Not great - but a lot of fun

This sketch was done ultra quick, just to let off steam really. This is a made up face, so I just moved the chalk and conte across the paper having an enormous amount of fun. I love the close ups even more than the full portrait; they are more dynamic and mysterious. Hopefully, tomorrow we will have good light and I can draw a still life or something a little less ethereal. I have 10 days leave from work, so maybe the drawing vault will fill up some. I still feel a great need to go to a wonderful academic drawing class where we work on the same pose for three weeks, just investigating the form and the dynamics of light and dark. I won't be able to go to Florence this year to take up those wonderful drawing and painting workshops at the Angel Academy, but maybe this time next year, Guardian Angel willing, I will be looking for low cost flights to get me to wonderful Florence and six weeks of drawing and painting tuition with the Masters.

Full Portrait - Size A2

Close Up

Even Closer

Closest

WANTED - Academic Drawing Classes in London

I have been doing much research today on finding the best classes in the world for teaching academic drawing. They are around and are based on the old atalier style of teaching. I didn't know there would be so many. I found them on the wonderful Art Renewal website. There are superb ones in Florence, like the Angel Academy where you can do a four year course, and great ones in the United States. I will post more on the weekend about my thoughts on drawing and its relationship to intelligence, but it seemed to me that after research, I had better find the best drawing classes in London as soon as possible. Who are the best drawing teachers here in London. I have trawled the art materials stores just drooling over the wonderful drawing materials, so with that in mind, I am cutting out, and going to read about Michaelangelo.

Proof - Drawing makes the young more intelligent!

Some teachers in America teaching kids to become more intelligent via drawing. I knew it. I hope they don't mind my including this here. Thanks Folks!

Still trying to link up Intelligence and Drawing

I really tried hard today to find some information on the Internet about the connection between drawing and intelligence. I found one interesting article talking about the raison d'etre of classical academic drawing, and that was to investigate "significant form". Okay, so what does that mean. My take on it is, that "significant form" is that which is meaningful and necessary to create beauty in art. The form that is spoken about here is not mere memetics, but the understanding of the artist of the totality of what's in front of them. This is the totality of the figure as object in space and its own inherent features which cannot be assumed to belong to any other form; it is the totality of the figure in relationship to its surroundings and the significance between the them. How on earth does drawing make us more intelligent? Or is it the other way around, ie., a specific type of intelligence is drawn (sic) to drawing. As an artist, I want to know this and investigate this. Is it the mere act of continuing observance and focus, that flexes a muscle of the mind that then continues to flex itself in other areas of mentation? I am going to read my wonderful catalogue of the Michaelangelo exhibition that took place in London in 2005 at the British Museum. It was staggering. Now off to read.

Not my drawing you understand........

Can Drawing Make Us More Intelligent?

This is a thought that has been bothering me a lot lately. After all, they don't tell you this at art college or at univeristy, they don't even hint at it. But as one of my art teachers said, I thought rather pompously at the time: "There are two types of people in the world - those who see and those who don't see". I think I know what he means and possibly teachers who have a greater understanding of how each line and delineation of form works on the brain or consciousness would have the answer, but I am not so sure. I really have to think this one through. Is there really a difference between the right brained person and the left brained person. I would love to start some sort of research on this, because I have found over many years, those who can draw really well, are very perceptive. Perceptive in areas other than drawing. Oh of course, they can make superb representational works, but they are perceptive about life. I have also noticed that those who can't draw (or maybe won't draw) are not so psychologicaly astute as their so-called right brained brothers and sisters. Maybe I am drawing to broad a picture here and the sweep is too prejudiced, but I am going to investigate this and post back here later. I am putting on the brakes now and will report back in a few weeks. There must be something out there on the web that deals with this. Anyway, back to looking for a decent art class in London this week, and off to browse some delicious art materials stores.

Eye Sketch

Eye Sketch - 19cm x 19cm - Sanguine

OK, this was quick, it was fun. I was trying to draw an eye, any eye, from memory. The eye is so intricate and there are so many planes that are easily overlooked even when drawing from life. For some strange reason, I like this eye. Done in Sanguine. Not the best medium for detailed work on a small scale, but what the heck, it got the juices flowing.

Experiments with drawing with Conte chalks

Full size portrait - Christina MacLeod

Well, today I really got down to it. I finally started drawing again. After my broken finger episode and annoyingly dark days this Winter over the weekend, I have found a sunny day. I am on leave from work for two weeks, so it is wonderful to relax and just draw. All these drawings I will be doing for the next few months are experiments with a new style of academic drawing that I am trying out. Needless to say, there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of this was done in haste. It is not the most useful thing to draw from a photograph but I don't have a live model, and I suppose that practicing a technique calls for any inspiring object to copy - and my grandmother, Christina, was very beautiful and inspiring.

Head and Shoulders - Christina MacLeod

Here she is in a close up - head and shoulders version. I found this technique of using white and black conte on blue paper rather difficult. I decided to have a go based on some 'lessons' I had found on the web on how these classical academic drawings were created. It's fascinating and I am still very much a beginner in this regard and, in this experiment, I found out that I needed soft and hard chalks, as well as some conte pencils for the fine work. But, even though the likeness of my grandmother is very dim, I am happy with it. The likeness could have been closer if I had finer pencils to do the detailed work around the eyes.

Close up of Head - Christina MacLeod

I thought I would include this close up of the head to remind myself just how difficult it is to reveal those gradual nuances of the planes of the face and the details of the eyes. Photographs really do reveal the mistakes as well as make the work probably look more beautiful than it is - a funny dichotomy. It is so dark outside now, and it is only 15.45 here in London, UK. What would artists like me give for a little bit more sunshine to get more work done? It is absolutely impossible to paint or draw under electric lighting. So, that's it from Anne C M Campbell and the Drawing Vault for today! Tomorrow, sunlight permitting, I will be getting out my paints and hopefully putting up some work on my other blog - Painting Vault. Clouds, clouds, go away.

Some More Drawings

While I am in the mood for starting this drawing blog, I thought I would download some drawings I made when I was taking a Life Drawing class at Heatherley's College in 2003. For some reason or another, I just like this drawing. My only apology is for the quality of the photography. I have so much to learn with taking photographs of artwork, that it beggars belief, but if I hold myself back
for lack of expertise I will never get this
blog going.



Here is another visual of the same drawing, but in close up, which I feel works better than the large one. See if you agree.

Tomorrow, with a bit of focus, I will be doing more drawings worthy of framing with the Anne C M Campbell signature.

The Start.....Old Drawings

I thought I would start this drawing blog with an old favourite drawing of mine. Not really a drawing, but a drawing and watercolour. It is old, from C1973. It has been with me all those years and has stood the test of time. Maybe it was the first artwork that Anne C M Campbell framed all those years ago.....