Chapters 8 & 9

Before I started Chapter 8 I realised I hadn't done any prints in my sketchbook so I did a couple.  I know now why not to do them straight in.  Firstly, all the previous pages creates an uneven surface for printing and secondly, the wire spine gets in the way, however, these are my attempts.

Both are Koh i Noor backgrounds with acrylic prints.  The bright colours have changed depending on the background colour whereas the more subtle and metalic colours haven't.  I like both of them though.

I then decorated my sketchbook cover.

I sponge painted the background with acrylics.  Then I added torn strips of one of my printed papers.  These blended in a bit too much so I, highlighted the metalic prints with treasure gold then painted the whole cover with acrylic wax and then used alcohol inks over the paper in green and cranberry to enhance the papers.  I had accidently laid some black cotton perle over the cover and I decided I liked the effect so I drew the black lines down in felt tip pen.  I thought it almost looked like human shapes behind bars (or was that the wine talking to me).

Now to chapter 8.  I borrowed a book from the library on Matisse and I have to say I liked his earlier still lifes best.  I prefer the rustic colours.  I did choose one off the internet as well which was more colourful but still a simple arrangement.

Now came the difficult bit.  I set up a still life, photographed it, traced it into my sketchbook then painted it.  I used acrylics again as I have been learning a lot about how to use them in this module.

This was my still life.  I had put a board behind it to make the background a bit easier but it kept falling off the table so I just simplified the sideboard.

I didn't get the napkin right and I think this was partly because I took the photograph at a slightly different angle to where I was when I was painting so my lines weren't in the right place.  I don't think I would eat that pear.

This is the still life I set up for myself to paint directly into my sketchbook.

I painted it in using a blue watercolour.  Although I know there are a number of mistakes in this I have to say I am really pleased with it.  The pictures I have painted in this sketchbook must be some of the first I have done since leaving school and I'm not saying how long ago that was!  I can see that I have missed the knife blade near the wine bottle, the vine on the plate is wrong on the left, I could have put more shadow in the red pepper, the tablcloth folds aren't right and probably a lot more but as my mother would have said 'A blind man would like to see it'.  Not sure how 'Matisse' like it is but I don't really do patterned walls.  I do have some lovely patterned pottery from around the world though.

The next job was to put the photograph onto the computer and change the colours.  I spent ages on this in Photo Shop but I couldn't work it out.  I managed to change the overall colour and I then used that in a Microsoft programme that did some colour changing in a bit simpler way.

Chapter 9

I really do find this man weird.  I think some of his pictures are quite disturbing and even frightening.  My attempt at a face in his style I have called 'Rock on Grandma'.