On Saturday I went to two church fetes. We call them fairs here, but I love the British term of fete. One was in this lovely church. There were wreaths and felted crafts. To one side were some table set beautifully for lunch.
The second fete was here.
The aprons were great, but at $8 I didnt buy. I did buy a little doll though which I forgot to photograph. This fair was crowded with people and had many handmade Christmas Decorations and baked goods.
A quick sketch for my next collage or painting, not sure whch, in the ancient ground series. This one is to show the biography of the well hidden underground. The actual piece may change greatly in the process, hard to know, but I am sort of thrilled to have an sketch for it before I begin. Most often I just keep the image in my head.
How about you? Do you like to sketch out the images beforehand? Or do you just keep the image in your head and work from there? Or do you prefer something like a still life, where the "image" is right in front of you in concrete form.
On Saturday I went to two church fetes. We call them fairs here, but I love the British term of fete. One was in this lovely church. There were wreaths and felted crafts. To one side were some table set beautifully for lunch.
The second fete was here. 
The aprons were great, but at $8 I didnt buy. I did buy a little doll though which I forgot to photograph. This fair was crowded with people and had many handmade Christmas Decorations and baked goods.
A quick sketch for my next collage or painting, not sure whch, in the ancient ground series. This one is to show the biography of the well hidden underground. The actual piece may change greatly in the process, hard to know, but I am sort of thrilled to have an sketch for it before I begin. Most often I just keep the image in my head. How about you? Do you like to sketch out the images beforehand? Or do you just keep the image in your head and work from there? Or do you prefer something like a still life, where the "image" is right in front of you in concrete form.
16 comments:
Oh Suki, you know how anal I am. Of course I have to sketch something out before I work on it. My other goal for the new year is to be more spontaneous in my art.
Love your little churches. Those kinds of art fairs always seem to attract a crowd.
they do call them fairs here too. what a pretty church. so glad you got out and 'smelt the roses'so to speak!
I usually write in my journal or reread some of my notes. I begin by drawing small thumbnail compositions...very simple line drawings. If I'm working with collage, I will get out my boxes of scraps and pull out possible images. At some point I might research a subject... I would look for images and information about the subject. Sometimes I begin with paint first and see what I find or I'd choose a thumbnail composition and begin by laying out images or texturizing...mainly getting started...after that the piece has a life and begins to speak back to me. It needing this, that. Jeane takes photos of her progress and I might try that as a tool. For me it
is an open ended process, taking all the time necessary to come to THAT place of completion. As you know sometimes an easy time sometimes not so easy. I haven't painted from a location or still life in years but I did enjoy that very different approach. Sorry I got so wordy.
I hardly ever sketch anything first. May be 2% of the time. That second church is beautiful! $8 is not much for handmade apron!
Your new piece looks interesting.
I love the look of those churches, so country-looking and charming.
I have a sketchbook where I 'try' out an idea before sketching it. usually but not always.
That's interesting Katie Jane. I certainly can undertand wanting a sketch for the stained glass pieces or at least a general plan as you must cut out shapes accurately.
I used to never go to Church Craft fairs but now I do sometimes as they are filled with fun and cheer and simple crafts. as opposed to, for example, the glitz of a mall at Christmas.
Soulbrush, well maybe feta is out now but Barbara Pym used the term and Agatha Christie. And some of the great British comedies are often having fetes.
Blue Sky Dreaming, no appologies necessary. I enjoy reading your words and insights. That's just what I was craving. I too often get out my box of collage scraps to stimulate or evoke an idea for collages. But rarely do I sketch first. As said. So I adore learning about your thumbnail comositions. Andrea at Cestandrea also does research for some of ther work. this too I find fascinating. Sometimes I try on the web but seldom find anything much inspiring. I agree though, that however I start for me also the piece at some point takes over and has a life of its own. Which is a marvelous thing. Thank you so much, blue sky.
Thanks annie. Interesting to know that you rarely sketch first. That second church, the white one, is very typical of most of the buildings in this little town. White white white and majestic. I love the way it rises so high into the sky.
Teri, hmm, a sketch it out person. I must say, if artists like Leonardo had not sketched first we would be minus some beautiful work and the sense of work in process behind the magnificent final results.
Hi Suki,
It looks like you had a great time at those lovely New England Church Fetes. I can imagine they were full of lovely crafts and lovely foods.
I really love you sketch a lot and can imagine you wonderful work from it. You can probably guess I rarely sketch something before I set out, although my recent piece did utilize an image and a sketch I could not get out of my head.
Here is the thing, though, lately I have been wanting to do a bit of charcoal sketching...nothing like the detail or the beauty of your sketches, but things which just want to come out of me. Last night, I was awake a long time with some images in my head (and in a little sketchbook by my bed) and thoughts on how they might transpose into a painting. Once the paint comes out, though, I never know how it is going to end up.
These are lovely questions to contemplate, so thank you for asking. Now I want to consider what has changed with me lately...Mmmmm.
Thanks Suki!
Interesting reading here. How some sketch or some dont. I dont always, most often not. BUT I dont paint out of my head either I need something to look at...What I do is get an idea in my head and then go hunting up pictures that have bits and pieces of things in it I want in my painting and go from there. Maybe if I did sketch it out then I wouldn't be practicing on the canvas and changing things so much. :)) I did use a sketch for my chair paintings tho. That did help me work out some back ground issues.
Lovely churches...glad you enjoyed your fetes! I hope you'll photograph the doll for us. I love dolls.
My art quilts just come as I go. I guess I have some ideas in my head and I grab fabric and start and just keep going. I don't have a firm plan when I start usually.
I like the surprises as they come up.
Your sketch looks intriging.
I didn't understand "pool" in your latest comment to me about the kids.???? Did I tell you I enjoyed poms on cold cereal? It's delicious, try it.
I love the idea of your underground history! I used to read a book to our kids about chipmunks, which was beautifully illustrated with "slices" of the underground view of their tunnels and burrows. It was fascinating.
Kim, Well good to know you are still breathing and have a few moments of spare time. Thanks for you words about how you go about creating a painting. How interesting that right now the need to sketch some ideas out has arisen for you. Maybe doing so much housework has set your mind "free" to open to images for your work. It sounds exciting and I cant wait to see what arises.
Cris sometimes I have pictures too such as the photo I took of the well. Thanks for describing your process here. Yes, everyone is different or has a different angle.
Lynn, sounds like you kinda work from intuition like Kim does only she does it with paint. That ditty is from Music Man musical I think. There is a song that says And that starts with T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool. in the musical it no doubt refers to Pool playing, I cant remember. It 's just a kinda dumb thing for me to say I guess. I cant remember what got me started on it but there must have been a T word that either I or you wrote that got me started on the meaningless ditty.
Willow I dont know that particular book but i have seen such illustrations and love the idea.
Suki, I have heard that too. I think it came from a musical in the fifties or sixties ..with Shirley Jones in it and Preston someone. He was a traveling sales man. At least there was something like that in that musical. But I cant remember the name of the movie.
Hi Suki, I just love Church fetes, (we call them fetes in S.A). I have always loved handcrafted objects. At this time of year I cant stand the malls with their over-decorated glitz, I get a sensory overload from all the flashing lights.
With most of my work now, I start with just a few select colours and see what happens! I love to see how colours react with each other. I let the painting lead the way and images seem to appear, I just get a feeling about it is about and go with that. I am also working from life (landscape) and attempting to simplify and abstract what I see, so no sketches there either. This is a recent development, I have sketch books full of detailed sketches which I used to use to create my paintings.
I sometimes doodle on the side to see if an idea I have in my head suits with what I´m working on.
love your sketch! As a child I would have been very intrigued..... still
I´m not a church-goer but these sure look nice!!
Cris, I think you are right abt the musical. Was it Robert Preston?? I can see him now, with that black hair.
Dianne, I agree with you abt the malls. Ugh. thanks for your reflections on using sketches. Art from Intuition is your blog title so I guess you using colors to start you off goes along with that. To abstract a landscape whilst standing in front of it is no easy task, I have tried.I find landscapes very difficult. How lovely to have all those sketchbooks from the past though to look thru as you like for stimulation and ideas and just a record of the past.
Marianne, I am not a church goes either however I have taken to liking Church fetes. So simple and sweet and down homey. Tehy get me into the holiday spirit.
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