Landscape Drawing

This week I have been drawing outside, around Tel Aviv.  This has been great, but also quite hard work - definitely different to working in the studio.  But once you get used to finding a place to work, trying to fend off tourists and keen school children and avoiding getting sunburnt, it is actually really nice to sit outside and work from whatever you see before you.  These are some of my efforts - they are all quick sketches, about 50 minutes each, drawn in Jaffa last week.

Mosque in Jaffa

Graphite on Paper

Church in Jaffa

Graphite on Paper

Mosque from the other side

Graphite on Paper

Palm Tree, Jaffa

Artist’s Jobs

Artist’s Jobs

What has semiotics got to do with art?

An interesting discussion with Michael Paraskos on the Cyprus College of Art Facebook page about semiotics and studying art.  Click on the title 'What has semiotics got to do with art?' to join the discussion.

Painting Paintings

 I returned to the studio in 2008, and am currently practicing drawing and painting, all day everyday.  I will use this blog to document my efforts and to share my experiences as i try to develop my personal style and explore painting as a contemporary art form.

I am participating in an Art Masterclass, which involves working from the figure, still life and landscapes.  This feels like a rebellion on my behalf as my previous 'conceptual' art education would never have allowed me to participate in such artistic activities.  In my current class, we are not allowed to use colour until next year as we are working on tone this year.  It is great, i am learning things and am able to understand the medium that i am working with.   I feel like the art world in the UK is confused and has lost any kind of understanding of art as an artistic practice.  Many young contemporary artists i have come across (and myself when i was at art school) are churning out pseudo conceptual works which follow the conceptual formula (one that is more akin to advertising ie a quick one liner jokey title and a complementary or contrasting image, object, video, performance or whatever it is that illustrates the idea) and i feel are really missing out on appreciating and experiencing genuine artistic practice.  Oh I have so much to say about this, but this blog is not meant to be a rant about conceptual art, though i guess sometimes it will become so.

Anyway to start off, here are a few drawings i have been doing outside.  As i am writing this, i am realising that this blog is going to be a bit of a fight against my past, a justification of why i am sitting outside with a pad and charcoal and drawing what i see before me and why I feel this is what it is all about.

So here you have Trees 

(the top is with pastel and the bottom with charcoal, and i realise the photos are terrible quality!)

These are drawn from my garden as I experienced the joys and pitfalls of working outside.  What with the light changing, the wind moving the object and so much information to interpret, it can be quite challenging, but i am happy with the results.  

You can see more work on my website at http://clarehaward.co.uk