Filbert’s Newsletter: May 2006 Issue 6

Welcome to the Filbert Splosh Newsletter. Your comments, suggestions or contributions are welcome.

A few drawing tips and reminders:

Those of you who have been on my drawing courses know that if you really want to create interesting and imaginative drawings you have to push yourself out of your own comfort zone. It is important to set yourself challenges, whether it be to draw something much quicker that you would normally, or simply to take on something you haven’t attempted before. Your drawing will stagnate if you keep drawing the things you can draw well in the same old way you have always drawn them. So if you like drawing bowls of flowers for example, why not get into the flower head and draw what is inside there twice the size you would have normally drawn the bowl and the flowers combined. If you really want to challenge your drawing here are a few ideas that might help:

· When drawing something that is really difficult like a clenched hand try to analyse the object in terms of simple shapes: the palm of the hand is a square, each finger is made of three cylinders and there is a large oval shape at the base of the thumb. Get theses simple object to work first by drawing them faintly, them boldly draw the hand on top. Remember Picasso’s famous remark, ‘I don’t draw what I see, I draw what I know’. Know what you are drawing and it will look more convincing.
· Try not to draw everything with outline, try suggesting some areas by the use of an edge instead. For example, if you were drawing a bent leg you might suggest the top, curved part of the thigh by shading the background up to the thigh itself, therefore creating an edge. The lower part of the thigh might be suggested by line. Variety makes the drawing interesting.
· Try to ensure you have a wide range of tones in the drawing if this is appropriate, The best way to work this out is to squint at your drawing, this cuts out the half tones and you just see the light and darks. If your drawing all looks the same tone, you will need to make some areas darker of lighter depending on what is required.
· When drawing still life objects make sure you know where eye level is. Eye level always corresponds to your own eye level. Objects will look less significant (important) if the eye level is high on the page and we are looking down at the objects. You often notice old paintings of peasants often use a high eye level, because we ‘look down’ on the peasant class. If the eye level is low on the page we look up at the objects, they will appear more significant and therefore important. You will find for example that paintings of Napoleon invariably have low eye levels because it is intended the view looks up to the Emperor. It was also a good way of disguising the fact he was only 5’ 2” tall.
· Try always the create a variety of marks in your drawings, use the side if the pencil lead as much as it’s point, combine a graphite stick with pencil. Use a variety of hard and soft pencils. Experiment.
· Finally, when drawing a group of objects, when not try drawing the spaces around and between the objects rather than the objects themselves, this really forces you to look carefully and to understand what is going on.

Signs and Symbols

For the next couple of months I want to talk about signs and symbols and how an understanding of them can help us ‘read’ a painting. There are so many symbols that an artist could use, it would be impossible to list them all here. A few examples will suffice:
· A skull shown next to an egg timer can symbolise that man is mortal and sometime in the future his life, like the slipping sand, will end.
· A red rose signifies martyrdom, a white rose purity. They are often seen being held by the young Christ or the Virgin Mary
· Goats signify lust. Figures with hairy legs or hooves or goat-like features can be seen as lustful
· An egg always symbolises rebirth, hence the link with Easter.
As we can see from the few examples above once we understand something about the symbols and signs – effectively the ‘words’ we have a better chance to understand the language of the painting.
Common Signs
These signs are the easiest to understand because they are so common everyone understands them. We have see all seen pictures of Winston Churchill giving the ‘V’ for victory sign and we all know what the sign means when the hand is turned the other way around. Every schoolboy has at some time played at being a pirate and the skull and cross bones flag becomes an essential sign in the game. Similarly, we know we are on a motorway when the traffic signs become blue, or that we cannot enter a road if a red circular sign with a red line across it is displayed. We react almost instinctively to these signs, their meaning becoming instantly clear. They also give us vital pieces of information about how we might react to a given situation, incident or work of art. Common signs appear in lots of painting and are there to give us insights into what the painting might mean.
Symbols of attribution
These are symbols or objects, which an individual might hold or be associated with which identifies who the person might be. The young child holding a bowl of water in the painting Christ in the House of his Parents 1849 by John Everett Millais is identified as John the Baptist because of the fact he is holding a bowl of water. The context of this painting is the important factor. We have to understand that this is a religious painting otherwise the young boy holding a bowl of water could not be so identified.
Similarly in the same picture, the young Christ is identified by the cut on the palm of his hand and the drop of blood that has fallen onto his foot, obvious signs of crucifixion. Other more specific examples are; a small child holding a bow and arrow becomes cupid, or a female saint with a wheel is St Catherine because of the wheel that bears her name and on which she was almost crucified.
If we can identify the symbols of attribution in a painting, we have clues to identifying the individuals, but it is essential that context of the painting is understood, because the meaning of symbols can vary with the context.

Filbert Splosh’s News

Filbert exhibits at the Lion Gallery in Leominster
Filbert will be showing 10 paintings the majority exploring the relationship between individuals set against some very familiar surroundings. If you are interested why not pay a visit to Leominster wander down Broad Street and pop into the Lion Gallery. The exhibition starts on the 3 May and runs until the end of the month.

Filbert visits Schools
This month sees Filbert organising an Impressionist painting day concentrating on Coasts for Abbey Mead Primary school in Gloucester.

Broadfield Court 7th to 10th August : Herefordshire Painting Holiday
Broadfield Court, near Bodenham, just south of Leominster is a 16th century building with many out buildings. It is a working vineyard and has wonderful flower gardens and great views. This four day holiday is ideal for those wishing to explore drawing and painting in the surroundings of a wonderful vineyard, plus the odd glass of the best English wine. Accommodation can be arranged as required. For more details click here.

Forthcoming Events
This month’s courses
Inspired by Broadfield Court at Broadfield Court on 13/14 May (only two places left on this course)
Abstract Painting Weekend at Cradley Village Hall on 20/21 May
Matisse Weekend at Leintwardine Village Hall on 27/28 May

Special Offers

· If you book a place on the Abstract Painting Weekend (£85) and the Super Duper Drawing Course (£135) both at Cradley Village Hall by printing off the booking form on my website and sending it, together with your remittance to Filbert before 18 May, you will pay only £195 instead of £220, a saving of £25. Please quote ‘SuperMay’ in the Order Quote box. No other discounts apply to this offer. This offer does not apply to courses booked through the leaflet.

Regards

Filbert Splosh