Trees in winter, Praia Mocambique

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Trees in winter, Praia Mocambique, oil on card, 26 x 27;5 cm - available

Today was exceptionately pleasant. The sunlight was sharp and constant. There was no wind and few people or dogs. I wokred very smoothly, untroubled by any neuroses.

Painting after a little break of a few days is much nicer than working every day, though of course any tutor one will tell you that working daily is the key to advancing technically. I also believe it is, but the joy of any activity is lost when sessions are too close on the backs of each other.

 

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Studious girl (happier), angry girl

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Studious girl (happier), angry girl (less studious)

 pen on paper, 9 x 5 cm

 

 

 

 Somewhat feline girls.

 

 

 

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The spiritual one

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Spiritual one, pen on paper, 5 x 7 cm

  

This one owes something to Odilon Redon's Parsifal.

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Scooter boy; rearing horse and running boy

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Scooter boy, pen on paper, 7.5 x 8 cm

 

 

Zoom! goes the Scooter boy! Zoom!

 

The Scooter Boy relates to a Running Boy and a Rearing Horse, which appear frequently in doodles because all deal with motion. The other doodles are almost all stationary or ponderous.

 

 

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Saplings, Praia Moçambique

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Saplings, Praia Moçambique,  oil on card, 20.7 x 24 cm

 

 

 

 

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Detached leg with sock and shoe

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Detached leg with sock and shoe

 pen on paper, 8 x 5 cm

I've been drawing such legs for at least 30 years. I also like drawing shoes very much. I might try to do some during today's lesson.

I can't say that the leg here is very well drawn, and I am not sure if it is really very nice. Well...

  The shape of legs, their curves, are very nice to describe in brisk movements of the pen. I like to add socks or shoes partly because I find toes unsatisfyingly complex to draw.

 

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Fish-dog, face with geometric nose

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Fish-dog and face with geometric nose

 pen on paper, 15  x 10 cm

 

 

 

 

Faces with geometric noses are extremely enjoyable doodle subjects, partly because they allow one to do cross-hatching and create three dimensions. They always make me think of Bertie Bassett -¨Britains Greatest Asset"-  mascot for Liquorice Allsorts.

 

 I like three-dimensional letters for the same reasons though they lack the puzzle-quality that abstracting facial features provides.

 

I very often doodle letters of the alphabet but I feel this merits a posting of its own.

 

 

 

 

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Legged nose; decoding

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Legged nose, pen on paper, 45 x 3 cm

The legged nose is a drawing which I attempted to improve in subsequent drawings: I wanted to make it bigger and give the legs the curves that legs have. 

However, it was impossible to improve. I think that's because when I tried further versions I began to focus on these aspects and would lose the sense of the whole, and the result was awkwardness.

 I think, in  any case, the tendency to abstraction here with the nose being only almost recognisable and the legs and shoes likewise, is what makes viewing the drawing pleasurable: the pleasure of decoding.

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Fat boy with ice-cream; doodling processes

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Fat boy with ice-cream, pen on paper, 10 x 6 cm 

 

The fat boy, absorbed in his ice cream, or occasionally a hamburger, is a sort of Billy Bunter figure. He has appeared in my work over and over, including in some monotypes which I shall try to unearth and photograph this year.

The pleasure of doodles is related to them not mattering. They differ from grafitti, which is necessarily a public declaration. Doodling is very psychologically intimate, a way of talking to oneself.

  I've found taking a doodle and trying to "improve it", either by working into it more, or by trying to make more finished drawing from an idea in a doodle is is rarely successful. You end up wih something that lacks the quality of unconscious confession, becoming stiff.

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Sincere young man

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Sincere young man, pen on paper, 5 x 7 cm

 

 

 The sincere young man is a repeat character in my doodles, which are made usually in lessons- a big advantage of teaching online. 

The character is somewhat of Balthus, or Cocteau- the culture of the 1930s: intense, quite sincere, a little camp.

 

 

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Rua Rid Silva, Canasvieiras

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Rua Rid Silva, Canasvieiras, 14.5 x 21.3 cm

 

 

 

 

 

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Paint box / tray easel

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Paint box / tray easel with cord, closed

 

 

 

 

 

The space here for paint, wiping tissues, brushes, and mixing colours is very limited. The cord cuts a little. 

 

 

 

 

 The advantage of this box is that, supposedly it makes it easier to walk around and paint. It isn't necessary to set up an easel. And one can work in smaller spaces.

 

 But there are various inconveniences too, because there is so little space for mixing and  resting brushes. It is not very comfortable to use.  With a belt the box's weight would be taken by the user's waist.

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A white building

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Canasvieiras, a white building, oil on card, 17 x 19 cm - unavailable

It is difficult for the camera to captute the strong pinks and greens at the same time.

I'm painting without linseed oil. It's less fluent. Also  less economical. I'll try to use some oil next time, though I fear it will make a mess.

 I'm painting with the materials a try which is hung round my neck. It is limiting. It makes it harder to use a range of colours on a palette. But maybe with these limits comes  a deeper exploration of the possibilities withing these limits.

There is a problem with passers-by watching or talking. It makes it much harder to work.

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Trunk

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Trunk

 

 

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Logs, branches

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Logs, branches

 

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