Thursday, April 2, 2009

Day 4



OK, just a leeeeettllllllllleee bit of frustration today painting, but what the heck, all we are doing is applying pigment to cloth...not the end of the world.... ho hum...no spectacular changes as you can see above, though I am happy with how the face is coming out. I think the teacher and I have TOTALLY different visions of what constitutes a finished and attractive painting, but that is OK.

Nomad and I went off the the National Portrait gallery where I saw a portrait that is much MORE what I am looking at trying to do, Duncan Grant's portrait of Vanessa Bell, now there is a story...Vanessa Bell, who was Virginia Wolf's sister married some guy named Bell, then fell in love with and lived with Duncan Grant, with whom she had a daughter (who took her Mother's legal husband's name). Duncan Grant was gay though, and it turns out that his long time lover ended up marrying their daughter, 30 years his junior. Eeeeewwwwww.

Whatever

I like the painting a lot better than the paintings by Lucien Freud (yes, the grandson of that Freud) who my teacher REVERES...you could see some here and here. It gets uglier, go ahead, google image him...I'll wait around for you.

You back? You with me? Those are some ugly paintings, no? Now, I am not one to say that ART needs to be pretty, but if it's hanging in my house.....

Know what I mean?

ANYway....

The portraits were amazing, I am definitely NOT into hyper-realism, and we had a lovely dinner together and a whole lot of laughs.

Good day...pretty frustrating in spots, but good.

Hope yours was too, and a happy Friday to you all!

Cheers,

O

OH! and look, I forgot I loaded these pictures on too!

Here's me on a bench outside the ladies loo feeling like I am two years old cause the bench is so big it only catches me just behind the ankles!


And look at the lovely napkin we had at the table!


Ok, now for real..

Bye!

O

11 comments:

contemporary themes said...

You are GOOD at this painting thing! I love her face and the fact that she is a full figured woman but not fat. She's strong and sturdy looking but so at peace. Her face is amazing! Truly, you've captured it beautifully!

I also love the Vanessa Bell painting. The colors are vibrant, and the bookshelves in the background -- well, need I say more?!

The men's faces though, esp. that second one are a bit disturbing.

I hope the frustration has subsided and that you are enjoying the fruits of your time there. Sounds like you are!!!

mmichele said...

You think that maybe the Wolf family was a wee bit dysfunctional? Nice painting, though.

I suppose the G8 people aren't picketing you... just bankers, right?

J.G. said...

Yes, those are some ugly paintings. The colors, the rawness . . . good, maybe, but not for my walls, either.

Yours is shaping up so nicely! And it's great that you're having such a good time.

Beth said...

Checked out the links - quite a difference. But no matter how different your visions, you're learning.
So good to hear you are having laughs as well. Say hi to Nomad for me - tell her I miss her great posts!

Beth said...

P.S. Glad to see you wear blue jeans in London, too!

Hula Girl at Heart said...

I like your use of color, and I,too, like that she's full figured. I really like the Vanessa Bell painting, especially the colors.

And that napikin is fabulous. How long did it take to fold that thing, I wonder.

Boo and Trev said...

Bloomsbury set were quite racy. But if you want your illusions shattered about famous artists you should read up about Eric Gill. My god the man would do it with anything with a pulse!
I know what you mean about Lucien Freud. They can look a bit dead meat. However, check out his drawings of dogs
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/07/19/pt_muse_2007_ent-lead__200x125.jpg
or landscape
http://www.newdigitalart.co.uk/virtualturf/images/LucienFreud_2plants.jpg.
Well done with the art it looks brill!

Helen said...

The art looks good, well done. I was going to say something similar to Boo. There were rumours that Virginia Woolf was abused by her and brother, which would explain a lot actually. But Eric Gill had sex with all his daughters, Caitlin Thomas was raped by the well know artist who's name I can't remember when she was 16... etc etc

oreneta said...

She...it is all really good, aside from the men's faces....

Mmichelle, G20, and no, just some really funny stuff in the papers.

JG, I think in fact that it is DONE. Not done done, but I am done with it....not sure I will try and take it any farther.

Yeah Beth, I wish she would post more too....and she has gone already, I'll let her know when I see her again.

Gotta wear jeans in London!

Hula, the first time! A long time....very neat. We always used to try and figure them out, though my napkins are never starched enough!

Boo, it is late, I am going to have to check out those sites later...he likes his dogs better than people, eh?

Helen...eeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww what is it with these people???

Helen said...

I remembered the name - Augustus John. Thank God, it was driving me nuts

oreneta said...

Thank you Helen, now I'll go look it up!