Sky Arts 1 Portrait Artist of the Year 2013 – Episodes 4 and 5 - Cardiff and France – Rugby Balls and getting drunk...

Due to various situations beyond my control (sickness, moving office etc), I have had to combine my views on two episodes in this blog (both Cardiff and Paris).

Cardiff.

I felt that the Cardiff event proved to be the more problematic of all the sessions filmed around the country. It appeared the theme of the Cardiff programme looked at technique rather than observational qualities and likenesses of the sitters.  So it came as no surprise that the selection of the sculptural, solid work of the rugby player, Gavin Henson, (without his fabulous torso and rugby ball) was selected as the winner.  The Falklands veteran burns victim, Simon Weston proved to be an inspired choice of sitter – his portraits proving to be both colourful and textual.  The third sitter, artist Lucien Freuds model  Sue Tilley, was a further challenge. There is a snippet of the show here:

http://www.sky.com/tv/show/portrait/video/cardiff-festival

Paris.

Paris was much more interesting. The four finalists were taken on what seemed like a mini-Masters Degree course to Paris. Starting with a formal critique (crit) at the Royal Academy in London – it was also interesting to see the finalists other work. I do remember how awful some crits can be at art school – especially when faced with a panel of judges. The remarks appeared appropriate and fair to me, and started to make me think a bit more about how I can get back to my own drawing studies. It was this initial crit that set the theme of the episode - with one memorable piece of advice being given to a particular contestant by Joan Bakewell who advised that he should go and get drunk in Paris. The contestants appeared vulnerable – so the theme was one of apprenticeship and learning.

The sitter was Sophie Dahl – and after the contestants had looked at the various ways of implementing their advice from the crits in London – they produced some difficult work in 6 hours over two days. The pressure looked enormous – and consequently from this experience, I got the impression that the majority of the paintings appeared to be overworked and insecure. I think the judges identified this too.

It’s good to be insecure about your work sometimes, as that means there is room to learn and grow as an artist. I hadn’t done any more self portraits since my own experience submitting my own work to the competition and being short listed for the Glasgow semi final.

So last night, I got out my pencils and had another go. Thinking about my earlier discussions on this blog of notions of 'the gaze', and thinking how I can take my work further myself, I took a cynical view – and thought about my feelings of the Sky Arts experience including reviews of the programme being a place where 'high and low culture can be surprisingly successful'. (Jones,2013)   So instead of focussing on getting a likeness this was my result...

I think if the Sky Arts finalists can let go of the pressure and the obtrusive gaze that is the programmes focus on the artist and their work, then the artist’s relationship with the sitter will be relaxed and should reveal both the artist and the sitter in fabulous paintings. 

 So artists.. yes.. get drunk.. and kick that rugby ball into touch - and do anything else that will release the creative spirit!! 

Reference:

Ellen E Jones. TV Review. The Independent.  6^th Nov 2013

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2013 - Show 3 Dublin - The Guinness episode...

I've titled this post 'the Guinness episode' because I think I would have needed several pints of it after drawing the challenging sitters on this weeks Sky Arts Portrait competition episode.

I thought that actress Pauline McLynn was particularly brave to take on a classical pose: reclining semi naked in front of the mirror. Pauline is more well known for her portrayal of house keeper, Mrs. Doyle, in the classic situation comedy Father Ted (Channel 4). Pauline apparently researched her pose for some time, and I think she did a fantastic job. Her pose reminds us of paintings such as the Rokeby Venus by Velazquez - currently held in the National Gallery, London.

Moone Boy star  David Rawle,demonstrated great maturity by his ability to sit still for such long periods of time, and Rap Artist Lethal Bizzle took up a commanding pose for his painters. However, I choose to write again about the power of the gaze as I did in the Glagow post from my own experience. 

Pauline, by laying in front of  her large mirror, actually reflected the gaze back at the artists working on the pose - creating yet further implications of watching and being watched. This process, I feel, was actually too much for one artist, whose lively impasto brush strokes of Pauline appeared to reflect back the piercing gaze of not only the sitter, but of all the other artists, the camera, the judges, the interviewers, the audience and himself. The pressures of scrutiny compounded by time, expectation and performance were quite a cruel experience for some.

Nonetheless, the standards under such pressure were again, amazing. The sheer variety of talent was revealed through the developing narrative of the show.The format from episode to episode is well established and makes for easy viewing, so now the viewer can focus on observing the progression of work.

I think everyone is doing a fantastic job on the show - and I am inspired and in awe of some of the sitters and artists alike. 

So, I look forward to the next one... and just think how amazing it was to be part of such an experience...

By the way you can currently see all the episodes from scratch for free at the moment (not sure how long for) at this link:
http://go.sky.com/vod/content/Catch_Up/content/seriesId/1752ac9475402410VgnVCM1000000b43150a________/content/default/promoPage.do

Sky Arts 1 Portrait Artist of the year 2013 -Show 2 Glasgow - the chicken sandwich episode...

Wel,l the Art show from Glasgow was finally aired. Again it was nicely done, and I was surprised that I featured in it as much as I did! Thanks StoryVault Films!

So here's my brief experience of the day.

Filming started really early - we had to arrive at the Kelvingrove Museum for around 7am. We were filmed arriving at the venue - and were then taken onto the set. The set was very impressive and took up much of the space in the main hall near the entrance. There were crew outside doing crane shots of the building, and on set there were several crews manning each part of the construction - which was called 'The Cheese' - and were were all allocated a space in our section of The Cheese. Each piece of The Cheese had a runner and a floor manager who looked after us. The organisation was very good and very cleverly thought out.

Drawing and painting started at around 10.30am... and quite frankly I was terrified. The other artists were very friendly - but there was a competitive edge - so we all got to it straight away. Being part of the process whilst understanding and appreciating how the filming is completed was interesting. As a lecturer in Media Studies at Portsmouth University enabled me to see how the production company were going to produce the narrative, and from what TV shows they had developed their format. It was very much like the Antiques Road Show and the British Bake-off, as I mentioned in my earlier blog post. So I felt prepared for the questions, the positioning of myself in relation to the work, continuity and narrative. Joan Bakewell, was very sweet, she was supportive and appeared to be genuinely interested in everyone's work and technique. Frank Skinner, on the other hand asked more antagonistic questions - much of which was not included in the final cut.

We were all told to standby when our sitter arrived. Of course we didn't know who it was going to be.. but it was a nice surprise to see the Scottish Actor, John Hanna. I  had said to the production team that part of my creative process was to hug my portrait sitters.. so I  did actually get a very nice big hug from John!! (thanks John!) 

However, what I had not anticipated was the sheer strength of different layers of 'the gaze' (Lacan, Berger, Mulvey) in this experience. For a start, we - as artists - were gazing and observing our sitter. Then we were being looked at and observed by the cameras; we were then observed by whom I can only describe as the' art police' - two very tall, (I'm only 4ft 11ins) women. Unfortunately I didn't know who they were, and I could only assume that one was the arbiter of trend, and the other the arbiter of taste. Then we were observed by practising artist Tai Shan Shierenberg. On top of all that looking - we were all finally observed by the general public who appeared in their droves with all their own personal recording media. It was rather like being in a zoo. Whilst all this was going on we also had to produce a painting or drawing - preferably a likeness of our sitter. The layers of looking and being seen were the most I had ever experienced. It was bonkers! 

So, I started my work and, using compressed and soft charcoals, blue tak and Fabriano paper, I tried to do my best - under truly surreal circumstances. Once I got going I actually enjoyed it. I decided to have fun and just do my bit. I was amazed that I had even been short listed!

Here's a video clip from Sky Arts of John Hanna talking about his experience of sitting for us.

http://www.sky.com/tv/show/portrait/video/john-hannah

BUT...

Having Tai come and give a constructive critique of my work made it all worth while. 

The pressure on set was very intense and completely exhausting, and I was certainly relieved when I had finished!

The judging was a pretty intense procedure too. we all had to leave the building and were interviewed outside about our expectations. I do believe that someone was so nervous that they actually threw-up outside. The other sitters were amazing - Sophie Turner and Michael Kerr - and the artists did some fantastic work. I think our winner was well deserved - his work reminded me of Rembrandt. 

Overall, I think I will be remembered most for scribbling all over the paper, and recollecting when I first heard I had been short listed.. I choked on my chicken sandwich I was eating whilst getting the phone call from StoryVault Films.... 

Special Thanks

I would like to say a very big thank you to everyone who has supported me during this competition - especially (the lovely) Ed, Chris Wood, The Southsea Gallery, colleagues at the School of Creative Arts Film and Media, University of Portsmouth, White Elephant,  Ellie for friendship and lovely photos of the day used on this blog, and Scott (DJ Loveless) for providing such an entertaining end to the weekend.

I am available for private commissions, and often run simple drawing classes during the spring and summer months in and around Portsmouth and Hampshire. If you would like to get in touch please do leave a comment, or you can find my contact details via the University of Portsmouth web site. 

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the year 2013 - show 1. London.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the programme. I think StoryVault Films did a spectacular job. The set design was very clever, and the three sets for each sitter were carefully considered and executed. It was a shame that we didn't see more of it! I was lucky enough to have a brief chat with one of the designers over a bacon sandwich - and he was worried whether each set they had designed married with the theme/identity of each sitter. The lighting rig was also amazing - but the only problem with that as you may see in the next program, is that the natural lighting kept changing - giving the artists quite a challenge during the day.

It was impressive seeing the quality of the work, and also the narratives that were played out by individuals as the show progressed. I was also interested in the sensitivity of the editing and the way the artists were treated - I was worried about the nature of  the 'competition' itself  and how it could be portrayed as a reality TV show - but I was wrong on that assumption. It was a little bit like Antiques Road Show meets Master Chef (or the Great British Bake Off) - Nonetheless it was great to see that figurative work can still get some attention and still has critical value.

Marketing was also clever - see the overarching portrait of the Mona Lisa made up of all our self portraits! See some of the press release below..

PORTRAIT IN THE PARK…

GIANT MONA LISA TOWERS OVER CLAPHAM COMMON

Largest art easel and portrait ever displayed in Europe

•     Towering 14 metre high easel displays a 5 by 7 metre canvas

•     Leonardo da Vinci’s painting voted nation’s favourite portrait of all time

Created to celebrate Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year

A giant canvas of the Mona Lisa has been installed on Clapham Common in central London following a national poll which named the Leonardo Da Vinci classic as the nation’s favourite portrait of all time.

The artwork which is positioned on an easel measuring a staggering fourteen metres high - double the height of an average two storey house, was commissioned to mark the launch of Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year competition, which begins on Sky Arts 1 HD on 5^th November.

The Mona Lisa portrait was created using 84 of the individual self-portraits submitted by the shortlisted entrants to the national competition.  Surrey based multi-media artist Quentin Devine spent a week incorporating each individual portrait into the Mona Lisa Mosaic replicating the portraits into 1000 individual pixels to create the Mona Lisa illusion. The giant artwork marks the first time the portraits have been displayed together.

Positioned in the middle of the common, the easel took a team of fabricators over two months to design and construct.  The montage of portraits was printed onto specially designed, wind breathable canvas and measures 5 metres by 7 metres – 85 times bigger than the original portrait which hangs in the Louvre.  The complete structure which weighs three tonnes is weighed down by an additional twelve tonnes of ballast to ensure stability.

Quentin Devine who devised the giant artwork comments "Updating Da Vinci's masterpiece to a 21st century digital piece of art has been one of the largest scale digital art projects I've worked on in my 13 years of being a Multimedia artist. It was a great challenge to combine the rich talents of the portrait artists competing for the accolade of Sky Arts Portrait of the Year." 

* * *

I had no idea that this was being created.. it's amazing to see your own work as a small part of a larger piece! The next show to be broadcast is from Glasgow - the one that I participated in. So I will give a more detailed account of the experience once that show is aired....

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2013

Well, the Sky Arts program is about to start broadcasting - the series transmission date is 5th. November on Sky Arts 1. There have been several promos so far, and I have been featured scribbling over my paper...  I won't go into too much detail at this time - but I will do a weekly comment on the shows on this blog as they are transmitted.

Sky Arts promo from a telly!

Photo - thanks Chris Golya

I applied for the competition in order to experience the application process so that I could empathise with students who may be going through various application processes themselves - so I could advise. I am a Senior Lecturer and Course Leader at Portsmouth University - for Media Studies and Entertainment Technology. I never believed in a million years that my submission drawing would be selected. The on-line competition form asked for a self portrait - so this is the drawing I uploaded:

'My Menopausal Self' 2013

Compressed charcoal on Fabriano paper.

Photo - thanks Southsea Gallery

I anticipated that all the submissions would be by 'young emerging artists', and submissions would be completed in oil paints or acrylic - which is why I uploaded this one - as I thought it was too much outside their remit (mature woman, drawing)... but apparently I was wrong! I use a very simple and straightforward drawing technique which involves covering the paper/ground in charcoal, and then lifting the content out from it. I don't just use it for portraits - but it can be very effective.
Here's one I made earlier...

Jonty Stern (Big Brother contestant 2007) Museum speaker.

Compressed charcoal on Fabriano 2011 

Photo - thanks Ed Woodroffe

 For a piece of background about my creative practice here's a video made by some University of Portsmouth Film and Television students. I think they did a fantastic job. My partner Ed, Kev and myself did all the music too. (I like drumming and banging my bongos!)

Trudy a Portrait. Alex Sergei (Director) 2011

University of Portsmouth.

So please do keep coming back to this blog once the Sky Arts series starts to be shown..  and I will try and share the absolute terror and pressure of participating in the programme!! (only joking!!! - actually it was pretty tense!)

..Daedalus Ward Project continued...

Sp... have started to put he leaves and blossoms on the tree. This is has been quite a relaxing process - creating the textures and just adding simple bright colours. (Fig 1)

 

 
Figure 1
Then after adding lots of leaves and textures I start to overlay the colour.(Fig 2)

 
Figure 2

Then I simply add the blossom texture and colour as another layer. (Fig 3)

 Figure 3.

So I have added the warmer colours on the tips of the blossom. This will be extended in the next follow-on painting which will have far more warm colours added. As the work develops, warmer colours will be included in all the next paintings.

There will be apples!!! :)

Update for the Daedalus Ward Commission...

Well, the work is coming on now.. and the composition is continuing on to the second painting.. have started to accentuate this one - as it takes a departure from the first painting. This one is about the same tree during the spring. Consequently the colours are richer, the textures are more expressive and the work starts to take a life of its own...  I aim to start the third and fourth one together shortly and will finish all first four in the sequence together.

Figure 1

The pictures above (Fig.1) show the texture I am using for the next painting in the sequence. It is a lovely smooth texture paste that I put onto the canvas with palette knives. There is a strange relaxing quality to this action. I then have to wait for the texture to dry - I left it overnight, just to be sure - and then started adding the acrylic colour on top (Fig.2).

 
Figure 2.

Adding the acrylic colour onto the texture gives a little more depth and sense of the 'tree-ness' of the bark (fig 3.)

Figure 3.

However, this process also allows an anthropomorphic reading - by the viewer of the work - to the shape of the tree which gives it slightly more human qualities - which is what I am hoping for.

Figure 4.

So here (Fig 4) You can see the sequence of paintings. The winter composition is now leading onto the spring one. The spring painting is ready for leaves and blossoms - the details of how I complete that task will be in my next blog update.

The next stage of Magic and Logic...

The last couple of weeks have been so lovely and sunny - I have taken some time off for a break - and have also been getting on with the next stage of the paintings for the Daedalus Ward for dementia sufferers at the Gosport War Memorial Hospital. So - I took advantage of the sunny weather and visited the orchard again - this time to see the trees full of greenery and luscious red fruit. It was fantastic. It is so fascinating to see how the orchard has changed over the past few months - and this helps me develop the narrative of the paintings from my experiences at the orchard.

 

 

Setting the composition.

I have the basic composition of the first painting set - see previous blog posts. So in order to transfer the composition fairly accurately onto the other canvases, I have scaled the painting using standard copying techniques using a simple grid. (Fig 1)

Figure 1.

This was done quite easily using thread that I simply taped onto the canvas with even measured spacing.(Fig 2)

Figure 2.

I then draw the same grid onto the new canvas and transfer the image by drawing square by square.

This process will be completed across the remaining canvases for this specific series of paintings. It is important to keep the basic composition for all the paintings because I believe that in doing this, memory retention of the image is maximised from viewing one painting to the next; thus enabling the patient to retain some residual imprint of the image in their mind between viewing each canvas. These paintings are also about exercising the brain and mind as well as looking at (hopefully!) pleasing compositions and colourful textures. As a consequence of this, I will be completing all four canvases in this series together and at the same time as the initial composition and colours/textures have been worked out in the first painting. This will again bring an underlying continuity to the images even as they transform to portray the changing seasons. 

The remaining 3 canvases (of 7 for the whole commission) will be relaxed    landscapes/seascapes/weatherscapes painted in an entirely different way. 

Magic and Logic 14/8/13 update...

   The painting for the Gosport War Memorial Hospital Daedalus Ward - for dementia sufferers - is entering a new phase.. This time I am adding texture to the work. It is understood that some patients come into the ward in crisis and can be very distressed - hence they may prefer to pace up and down the corridor where these pictures will be hung. So... the work will have various types of texture added to them, so that the patients can touch the work if they wish. It is hoped that  members of staff can engage the patients with some sort of sensorial experience whilst pacing the corridor, and then explore the patients thoughts and possibly reveal memories in some way through touch, sight and discussion of the paintings as they perceive them.

    As we look at things and live our every day lives we can see metaphors, memories and emotions through smell, taste, sound and sight. How often do we hear a song that reminds us of earlier days of our lives or special events - how often does eating a sweet instantly take us back to our childhood times.. (licorice cuttings in my case!!)? So as I develop the paintings there will be some things which I hope will do just that for you. Some elements are designed to be subtle and subliminal. By looking at the processes and seeing all seven of the paintings coming together in this blog, you should be able to understand the deeper elements of what may appear to be simple structures and ideas, but will also give you some insight into how creativity may reveal elements of dementia and its treatment. I am a great believer in creativity - not simply as therapy - but as a diagnostic tool that can show specific directions in a persons disease, whether that be dementia or cancer for example. .. But that debate will be discussed more in a future blog. So let's look at the next process of this first painting- the orchard in winter...

Adding Texture.

   So.. I start by adding texture medium - small plastic beads set in PVA. This is painted onto the canvas and left to dry. (Fig 1)

Figure 1

Putting on the texture medium is really good fun - and you can follow the shapes and forms of the objects in the composition. It adds another dimension to the work - bringing the foreground objects more obviously to the front of the canvas plane. Other areas where I have not added texture makes those objects recede into the mid-ground and background of the canvas plane.

Then I start to look at my research drawings and photos of the orchard. I don't usually like to work from photos - but this work has a specific purpose - as this is an imagined landscape with elements of my 'experience' of the orchard, rather than simply a figurative observation of the orchard.So I start to look at my memories of my visits (so far in both winter and spring) and recollection of the textures on the tree bark (Figs 2 and 3).

 
Figures 2 and 3

So I take thick acrylic paint and apply it to the tree objects in the painting. All the time thinking about the textures of the orchard, and the inspiration of the place. (Figs 4,5 and 6)

 
Figures 4 and 5

Figure 6

The work starts to take on a life of its own, and trees start to develop their own character. (Fig 7)

Figure 7.

So the basic structure and some of the texture is now complete - and now further details and colours will be added to this painting. There are lots of further small branches and  possible buds to form - snow and grass and mud to add... 

But in the meantime - I have to go back to the orchard, as it is now in fruit and I need to see all those little apples growing on the trees!! - and there's a nice farm shop and a lovely country pub nearby!!!