Developing an idea....

 Above, is a little sketch I scribbled the other evening....I was musing on the small grouping of clergymen...I quite like my Mad vicar character, so I thought it might be interesting to have a grouping. Once the I'd considered the idea, I sketched another version which is the one below...I quite liked the facial expressions that developed here...

 Another character was needed, so I sketched this rather obese chap holding a communion cup in the air...the combination of all the robes presents an opportunity for lots of flowing drapes. but how to get drapes that look authentic...the next step is to take some photos!

 Thankfully I have a full set of vestments ( don't ask!)....I set up my camera with self timer and posed the various characters I'd sketched...here are three pics I thought you might be amused to see!

This sketch I roughed out once I had the photos to work from...If I do decided to continue with this theme...there'll be many more sketches to do...I usually like to develop these ideas on tracing paper reworking the sketches time and time again. You'll notice a gap between the the group and the standing clergyman...there will be another character to go in that spot...! ;)
  

I'm still unhappy about my pen disaster...my return to full colour will have to wait a little while longer...so the next piece if this is it, will be in black and white again!

I hope you've found this little peek into the process I go through when I have a new idea...to tell the truth I have countless sketchbooks of various compositions which seem like a good idea at the time...the trick is to get them down into an understandable form so that in time, they can be developed further. So whilst this current idea might not  go any further...the idea is there...the photos and sketches are made...all it takes is the special burst of inspirational flame that I experience for the process to progress to full production.

Jobsworth.

We were musing this morning on Facebook about what might make up a job description for someone who is creative and seeking inspiration..as an artist I can spend time thinking, listening to music, reading, running..snoozing...cooking..watching movies/TV/ listening to the radio...libraries, galleries...you name it, if it serves the requirements of stimulation for creation, it's in the job description of the artist! What comes out of the end of my pen onto the paper is a direct result of whats going on in my thoughts, my feelings, my imagination and to neglect the proper and dedicated development of these ideas is to prepare to produce inferior work that is not making the absolute best of your talent.

sometimes, like this evening, it's about having fun..playing. I had need to find some resource images for a character I'm hoping to have in my new picture. I needed specific hands and posture so got set up with my camera and it's self timer , and positioned a lamp that I would light my hands and head...below is one of the images from the series I took this evening...you might see it's origin in the sketches in a previous post...remember where you saw it and if you keep coming back, you'll see what becomes of it!

As always, the period of gestation for my work is often frustrating, but it can be exciting...it can be a voyage of discoveries as sketches develop and take on a life of their own...that time is good..and that time is now!

Sketchbook gestations...

Regular readers here will know that the period between pieces is often a traumatic time for me....although I have countless sketchbooks full of ideas stretching back to the early 1980's...I find myself tormented over the what to apply my time to...knowing obviously that the next 2 - 6 months could be spent on the next drawing, I have to be sure that what I settle on is the right decision! so here are what you will be familiar with are some little sketches  of ideas that I don't mind you seeing....I've worked in greater detail on a couple of the ideas here and will make my decision soon...be sure you'll see me start at the very beginning as always!

Some people are shocked to find that my work is so exact and planned, that I work from these relatively small and simple sketches for my basic reference for composition...well, composition is easy...it's a matter of displacement and symmetry...of weights and perspective...these can be addressed in these simple sketches...the detail and final rendering happens at a later stage..and often during the actual dotting of the final piece!

Anyway....I'll shut up now and get on with the actual doing!...I hope you enjoy these crude scrawlings...if you follow me, you'll see what becomes of them! 

Gestations - Friday 6th june.

Unlike many other artists..I work with small sketches..this goes against what i was taught..indeed what I teach others:..to be bold ..brash and free when composing and sketching. I can visualise things well in small scale..

Here is a view of my desk just now...some photos of me...some Hoverfly's and Bees...I've found it difficult to concentrate today..various things taking up my thoughts... Jan has been away all week doing role play for the Royal College Of Psychiatry enabling candidates to be assessed on their skills when dealing with difficult patients.

On a lighter (but non the less important) note, Jan applied to Arts Council England for a theatre project she has planned , she runs a theatre company which specialises in children's theatre...yesterday we heard the good news that the funding had been awarded.This will enable a new play to be commissioned by renowned playwright Mike Kenny to be written..stage designers and actors to be employed...it is expected to tour around 60 venues in the autumn.

Meanwhile..my thoughts are gathering for the new picture....

Gestations - Violinist

I had a great time today just taking photographs of myself...I've not found the right one yet, so I'll just have to do a few more...I'd no idea how tricky it was to hold the remote control and the bow at the same time...then activate the remote and quickly assume a pose.Anyway, out of the 60 or so shots, here are two that will not be used. I look as if I know what I'm doing don't I?

It is from photographs like these I will develop the figure for the picture...I've not discounted the idea of it being me in the final composition...

Gestations

1.

...right..wife away all week acting...me to sort out kids, schools,laundry,shopping...basically i revert to being 'Super Dad' for the week minus the tights and cape..(that's for my day off!)..but never the less, i've come up with some good solid ideas from which to move to the next stage. I am quite aware in choosing to depict a hypnotic violinist, that I can very easily stray into cliche territory..ie: Fagin/Fiddler On The Roof/...so i saw a photo of a violinist which appealed and was looking head on (see 2.)..i'd drawn a full length figure (4.) which although looking nearer to what I imagined, was not dynamic enough....and 3. looked more like the Fagin I referred to earlier.So in 1. you can see the figure has been placed for the time being in the left of the frame with the bow making a diagonal to the top right hand corner....there will be room for another figure/figures there....I've decided to take a few pictures of me playing the violin to get shading and shadows referenced...I also have ideas for a colour scheme.

So there you have a few bare bones as it were...remember to join me each day as I progress from the basic sketches to the finished picture.

2.

3.

4.

Gestations

In answer to Devilmood...I am a dreamer. you have to understand that my line of work means I spend large amounts of time by myself concentrating.My mind can go to all sorts of places, i enjoy letting my thoughts wander...

Here is a little sketch I just made...you may be wondering where it might come from. Well, to set the record straight, as with all my characters, they are entirely made up, which is what surprised me with one of the earlier sketches..(see yesterday)..when I looked back at one drawing, i realised I'd created Saddam Hussein!...see if you can spot the likeness.


my Violinist , i think is Eastern European in origin...and needs to be wirery...a little unkempt....The photo also contains a free ariel view of my left foot.

Gestations - 2

I've been fascinated by the appearance of a Violinist who regularly plays in Derby city centre...usually at weekends..his playing is phenomenal.I was musing over the possibility that he is a time traveller...fate appoints his arrival to perform a special piece of music which draws lovers together..he appears in different cities at different times...always playing the same piece of music.Those destined to meet are unaware of each other, but as they stand to listen to his playing, their eyes meet. i think also he may have appeared on the Titanic as she slipped into the waves..during a lull in fighting in the trenches of WW1 as German and Allied troops laid down their weapons to celebrate Christmas...as peace was declared in 1945 in Piccadilly circus...Times Square..Berlin.....

All that from a little sketch...what more will surface?...perhaps I'll get down inot Derby tomorrow and take some photos of him....?

Gestations

Right at the beginning of all I do is the sketchbook. It is the gym in which the artist flexes his creative muscles..learns to hone the skills needed...it is the windswept cliff top where musings congeal and forms gather themselves..little ideas become bigger ..shapes take on dimension and all is balanced in readiness.
If you have any interest in art...I urge you...keep a sketch book...I have very many of them stretching back decades..all numbered and dated....with in them is contained the flights and fancies of my mind...and as such, they are like a visual journey through my life....to me they remain for my eyes only....for to share them would be like speaking the ramblings of my thoughts out loud....meaning little but to myself.
I often imagine that you can step into my reality and together we'd light a little candle and turn the pages as i reveal the very essence of that which inspires me. So here and now I've decided that I'll do just that. Presented for your delectation and perusal are the doodlings and gestation's of an idea which if you keep your eye on these pages, will become something more substantial...perhaps in a day or two...perhaps in a year of two...you never know