Author Archives: viviennelingard

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About viviennelingard

I am an artist and writer. I have been an an art teacher and as an illustrator of children's books. I love writing, whether fiction or non-fiction, and have written many short stories. I am also a keen reader and write book reviews, among other art related articles on my blog site – viviennelingard.net

And what a week it was!

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Family group

It began well. Kerry and I flew to Melbourne for a couple of days so we could attend a special event. My son and family live there, and so we met for dinner in the CBD soon after arrival. I was so pleased Gelato was suggested after the hot spicy dishes. The ice cream was so delicious I could have eaten two. A quick catchup with Kerry’s granddaughter and baby great-grandson the next day, and back into the city to prepare for the event, which was a large gathering of friends and family to celebrate the life of a dear friend.

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No final painting but there is this

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La Femme au Bain by René-Xavier Prinet, around 1888

The final class was cut short, as we were to be given a talk about the painting by Charles Goldie, which is where the classes began. To recap, we were handed a copy of the painting and were asked to copy it. But what I never realised until this talk was, that Goldie had copied his La Femme au Bain, from an original, for on the bottom of the painting it reads ‘after’ René-Xavier Prinet. Both artists studied at the Académie Julian in Paris around the same time. So, I had made a copy of a copy. I didn’t know what to think. I guess seeing both men could certainly paint, I must have learned something through close observation.

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The penultimate session

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Last week I started to work on an invented background for my painting, as the room lacked ambience. Once home I spent some time trying to improve on the colours and build more interest to the painting as a whole.

First thing was to correct the position of the right leg. I was still struggling to get the thickness of my paint as I wanted, and it always seemed to come out too thin even with medium. Never mind I told myself, I can always let it dry and add more layers.

And so, that’s what I did. At least by the time I’d put the canvas aside I could say that I almost liked it. But there was a way to go.

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From sketch to canvas process

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Continuing on from last week, when I showed you the charcoal sketch (see above) which I would be transposing onto an A2canvas. As I am going to take you through that process I thought it would help to include it here as this is the pose I shall continue to work from.

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The next phase: sketching towards a painting

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Week Three. In this session we were to work on A2 paper, using pencil or charcoal for our preparatory sketch. No photocopies this week. The model Lulu is similar in build to the figure we had copied in Goldie’s work – the idea being, we were told, was to execute a painting in tones similar to the one we had copied. But first, the pose needed working out, and so a few minutes were spent moving a stool, arranging a cushion, and having the light in an appropriate position to suit both the model and the class. We would be working with this same pose for three weeks. Hard on the model I thought.

I was pleased to be using my favourite drawing medium for this stage. Charcoal is such a forgiving medium and I just love the nuance of tone it allows one.

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The last stages

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I worked a little on the painting yesterday, and this is the image here. I left it to dry overnight and returned to it today.

I will work on it a little tomorrow and hopefully it will be done.

I should have waited until the paint had dried to take the photo as every brush stroke is laid bare (unintentional pun).

I have decided to trim the image and focus on the model and not include the barely discernible chair at the periphery of the scene in the original. I think this format works better in my view.

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The work in progress: week two

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Last week’s underpainting

Following last week’s effort, I thought a good deal about how I would approach the second class, realising there was a chance of not been offered any specific way in how to apply oil paints. I decided to progress my painting by instinct; it wasn’t as if I haven’t drawn from life, and although my painting history has revolved around fiddling with watercolour, I have used acrylics before. And, I do know a reasonable amount about colour, albeit using pencils rather than paint. During this session we were encouraged to go and view the original painting again. It was difficult to see the actual paint strokes as it was behind glass but we did agree the painting was lighter in tone and showed the colour more effectively than the photocopies we were working from.

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Becoming a student again

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by Charles Goldie (NZ artist 1870-1947)

On Saturday I attended my first of six art classes at the Auckland Art Gallery in painting the figure using oils. It’s been over twenty years since I last tried oils, and had all but forgotten what to do, so was keen to gain some new skills. The above image is the one the class was to attempt to paint from; presented to us in photocopied form, the colours even more subdued than the original image shows. We were also handed a slightly smaller version with a grid pattern superimposed. I looked at the grid, knowing it was often used for beginners learning to draw proportions. I hadn’t used one ever for sketching the nude. However, I was keen to do what everyone had been instructed to do, and set about marking up a piece of paper with the same grid proportions.

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A special interest in this year’s World of Wearable Art

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Te Ao Mārama entry by Fran and Lauren Kidd
The World of Wearable art show is a New Zealand invention conceived by Dame Suzie Moncrieff, Nelson. The fashion extravaganza was shown in her hometown from 1987 until 1990, when its gathering popularity demanded a shift to the capital city, Wellington. WoW had become a phenomenon. In Dame Suzie’s words, she describes what WoW personifies for her:

“To take art off the wall and out of static display. To adorn the body in wildly wonderful ways. To celebrate creativity in a lavish and unique on-stage spectacular that will inspire us all.”

And inspire it certainly does, attracting entries from all over the world, which have audiences looking forward to the annual event with much anticipation and excitement. Especially this year.

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Occasion markers

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Great Stupa at Kathmandu, Nepal

I love the way something you buy, whether travel mementos, or presents received or given, stand as markers in one’s life. Take the ceramic teapot I’ve decided to sketch (below), which was the first present I gave my husband not long after we’d met. It was April 1992, and I had the great fortune to travel to Nepal on a 29 day trek with three other women from New Zealand; such a fantastic experience. (Link above takes you to a post from a few years back). The day I returned to my hometown, I helped out a friend with an exhibition opening at our art gallery, and there Kerry was, also helping out. We chatted for ages before parting ways, thinking maybe we just might get to chat some more – sometime. And, surprise! surprise, by the end of the year we were chatting a lot.

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