The Book of Noto

The Book of Noto, a concertina travel diary of coloured pencil drawings. Sicily 2023

PORTRAIT MASTERCLASS WITH MORAG CAISTER

The genre of portrait drawing and painting can sometimes slip towards academic, traditional and conservative, associated with grand paintings in lofty halls. Portrait and figure drawing and painting that avoids that territory, that illuminates the character of a person as much as their physical being, feels more interesting to me. Finding the sense of the figure or face. Looking beyond the literal for a representation of the subject’s attitude.

Morag Caister’s work sits in this space for me. I’m curious about how she pares back line, tone and colour, without being minimal, so that the figure becomes drawn and imagined by the viewer’s eye as much as by what she lays down on the page. It becomes a conversation between the viewer, the sitter and Morag.

I’m feeling lucky to have just spent two days on a masterclass with her organised by The New School of Art gaining an understanding of her approach. It felt as though she approaches the drawing from the inside and from the sense of the person.

She gave us a series of demos and exercises to begin to explore her style.

Exercises began with little drawings in oil pastel, focusing on just the outline of the model’s shape. Then, just the weight and solidity. Drawing on tiny paper with big thick chalk pastels, so there’s not too much scope for obsessing about detail. Paring back to what’s important.

Finding the highlights in the form and using them to map out a drawing. Adding line once patches of highlight are down. Combining unexpected materials and techniques, resulting in a push against more conventional approaches - oil paint line with patches of chalky pastel colour. Drawing with paint, and painting with dry drawing materials, when you might normally draw with dry materials and paint with wet.

She described the highlights as ‘constellations’, like stars and pinpoints that can help to navigate your drawing as it emerges from the page.

We finished the weekend with an all-day oil painting on the Sunday, here it is below.

Roy. Oil paint on Murano paper, 2 sheets of A1 size paper approx

DRAWING REINTERPRETED

I’ve just begun to explore a new drawing project. Artist Lisa Ghiggini has invited artists from a range of disciplines to participate in a collaboration, Drawing Reinterpreted, during 2023 and 2024. She invited us through an open call to contribute a drawing, and to reinterpret one of the other randomly allocated, initially anonymous, participating artist’s drawings.

The drawing that I’ve been allocated, by Alice Kettle

The drawing above, by textile artist Alice Kettle, is the one that I’ve been allocated. I’ve tried to resist looking at Alice’s other work until I’ve sketched out some thoughts of my own.

My initial reaction was to tap into the images that it conjured in my own imagination, and to begin to try to articulate those visually.

Immediately, I related it to a handmade 1950s glass paperweight that I inherited from my granny as a child. Not only do I love it as an object, it brings me a sense of comfort, childhood, family. Like Alice’s drawing, it seems to hold another world of marks, shapes and colour suspended in its form.

The 1950s glass paperweight that once belonged to my granny

I’ve begun to make some preliminary drawings that take inspiration from the colour and the cocooned, cloud-like form of Alice’s drawing, thinking also about family and childhood memories.

An early stage coloured pencil sketch, based on daughter Kate reading in bed.

CAMBRIDGE OPEN STUDIOs

Bado

Pencil and pastel on Ingres paper, 2023. 30 x 40cm
£175

I’ll be showing my work as part of Cambridge Open Studios 2023. Please come and visit to see a selection of work.

1/2 and 8/9 July, 10am - 5pm
6 Natal Road, Cambridge CB1 3NS

For more info about Open Studios see www.camopenstudios.org

Scott

Pastel and graphite on Murano paper, 2023. 55 x 75cm
Sold

Florence

Pastel and graphite on Murano paper, 2023. 30 x 40cm
£175