8 by 8

I am a big fan of the Courtauld Gallery. It has a wonderful collection of Impressionist and Post Impression painting but on a recent visit I was particularly taken by the Seurat Sketches in Gallery 11b. There are half a dozen oil sketches all about 8 x 6 inches, mostly done as studies for bigger work. I found myself drawn to them, going back again and again, to study them. In these sketches Seurat is experimenting with techniques and working with a limited palette. I found them very fresh and exciting as works in their own right.

And it got me to thinking about setting myself a project; to create my own series of small oil paintings with a restricted palette using no brushes, just a palette knife.Using a palette knife stops me fiddling and allows me to work the paint impasto in an almost sculptural manner. I also opted for a square format, measuring 8 x 8 inches (20 x 20 cm.). The square format presents its own compositional challenges but opportunities too. So far I have got two paintings which cut the mustard, at least in my own terms, "Le Jazz" and "The Show Must Go On!". With Le Jazz there is a lot of scumbled and glazed colour. The physicality of the paint is more apparent with heavier impasto in The Show Must Go On! There are others, works-in-progress, and I am enjoying experimenting, very invigorating. Another six to go for my little "8 x 8" series. Watch this space!

Mantegna to Matisse

Five hundred years of drawing are represented by 60 works in Mantegna to Matisse: Master Drawings from the Courtauld Gallery on exhibition in London from 14 June until 9 September 2012. From quick, observed sketches, through studies to fully resolved drawings intended as works in their own right, here is a wonderful opportunity to see how Artists of the western tradition have used drawing over the centuries to explore their subjects. There is always something intimate about the medium, whereby I look at a drawing from the same kind of distance as the Artist did, and feel that I am almost standing in his shoes. The raw, unfinished state of sketches allows you some insight into the Artist's focus at a  moment in time. So each drawing is always exciting in what it reveals about their process. And this exhibition of Artists from Leonardi Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Durer, Rubens, Rembrandt, Ingres, Canaletto, Turner, Cezanne, Degas, Picasso and many others, did not disappoint. Truly an embarrassment of riches!

Here are a few of my personal favourites:-

Seurat - Female Nude

"Very sculptural and just so sensual"

Pontormo - Seated Youth

"Fresh and contemporary - lovely quality of line"

Rembrandt - Saskia sitting up in bed, holding a child

"A moment captured"

Leonardo da Vinci - Study for Saint Mary Magdalene

"The great man thinking, through his drawing"

Van Gogh - A Tile Factory

"Very singular mark making"

Toulouse Lautrec - Au Lit

"Love the focus on the face. Most touching."

I could go on but I might spoil the many surprises to be found when you visit. The exhibition is beautifully hung, as you would expect at the Courtauld, one I can heartily recommend. A very nice tea-room too!