The Capacity Of Line

2011-11-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

Drawings by Peter Jellitsch
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jellitsch/sets/72157626524733588/with/5631532204/

Bette Burgoyne

2011-11-05T15:41:00.000-07:00

http://betteburgoyne.net/betteburgoyne/

2011-09-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

The beginnings of a large Spirosection drawing...

Sketch...

2011-09-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

Untitled (333)

Graphite on paper

Spirosection

2011-09-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

Some new, smaller pieces, I have recently completed.
I have decided to call this series of drawings 'Spirosection'
(it's not always easy to find a title).
And there will be many more.

I have to find a way to get the larger Spirosection drawings documented and added to my website, but for now..

Spirosection: III

Pen on paper

Spirosection: II

Pen on paper

Spirosection: I

Pen on paper

small editions

2011-08-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

We've had a whole week of drizzle and low cloud in this area of the Pennies, alllll week - it hasn't stopped. It's been a perfect time to keep locked away in the studio, drawing for some forthcoming exhibitions and producing lots of project work for my fibre art business.

My studio is tucked away, on the third floor or a superb old mill in the heart of Littleborough village.

At Ebor Studio, we'll be having an open studios weekend on the 3rd and 4th September, when everyone is welcome to a tour of the building, meet the Ebor Artist, and to find out what events and learning experiences you can find there. (www.eborstudio.co.uk)

I've mainly been working on a small edition of drawings this week. I'm having a small commercial showing of my drawings in Todmorden, at my favourite gaff The Staff Of Life, to try and earn myself a few quid for christmas. All work will be for sale, first come - first served!! :o)

I'm making smaller versions of Cut/Flutter....

And some Spiro drawings (yet to be titled).

All works are originals.

All images ⓒ R Elwell 2011 (please seek permission for use of these images).

2011-08-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

Whilst these two drawings are placed out of reach (need to leave them alone for now!!)...............

...I've started a new drawing in this series, using an older spirograph tool, with a more elongated form. I continue to pick out fragments and build them up over time.... pattern, form, form, pattern......layering, playing, puzzling... monochrome, still.

studio time

2011-08-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

I have finally finished (I think!) this drawing.... it's taken many weeks, on and off, but I've finally come to a point where I can consider it finished - that ay change though.

And, a brand new starting point...

2011-07-31T08:11:00.001-07:00

"What lies beyond the visible world is always imaginary, as a play of images. There is no other way to talk about the invisible in nature, art, and science."

Jacob Bronowski

Tumblr blog inspiration

2011-07-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

A wonderful blog to share with you for inspiration across all genres of visual art...

http://twelveplusways.tumblr.com

2011-07-17T11:28:00.003-07:00

Sketch in progress

Graphite on paper

2011-07-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

In the studio..... it's what ever you want it to be... for now.

Graphite on paper

Other goings on...works in progress, works in progress...in any order you like..

Part of the studio, and the view from the window (which was only put in 2 days ago)...

some new pieces

2011-07-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Untitled: Bloxflow 1

Graphite on paper

www.rachaelelwell.co.uk

Flow 8

Graphite on paper

www.rachaelelwell.co.uk

Flow 9

Graphite on paper

www.rachaelelwell.co.uk

2011-07-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

I'm still here....sketchin'

My Fibre works have been taking over recently, but i'm slowly building up my time in the studio to continue work on the series of drawings called 'Flow'... >>

Spiro...

2011-05-26T15:55:00.000-07:00

Quick drawn and collage (2009 - ongoing)

2011-04-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

No.9

No.2

No.12

Cut/Flutter 21.4.11

2011-04-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Cut/Flutter (1)

Graphite on paper, 21 x 21 cm

www.rachaelelwell.co.uk

Butterfly

2011-04-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on a series of drawings I'm hoping to submit to an exhibition in London, i'll continue tomorrow and the deadline is on Monday, hope I get them finished in time.
I made a start in the final few hours of todays studio session.

2011-04-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've decided to finish off a set of drawings I started over 2 years ago. They have been wrapped and stored in my folio all that time, I found them when i moved studio. We'll see what comes of them.

2011-04-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

Must dig out this series of small drawings I made last year, I had forgotten all about them until I found this old studio photo on my laptop.

Documenting

2011-04-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

Documenting my work has always been a bit tricky. There are a few reasons why:

I don't have a scanner bigger than A4 size
I'm the worlds worst photographer
My work is mostly really detailed, quite delicate and I'm never happy with the final photo, mainly because there is always something missing , or not quite captured right, from the original piece.

I recently tried to photograph a very recent drawing titled 'Spirograph: Graphed 1 ' for an exhibition application (below). There is a very large chance that this may have let my application down.

(working title) Spirogrpah: Graphed 1

Ink on paper

Design Splat

2011-04-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

I'm really happy to have my work featured on the Design Splat website.

There is a brief interview and a selection of images of my work on the Visual Artists section.

Many thanks to Amber Bird for the feature.

Please click on the link below to see the feature and please explore the rest of the Design Splat website:

http://www.designsplat.com/

New drawings up on the studio wall...

2011-04-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

Luke Ramsey

2011-04-03T03:42:00.000-07:00

I've completely fallen in love with the Illustration work of Luke Ramsey...please visit his website...

http://lukeramseystudio.com

Illustration by Luke Ramsey

sketch

2011-03-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

Quick sketch drawn at The Staff of Life pub, Todmorden on 26.3.11 (pm)

Bit of a rocky photo as it was taken on the iphone.

Scottie Wilson

2011-03-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

Scottie Wilson was born Louis Freeman around the 1890s in Scotland. His father was from Jewish descent and, on emigrating from Lithuania to Britain, had changed the family surname to Freeman before settling in Glasgow. A childhood in poverty led to Wilson leaving school at an early age and taking up market trading. In 1906 he became a soldier in the Scottish Rifles, serving in India and South Africa.

At the end of the First World War, he left the army and moved to Canada, changing his name to Scottie Wilson. He opened a small junk shop in Toronto and it was in the back of this shop, on a card-table covered in cardboard, that Wilson discovered his compulsion for drawing. One of the items in the shop was a particularly fine pen which he had been reluctant to part with. Looking at it one day, he picked it up and started to draw on the cardboard. Soon the table-top was covered in his ink drawings. Finding that he couldn’t stop, he purchased drawing paper and children’s crayons from Woolworths and continued to develop his drawing, producing pictures to hang on the walls and display in the window.
Returning to London in 1945 gave Wilson the opportunity to exhibit his work at the Arcade Gallery, where many established artists had exhibited. This show led to his inclusion in a group exhibition on Surrealism in Paris. Jean Dubuffet became a collector of his work and he was invited to France, where he met up with Dubuffet and, at the same time, was introduced to Picasso who also admired his work.
With his work being appreciated and promoted by such influential artists, Wilson was able to make a living from his artwork.

Throughout his career as an artist Wilson used pen and ink as a basis for his drawings, along with coloured crayons, watercolour and coloured inks on paper or card. He enjoyed telling stories and often gave different accounts of events in his life. The imaginative subjects that he used in his drawings were based on birds, fish, trees, flowers, heads and faces and included characters he called ‘Evils and Greedies’ who were placed alongside symbols for goodness and truth.

Read more about Scottie Wilson's art works here:

http://www.outsiderart.co.uk/wilson.html

Sketchbook drawings March'11

2011-03-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

website

2011-03-26T03:37:00.000-07:00

I have been updating my website over the past few days - just with a few new scans of past and present work. I'll be adding more over the next few days. Scanning and uploading is the kind of job that I hate doing, I'd much rather be drawing of course!!

I'll be delivering a drawing workshop at the University of Manchester on Monday afternoon, hopefully the students will let me take a few photos of them drawing so I can share it with you.

New images of my work at: www.rachaelelwell.co.uk

End of the exhibition, but not of this blog...

2011-03-16T14:16:00.000-07:00

My exhibition at Touchstones Rochdale has now come to an end. All the works have been taken from the walls and today I packed up all the drawings and transported them back to my new studio in Littleborough.

I have decided that I will continue with this blog beyond the exhibition as I have found it really useful keeping tabs on my studio practice. So I aim to update this blog once a week with a few new images of how my drawing research is developing and the projects i am working on for residencies, exhibitions and workshops.

Crit Streed

2011-03-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

I've found these amazing drawings by Crit Streed, and i can completely identify with what the artist says about her drawing practice..

Artist bio:

I have been concentrating on the act of drawing. I draw to reveal. I intently control my drawing but I do not foresee what the image will be. I am amazed at the interconnections I find between the drawing and nature, experience and my experiences. I also work with multi-media and the reciprocal occurrence between. I track time, pursue perfection, cultivate an intuitive reflex and use my analytic nature. I often exhibit my drawings as a cohesive series because they, as a group, synthesize the larger context of a period of time and events taking place..

Further drawing studies from week 4

2011-02-27T13:57:00.000-08:00

Spriograph drawing 2 in progress..

This week I have been working across a few different pieces of work. The first work I have been spending a lot of time working on is the second in the series of Spirograph drawings...

Spirograph drawing 2 - detail

I have also continued to work with the participation books that visitors to the gallery have been working in.

This new series has evolved from a series of drawings that I made whilst on my residency in Bielefeld, which i titled 'Accumulation Series'. The Accumulation series was born out of free hand, ultra quick pencil parks which i made in one of my sketchbooks. Each seperate form made i my notebook was carefully recreated onto drawing paper and work on from there - the whole series became very structured and carefully created to make abstract forms in graphite, inspired by genorative organic matter.

In a similar fashion I have taken marks from a sketchbook made by participants and started to couple those with my own freehand quick gestures to build up new compositions and ideas for further works...

Starting point 1. From participation sketchbook 1

Starting point 2. Free-form sketch based on previous research drawings...

Formulating ideas on paper...

Detail of work in progress

Philip Taaffe

2011-02-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Philip Taaffe
Untitled , 1991-1993
Oil and graphite on paper laid on canvas.
20 1/8 x 22 1/8 in. (51.1 x 56.2 cm)

Fractals - The Colours of Infinity

2011-02-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

Arthur C. Clarke presents this unusual documentary on the mathematical discovery of the Mandelbrot Set (M-Set) in the visually spectacular world of fractal geometry. This show relates the science of the M-Set to nature in a way that seems to identify the hand of God in the design of the universe itself. Dr. Mandelbrot in 1980 discovered the infinitely complex geometrical shape called the Mandelbrot Set using a very simple equation with computers and graphics.

Book works...

2011-02-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

Since I have been making new works in gallery 3 at Touchstones Rochdale, I have invited visitors of the exhibition to participate in some drawing activities.

There are three books to choose from, all of which ask you to follow a simple drawing instruction.

Book 1: Draw 10 lines with a pen and a ruler, anywhere inside the box (a large box has already been drawn on each page)

Book 2: Draw freehand for 5 seconds using a pen, anywhere inside the box (a medium sized box has already been drawn on each page)

Book 3: Draw 30 dots using a pen, anywhere inside the box (a small box has already been drawn on each page)

Each drawing exercise is very simple in it's instruction, however, as simple as they may seem people tend to take a long time to begin and decide what they are going to do - and their outcomes can seem so complex!

This general theme quite prominently runs through my all of my work, and has been highlighted greatly in the works I have chosen to exhibit. My drawings look so complex but they are derived from very simple rules or instructions that are interpreted in much more details ways.

On Saturday I chose to start working with book 3, (draw 30 dots) and this is what I got up to...

The right hand book is one drawing made by a member of the public and i have enlarged and re-plotted the dots in my sketchbook, which sits on the left.

Dot plotted , double scale, in my sketchbook

I decided to punch holes through the paper so i can directly transfer the position of each dot into the drawing surface, another time saving job!

Using the position of each dot to draw a spirograph motive, I began to build up the drawing surface with over lapping, geometric lines

My next decision was to start highlighting repetitive forms made by the spirograph. Its where these forms start to cross over and layer up that really interests me. Though highlighting these forms by shading with graphite, I am inspired by the forms that start to appear through patternation and by intuitively picking out shape.

Detail

And this is where the drawing is up to at the moment.

Fellow artists using spirograph

2011-02-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

I'm always hugely influenced by other artists who make abstract processed based drawings.

I'm a really big admirer of Lesley Halliwell, she inspired my to use the spirograph in my drawings, and although she uses the tools to make her drawings in a completely different way to me, I really love to look at Lesley's drawings as a source of inspiration.

Image sourced from http://www.lesleyhalliwell.co.uk

I have recently discovered some other artists working with spirograph that I would like to share with you. Click through to their websites to see more of their work...

Gajara by David Pohl - Found here

http://spirographart.blogspot.com/

Work by Rosemarie Fiore
http://www.rosemariefiore.com

3D Spirograph by Richard Grimes

Progress..

2011-02-17T04:52:00.000-08:00

So I finally finished my most recent Spirograph drawing!

Completed spirograph drawing (click for larger image)

After quite a few sessions working on it I can finally leave it alone and I've started working on the next one in the series. Working with a slightly different spirograph motive and a thicker tipped pen, I'm using the same process, the same textural technique to create the drawing.

Second drawing in the series in process

Detail

These drawings take quite some time to make, knowing when an area of the drawing is complete and when to move on to the next is difficult to judge and can prolong the making.

This afternoon in the gallery I will be looking through the books and drawing exercises that visitors to the gallery have been participating in and working through some new ideas in my sketchbook, considering ways to use the sketchbooks in some new drawings.

PS - if anyone knows of anywhere I can purchase a full spirograph set from (pref. an original set) please get in touch via the blog or with the art gallery to let me know).

Drawings by Arjan Janssen

2011-02-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

Today I discovered the the work of Dutch artist Arjan Janssen.

Through drawing, painting and installation works, Janssen makes obsessively symmetrical and layered grid-works which "does not stem from a visual perception; rather, it conditions perception" (quote taken from the artists website)

You can view and read all about the artists work on his website at the link below:

http://www.arjanjanssen.nl/

compressed charcoal
on paper
120 x 80 cm
december 2002(3)
private collection

New sketches...

2011-02-09T06:54:00.000-08:00

A few new sketches to show today that have been made during the past few days. The light in the gallery is quite dark today so I've had to enhance the images on photoshop.

All these sketches have been photographed as close-ups (because of the light) , and they are all drawn on A5 size heavyweight paper with a 0.1 tip fine line.

New drawing in progress

2011-02-09T06:18:00.000-08:00

Some photos of a new drawing that I am currently making. Size: 30 x 30 cm.
I will write more about this new series of drawings in the coming days...

The Opposite of Vertigo

2011-02-09T03:04:00.000-08:00

In 2007 a drawing exhibition was put together at The Drawing Room, London, that I am really interested in reading more about. I will be researching the featured artist of this particular exhibition as the exhibition text reads like all the artists are concerned with the longevity in their drawing processes; it is never resolved, just an on going journey where one processes inspires and leads to the next.

For now, here is the exhibition text from The Drawing Room website...

"A defining feature of the works included in The Opposite of Vertigo is that means and end are intractably intertwined; drawing is not simply a means to an end but a process that will lead to something else. Much of the work possesses a tangible physicality, the labour intensive manipulation of materials colliding with complex thought processes. The nine artists are from north east England and are coming to prominence nationally and internationally."

Featuring the work of: Darren Banks, Catherine Bertola, Cath Campbell, Alex Charrington, Layla Curtis, Graham Dolphin, Peter J. Evans, Richard Forster, Kevin Mason, Karl Nattress

Darren Banks Big Blob 1, 2006, pencil on paper

Thinking about...

2011-02-09T02:54:00.000-08:00

Fractal:

(Mathematic) A geometric pattern that is repeated at every scale and so cannot be represented by classical geometry

A fractal is "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity.

Repetitious patterns that naturally occur in the texture of all surfaces

Perturb:

To disturb; to bother or unsettle

To slightly modify the motion of an object

Thrown into a state of agitated confusion

Flustered

Inspiration: Frank Badur

2011-02-08T03:25:00.000-08:00

"My works have no specific purpose nor do they follow a predetermined goal. They carry their meaning within themselves. (Frank Badur , german painter / drawings)"

www.frankbadur.de

It's important for me to always be on the look out for interesting artists, working across all media, who's work falls within the same themes as the artwork I am currently making. Sometimes it is the aesthetic of the work, sometimes it is what drives the maker to produce it. This is the work of Frank Badur, he uses clean cut lines and subtle colour in his paintings.

Text taken from www.fruehsorge.com about the artist:

Frank Badur

*1944 works and lives in Berlin and Finnland works in the tradition of american postwar colorfield painting. In his works of different dimensions, clearly structured geometrical colorfields are in a tense relationship with subtle grid-strucutres. Cromatic values like purity, nuances and light-power of the single colours and their contrastful relationsship between one another but also geometrical relations of the fields and grids are topics of the work. The opposing of colour and non-colour, like red and black, are the result of his interest in asian art, that he also deals with as a university professor.

Hand drawn?

2011-02-07T03:34:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos from Saturday in the gallery. I had a really interesting day with many visitors coming along to chat to me about my residency work and the exhibition.

A few new sketches from last week using spirograph and free hand lines

One lady in particular came back for a second viewing of the show as she knew I'd be there working on my new drawings. She specifically came back to ask me one question in particular: 'Have any of your drawings been made by a machine?'.

Well the simple answer to this is no!

however this has raised some interesting questions about the hand drawn line, my processes and could really have an impact on future works.

For example, I consider a lot of the processes I work with at the moment are very organic in their approach and outcome; they transform, evolve, grow and tend to pay a particular interest in repetition through a singular mark/gesture using pen or graphite. The marks are subtle, but repeated thousands of times - they create a complex system of from growing abstract motives that are intuitively constructive. It's interesting how hand manipulated media using such processes can be considered to have been made by machine - often interpreted as precision, exact, no room for error etc. Is it really so important for me that viewers instantly recognise a hand drawn line? or is it a vital part of the viewing that a person wonders how can the artist have done this by hand?

The reaction from the lady will probably answer my question - she was astounded to hear that the work is hand drawn and it had completely changed her perception and understanding of my work.

Obsessive Drawing: exhibition in NYC

2011-02-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

Back in 2005 at the American Folk Art Museum in New York, the most amazing exhibition was on show. The documentation of this particular exhibition is immensely inspiring for me as the show was based up on drawings that are composed from obsessively detailed lines and painstakingly precise processes and methodologies, themes that drive the production of my own work. I'm really excited to discover the work of Hiroyuki Doi.

I remember briefly visiting the Folk Art Museum a few years back and it's a wonderful place!

You can read the full exhibition description at the following link:

www.folkartmuseum.org

sketching

2011-02-03T04:20:00.000-08:00

Quick sketching form this mornings session

I've been thinking about making these sketches since I was in the gallery on Tuesday and I'm quite pleased with the result. They are very small sketches that I hope to transfer to a bigger scale this afternoon. These two new sketches explore existing mark making processes that I have developed over the past 12 months and I am now working with these methods in new approaches. How composition can come about through initially placing predetermined or ordered lines to generate a starting point for a process to evolve really interests me. I like having something put down on the drawing surface that provides me with the starting point. I can then work with what is in front of me and so the drawing journey begins. It can result in a totally random and unexpected compositions and this motivates new ideas and processes for further work. As the first few drawings are made and I can get the general feel for a particular series of drawings that are exploring a particular process. Once comfortable I can then concentrate more on making the actual marks on the paper and less about the composition because I can get a general feel for how each one will turn out. I quite like this experience of drawing, it means that I can become very technically aware of the marks I am making and understand further the different stages of how the composition and structure of a drawing can come together trough very simple and relatively easy mark comes together to form a more involved composition.

Key word for me to explore: Perturb - To throw into disorder; derange

2011-02-02T03:35:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos from yesterdays session in the gallery. In all honesty it was quite a slow day for a number of reasons. The main reason being that I am right in the middle of moving my studio from Salford to Littleborough - which I am so excited about, though it's very exhausting!!

My new studio is located in Ebor Mill Studios and is only a few miles down the road from Touchstones Rochdale. Its so great to have a new base in the area and to be setting up studio in a lovely, creative atmosphere.

Yesterday fellow artist, and fellow graduate of Salford University, Sarah Hardacre paid me a visit. Sarah took part in my drawing experiments and we had some great discussions about my drawing practice, how I am finding working in the gallery and how I anticipate my residency going. Thanks Sarah for a wonderful afternoon.

So, as a result only a few sketches produced however one wonderful outcome that I am really looking forward to working on tomorrow.

(Click on each photo for closer viewing)

detail..

1st day: setting up and making a start...

2011-01-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day of my residency at Touchstones Rochdale Art Gallery. After setting out my workspace and preparing some participatory drawing activities, I spent quite a long time during the morning reviewing some of my past notes, sketches and research note books, mainly from my time at Artists Unlimited in Bielefeld. Each time I look back through older note books I always find something to revisit that I have completely forgotten about - it's one of the main reasons I keep so many sketchbooks in my studio, I have them dating back to 1998 and still look through the early ones from time to time.

I made lots new research notes; things to look up again, to re-investigate, lists of words and processes to develop..

And also started to sketch out some new ideas, which I am looking forward to developing but I'm really pleased to have made a good start...

One part of my residency that I am really excited about is the three participatory drawing activities I have for the visitors of the gallery to take part in.

Each sketchbook has a written instruction that participants must follow - to find out what they are come and visit me in the gallery and have a go! I will be writing about these instructions as the weeks go by so keep posted!

The instructions are very straight forward and take just a few moments to complete. Each instruction is designed to investigate how we respond to very simple written instructions as drawn interpretation and each activity deals with how we can express line, shape, form and texture by drawing.

I will be using every contribution in a series of new drawings and I will be posting about these drawings during my time on the residency.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the activities today and to those visitors who stopped to chat with me.

Here are just a few of the contributions..