Ballet Dancer

This drawing is an attempt to show the wonder of the human figure in action. This was also taken from life magazine and made an excellent study for a drawing. This was done with graphite and dry pastel on recycled paper.

Dad

This portrait is of my father, the one man I admired for a lot of reasons. A self-educated and amateur philosopher with a unique perspective on life and people. We all miss him dearly. In this drawing he was a lot younger, and very different from what he looked like in his mature years. I hope I did him justice.

Determination of the young

In this drawing I tried to capture the undeniable determination in this young man (a mere 3 1/2 years of age,) as he prepares to throw the horse shoe. It seems that this young chap is set for a life time of competition, and I hope that I managed to capture some of that personality. This exercise was taken from and old photo in Life magazine. The mediums were graphite and dry pastel on recycled paper.

Luca Signorelli

Naturally when Luca did this drawing it did not have any colour. A little about this artist: Luca Signorelli (c. 1445 – 16 October 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter who was noted in particular for his ability as a draughtsman and his use of foreshortening. His massive frescoes of the Last Judgment (1499–1503) in Orvieto Cathedral are considered his masterpiece.

Jacopo da Pontormo

The next master that I had a go at was Jacopo Carucci. Naturally the back ground that is in colour I added on. (May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as Jacopo da Pontormo, Jacopo Pontormo or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine school. His work represents a profound stylistic shift from the calm perspectival regularity that characterized the art of the Florentine Renaissance. He is famous for his use of twining poses, coupled with ambiguous perspective; his figures often seem to float in an uncertain environment, unhampered by the forces of gravity.

François Boucher Drawing

This is an attempt to copy one of François Boucher's works. He was born on 29 September 1703 in Paris,France. He died 30 May 1770 (aged 66) His nationality was French and his field of endeavor was painting. The movement was Rococo. Here is a portrait of the artist, not done by himself but Gustav Lundberg.

Albrecht Dürer

The orginal was done by Albrecht Dürer, born 21 May 1471 and died 6 April 1528 was a German painter, print-maker, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since. His vast body of work includes altarpieces and religious works, numerous portraits and self-portraits, and copper engravings. His woodcuts, such as the Apocalypse series (1498), retain a more Gothic flavour than the rest of his work. His well-known works include the Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514), which has been the subject of extensive analysis and interpretation. His watercolours mark him as one of the first European landscape artists, while his ambitious woodcuts revolutionized the potential of that medium.

The Project

I was watching a film that was about a woman that wanted to copy/make, every single day for a year, a recipe of a famous American TV cooking instructor, I think the film was called "Julie and Julia" (I will have to check that up). In other words a recipe per day. This got me thinking about being an artist: one of the most fundamental skills an artist needs, is the ability to draw (There are those that will not agree with me, but I think if you can not draw, you can not call yourself an artist), so with these two thoughts in mind, I thought that I would pursue the same goal. A drawing per day for 1 year. But with one fundamental difference: I will not copy the work of a single artist but will choose a different artist each day. So this is the first drawing of a boy playing a flute, but the artist Correggio. I know that essentially I produce works on gold and silver leaf, but drawing skills need to be practiced daily, so here goes.

Portrait Project

I was approached by a colleague of my son, to do a portrait drawing for her. As always I'm eager to please and have a go at a new challenge. So out came the old drawing equipment and started. I was relatively happy with the results: I say relatively, because as an artist one is never truly happy with the result. I tend to constantly look at the drawing with a critical eye. Every one said that it looks just fine, and the client was very happy with the result - thank goodness. Nothing makes me more unsettled that a unhappy client. This project has now motivated me to start doing portraiture again. Portrait drawing is one of the most unforgiving disciples in the fine arts (Well, at least in my opinion). For instance if you were painting a tree that you were seeing in a field, and painted in an extra branch, probably no one would notice or care. But if you were to place in an extra large ear on a portrait, that would not be acceptable. But then there are the infamous exceptions, notably Picasso. Have a look at how he painted some of his mistresses. Another notable artist that comes to my mind is Modigliani: he painted portraits with very long necks and no details to the eyes. Why is he allowed to get away with it and not everyone else. Well there a many reasons for this, but the one that holds the most weight for me, is the fact that he still manages to make the portrait recognizable. He has managed to focus on the single most noticeable characteristic of the persons face, high light that and WALA! Some might say that artistic license allows these artist to do what they want. True to a degree only - the final result must make make you think of the sitter. But then have a look at Picasso´s work - I think only he could know who the sitter was sometimes. But make no mistake - he can do very fine portraits in the old classical format, he was successfully doing that at the age of 12.

Next Exhibition

This is the gallery that will be housing the next exhibition that I will be taking part in, the name of the gallery is "Arte Algarve". It goes without saying that it is situated in the Algarve. On the N125 in Lagoa. There will be more than 30 artists displaying their work, which makes for a very diverse visiting experience. The inauguration will take place on Saturday, 6 October 2012 at 3pm. There will be a music band there that will play contemporary music from Angola, Mozambique, Brazil and Cabo Verde. So, if you want a diverse cultural experience: be there. The person responsible for the show is Rolf Osang and Bettina. They can be contacted at bettina@artealgarve.net or arte@artealgarve.net