Thursday, May 15, 2008

Complex Simplicity


Every Wednesday night I encourage my art class to 'think shapes' and 'simplify' when a subject has a complex structure.
Last weekend I tackled a tiny garden chair in my journal while sunbathing. Just a quick loose sketch was all I had in mind but I found the leg structure MOST demanding. So I filled a second page in my journal reminding myself of my own advice...A little nudge to 'Practice what I preach'!



8 comments:

art addict said...

Anita-
This is excellent! Thanks for sharing this with all of us. It is a great example. Love your layout and sketch too.

E-J said...

Oh god, I had the same nightmare with the little yellow plastic chair I sketched last week (£1 for 2 chairs! We could make cheapo chairs a monthly theme, LOL). I took several frustrating attempts in pencil to get anywhere close to the actual shape, and that seemed ridiculous, because I remember a negative-space drawing of a chair being one of the earliest exercises I did from Betty Edwards's book, years ago ... It is quite humbling when you discover that a skill you've long thought you can tick off the list can't be taken for granted: it's practice, the continual application of what you've learnt, that makes the artist ...

I do think the way you've displayed the price in the first sketch is, well, priceless! Wish I'd thought to do something similar! :)

seesue said...

Yeah, we all suffer the wonkiness at some time I guess, love that you've posted both sketches. I'm thinking that you're an amazing teacher.

Claudia said...

Fine sketches, Anita!
How about your Daniel Smith watercolours? Are they r e a l l y as extraordinary as they say? - Because I wanted to order some, too. But at the other hand I think we have excellent manufacturers, here in Europe as well.- I mostly use a mix of Schmincke and Winsor&Newton wc's. (And some from Maimeri).
What do you think? - Ah, and "Titanium Buff" is available as a pigment from "Kremer"...What shall I do? Order or not?
Kind regards,
a slightly confused
Claudia

Joan said...

Excellent advice!!

Margaret McCarthy Hunt said...

Funny how while the first one appears to be correctly drawn its wonky...and the second looks perfect...

Robyn Sinclair said...

I love the wonky one, Anita. It reminds me of many bargains I've bought! Excellent advice too and I'm now in awe of the fact that you can create all this art and still find time to sunbake! Brava!

Serena Lewis said...

What a difference a cube makes. Great sketch and lesson, Anita. :)