Simon's Blog

Project LV One – Day 138 – Gene Gray and all the frustration released by a visit to an art gallery..

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Guthlac

So the first painting in the Grey series has been an unmitigating disaster – so I thought yesterday. After four days of battling with the painting and loosing I just gave up and let rip with a paint brush. After about 30 minutes of attacking the work with some vigour suddenly a far more interesting painting appeared. I am not sure whether I like the final painting but I don’t not like it – if that isn’t entirely grammatically correct.

So as a means to reduce the frustration we went to visit one of my favourite modern art galleries – The Hepworth at Wakefield. The visit nicely bookended the summer – in the early summer we visited Barbara Hepworth’s studio in St Ives. Today at the end of the summer it was the Hepworth.

Apart from the permanent collection the star turn was an exhibition of Franz West’s work. I have to truthful about this exhibition so I have to say it did nothing to me. Now I am sure it is important work but it didn’t work for me. I suspect it was me but you can’t like everything. He certainly isn’t one of the artists whom I consider to be influential of the last 30 years, far far from it.

However the painting I had come to see was by Euan Uglow – from the Wakefield Collection – I believe it is called the Gyroscopic Nude. This is the first of Uglow’s paintings I have encountered in the flesh and I found it a revelation. Let’s see how it influences me over the next few weeks.

Apart from making a couple of quick sketches the site s a wonderful opportunity to make some photographs as well – especially in the early autumn sun. The final cherry on top of a rather wonderful cake was that lunch was excellent. What more could you want from a day out?

Posted in Project LV One | Tagged Barbara Hepworth, Euan Uglow, Grey, iPhone 5S, iphoneography, Nude Woman, Pano Function, Project LV One, sketch, The Hepworth, woman | Leave a comment

What a strange day…

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Guthlac

I have just finished reading my morning paper, The Times BTW, and it would seem that all hell is happening. Not the horror that is the Middle East, no much worse. It seems that the Scots might actually vote for indpendence so apparently yesterday the financial markets were in turmoil, melt down, panic, crisis… . Now this is strange when we have just lived through real financial crisis and melt down – this doesn’t feel like that.

The problem with all this is that it makes everything too easy to dismiss – although I’m not too sure what The Times readership is north of the border, and yes that isn’t Hadrian’s Wall. There will be consequences of independence, some not too pleasant, but if the Scot’s wish to go then let them go. However, as I have said before, I really don’t think things are going to be plain sailing between Scotland and well let’s be honest about this – England should they go it alone, but we will all survive.

Another equally hyperventilated event takes place today – a Utah based tech company announces a new product. Apparently people have already started to queue up to buy this new phone outside the New York store of the company – don’t these people have something better to do with their lives – jobs perhaps? Yes today is the iPhone 6, or whatever they are going to call it, launch. We can expect the usual nonsense from the tech blogs as to why this won’t work or why that wasn’t included when Samsung et al have included it. Frankly I am now very bored by the whole thing. The new phone will be, at best, an iteration on the current model. It won’t be ground breaking or revolutionary but rather a bit better than the previous model. Perhaps the more interesting launch will take place a few weeks time with the new iPad. Here the question that Apple have to address is how to keep a separation at the bottom end between the iPhone, assuming Apple launch an iPhone Max, and at the top end with the MacBook Air? Just where is the iPad going will be the more challenging problem for Apple.

So hyperventilation appears to be the order of the day – I’m glad I’m off out today and won’t be able follow any of this – that is unless I check Twitter but that will be my fault and I have just warned myself!

Simon Marchini
http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk

Posted in General | Tagged Apple, Scottish Independence | Leave a comment

Project LV One – Day 137 – Baby you’re a rich man…I don’t think so

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Guthlac

One of the problems of learning on the job is that your mistakes are really magnified. This is the latest iteration of the a painting I’m calling Gene Gray. I have been working on it for three days now and I have made a huge amount of mistakes along the way. She is starting to brome an interesting painting and I have spent an awful lot of time thinking about how to correct some of the mistakes – I guess that is the story of my life, perhaps everyone’s?

I have also decide to alter things in photoshop to try and give me idea where to take the painting and I have got some intresting new ideas. How said life was easy?

Behind those hazel eyes… maybe

Posted in Project LV One | Tagged Grey, painting, Project LV One, woman | Leave a comment

Project LV One – Day 136 – Tate Modern

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Guthlac

Given much of the contents of Tate Modern I thought this approach was rather fitting. Again, it shows the creative aspects that are available if you push the Pano function outside its comfort zone.

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Project LV One – Day 135 – Thinking Grey

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Guthlac

Over the next couple of weeks I think I will be thinking Grey. Those who know know why.

It’s in your eyes

Posted in Project LV One | Tagged drawing, Grey, Project LV One, sketch | Leave a comment

Project LV One – Day 134 – Fruit Loops

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Guthlac

Why ever not?

Posted in Project LV One | Tagged drawing, Project LV One, sketch, woman | 2 Comments

Project LV One – Volume 4

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Guthlac

So that is volume four published…only 8 more to go…such fun (actually it is). You can find the latest volume at the link below…enjoy

http://blur.by/1u3ISsC

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Project LV One – Day 133 – Bankside

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Guthlac

Yesterday I spent the day in London at the Tate Modern, a converted power station opposite the City of London. Most of the building is empty space which is probably the best metphor for much of the artistic endeavours held within.

It is supposed to be one of the most popular or visited art galleries in the world. Whether that is true or not I cannot say but it certainly was busy yesterday. The purpose of the visit was to see the Henri Matisse exhibition – The Cut Outs. This was supposed to be a once in a generation exhibition and I’m sure it was. However, as Matisse works so well known the whole thing felt under whelming. The purpose of such exhibitions is to educate you on the artists work and I’m sure if the gallery was empty then this would be the case, however it was packed and so, for me, the whole thing lost any of its passion.

A far far better exhibition to visit, if only because there was hardly anyone there, was the fascinating extensive retrospective Malevich – Revolutionary Russian Art. This explores the life and time of the artist and the chilling effects of totalitarianism on art. A much better exhibition all around compared to the hype that was Cut Outs.

Posted in Project LV One | Tagged Art Galleries, exhibition, Henri Matisse, iPhone 5S, iphoneography, Kazimir Malevich, Kitcam, london, Pano Function, photography, Project LV One, River Thames, Russian Revolution, Tate Modern | Leave a comment

Tate Modern

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Guthlac

Simon Marchini
http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk

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Project LV One – Day 132 – Pano function and street photography

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Guthlac

Walking around Leicester this morning you realise that this is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Britain. It might not have the numbers of say London but it is a real ethnic melting pot – but then again it has always been that way.

The image above is the modern Gallowtree Gate/Clock Tower and is the centre of the city. However, it is the also the line of the old Roman town wall – in fact the road running out of the shot in the centre of the image is called Eastgate because, well, it was where the eastern gate of the Roman wall was. Just to confuse matters the clock tower is also were Belgrave Gate, Church Gate, Gallowtree Gate and Humberstone Gate meet. The gate place name element doesn’t mean there was a series of openings into the city wall but rather is the Old Danish for road or way. This comes from when Leicester was overrun by Danish vikings in the 9th century. So for at least 2000 years what became the City of Leicester has been dealing with influx of immigrants and settlers from all over the place. Some things, it seems, never change.

I also discovered if you move the iPhone quickly the Pano function is really quit good at capturing people in the image and you only have to make a few corrections in Photoshop. However, what it is like with a really packed scene might not be as successful – I guess I’ll have to test it out.