Paintings Prints and Stuff, a blog about painting, drawing, sketching, sketchbooks, works in progress, artists, exhibitions, art books, art classes, printmaking, digital imagery, techniques, art materials ........... and more!
Tulips and Tudor
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photos from a trip to Oxborough Hall, a 15C moated Tudor House yesterday.
before tobacco and potatoes arrived here or settlers arrived in the US :>)
Hi Lindsay - They did put the glass windows in by Tudor times (the rich only of course, us peasants froze!) as places were more homes than fortresses.
The wall isn't that high so wouldn't have been much good at deterring invaders I'd think, and the moat possibly just a decorative feature?
They were obviously a self-important family and highly connected with royalty - loads of portraits of kings - looking after Queen Elizabeth as a small child etc (probably awful toadies!) so it was probably all about ostentation?
Vivien Blackburn's work in the Urban/Rural show We've just hung a group show at the The Eye Project, Urban/Rural show. If you want to come and see it it's on for a month - well worth seeing, 11 lovely artists and some fabulous work. Those large canvasses are 40 inches square. There are rural landscapes, flowerscapes, intriguing textile work including a large knitted building, abstracts .... something for everyone. It's in the gallery below the cafe in the Adult Education Centre at the top of Wellington street, Leicester, opposite Fenwicks. Meet the Arttists day is Saturday 1st April 10-2. Come and have a chat with us?
Detail I have always liked the calligraphic tangle of the hedges when they are sihouetted against the sky. Recent snowfall meant even more opportunities with amazing light and the landscape simplified and hidden by the snow, throwing hedges into relief. Above is a detail of a double page sketch in the lovely Stillman and Birn Beta A4 hardback sketchbook. This paper is so forgiving and the watercolour works beautifully with it. It allowed me to work through wet washes with charcoal pencil - something that tears many papers, leaving holes. Some of the hedge is paint, some tinted charcoal. First snow, more on the way, winter light: silhouetted hedges in watercolour and Derwent tinted charcoal in a Stillman and Birn A4 beta hardback sketchbook The earlier warm golden glow of the low sun is covered by clouds, threatening more snow to come. The spiky calligraphic marks of the hedge and the underlying form of the bank, with some of the taller dried grasses showing
Paul Klee I thought I'd look at non-traditional composition - where the rule of thirds isn't the key but the painting relies on different compositional methods. in response to an excellent series of posts on the various ways of looking at composition by Katherine (link at end). These alternative considerations or breaking of rules - but making it work - appeal to me more than too heavy a reliance on the rule of thirds. The painting above, by Paul Klee is a 'field' painting' - the composition is overall, the eye travels around enjoying the glowing colour that he creates by juxtaposing complementary colours, subtle greyed greens enhancing the oranges/reds/pinks. Most of the image is composed of the various greens, greeny browns and khakis, with accents of the warm colours. When working this way it's important that the balance is unequal and that the accent colours are placed carefully to keep the eye moving in the way the artist wants. A couple of the brighter
Comments
What a lovely trip and thanks for taking us along.
The wall isn't that high so wouldn't have been much good at deterring invaders I'd think, and the moat possibly just a decorative feature?
They were obviously a self-important family and highly connected with royalty - loads of portraits of kings - looking after Queen Elizabeth as a small child etc (probably awful toadies!) so it was probably all about ostentation?