Tutor reportStudent name Adrian Eaton Student number 510434Course/Module Painting 2:

Exploring ConceptsAssignment number 2

Overall Comments

Thank you for sending your work via courier. It is really beneficial for me to see your work first hand. Overall you have submitted a very strong body of work with some excellent moments that is reflective of the hard work you have committed to this project. As always you continually push your practice. It is evident that you are drawing/painting on a daily basis. It is a really solid body of work and there is a strong confidence beginning to emerge. You always go above and beyond what is asked of you in each exercise, this deserves mentioning as you are continually striving to push your practice to new places.

Adrian going forward it would be beneficial if you could label each piece you make stating which exercise/project it belongs to. Although this is clearly labeled in your log, which is great, it would be good if you could do this with the physical work too.

Assessment potential

I understand your aim is to go for the Painting Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, and providing you commit yourself to the course, I suggest that you are likely to be successful in the assessment.

Feedback on assignment Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity Preliminary Sketches in sketchbooks:Your sketches of family and friends are strong and confident. There is great care and thought given to composition. You always include the sitter and their surrounding environment, which you know is

essential. There is also variation in the sketches in terms of composition. There is evidence of really assured mark making in pencil and pen. Strong observational skills are evident.

The initial drawings of the model in the highland dancing outfit are good. You have considered your context, the position of the model as well as the duration of your drawings. There is good mark making and attention to tonal rendering. In saying that however, I think that some of the drawings in the A5 sketchbook display more confident markmaking and are less consciously made. For example, Muriel on the couch with cookie and Hannah reading on her kindle are excellent in the way you have captured the moment. As a viewer you have brought me into their space. There is such a strong sensitivity to the person you are drawing that is really coming through. I think that proportionally these drawings are stronger too. The drawings of the model with the highland dancing outfit appear a little stiffer. Your drawings appear to be strongest when you loose yourself in that moment of drawing too.

Exercise Balance: These exercises display you model in a relaxed fashion. The weight of her body is emphasized.

Exercise standing pose / Exercise: seated pose:These capture the essence of the model in a doorway. There is a strong playfulness to your compositions here too that are very interesting. There are some good proportions being captured. Also in your sketchbook the seated drawings capture you model well – Tony with a coffee is also a good drawing.

The Giacometti inspired piece works well. You are developing a very strong compositional sense. This is coming thorough your daily drawing activity and your development in observation and your recognition of the equal importance of the model and their environment.

Project: Looking:The works you produced here in this section are very strong. Charcoal works really well for you too because you are not afraid to push it and take risks in your work – great. Equally your blind drawings are excellent.

The self-portrait is strong too – very keenly observed in the style of Giacometti.

Project; Seated Figure with Pattern:Again these initial studies in your sketchbook are strong and confident. The domestic setting displayed within your drawings

show an intimacy into family life, this honesty comes through in your drawings

As I touched on earlier, your drawings of Muriel are excellent, there is an assurance in that you really know what you are drawing and how you are drawing it. The paintings you have made in this section are really strong overall. I can see that you have really pushed yourself outside your comfort zone and are really beginning to embrace the physicality of paint. It is also worth noting that you have made a minimum of 3 finished paintings of Muriel in this section. Compositionally they are very strong. You have really thought about the way in which all the elements are laid out and how they are painted. Within these paintings there is a real playful balance between figuration and abstraction, which is really exciting. Perhaps this is something you might want to explore further going forward. Through all these patterned forms and motifs you have pushed your use of colour which works very well. Matisse would be great to look at here in relation to colour relationships. Equally Bonnard would be a good reference point for you in terms of colour. There is also an intimacy and quirkiness to these compositions which works. You have approached these paintings like you do your drawings in terms of really thinking about the way in which you make your mark and lay down your paint. You have really pushed your mark making and colour skills here. There are also some great moments when you allow the vibrancy of the background washes to push through. There is a lightness to how the paint sits, you allow it to breathe. And you are careful not to overwork, which is important. Overall excellent work. As I said earlier you have captured emotion within these paintings. Think Frida Kahlo here too. I am thinking of her very colorful self-portraits that portray emotion.

Project Extended Pose:In your log you say you contemplated whether it should be more abstract or traditional. It can be both like I have discussed above. A good painting always makes itself. Sometimes we as artists can get in the way of that by over thinking things.

Hannah and her Violin is a great little painting that has come out of hard work. The scale of the work you make will dictate the size of brushes your use. You don’t have to use small brushes, if it is a large area you are covering, use larger brushes. I think the abstracted geometric background works well. You have pushed the figure itself for a more representational interpretation.

You have also created a painting of your son here too. It also works with the idea of a hard edge geometric background. It too works well as a finished painting.

Self PortraitExercise: Full Length and Exercise: Close-UpBoth of these are painted with honesty. The full length one is keenly observed. I think the composition is very strong, especially the way you have placed yourself off centre, works extremely well. The background has a strong balance between figuration and abstraction, which works very well. Again you have allowed your paint to breathe. The smaller portrait works well too. Overall there is a warm tonal arrangement coming through in your use of browns. The warm orange/sienna ground peeps through the cold grey beautifully through airy washes. You paint appears rich and luxurious. Proportionally they both work very well.

Sketchbooks Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

You have submitted 3 sketchbooks that are excellent in their depth and breadth. It is evident that you are continually adding to them on a daily basis and this is why your sketchbooks are as strong as they are. You experiment and explore a range of media and compositions. There are some really excellent studies of different family members there especially Hannah reading and Muriel on the couch with the dog. From all your work I really get a sense that you work best when you are just doing it and not overthinking what you are doing. Please keep this going going in part 3.

There are also some great continuous line / blind drawings in the A3 sketchbook. I think the drawing of two boys drawing is just excellent. The composition is very dynamic.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays Context

As in part 1, your log is very strong and healthy. Like your sketchbooks it is evident that you are continually adding to it on a daily basis. Again you have extensively researched the work of other artists as well as reflected on your own practice in a very critical way. Excellent work.

Suggested reading/viewing Context I can see that you have already started part 3 and are already making good headway. I think you will really enjoy part 3 as I feel from the work that I have seen that you are in a good confident place and are very ready to embrace the physicality of paint and a

more loose way of working. Think about how you might balance that figuration/abstraction strand in your work because I think it works particularly well for you. Willem de Kooning might also be someone you are interested in, his earlier landscape pieces in particular. There are also some really good artists mentioned in your handbook in part 3, Edward Hopper to Ivon Hitchens. They all embrace different styles and techniques. Think about their work and how it might or might not relate to yours.

Pointers for the next assignment

As I have already noted, you have made headway with part 3. Please keep that level of commitment ongoing. You will really reap the benefit of that. Please continue to take risks, this is necessary in order to find your own personal voice which is already beginning to establish itself. I look forward to assignment 3.

Tutor name: Majella ClancyDate 18th October 2014Next assignment due

10th December 2014