Updated: October 2017
CAMBRIDGE DRAWING SOCIETY AUTUMN EXHIBITION
Taking place at the Leys School, just off Fen Causeway, this Autumn's Drawing Society Exhibition runs from Saturday 21st to Saturday 28th October (See poster above for details, image by Rachel Haynes). I will be exhibiting three drawings, including this one 'Emily III' in mixed media, part of a group of portraits I am currently working on of the singer/songwriter Emily Maguire (see www.emilymaguire.com) Ten minutes from Cambridge city centre, the Leys school is also very close to the Fitzwilliam Museum, currently showing an inspirational Degas exhibition that is well worth looking round. Both exhibitions are free. www.cambridgedrawingsociety.org |
'Emilly III', mixed media
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Old Mr Farrer - and Young Mr Farrer!
In 2013 I finished my first drawing for nearly 25 years, 'Old Mr Farrer up the Road'. It was from a photo I took in my late 20s of Ted Farrer, a neighbour of my parents in St. Neots. The drawing proved a great success, winning the 'visitor's favourite' at the Cambridge Drawing Society's Spring Exhibition that year. Sadly Mr Farrer passed not long after I took the photo, never having seen the photo or drawing, and until recently I never knew whether his family had seen it either.
Fast forward to this summer, an, I receive a phone call from Bob Farrer, Ted's son, who has been shown a postcard of the drawing by an old St Neots' friend of mine, Terry Lee. Ted is more than delighted with the discovery, and a few days later I meet up with Bob (now Young Mr Farrer to me!) and a very life-affirming chat takes place round my house, as I hear about what a character Ted was, and we look at lots of old photos and reminisce about the neighbourhood, and the old faces who lived there, including my own dad who would have been very happy with the whole thing. Meanwhile Bob commissioned me another drawing of his dad, this time performing on stage in something or other (though he was actually a builder). See the progress of the drawing below, which shows the top left to bottom right approach that 'smudgy' charcoal necessitates.
In 2013 I finished my first drawing for nearly 25 years, 'Old Mr Farrer up the Road'. It was from a photo I took in my late 20s of Ted Farrer, a neighbour of my parents in St. Neots. The drawing proved a great success, winning the 'visitor's favourite' at the Cambridge Drawing Society's Spring Exhibition that year. Sadly Mr Farrer passed not long after I took the photo, never having seen the photo or drawing, and until recently I never knew whether his family had seen it either.
Fast forward to this summer, an, I receive a phone call from Bob Farrer, Ted's son, who has been shown a postcard of the drawing by an old St Neots' friend of mine, Terry Lee. Ted is more than delighted with the discovery, and a few days later I meet up with Bob (now Young Mr Farrer to me!) and a very life-affirming chat takes place round my house, as I hear about what a character Ted was, and we look at lots of old photos and reminisce about the neighbourhood, and the old faces who lived there, including my own dad who would have been very happy with the whole thing. Meanwhile Bob commissioned me another drawing of his dad, this time performing on stage in something or other (though he was actually a builder). See the progress of the drawing below, which shows the top left to bottom right approach that 'smudgy' charcoal necessitates.
Portraits in Charcoal from Photographs
A Workshop with Andy Dakin. Grantchester Village Hall, Cambridge.
When: Dec 10, 2017
From: 10:00 AM to 04:00 PM
Where: Grantchester Village Hall CB3 9NF
WORKSHOP IS FULLY BOOKED....
What makes a good portrait? Likeness? Expression? Mood? Detail? Beauty as they say is in the eye of the beholder, but in this workshop we will look at number of techniques and considerations involved in creating a dynamic large-scale portrait in charcoal.
While working in black and white can simplify the process, a number of subtle techniques are required in taking a drawing from personal photograph to a finished and ready-to-frame piece of art. There is much more to this than one person and their stick of charcoal.
I will bring a number of my own works, photographs and preparatory pieces as reference. Please bring 2 or 3 portrait photographs to be looked at critically, considering images that can offer a variety of ingredients, including (but not necessarily all) light and shade, areas of detail, mood, facial expression and most importantly, how the finished piece will look on the wall. I will provide a number of my own black and white photos for those without.
Who should attend? This is for artists who enjoy working from photographs in a clean, patient manner.
WHAT TO BRING. Large white paper, ideally no smaller than A2 and a drawing board to match. Charcoal/charcoal pencils, pencils, erasers/pencil eraser, ruler (ideally large), fixative.
www.cambridgedrawingsociety.org
'B', oil on canvas.
April 2014
