Author: aishalily

John Wonnacott

Wonnacott was born 1940, London, England) is a British painter. He trained at the Slade School of Fine Art during 1958–63.

These two compositions are interesting; the compositions work, despite elements being cropped, due to the figures being the central focus in the pieces. Notably, the artist has included many angles these pieces, those from the the ceiling, the carpets, the walls, the windows. The chair also is at a different angle from both figures. All these contrasting lines build up a sense of space and a little commotion and provide the eye with lots to look at. I notice too, that both pieces have been subtly drawn and painted darker in areas in order to make elements feel closer, which builds on the sense of space within the pieces.

Here it’s the sky that really creates a sense of space as the clouds draw outwards towards the edges of the piece, in opposite directions to the table and chairs and the leg of the character on the right. The effect of these elements draws the eye to the little path right in the centre of the drawing. Interestingly it’s hard to grasp the exact perspective the artist paints in as he seems to combine a few; in some areas of elements are painted as though he’s looking upwards at his subjects, while some areas – like the shoe under the table, are painted from above and the boy on the left’s head and the tree trunk are painted as though the artist is looking straight ahead, I believe this is what makes the painting so striking.

I like that Wonnacott cleverly explores reflections in this piece to advertise a sens of space, and how he paints them in different shades, playing with light sources. Also, different to many portraits, it’s the hand holding the glass, followed by the subject’s hand on the right that captures my attention, as opposed to the face, they’re bold and hint at the character of the man; they suggest to me, that he works hard, yet tends to be a little tense, he seems like a bold man.

The marks across the floor in both of these pieces lead the eye into the figures of the painting and create, especially in the painting, a perception of movement. Both pieces combine curved lines with straight, which prevents them from appearing too rigid and simulates the imperfections of man made surroundings. The curved lines also exaggerate the oddities of the subjects within the pieces.

Drawing Friend’s/ Family Members

Below are examples of some quick studies of my friend Thorin, and my Grandma that i made in my sketchbook before moving on and attempting some more finalised versions. Drawing in my sketchbook first, enabled me to grasp the subjects I was drawing and draw more definitely when it came to the more finalised versions. While I drew I kept in mind aspects of Wonnacott’s drawing’s and paintings that I’d admired. For example I tried to ensure there was a central focus to each drawing and I tried to darken the lines that I wanted to appear closer. I found it more enjoyable drawing Thorin as his dreaded hair is so interesting, and I was able to draw by building up layers of shadow. I also found hom enmjoyable to draw for he was sat in my room and so the objects and furniture are things I love and therefor drew with passion. However, I also enjoyed drawing aspects of my grandma and her room- particularily her figure though, as she has curves and interesting, hands that show she’s worked hard throughout her life.

Below are two pieces I spent more time on.

I like some parts of the first, such as the wispy curtains as they do seem to carry weight as though they’re hanging, and the way the elbow indents the cushion. I also like the composition; the way the hand gently rests on her cheek. However, I’d say overall, the piece lacks vigour and could have been drawn with more energy- I expect this would come the more I practice drawing figures.

This piece is a little less stagnant than the other and also displays more of a sense of space. I drew this looking up from the floor at my grandma, which is more of an interesting composition than the previous one, which was drawn from looking straight ahead. I attempted in both pieces, to darken the foreground in order to really bring it forth. I’d say the darkened foreground is more apparent in this second piece but both could do with it darkening even more. Perhaps I will get the opportunity to work into them in my next drawing class, as I feel this would greatly improve them and create a more vivid sense of space.

For this lesson I cut out number and letters from the plain felted sheets that I’d created in my Wet Wool Felting class, and used these to create another piece demonstrating shadow trapunto and applique.

The piece consists of two pieces of material, muslin for the top layer and calico for the bottom. For the trapunto method, I ‘trapped’ some felt numbers between the two piece of material and sew neatly around the trapped number using running stitch. It helped to pin down the fabric and the felted numbers/ letters and to use an embroidery hoop, to save the fabric from moving about and to keep it taught.

The numbers/ letters that lay on top of both pieces of material are examples of the applique method. I sew along the edges of each number/ letter, also using a running stitch.

I thought carefully about the positioning of the numbers and letters. I layered the ‘4’ over the ‘2’ in an attempt to make the piece more interesting. I’d say it certainly does make the piece more intriguing but it perhaps breaks the ‘2’ a little too much.

I quite enjoyed the process overall as it was satisfying to watching the surface being raised, however, I found it hard to pick up a rhythm in my stitching and so it took me quite a bit of time.

A Second Attempt at a Trapunto and Applique Composition

I found this piece quite challenging for the felt was thick and therefore it was hard to mimic the delicacy and elegance of seed heads that I so desired, overall I’m not too pleased with it. However, I must give myself credits for the effort- especially seen as the white felt I used began to come apart as a sew (this time I used a batch of felt made by a class mate and it wasn’t as solid as the one I made and used for my previous trapunto piece).I had aimed to create delicate, thin stalks but due to the felt fraying this way I couldn’t achieve that. I’m not too disappointed with them though, as it is quite a nice effect, and I imagine it’d work well in creating dandelion heads.

Todays textile lesson was based on wet wool felting. I vaguely remember having a go at it around my Grandma’s table when I was younger and I am familiar with needle felting as my mum and I used to make ‘magic wool fairies’ with needles around the fire in winter.

I enjoyed the process of wet wool felting, although it was tedious rolling the wool for lengthily periods of time.

Below, I have attached an image from my sketchbook where I have explained the process of wet wool felting:

I made two sheets of plain felt, one a natural white and then one grey, ready to use for a task next lesson. These were quite thick as they were formed from 4 layers of wool. I then made a patterned piece based on my illustrations of seed heads. The patterned version is made using the same process as the blank pieces, only just before placing the mesh over the wool and adding warm soapy water, I placed some materials and bits of coloured wool on the layered pieces of wool. In order to ensure the bits of material and string etc. stick, and felt along with the wool, very fine layers of wool must be layered over the material.

As it was my first attempt at creating a wet wool felted composition, I wasn’t sure how the materials would look once they’d been rolled and felted and so I just went ahead and experimented. I’m not so fond of how the finish piece looks as I’d like it to have a little more definition, I will perhaps work into it with stitch to refine it a little more. I am however more familiar in working with felt, and now know what to expect a little more and so it was a useful experiment.

Artists who use felting in their practice

Joe Neil

Jo Neil, a felt maker based in North West England, takes her inspiration from everyday ‘mundane’ objects with an interest in our relationship to them, how we use and view them. ‘Felt like it’ was started up in 2008 as a label for Jo’s original designs that use feltmaking, stitch and fine art technique. The first piecec I’ve chosen of her’s, drew my attention for it’s monochrome patterns appear to be piled and tangles- a nice effect that I would hve never thught to epermient with. As she uses a monochrome palet for this piece it ppears stright forward and it’s easy to distingiush the felt and it’s patters despite being a complicated design. The second piece by her, that I’ve chosen, featuring a rather abstract figure interested me for i like the way the artist has created a muffled, soft coloured backgroundto contrast the intricately stitched red clown. As the background is quite ubtle the artists is able to use fine stitch which creates delicacy within her piece.

Moy Mackey

Moy Mackay works from her home in the Scottish Borders, and she fuels her passion for colour and texture through inspiration drawn from her surroundings. She uses merino fleece fibres in the same way that a painter uses brushstrokes which creates “felt paintings” of stunning warmth and texture. Her pieces are striking as she dapples them with vibrant colures which immediately catch the eye and I notice the felt imitates and slightly exaggerates the waves and slopes and curvatures of nature perfectly, giving each piece character. I’m particularly drawn to the piece featuring two little houses, as the background blue is so vibrant and despite the it covering most of the piece it refrains from washing the other elements out for she dapples blue in the bottom half of the piece to balance the image. What’s more the blue is lies by an almost equally strong ochre colour. The careful black outlines lend the piece refinement and pull the simple elements together and form detail.

Andrea Hunton

The way the artists uses the felt here, exemplifies the flowing strands of hair and grass and clouds and creates a striking sense of the wind.

Andrea Hunton’s felt piece’s caught my attention for she creates a sense of space within her work by creating strong foregrounds, middle grounds and backgrounds. As I look at them I feel as though I’m sucked in by the flowing strands of felt and it’s difficult to look away. The artist uses mixtures of strands of colours in her elements which lend a realistic effect. As her pieces feature dark toned colours, her work exposes a raw mellow atmosphere that I relate to, found in nature.

Richard Diebenkorn

I notice that Richard Diebenkorn works into his background with lively strokes , which really accentuates the figure and brings the piece to life. The range of tones also adds to this, and the darkened areas refine the drawing. He appears to paint rapidly, which ensures the painting looks fluid, a quality I wish to ensure my paintings have. I especially like the way Diebenkorn uses bold, and in some areas, drippy, expressive, lines for of the figures as they describe character and human imperfections.

David Park

David Park, whose figurative work is similar in some senses, to Diebenkorn’s, is another painter I like. Much like Diebenkorn, he describes light through using different shades of black wash, and his paintings are loose. I like the silhouette aspects as they ensure the figure stands out while lending a sense of mystery. The figures are in correct proportion and so the artist is able to play with some features like the feet in a more expressive way while maintaining realism throughout.

This week I made some looser studies of the life model, using charcoal, inks, watercolours and pencil. I liked working this way as I felt I was able to achieve more life in my drawing. I discovered that drawing precisely the week before had improved my eye for this session, for although I was being loose, I still drew with precision and so the proportions in my drawings are fairly accurate. It was enjoyable to use a wash as it enabled me to work into the background and emphasise the figure.

This was my first attempt and so appears a lot tighter than those that follow, where I began to loosen up in my strokes a lot more. i would say the the chair brings this drawing together as it is drawn bold and accurately. The figure is drawn pretty well but I’ve made her look to rigid, she isn’t sunk into the chair enough which makes her look a little awkward.

I let myself go while creating this drawing and it shows through my easy strokes. I’m pleased with the result, I fear if I work into it further I’ll ruin it’s nonchalance. The shadow behind the chair was inspired by the way Diebekorn emphasises his figures with dark areas.

This was my quickest drawing and as it was my third attempt I drew using a brush instead of sketching the shapes first with charcoal or pencil like I did the last two. By going straight in with a brush I’ve created a more abstract drawing, I like both ways of working, butthis way is certainly a more playful and I discover I work with accidents which can create interesting effects.

I am pleased with these drawings and I’d love to do more of these as drawing this way improves my confidence and I find new subtle ways of drawing when I explore subjects loosely and quickly like this.

I later worked into my third study from class, at home, without the model in front of me. At this stage I felt a little lost as the piece looked a little manic and unrefined.

I looked again at Diebenkorn’s figure drawings and worked back into areas using black ink on a fine brush which brought the drawing together a little more.

I decided the green looked too pale against the black, and so I worked over it in thinned Prussian blue acrylic. I believe this was a good decision for the blue is richer and has transformed the drawing from looking washed out to looking more tonal as well as enrichening the figure. This task was challenging as I had to use my judgement and imagination but it taught me a lot and towards the end I found myself thoroughly enjoying working this way.