Drawing Feedback with Luke Hannam. Session 2

The main message I am getting from Luke and the universe at large is: Start trusting yourself. Maybe that can be broken into two parts:

1. What you have is enough2. Put the process before the result

I was kinda aware of these messages but it helps to hear them back or interpret whatever I hear as that. So…

The light and colour, the line and emotion.

I know how revealing artwork is about its creator. And I am not sure I am ready to tell everything about myself. That is another barier to self-expression. Any advice/encouragement on that, Luke?

Bonnard and Vuillard are inspiring. I’ll keep refffering to their work, thanks!

Luke’s Post-meeting Notes:

It was great to meet again and continue what has become a true dialogue of reflections and observations. We have found a series of workable concepts and ideas that are useful as a means of identifying both the motive and the motif. I enjoyed once again listening to you talk confidently about these topics and excited with the momentum they seem to be providing – a real sense of self recognition and validation.

The next step feels like it has something to do with the use of secondary sources i.e the camera as sketchbook and lens through which you process your direct experience. It was good to discuss this and consider how you have been gathering material for painting. The quickness of the photograph clearly liberates you to explore the image in your own time, as opposed the plein air painting that seeks to incorporate real time into the making of the painting. It was interesting to briefly discuss the idea of representational painting ‘ realness’ and what this means when a painting becomes increasingly non representational – Turner was our reference for this short digression.

I would just like to say what a pleasure it continues to be to discuss these ideas with you and how much I value your ability to engage and apply the thinking that is slowly taking shape. I look forward to our next meeting. So, we agreed that things were going in a positive direction which an increased sense of ownership over both the method and the subject of the work. There is less to say now because we have a clear path and it is the outcomes that will now help us to navigate the journey from here.

Work around last couple of months:

Drawings on the holiday:

To develop maybe:

Latest work in progress:

Drawing class at Rocketvan Studio

1. Quality of line
2. The anatomy of line
3. The poetry of drawing

Did you find the drawing classes useful?

Absolutely. It was refreshing to be back in a tutored environment, with objectives and a feedback. Luke is very inspirational and a teacher at heart. It feels to me that artistically we spring from the same traditions and appreciate similar qualities in art. Luke has a much broader visual library and a solid methodology. That’s where I am lacking and striving to impove.

If so, please tell me what you found useful and how this affected or altered your drawing method or approach in any way. (complete prior to the tutorial)

I signed up for the classes hoping to gain some inspiration and possibly rub off some of Luke’s mastery on me. I don’t believe in teaching any skill in three days. However, Luke’s concepts of quality, anatomy, and poetry seem to form a viable method to improve whatever skills one already has. The idea that by attending these three-day courses, one can move up on a spiral of improving in drawing does sound workable. Luke’s classes certainly helped me to focus on drawing, why to draw, what to aim for, what are my weak spots. My weak spots: The surface drawing. I have always struggled with the underpinning structure. How do I stop neglecting it? How do I see it in the model and make it something to begin and the end the drawing with? I feel it is verging on mannerism, this surface drawing, because, not understanding the structure, I am trying to compensate with the pretty surface effects. Can I improve my understanding of structure and bring it into every work without getting back into years of academic life drawing? Is there a shortcut to a solid structural understanding? Indecisiveness. I almost always follow the subject matter. Artworks are accidents that unfold to some end result I didn’t entirely plan. I want to learn to make decisions and implement them in a piece. Why do we make decisions? To what end? That’s why I am happy to work on commissions – the decision-making is usually a collaboration or entirely taken over by a client. Lack of precision. I used to be more precise in drawing but not any more. Not enough practice and too much commission work, work from photos resulted in my loosing the skill and the confidence. The objective: Luke, you recommended bringing more ego into work. I agree. How do I do that? Because that’s how I uncover my natural voice / visual language, right? One remedy to all of the above is more drawing. I am going away for 5 days nest week and I am going to dedicate this time to drawing, taking with me all that’s being discussed. Any pointers are hugely welcome! Thank you!

Luke Hannam appraisal and areas for development

Thankyou for being so open to discussing your with me. I am confident that we now have a framework work in place to begin a process of development.

The work seems to be based in a world of primary connections and immediate responses to often subtle experiences and visual encounters. It would seem that both your drawings and paintings are constructed in this way. So, the question becomes how can the work develop beyond its primary connection to the source of an idea? The answer is simple you must take an initial response, say a drawing, and use this to create a secondary response. Doing this will make you more curious about the drawing and will require you to really understand the drawings potentiality.

We discussed Bonnard as an example of artist who explored the relationship between primary and secondary responses within painting. I mentioned how Bonnard would draw from a direct experience often in a fairly casual and seemingly spontaneous way and then react later to this drawing with absolute conviction and respect for its visual story. Bonnard was obsessed with light, you could say this was his subject but this doesn’t  explain his poetic connection to the figures in his paintings. It would be more accurate to say that light produced emotional connections to the figures, they emerged out of light or his emotions towards the figures are expressed through the effect of light. /This would explain how his drawings captured this initial experience through a system of graphic marksl it would be true to say his drawings were his paintings. I see a similarity here with your work and I am seeking to make this connection as explicit as I can. I was interesting when you told me you had not explored this system of primary to secondary actions before it made curious to consider how this might produce some really interesting outcomes.

In conclusion, you draw beautifully, there is real emotion in your lines and compositions. It would I think be useful to keep looking carefully at line quality and the economy of line. I thibnk these concerns are always good to have at the forefront of your mind as you draw. Saying that I must stress its not about throwing anything out because I love the emotional intensity of your work so its always a combinational think, how these element work together. Moving forwards is going to be about working from primary to secondary responses and learning to use the studio as the place to explore the work on its own merits. The secondary world is a world of memory and the basis for poetry so it will be interesting to see how the emphasis within the painting develops over time. Lets arrange another meeting in a months time.