BEN LAUGHTON SMITH
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Family Perspectives, plus my first cast drawing at LARA

25/10/2014

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Over the last 10 days or so, various of my drawings and paintings have been on show in Stroud, Gloucestershire as part of an exhibition of work from numerous members of my family. The exhibition included works from five generations beginning with my great grandfather's landscape paintings. The most widely known individual featured in the exhibition was my maternal grandfather Robert Ball (see www.robertballart.com) who was a printmaker and principal of Stroud College of Art. I managed to go down and see the exhibition last week and it was great to see my work on the wall - the first time any of it has been shown.
I've been thinking a lot about my grandfather over the last few weeks. Once, when I was at school, he sent me a detail of a marrow plant that he drew when he was 14. 
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On the back of the photograph he had written the following advice, along with some somewhat tongue-in-cheek thoughts on modern art education:

"If you have a standard to work to it's quite easy. Get a similar object, don't speak and give it 100% of your concentration. Measure and examine its cross-section, structure, pattern etc. Start from the inside, for example, plot the veins of the leaves, flowers etc. including those you cannot see, ending up with its outside or visual appearance. I looked at Durer's drawing of a columbine."

He went on: "To do modern art you must never stop talking. This helps to stifle any logical thought on criticism. Also you need not look at your work while you are doing it, which would impede the flow of conversation or verbal diarrhoea. If you do this you should become popular with other people because they will feel comfortable in your presence and able to discuss your work with as much authority as you who have done it - as they do with other modern artists and musicians. I believe this is much easier to do. It is certainly quicker and more profitable."
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Well, it isn't exactly a marrow, but taking the spirit of the advice I have just finished a 50-or-so hour stretch on drawing a cast taken from Michelangelo's David. Depressingly, I'm not quite sure my skills as a draftsman are much of a match yet for my prodigious grandfather at 14, but the exercise of producing this has certainly taught me a lot. The next cast I am tackling is an ear taken from the same series of features - this time in charcoal.

Incidentally, if anyone visited the exhibition in Stroud it would be great to hear what you thought, so do drop me a comment here if you have time. 

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Anatomy for the artist

18/10/2014

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In addition to our usual studio practice, students at LARA have the opportunity to take a weekly anatomy class. It's been a really enjoyable and informative programme so far so I thought I'd share a few resources that I've found useful in getting to grips with basic human anatomy and the major landmarks of the body.

In terms of online resources (not just for anatomy but for all kinds of drawing related topics) I would highly recommend the online videos of Stan Prokopenko (www.proko.com). He's a very skilled artist and educator and his videos are concise, well produced and enjoyable to watch. Some of the content is 'paid for' but a fair bit, including the "landmarks of the human body" video, are free. 

The classic text on artistic anatomy is by Dr Paul Richer. It is probably the best reference book of its kind. It's very detailed, with excellent diagrams. I believe a pdf version is available too. 

For a much shorter reference book (say, to keep by your easel during figure drawing) - it's worth having a look at James Dunlop's Anatomical Diagrams for Art Students. 


A recent acquisition is the Complete Guide to Life Drawing by Gottfried Bammes, which has some slightly strange illustrations from exercises set by Bammes to his students. In amongst these, though, are some really excellent schematised diagrams of major features of the body. These diagrams are especially helpful in breaking down the more complicated areas of the body in order to better understand their structure. The one on the structure of the pelvis, for example, is useful - and I've copied it a number of times.


Also worth a look is the L'Ecorche app which I highlighted in my last post.

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First week at LARA

4/10/2014

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I've just completed my first week on the full time course at LARA (London Atelier of Representational Art). It's been a pretty intense few days. We begin at 9.30am with figure drawing. We are doing a two week standing pose - which is progressing reasonably well. The tutors seem to be fairly happy with the direction my drawing is headed.

During the afternoon the newbies are doing Bargue drawings. The image to the left shows the plate that I am copying. The idea is to reproduce the plates so that the drawing is indistinguishable from the plate. I'd made various attempts at Bargue drawings before,  but I've never been completely sure what method you are supposed to adopt in reproducing them.

While my previous attempts had been fairly good - my understanding of the degree of accuracy needed was way below that which students are supposed to aim for. My drawings looked very similar from a distance but the idea is that they should be indistinguishable even when viewed very close at hand. It's a bit like gymnastics for your eye!

In addition to the morning figure work and the individual projects in the afternoon, we have a two hour anatomy lecture on Tuesday evenings. In addition to referring to Paul Richer's Artistic Anatomy - which I already had, we were recommend the books by Gottfried Bammes, which I have now got hold of (and added to the 'Resources' pages). There is also an open sketch group on Wednesday evenings.
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    Ben Laughton Smith

    Contemporary works of art in the classical tradition.

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