have dedicated it to him as a thank you for his inspiring influence and generosity as an artist, teacher and friend. The experience of being taught firsthand by an artist who is so dynamic and eloquent has made a lasting impression on me as an artist and tutor.

During my career I have had the opportunity to work with many remarkable, single-minded people – students, professional artists, writers and teachers – who have been an inspiration to me. They are included in the list of acknowledgements at the front of this book. Some of them feature in the following chapters to illustrate exercises and to demonstrate some possible outcomes of the suggested ideas. As well as illustrations of my work (and that of some of my students who have generously agreed to its inclusion) and the work of John Skinner, this book includes paintings and drawings by Roy Oxlade, Rose Wylie, Gail Elson, Katie Sollohub, Georgia Hayes and Gary Goodman. All of us have taught or still do teach. Many write as an extension of their creative practice or as a tool for critical debate about their work for lectures and articles. Whatever the order in which these activities are undertaken we all practise what we preach, continually testing our theories and challenging our own preconceptions to extend and develop our work. No resting on laurels amongst this lot!

The Purpose of This Book

This book is not intended to be academic, nor is it one that celebrates the usual craftsmanship or accomplished style that many people aspire to attain. I want my own work to be a true and intuitive response to my subject. I have invented, borrowed, adapted and tested many creative exercises to help clarify and unpack the process of creating personal, beautiful and often challenging paintings and drawings.