Ben Nicholson and his still life pictures

 

Ben Nicholson had little natural drawing ability, and was pushed toward the study of art largely because his parents could not comprehend that he had not inherited their own talents. Finding himself enrolled at the Slade, he frequently bunked off classes with his friend Paul Nash, also a (self-confessed) draughtsman of ineptitude. Often they would play billiards at the Gower Hotel, where he later attributed the colours and forms of the balls as being an important factor in his road towards abstraction. His sole offering for the Slade’s in-house exhibition was a striped jug, and he left the school the following year.

In 1924, after his first forays into pure abstraction, he returned for a time to the humble jug and mug, which he painted in silhouette, with one or the other form competing for dominance in the space. These were much admired by Jim Ede, then assistant to the Director at the Tate, who as a result obtained several works either gifted by Ben or at a knockdown price.

The chance meeting with Alfred Wallis in 1928 was to have a profound effect on Ben’s approach to landscape, and later that year his painting 1928 (Porthmeor Beach, St Ives) included an architectural feature on the right-hand side (which Checkland construes as a gable end, but is more probably one of the dominant three arches in the pier at St Ives).

The picture is clearly painted over another image giving it additional depth, and is generally regarded as the precursor of these layered landscape/still life works.

Ben’s collection of mugs, jugs and jars was precious to him and travelled with him throughout his various homes during his life. Drawings of these are often simple outlines, often overlapping each other, superimposed onto an abstract background which sometimes have elements of landscape in them. He developed a signature fusion of abstract and realism during the war years, when there was no market for progressive “Modernist” art, and often portrayed views over rooftops and out of upper windows, a device he had previously seen in Cubism, combined with still life groupings in the foreground.

The works showing a more realistic and definite landscape setting he referred to as his “pot boilers”, or “Cornish best-selling schemes”, terms which were designed to indicate how contemptuous he was of the need to be so commercial, and they were produced purely from the need to bring some money in during the early years of his relationship with Barbara Hepworth, who had little time to work herself as she was exhausted from looking after the triplets and in poor health as a result.

Possibly the most prolific output happened in February 1945, when, having secured scholarship funding for the triplets to Dartington Hall in Devon, the pressure was on to raise the necessary balance, and he completed twelve paintings in just ten days, of “fishing boats and flags on mugs and still life generally”. These include the well-known images including Union Jacks, which are often erroneously attributed to a celebration of the end of the war in Europe, although in fact most were painted before VE day.

The series ranges from 1944 with works such as Carnstabba Farm (above), a relatively conventional view, to the late 1950s, e.g. August 1956 (boutique fantasque), in which the background has been reduced to fields of colour only suggestive of the landscape. In between, the landscape sits at varying degrees of tension with the still life elements, a particular example being November 11-47 (Mousehole) (shown below) where the realism of the scenery is at odds with the lopsided panel of still life shapes in the right foreground, and at the other end of the scale the later work 1959 Argolis, painted in Greece, synthesises the tabletop with the sky and sea completely.

 

While Ben himself clearly had a low view of what he achieved in these paintings, moving away from his ideal of total, pure abstraction, there is no doubt that he inadvertently hit on a unique pictorial style, one which has become as recognisable, if not more so, than the White Reliefs with which he first shook the world of 20^th century art.

Life class #7

In a break from my normal life class, a friend asked me to go with her to the Saturday morning session which is run by a different tutor and has different models. There is also a mix of very short poses and up to 45 minute ones, as opposed to the 5 to 15 ones my weekday class has.

Two short poses. It really was a challenge to go straight in to this and get the basics down without getting distracted by the detail.

Although the proportions are out in this crouched pose I like the flow of the shapes described by the limbs. The tutor in this class is very keen on promoting stylistic variation and experimentation, rather than the core concepts, so it was quite liberating to be able to run with some of my ideas and recieve suggestions as to where I could go with them.

I tried to just capture the minimum of line and tone in this pose. I did not have enough padding on the board so there are pentimenti on the figure.

The arm is a little short but it was interesting to draw the profile of an older model's torso.

This stylistic study came about almost by accident. The facial features remind me of a figure on a Greek vase...

The hardest part of this was drawing the facial features upside down. So much for "Drawing on the right side of the Brain"...

The head is too small for the body but the overall effect has a monolithic quality, like Henry Moore's figures where the heads are deliberately smaller

These line studies and the two below were all done during the 45 minute pose, which was far too long for the way I work. I loved the angle I had, but found I preferred to work diffent media on the same pose rather than change position. I also had the opportunity to do a detailed study of the foot with the side-on view of the toes.

This graphite version is my personal favourite of all my life work to date.

The black conte shadows happened as a last minute idea, but do anchor the body to the surface.

About 3 women...

As an extension to the Spiral Dance theme, I have been working with three sets of data which reflect myself and two close friends, with whom I share deep and personal experiences, as women do. I used our radix (birth) charts as a basis for the drawing and worked each one in 3 different permutations. So far, although I know there are three more arrangements which would potentially work, I have come back to the first to creat a collage from. The symmetry and balance of the selected data are probaby the best match to get a visual result from. The other are either too cluttered or too restrained. My initial analysis of the (undrawn) 3 leaves little room for doubt that the first version was instinctively the best...

I have taken the four triangular unions I used- in this case particularly feminine symbols- the Moon, Venus, the asteroid Ceres (the harvest Queen) and the point Lilith (the dark Moon). I realised that I did not need the aspect nets in the exploration of the first combination. I used light blue to represent the Moon, red for Venus, orange for Ceres, and purple for Lilith. I stuck the various layers on in the order of closeness to Earth. The Moon is a little more bright blue than I would have preferred (my available papers were limited) but I think it works given the stark white background. The resultant collage is below.

Life class #6

I like this curled up pose, however so little could be seen of the upper foot that it was difficult to capture, and the result looks more like a small foot as I made the span of the toes too narrow.

Although far from perfect, I think this is successful if only that I didn't make the face look Neanderthal in proportion (unlike other efforts with faces)

I can't decide if the hips are too wide or the shoulders too narrow on this one- my focus was on getting the curve and twist of the spine. The crown of the head should have curved a little higher too.

I'm quite pleased with this one although the foot perched on the stool got away from me, and the lower leg is a little short.

This short pose caught me out as I got carried away with the bunched leg muscles and failed to complete an overall study.

This was a challenging pose with the foreshortening leaning towards me. The legs are okay but the proportions of the upper arms and torso are out and that Cave-woman thing happened with the face thrust forwards...

Life class #5

A quick pose (2 minutes from memory). The relative positions of the shoulders are a little off, and the foreground hand possibly a tad too small.

A fairly successful attempt although I had to take two attempts at the line of the body so the shoulder should be further out also.

I like the solidity of this study. The most difficult part was the foreshortening of the model's lower legs where they were tucked in towards her.

A rather more successful standing pose than most.

I caught the twist of the body but the far shoulder now appears a little higher than it should be

The hands are better not commented on but the overall proportions are correct

Another quick pose which lacks mass on the near leg.

I made the error of compressing the head to fit on the page, thus it is too small. Consequently I did not have time to include any background or what the model is leaning against.

A prone pose in charcoal. I particularly like the shadow falling across the lower leg where the other  lifts over it.

A less than successful attempt at a sitting pose with that ridiculously small chair!

Life class #4

One of my more successful efforts. I like the simplicity of the line and I got the proportions mostly right. I would have liked to include the line of the buttocks but had my board the wrong way round in order to see over it!

An attempt at a more tonal approach. Again, I'm relatively pleased with this.

I attempted to model the form with the side of a piece of charcoal. The paper I used was very thin so there are marks showing through from the drawing board surface.

The visible arm is too short, lacks mass, and appears to be resting in mid-air. the head is on the small side too.

The tilt of the face is a little off but overall I think I caught the pose.

I seem to have the most problem with standing poses, although as I usually work from a sitting position I should probably stand at an easel and attempt these.

Prone poses are what I enjoy most. It is rather more like looking at the shape of a landscape and I find them easier to arrange on the page. The arm lacks mass, however, and the lack of definition on the feet still gives the impression they are too small.

Artists Working in Contrasting Styles

I have struggled with this exercise for a long time, having been asked to find two artists, one of whom works in a rigorous and controlled way, and another whose style is expressive and loose. Eventually, while looking through “Vitamin D”, I isolated two of the featured artists which I felt met the criteria and could be compared.

The first is Spanish artist Ernesto Caivano, who works in New York. His drawing style is linear, precise, with the elements carefully plotted within the picture plane to arrive at a dynamic and interesting composition. His subject matter comes from a post-apocalyptic novel of his own writing, dealing with themes of bifurcation, polarity and duality, and he produces works in a non-linear order to the story. The works are of varied sizes and worked in black ink, and have a carefully crafted illustrative feel to them.

While the text mentions his occasional use of colour in vignette pieces, none are illustrated in the book. I found a couple of examples using colour, along with other works, on a gallery site here: http://whitecube.com/artists/ernesto_caivano/

The drawings are intricate and complex, with an incredible range of marks and a brilliantly inventive use of negative space. The landscapes e.g.The Land Inhibited (2003) show a strong Oriental stylistic influence, while a portrait of one of the main characters, Breathing the Code (2002) reminds me of the fantasy art of Chris Achilleos in the arrangement of elements and the pose.

The second artist is Lithuanian Mindaugas Lukosaitis. He has used factual accounts of partisans in the guerrilla war against the Red Army during the Soviet occupation to  produce a series of around 100 drawings, titled “Resistance”. His pencil drawings have a sketchy, slightly unfinished look, with variation in the amounts of tone employed rather than a consistent finish, and typically show one or a few figures involved in active conflict with an unseen enemy. The compositional style is very much like the story-boarding for a film or comic strip, utilising unusual angles and close-up figures to convey the dynamism in the scene.

I was unable to find a site with a representative example of his work, however typing his name into a Google image search brings up a wide range of pieces including some not directly relating to the Resistance series.

While these could be seen exclusively as a mythologized patriotic statement, they also beg the question of how we identify and generate resistance to our current world view. I find them particularly interesting as I work with a number of Lithuanians, and while being largely ignorant of their history, I am watching this new generation coming to grips with how to define their lives against their current reality.

So, two different artists, using different styles, but both telling a narrative to explore how the individual relates to the external.

A New Series of drawing/paintings

I seem to have been away from both blog and coursework for an eternity- but have tapped into a completely logical yet strange source of inspiration. This started when I bought a book on contemporary drawing- not listed in the course reading list- which I found by chance in an art shop in Truro as I was struggling with one of the research units (still not written it up). The second catalyst was when a friend asked me to erect their horocope- I've practised astrology for 30+ years but have slowed down over the last few years until now.

While I was drawing the chart- which is akin to constructing a mandala- a meditative experience- I started to think about all the stuff I'd read recently about contemporary drawing, and what it could relate to. And I thought- if I take the aspect net (the pattern made by angles between planets in a chart) and superimpose it on an abstract painting made personal by what I know about the person involved- what would happen?

I realise I'm talking a lot esoteric, a bit abstract and a bit scientific here, and possibly surreal as well. Bear with me...

Anyway, I did a painting for my friend and superimposed the aspect net on it, using different weight lines to differentiate the strenght of the aspect influences. And d'you know- it worked. The differing line widths had my trial onlookers peering closer to unravel the full picture. And you do have the feeling of having to look closer to discover- of having to get to the bottom of the matter. I personally feel like that when confronted with one of Naum Gabo's Constructionist works- which is why I currently think that this falls under Constructivism, using pre-determined data sets to produce an outcome.

So I was on a roll now, I got a load of other birth data together and ran with it. Sometimes I used metallic lines, sometimes significant colour choices. (Either of which don't aways photograph particularly well) In addition, I used data from specific times and places to generate patterns of events which were significant in my life. then: as I am currently going through a bit of upheaval personally, I generated data for what was going on in the here and now. Some of this got mutated by my descision to utilise comparative data where an artificial set of "midpoints" (akin to an average) is produced and a completely different aspect net shows up.

At this point it seeems right to say that I love where this idea is going. I am using symbolic systems which I have worked with for many years to produce coherent visual images, and can deal with issues of self-discovery, redemption and healing, all of which have eluded me in my former essays into the abstract. I feel as though I have finally tapped into something which is true to my "voice", and the ideas keep flowing. Having produced 10 works and 2 working drawings in 10 days I am exhausted, but my compulsion to continue is there.

Whether I can find a gallery to represent me remains to be seen, but I have had some useful pointers tonight from contemporary West Cornwall artists having shared a little of what I am currently embedded in. The current art market is difficult and with potential customers tightening their belts, the niche market needs to be more carefully sought. Presentation is also key and tonight I tapped up contacts on any ideas on good framers who understand the needs of the artist and- more importantly- the gallery. (P.S. got two solid ones- never forget to chat to the peeps in a drop-in class...)

However the hour is late and I'm going to leave you now, I will have the Spiral Dance series online asap at http://www.awmcguire.webs.com/ in it's own gallery i.e. "Spiral Dance".

Thanks to anyone who read this to the end...
Liz x

Struggles with figures: Life drawing part 3

Having spent all day locked in the studio trying to catch up on some still life work and with rain and gales rattling the windows, I almost talked myself out of going to life class this week, but eventually reminded myself that at the very least I was going to fill a sketchbook (at the rate I'm now working on larger sheets, that may take some time).

I found it very difficult to settle this time, and my first couple of attempts definitely lacked a certain anything.

My first attempt took several attempts to get the mass of the right leg vaguely accurate, and I couldn't get to grips with the overall proportions. I also found the model's long hair really interrupted the lines of the neck and shoulders and made it far more difficult to get these correct.

The second attempt was a little better although I haven't really got the sense of her sitting on the block- she appears to be levitating slightly. I decided to change to larger paper for the next pose.

This was a lot better although I still fell into my usual trap of not getting the feet placed correctly. On the plus side, I managed not to fall off the page while fitting the model to the picture plane.

I was rather relieved to make a good fist of this fourth pose, although I now see as I write that the half hidden leg suggests a rather fatter shape than it should be. By this time I had also realised that the model's bone structure was showing clearly and that I should capitalise on this to describe the form of the body.

Everthing went downhill again with this one, though, while there are several parts which look pretty good they are all too disjointed or out of proportion to add up to a whole.

This second standing pose was also off, and I concentrated on getting the twist of the torso right.

The reclining pose which followed was one I should have liked to have a longer time for. I opted to work in white conte and charcoal to emphasise the tonal shapes on the foreshortened torso. I felt it was coming together quite well when I ran out of time!

I came similarly unstuck on the next pose, where I found it very difficult to get the bunched muscles in the bent knee, and spent too long trying to rectify this that the rest of the drawing suffered from inattention.

Consequently the hips are too wide, the arms too thin, the head misshapen- I could go on but I'm sure the reader can see the faults for themselves!

Finally, I rather liked this study of her back, but wished I had managed to fit it on the page as it is a really good pose which could be worked up into a painting.

Overall it was a rather frustrating night, although I was not the only one struggling to get into the flow. I felt that I could have got much more from it had I not been bogged down by trying to get the overall picture- and as a result I think I will concentrate on particular sections of the body next week if I find something particularly appealing or interesting, rather than always trying to draw the entire pose.