Reflection

I'm a bit overwhelmed because I've just been to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and it was brilliant. I've been before but not been as excited, maybe my tastes have changed. Michael Craig Martin has done an excellent job of curating it. I must admit that I'm not a big fan of his, dare I say that I find his work a bit lazy? However, he makes a great curator.

In my program I've circled works by the academicians Jim Dine, Tony Bevan, David Remfry, Anthony Whishaw, Mick Moon, Richard Long, Jock McFadyen, Ian McKeever, Emma Stibbon, Bernard Dunstan, Diana Armfield, Frank Bowling, Ivor Abrahams, Elizabeth Blackadder, Paul Koralek, William Kentridge, Cathie Pilkington, Jennifer Dickson, Anish Kapoor, Anne Desmet, Ian Ritchie, Norman Ackroyd, Chris Orr, John Wragg, Bill Jacklin, William Bowyer, Frederick Cuming, Anthony Green, Olwyn Bowey, James Butler, Ann Christopher, Cornelia Parker, Richard Wilson, Kenneth Draper and the wonderful Ken Howard.

Also loads of other artists Rory Browne, Patrick Wilkins, Kate Barlow, Jennifer Summers, Sarah Sutton, Carol Robertson, Peter Wylie, Calum McClure, Melissa Scott-Miller, Hazel Drummond, Henry Kondracki, Carys Evans, Emma Haworth, Donna McLean, Jo Oakley, Tom Hughes, Mandy Payne, Eileen Hogan, Kate Sherman, Louis Turpin, David Firmstone, Anthony Priddle, Deborah Batt, Ryutaro Ikeda, Carol Hodder, Janette Kerr, Kouhei Nobuhara, Rob Taylor, Robert Brown, Alison Boult, Luke Elwes, Susan Aldworth, Howard Jeffs, Sasa Marinkov, David L Carpanini, Melanie Bellis, Richard J Mackay, Louise London, Austin Cole, Julian Opie, Mychael Barratt, Donna Leighton, Hilary Powell, Tim Head, Richard Smith, Gerard Hemsworth, Jeremy Gardiner, Meg Buick, Iona Howard, George Shaw, Merlyn Chesterman, Jason Hicklin, Toni Martina, Peter Messer, Miha Lah, Kim Rugg, Caroline Burraway, Carla Groppi, Jeani Laub, Kenneth Spence, Susanna Heron, Annabel Hatton, and Denise DeCordova. I'm listing them here not to drive you mad but so that I have a resource to come back to.

The show is just so big it's impossible to seriously consider each piece of work properly. I wish there had been time to make sketches and take proper notes but it took us about 3 hours to get round and at the end we had art fatigue. I'm sure Tom Phillips work, A Humument, has merit but I was beyond studying it at that stage, it deserves an exhibition of it's own . If you lived closer the best way would be to become a member and take a room at a time over several weeks.

It was great to see artists using techniques that have been discussed in the drawing course such as multiple perspectives, limited colour pallets and unusual perspectives. However have had to have a serious chat with myself since I came home as I felt intimidated by seeing so much good work that I was inhibited to draw myself and create something substandard.

While I was in London I had a quick peek at the Serpentine Gallery's summer Pavilion It's much smaller in real life than I had expected and I felt it was spoilt by the bar/cafe which looked like it had come out of a student ball. It was made of some fantastic material which would lend itself to some great abstract photos if you have a decent camera. I made do with my trusty old phone.

I've completed the taught part of the module and need to choose a subject for Part 5. I've enjoyed the course more than I expected I would. I draw a lot and still love the simple feeling of making a mark on paper. It was great to go back to basics at the beginning of the course and draw still life. I've not had much formal art education so although I've drawn pretty much everything over the years it's good to focus on something that stays put and can be considered carefully. I do like still life more than I realised but it encourages me to be careful and tight and detailed rather than creative and adventurous. I lump interiors with still life as they can be controlled and measured. Landscapes are tricky for me, maybe because of my tendency to measure and be precise. I'm not keen on the work I've done in the landscape part so maybe I should be returning to it to practice more. I love to draw living things, people plants and animals. I love the variety of shapes and the challenge to capture a feeling of something that moves and changes. There is a buzz in drawing something that could get up and walk away at any moment (ok plants don't do that but they do move around in the breeze)

I'm thinking of trying to capture movement better and trying to place my figures within their environment more. Reportage drawing fascinates me so maybe trying to plant my figures within a narrative would be a good challenge. I am also intrigued by the possibility of multiple disjointed perspectives and how this could be employed to add tension to a picture without making it too busy. This is quite a lot for a single project, I probably need to narrow it down. The course notes don't seem to specify how much work it expected or how much time should be allowed for this part. My daughter has just completed a degree in design and was expected to start with a broad idea and work with an open mind to see where it lead her. This seems like a good way to work but will require discipline to ensure I don't just end up with an incoherent set of images of "safe" subjects like my dog. I think I need a loose aim or title to make me push myself to do something different.