Category: Studies at the Learning Connexion

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Studies at the Learning Connexion

Paintings that Move by Gary Freemantle

As I’ve mentioned before, I am currently studying New Zealand Diploma in Creativity Level 5. I mainly do distance learning but I enrol in 1 onsite class per term. It allows me to be in company of other artists which can really be inspiring. For the past term, I attended Gary Freemantle’s class – Paintings that Move.

In every class, we had an exercise which we can choose to pursue throughout the day. Below are some of my outputs from the class.

I liked the idea of an underwater garden. Very proud that I did not use any reference for this piece.
This and the next 3 photos below are an exercise to portray depth and shape using brushstrokes. I had fun adding on smoke to this piece but not too happy with the shape.
Among the 4 bowl exercises, this was the one I liked most. I liked the shape and the colour palette I used for this piece.
I tried the exercise using watercolour. It was amazing that with just a few strokes, I was able to complete this.
This last one was just a black and white experiment then I decided to add colour through the flowers.
This was an interesting piece. It started with clouds, then with further strokes, I saw that it could also be waves. The addition of the boat was really fun. I liked how this painting portrayed so much movement.
  • This was our first collaborative piece when Alert Level 4 was announced in New Zealand. We were given random images which Gary gave us the freedom to do whatever with. At the end of the class, Gary puts these pieces together to reveal an image which in this case was a smiley. The one in the red square was my piece. The 3 artworks on top were some of the other options I gave Gary. The artworks in the top middle and top right were painted in gouache.
  • This one was the second collaborative piece.
  • This was the artwork I contributed. I used acrylic as watercolours, some layers were transparent for this piece.
  • This was the final collaborative piece we did.
  • I decided to try doing patterns for this one – the patterns were a very spontaneous decision on my end. Thoroughly enjoyed creating this.
This was an experiment on shapes. I decided to paint a Bahay Kubo, a type of indigenous house in the Philippines. In my future paintings, I am hoping to pursue this track and maybe fuse some unique designs from the Philippines and New Zealand.

I went out of the box with these paintings. I’d say all of them are totally not my style. I enjoy creating them but not sure if I’d ever pursue concepts I learned from these works.

The most important thing I learned from this class was being spontaneous and allowing my consciousness to paint whatever it is that it wants. I didn’t really have much control and planning creating these pieces. In doing so, I get to mix things around and just go out of the box.

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Studies at the Learning Connexion

(Photograms) Power of a Series – Leigh Mitchell-Anyon

Photograms are images produced without a camera. These photograms were done by flashing a darkroom enlarger on a photographic paper with an object on it. We picked up items from campus to use a objects in the photogram. I used some plants, my earrings, and borrowed feathers from the others in my class.

Photogram of my hands
Photogram of feathers
Photogram of my earrings, a plant, and feathers
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Studies at the Learning Connexion

Experimental Drawing – Female Life Drawing

We had another life drawing session last week, this time with a female model. I prepared the backgrounds beforehand and it surprisingly fit the exercises well.

Female Life Drawing – Lines

It’s wonderful how these simple lines can be this expressive of movement. It looked so graceful to me.

Female Life Drawing – One-Line Drawings

This next one was quite interesting, too. We were told we can choose to change the medium we are using. I’ve always been comfortable using soft pastels so using an Indian ink marker is a good change. The poses looked dramatic to me – very very interesting.

Female Life Drawing – Detailed Drawing
Female Life Drawing – Metamorphosis

This part of the exercise was really confusing for me the last time we did it but I took some risks with this drawing and I think it paid off. I quite liked how the parts are fused and how it interacts with the background.

Female Life Drawing – Fire

The proportions were not quite right here but I loved the idea of fusing elements into the drawing. I used the element of fire but illustrated it as if it’s water.

Female Life Drawing – Air

I developed one of the lines in the previous exercise and fused the background I created prior to our life session to illustrate the element of air.

I have been learning a lot of techniques to be more creative with my drawings. I have been more free with communicating my thoughts through drawing. The immediate feedback from those in my class and from our teacher has been really effective. I have tried things I have never thought of doing before and it has helped develop my process in creating. These exercises have been really boosting my confidence in terms of my capacity to create in general.

The term is about to end soon and as I am a distance delivery student, I am not too sure if I will have a slot for onsite classes next term. Hopefully, I’ll get to sign up to at least one onsite class. We’ll see!

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Studies at the Learning Connexion

Experimental Drawing – Life Drawing

As mentioned in the last blog, I did life drawing this week…

…And it’s not what I thought it out to be. I honestly thought I’d be incessantly gigling in one corner and wouldn’t be able to concentrate at all but it wasn’t the case.

I have always found drawing people so intimidating and I was a bit anxious about doing this exercise because it feels like I do not have enough skills to actually deliver.

The whole exercise was very helpful as I have learned a lot about the human form and how I can express its beauty on paper.

Life Drawing – Lines

The first task was to create line impressions from quick 10/15 second poses. I liked the effect when I had to layer the lines simply because I ran out of space. It’s amazing how you can express movement in such simple lines.

Life Drawing – Shape Blocking

The next task was to block shapes to express forms. Pardon the crappy photo quality but if you are able to see it, the strokes helped a lot in expressing movement and form for this exercise. I enjoyed using the yellow pastel. I liked this part because it looked like the shapes were dancing on the page.

Life Drawing – Detailed

This last part was my most favourite. We had enough time to draw details, focusing on highlights and shadows. I am pretty proud of the drawing on the top right part of the photo.

I definitely still have a lot of improving to do but these exercises gave me enough confidence that I do have the capacity to draw the human form.

Looking forward to more exciting challenges in the coming weeks!

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Studies at the Learning Connexion

Experimental Drawing Classes – Dan Wilkinson

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am currently studying at The Learning Connexion. I am a Distance Delivery student but I signed up to one of the Main Classes – Experimental Drawing by Dan Wilkinson

We have had two classes so far and I have already been learning a lot of things. Our exercises are so freeing – it allows us to explore more and follow the flow of our drawings more. Below are some of the output I have had from our exercises.

Still Life – Warm-up Exercise
Still Life – White Pastels on Black Paper

I liked this one the most from our still life session. The effect of white pastels on black paper is quite unique.

Surrealist Still Life

I found the process of creating this surrealist still life drawing enjoyable. I drew the driftwood first then I had the impression that it looked much like a cave so I decided to be playful and drew some cavemen in it, playing with the scale of the driftwood.

I am excited to learn more through these classes. The class itself is interesting enough but getting the chance to interact with other artists makes it so much more insightful. I get to see the process and insights of those doing the same class with me.

We will be doing a life drawing session next week – should be interesting!

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Studies at the Learning Connexion

The Learning Connexion – New Zealand Certificate in Creativity (Level 4)

I have always dreamed of studying again and so when an opportunity to study again arose, I took my chances. I am currently enrolled at The Learning Connexion, studying New Zealand Certificate in Creativity Level 4.

Join me as I navigate the fun and exciting world of arts school!

For my first month, I did several exercises involving several mediums. Some of the exercises I did, I wouldn’t dare do on a normal day. Here are some of the interesting exercise I did:

Blind Drawing
Working on Features
Abstract Portrait
Stamping with Soap
Collage – Future

I am currently awaiting for my discussion with my mentor about my progress so I will be back very soon!