Researches:

TATE – Richard Wright https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/turner-prize-2009/turner-prize-2009-artists-richard-wright

Richard Wright is an English artist and musician born in London. His intricate designs are in geometrical patterns painted in the the Renaissance technique of fresco and gold leaf. He is interested in painting large scales areas such as ceilings, corners or stairwells. His work has a short life spam as he believe it wouldn’t be absorbed by the art world, I guess he is referering to a comercialised way. I understand and admire his choice of making the art for “now”, it is not about the future. Richard Wright won Turner Prize in 2009. I think his work is very meaningul and romantic. It intrigues the viewers and give people his perception of art and time.

The stairwell project by Richard Wright

Untitled, wall painting  by Richard Wright

Award winning gold leaf painting by Richard Wright

TATE – Grayson Perry  at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/grayson-perry-4657

 Grayson Perry is so  humbly opened about who he is and I think that is one of the reasons people get so engaged in his talks and with  his art. Bright colours and images, a variety of subjects and approaches, he deals with the matters of the world. His depiction is explicit , full of humour, provoking and seducing ways. On the article about his first artwork, I relate to him in the sense that sometimes in the middle of the night, ideas come to his head and he has to just doodle some of it on paper. In preparation for his work it will have some additions and changes but the foundation will be pretty much a resemblance of what he had first sketched. The same happens to me, although I think I am not confident or experienced enough to develop my initial ideas and sketches all the way to a final piece in a more aesthetic and professional way.  It is motivating and inspiring to know that an artist do not need to stick with a subject all the time. Grayson Perry deals with his childhood matters, the subconscious ,politics, what is going on in the world , and put images and pieces together creating a narrative. I like how he depicts figures in the foreground a lot bigger than the background.  I think he can play around with his feeling and moods in his art because his style is consistent and from tapestry to  vases, mixing mediums, textures and materials, he has an unique style and that is what makes him so recognised in the artworld .Grayson made use of all his experiences from emotional pain and self-discovery into strong  pieces of art, also adding  light feelings  and humorous touch. His is an audacious,  simple and committed artist. His work really feels that is made for himself at first, and the consequence is that  he is able to share them with his viewers. Many people can relate to his art.  The difference is that most of us are not brave enough to completely open up about our  deep and dark secrets; not realising we are all the same.

Aspects of myself, 2001 by Grayson Perry

The Walthamstow Tapestry, 2009 by Grayson Perry

Gagosian Gallery – Paul Noble at:  https://gagosian.com/artists/paul-noble/

Paul Noble is a British artist who lives and works in London. He has received international recognition for his  monumental drawing project of Nobson Newtown. His meticulous drawings of an imaginary city, with accurate details of real urban escapes,  depicts the imaginary versus melancolic scenes of an utopic city . Noble played and acted as architect, archeologist, cartographer, urban planner, engineer, activist and more. For this project, Noble was inspired by Chinese scrolls and Japanese sculptures. The Vimeo above gives an insightful tour into his drawing, helping to understand and have a closer look in each scene, showing fragments of it and his process in his studios. His work is amazingly detailed and only with a magnifying glass I could go through smaller figures in parts of the town, in the book Vitamin D – New Perspectives in Drawing.

Fig. 1,2,3/4, Noble,Paul (1997-2000) The Nobson Newtown [pencil on paper], Vitamin D- New perspectives in drawing . pages 220-221 ,London: Phaidon Press Limited reprinted 2016.

Adams, Tim (2015) [The Guardian, interview with Stephen Walter] at:  https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/may/10/stephen-walter-artist-map-maker-london-interview

Stephen Walter is a British artist who lives in London and hand draw maps with pencils with extreme amount of accurate details. His work consists in dedication and time, from days, weeks or months. William Blake is one of the artists he is inspired by. His work   is an amazing melting pot of history, traditions, etymology and landscape. Walter gravitates between urban and wilderness places. He sounds like a very old soul in a young body. The reason  that now  he only draws with pencil is because  he found out he was producing toxic waste by using ink in the past. It made him changed his medium. Curiosity, enviromental awareness , passion and dedication are some of the aspects that makes him an inspiring artist. Beyond drawings, his maps is a work of research, investigation and explorationg of cities. As the title of the interview suggest, a lot of his work is about the human residues and traces left, and it takes time to settle in the geography. He traces all of them or at least he tries and creates a poetic, meticulous and engaging artwork.

The Island by Stephen Walter – 2008

Project 3: Chose a subject with a substancial number of detailed parts. Consider also whether the parts will be drawn from observation or invented. Remember that the original subject may not be primarity visual (in extended doodling for example); you may be using drawing to describe a narrative or even musical score, so that the imagery is secondary to the relationships between the elements.

Reflection: My first attempt was the pomegranate fruit. I drew by observing the real fruit plus a few photos of it. It required quite an amount of details and I did it with watercolour. The background is oil crayon. The second one was also a still life I set. It took me longer to achieve the details of the coffee beans as they were a lot darker than the pomegranate seeds. The third drawing was a bunch of buttons mostly done by imagination. I checked one or two photos on the internet but the planning , colour and amound I just kept doing. It is a layer in markers and as I progressed, I overlayered with cut outs from coloured paper. These drawing are all in A3 paper. I enjoyed doing all of them but the buttons was the one that took more time, effort and planning. I wanted to fill up the paper but left the edges a bit undone. I like bright colours, I like that the item is linked to my interest in domesticity. I think I can relate this project a little bit with the work of Stephen Walter. My passion for what I want to draw is growing, I go around my house, I hold, look for objects, observe everything around me and what is the purpose of it.   I had a great  feeling of satisfaction when I finished the buttons one. It is that feeling of: Yes, this one is done and I am proud of it. I think it exudes to the viewers, its energy catch their eyes. I have showed to a few friends and they really enjoyed looking at it, at the details, colours and overall the time taken to execute it. The work of Stephen Walter and this project gave me good ideas for my next project in Part 4.