The trouble with portraits

When I review my works I think and my friends tend to agree that my portraits and life drawing are better than my landscapes. Drawing people is hard but the results are much more immediate and 'grabs' attention. However I've had some issues with sitters not in terms of likeness which they agree is good but with their dismay at the unvarnished truth - do I really have that many wrinkles, jowls or grey hair? Even very old people haven't let their youthful self image go! Should art flatter? I suppose given a commission I would stoop to it. But not otherwise! It is also difficult to imbue the personality in a portrait : that is the challenge faced by accomplished portrait artists and novices alike. For now I've taken a break from portraits although I am likely to begin again when I visit family in KL next month.

Completed grain silos

I finally completed the grain silos from the farm visit. The shed on the right is very run down and missing a roof. It probably was an old farm manager's residence. My plan to draw more farm scenes has to be postponed till the next visit. Hopefully the greening of the farm continues (with fresh rain much to my friends' joy) as otherwise the palette would change too much to paint complementary pictures.

On a totally different subject I have started a new blog on crime novels I've read. Over the years, I've certainly covered a lot of ground and have decided to record what I read and what I enjoyed.

Sketch club at Art Est June 2009

I managed to get my friend Fiona to come to the sketch club at Art Est this month and we both left our respective spouses in charge of the children. It was very good to get away from it all! This month, our model was Jen who is about to return to Canada. She is slim and tall, her ankles and wrist look like they could break! She has a dancer's body, with strong muscles despite her slimness.

I wanted very much to produce some pastels this session and knowing how impossible it is to complete anything in the short time a typical pose lasts, I brought some A4 paper. These two were 10 min poses.

I took the opportunity to make a more complete drawing in the following 20 min poses.

This last one is rather difficult because the background wash was so dark. I had to erase the dark bits out rather than lay it on. A reversal of techniques.

Visit to Currawong, near Harden NSW

My good friend Gerry moved 2 and a half years ago to Harden NSW. Her husband's family were the original farmers in that area and there is a beautiful homestead dating from the 1800's when the areas was first settled. The homestead is called Currawong, and her mum in law lives there. Gerry's family live near the old homestead in a newer home.

She has settled nicely to country life, compromising by commuting to Canberra for work where the more urbane items were available. Harden is about 4 hours drive south west of Sydney and about 1.5 hours from Canberra. On route to Harden, there were some very tempting vistas, which I attempted to capture but it is difficult given that the vehicle is driving 110km/hr.

The weather was dreadfully cold and wet, with a bitter wind sweeping up the hill. But the country side was so beautiful this time. There was once that we visited some 18 months ago in the middle of the drought when everything was brown and parched. It was dusty and awful, the animals looked liked they were suffering. What a difference rain makes in the country! This time, there was greenery all around and the ewes looked fat and content. There will be lots of frisky lambs this spring!

I was unprepared for the green countryside and brought a whole lot of paper washed in earth tones. Because the weather was not conducive to outdoor sketching, I only managed one plein air drawing and this at the risk of freezing. This view is from Gerry's front verandah looking westwards.

Subsequently I took a few photos around the farm as it is very picturesque, intending to develop them into a series of paintings. I've started work on the grain silos that can be seen from Gerry's kitchen window. They are probably not as rusty as I've made them out to be! Having not finished the picture, I offer a close-up for inspection.