John The coming year is bound to be a period of novelty. We are planning to move house in the New Year, and life at the moment is almost completely occupied with preparation for that event. An important task I am undertaking in relation to the move is a reappraisal of my art work. I am … Read more
A Happy Christmas and a good New Year to all visitors to my website. Go well!
I am rather proud of the fact that I have been able to sustain my plan for a daily (or more correctly, “nightly”) drawing session. It has become almost a matter of routine now and, apart from any benefit I might gain from this exercise from a technical point of view, I feel that I … Read more
I might have mentioned in an earlier post that we are preparing to move house. After 27 years in our present home it is, not surprisingly, quite a strenuous process in a number of respects. Thinking about the move to new accommodation it didn’t take me long to realise that I am going to need … Read more
The great sketching project continues, and I am glad to say that it has not become a burden, but an interesting set of challenges. Each day brings a new task to be addressed. If yesterday’s task was the problem of depicting convincing ellipses in perspective, today’s has to do with “when is a line not … Read more
I am pleased (although, I have to confess, a little surprised) that I have managed to keep up my sketching schedule for so long. A part of me was resigned to a failure of will. Every day I feel that I learn a little more, as well as installing useful habits. My latest venture was … Read more
Improbable as that may seem it does appear to be the case. My sketching project is useful, but it does bring home to me how different has been my habitual practice. It comes down to the fact that I have been painting, and to do that I have been working largely from reference photographs. My … Read more
Recently I have felt that I am attempting to reconcile two contradictory aims. For some time I have been promising myself that sketching will be a more regular part of my regime. Meanwhile, of course, as we approach the time when we will be moving house, I become more keenly aware of all the tasks … Read more
At the moment we are committed to moving house at some time in the near future. Not surprisingly, I find myself faced with the decision as to whether or not I want to take all of my hoard of work with me. I was startled last night, reading in preparation for a talk on the … Read more
Currently we are preparing to move house, and the fact that I am an artist adds a markedly different edge to the exercise. Of course, all of the usual problems have to be confronted about what we must take with us and what it might be opportune to leave behind. We discovered, in one cupboard, … Read more