Peter Dransfield says Hi.
 

I have wondered whether to simply cut and paste from other people's intros or go through the effort of drafting my own since many of us have had similar experiences as far as our art is concerned.

Like some here I won prizes when young (8 and 12 in my case) but had a disappointing experience at Art College. I had a reasonably good time on my Foundation Course but when I changed college to that of my girlfriend I found that my two main tutors were, rather curiously, Stalinist supporters of the Albanian Communist Party. Even more curiously they were both abstract painters and since I was resolutely figurative and of a Trotskyist persuation it was not a marriage made in heaven. As a result I spent lonely days in the life class, or writing theoretical articles on the history of art wondering what on earth I was doing there. In the end my girlfriend, who was French, decided to return to Paris and I dropped out to join her. So in 1981 I started teaching English as a Foreign Language to earn a living and am still doing now today although now I have an English wife and live in Spain.

I have painted Cezanne style landscapes/still lifes and Giacometti style figuratives over the years but realised recently that I hadn't touched a brush in nearly 15 years. I started painting portraits a couple of years ago but stopped again after moving to the dolls house I now call home and it has taken me a while to work out how to erect an easel and get far enough away from the painting not to get my nose dirty. I have now cracked the problem and now call a whole square metre in my bedroom my very own studio.

Expect me to be opinionated and I apologise in advance for my tendency to offend but I shall try extra hard to control my fingers and be the diplomat etc etc. I enjoy robust discussion and have trouble understanding that some people mistake this for a nuclear attack so just cuff me if I get out of line.

For the record I am determined to get where I can get to without tracing, projection or any other artificial aid but I see no problem with the intelligent use of photo references.

I have learned a tremendous amount reading virtually every post and there are many here I admire so this place feels like a very good place to be.

Hello Peter, and Welcome! :)

Sounds as if you have had an interesting time of it! Jump right in and don't be shy, we don't bite hard even when we do bite.

It would be interesting to see some of the work you are doing today as most of what you describe in your background is fairly impressionistic and/or highly stylized types of painting. Post a portrait or two if you have pics about. :)

Hello Peter! Welcome to the forum. I look forward to seeing your work.

A promising introduction, we eagerly await your contribution !
Ilaria

Thanks for the welcome. In fact I am enjoying painting tighter than in the past and this has meant learning new skills (always a good thing). I will need to get onto my other computer to post some pics tomorrow as due to a major crash this heap of trash no longer recognises my camera nor my external hard drive.

By the way I applaud your determination to improve your drawing skills. It is often evidence of the struggle that produces great art but those who seem content with tracing or whatever deprive themselves (and their clients) of so much. You have spoken of the artist's integrity and this word sums it up very well. Have you tried drawing with no form of measurement whatsoever? Try keeping your drawing hand on the paper feeling angles and lengths of lines and 'process' your way to accuracy. You will end up with lines all over the place but it will be a live and lively account of getting to grips with that particular piece of reality.

Thanks Ilaria. You are one of the people I admire on this site and seeing your work inevitably gives me an emotional 'zing'. I am learning to paint a little tighter at the moment (relatively speaking) but I strongly suspect it won't last.

I wish I could say the say the same - you should see the portrait of one of my daughters I am struggling with at the moment - a real pig's breakfast. I will post a couple of pics tomorrow.

Good luck with that! I think the cuffs are attached to a lead weight. ;-)

Welcome aboard!

Thanks Marvin, I'll practice my ducking but a little forced exercise is better than stultifying blandness. Art as I know you agree, is about passion and so passion should ooze from the pages here. Too often people defend the indefendable by giving the punchline that the 'client liked it' but what the hell does the client know about art? We should be demanding with ourselves and each other and good discussion is part of that.. I have read passionate discussions about photos vs life and on the merits, or lack of, of cloying sentiment (Aldo Balding) as well as on the advantages of certain palettes and techniques and these are precisely what brings forums alive and people posting so I raise a glass to real discussion.

Rant over.

First painting for 15 years
 

Here is a portrait of my wife. It was the first painting I had done for more than 15 years and the first for which I used a photo reference. As I have only a cheap point and shoot digital there was considerable distortion and I ended up having to paint her face from life.

Close up
 

A close up of the head.

My son
 

Or one of them. A flash photo reference but I liked the arrangement. This was done several months ago and was not quite finished due to a computer crash leading to the loss of the reference.

freehand drawing
 

Here is an example of a sketch where no type of measuring is used. I keep my hand on the drawing trying to force my eyes to see.

Another
 

This was a student I had in Paris many years ago. She was learning English at the age of nearly 80. Great face.

Peter!

Am a bit late in my welcome to you (like the typical classmate that lived the closest to the school but would always arrive the latest)...just realized that you are a neighbor. That makes a whopping total of 3 (I think?) from Spain.
Very nice work. Looking forward to your contribution, offensive or not.

Heard that the thermometer will be going up this weekend especially in Andalucia...don

Hi Carlos,

We are actually about 29 km west of Malaga city in Alhaurin el Grande and yes the forecast is for over 40c in Cordoba and Seville. I hope it will not get quite so hot here. Loved your cafe paintings by the way. Do you ever get down this way?

Welcome, Peter! I always like a lively discussion so please jump in.
I find your work to be refreshingly different, and I'm interested in the way you try to draw and paint without measuring, tracing, etc., even when using photo references, because this is similar to the way I approach a canvas or paper.

Plus, I couldn't agree with you more when you object to the client defending the "indefendable" by saying "'The client liked it'." There are other ways to include the client i the process without compromising or sacrificing the integrity of the process.

Of course the last point is easy for me to make since to date I have had no clients for portraits hence no ethical decisions regarding integrity to make:) . That said I too think it is possible to educate non artists to share a vision sufficiently to maintain artistic integrity. This can mean a few lost commissions but better that than having substandard work out there. I suppose the trick is not to be dependent on art too soon as far as making a living is concerned. Gallery artists are also faced with similar problems in the interests of imarketability (do me another one like the last one I sold - hell do me another ten!).

Thanks for the welcome Alex.

That is so true about galleries, Peter. But of course they are interested in selling work, and if we artists want to make a living at painting, we have to pay attention to these things. (Sometimes, though , it can become stifling when an artist becomes known for a certain kind of work, due to the efforts of the gallery to promote the artist as painting a certain kind of subject.) I feel that gallery owners are giving me valuable information: they are telling me what people like. The people who buy art range from art consultants buying for corporations to wealthy, knowledgeable collectors to not-so-wealthy but equally knowledgeable collectors to people who come in off the street knowing little about art but wanting to become more educated. All these people love art, and I firmly believe that the visual appeal of a painting is of utmost importance. I've struggled for years to understand what makes some paintings more appealing than others. The whole subject fascinates me.

Portrait clients on the other hand do not always know about art, and some may not even care about art. So in that way, it's a different situation. Sometimes, though, I get clients who appreciate good art, or are even artists themselves.

It is the becoming known for a certain type of work thing I was thinking of Alex. Sure the desire for success means we have to listen to all sorts of things but I remember conversations among students at Art School who were desperately looking for their 'truc', their little niche that galleries could market and consume. One of the reasons I admire Hockney is that he wasn't afraid to dump a style and do something completely different.

I am not one to stand up and thump a table in defence of Art for art's sake and connecting with society is a necessary thing in my view as long as integrity is maintained. Many people here are doing exactly that but I also see examples of work that seem to pander overly to kitsch sentiment or the 'I want it exactly like this photo' kind of thing. A fine line sometimes for artists who are trying to make a living I totally agree but a line nevertheless.

The push on this site to go beyond the 'bleeding obvious' and produce better art is very exciting and equally exciting are the journeys so many here have made/are making in the quest for excellence.

Yes, that is a problem, I'm not going to deny it. I think that sort of thing originates with the people who sell art, for obvious reasons. They are intersted in the "hook" that sells it; we are interested in making it. An artist I know said recently, "I want to get simpler and more abstract, but I can't. My gallery owner won't let me." That is sad! And now that I'm becoming more "known" for my aerial landscapes, galleries don't want the other stuff. It does sell, but they are less interested in marketing it.

Hobson's choice
 

The only way out of that commercial reality is to do what the impressionists or the Vienna artists did and band together, In their case it worked but they were for the most part in the same place geographically etc and the individual artist isolated from his.her peers cannot escape the gallery unless they have the wherewithall to stump up the cost of renting or buying their own gallery...ah well. I did look into the cost of renting a gallery for a month in Paris many years ago but the answer had a bleaching effect on my skin tones and I turned to rustling up permission to hold mini exhibitions in companies I worked with. That did bring the odd sale but......

Peter, I quite enjoyed your introduction and comments posted. I also appreciate your honesty and struggles whether in art or everyday matters, and your cander while expressing your point of view. I have been attempting to come out to Malaga, Saville way, to pickup a used concert guitar for a while now (new guitars being pricey for a hobbyist). This is where the question comes up 'how much are you willing to spend', to which I would respond with "as least as possible." Then they would say, Hmmm? I sigh, and thats the end of the matter. But I, I do not stop there....

To me, the search is like the artist searching to paint that perfect, dream come true, painting. The one painting that will get him there. And when we get there, will one know that they have arrived or if this place is where they wish to be?

Even though some will label me a professional, and my students are beyond them selves in what, now, they are able to do with a pencil, I personally see my self as a student, one that loves the challenges and experiences of the life the "artist" lives.

Somehow, I sens this in your tone as well, maybe I'm wrong? Maybe, this is where I get the cuff...

I really like your use of space and tonal balance in your work.

A hearty welcome Peter

I enjoy your rigour Mischa both in your own work and in your critiques. At the moment I am very much the student and I don't expect this to change merely the challenges. If anything ever becomes easy it is time to raise the bar and this is true in every form of art or life for that matter. Work that seemed OK just a few months ago now seems clumsy and what I sign off today will cause embarrassment in the future and that is the way it should be. This is not a reason for dourness but is the source of all joy in Art.

I

Peter, thank you.

Your comment "If anything ever becomes easy" I could not agree with you more. One should never be satisfied with ones present condition (condition, sounds like a plague, who knows maybe it is?).

My digital camera is quite literally on its deathbed and is now incapable of taking in focus shots of paintings. For some reason it still occasionally manages to make sense of 3 dimensional objects hence this post. This is a life size plaster bust I made of a friend many years ago so it doesn't seem appropriate to post in unveilings or critiques. I am trying to talk myself into flashing out on a new camera but summer is always hard financially so we will see - meanwhile I will keep trying to get at least some half decent shots of recent paintings.