Fran Hillman Artist. . . It's All About the Light

Textured Garden Cherub

2011-03-31T20:30:00.000+01:00

As texturing photos with layers in Photoshop is all the rage I thought I'd have a go at it.

This is the original taken late last Summer in my garden. I fell in love with this little chap and as he was reduced in the local garden centre he came home with us.

I cropped the original and changed the colour/saturation. Then I added a few different textures (I'd already experimented with ink and charcoal on different papers and scanned them) as layers - changing the opacity on some. The edges needed that old look so I had to do that from scratch there and then making a new file that I can use again.

old photo edge (Feel free to use this if you like. You'll have to scale it.)

Why was I messing about doing this when I should have been painting? The truth is sometimes I just can't do what I think I should be doing. It's as if my hands are tied behind my back or I just plain talk myself out of it more's the point! Anyone else feel the same?

A Splash of Watercolour

2011-02-16T20:58:00.000Z

While I'm in the mood for posting. I'm sharing a little urge I had.

Watercolour is a challenge but its unpredictability is fascinating and compelling. So the other day I thought I'd abandon all fear and carefulness and jump in for a splash (literally) of the stuff! No setting up a still life, no planning, no careful draughtsmanship, just acrylic ink, imagination, years of failures, my homemade bamboo
(leycesteria actually) pen and blobs of gorgeous, wet, glowing colour.

It was very enjoyable, I have to say but maybe I'll do just a teeny weeny bit of planning in future.

Printing on Fabric

2010-12-10T20:59:00.000Z

This is my printed (upside down -I couldn't be bothered to go back to Pshop and turn it around!) fabric of the rose I painted digitally in PainterX. The fabric is a plain cotton and I gave it a good covering of Golden Digital Ground (white matte). I did tape it on 3 sides to a piece of plain A4 paper so it would feed nicely through the printer. It printed well - quite crisp and because of the base it is washable. I initially printed one without any ground and that also printed quite well but got a little creased and a few inky black bits. It also washed straight out so on the remaining roses from the piece I coated first the back and then the front with fabric medium to seal the ink in. When this was dry I ironed it on both sides. When I did my washing test it seemed to work fine! It also has a softer hand (feel) than the one with the digital ground.

Having done it I wondered what I should then do with it/them? To find out you'll have to go to my other blog LaziDazi!

Digital Painting

2010-12-01T20:35:00.001Z

There is something about snowy, cold days that makes me feel sort of homey, if you know what I mean. I feel blessed and very grateful to be warm and have such a wealth of materials to work with, as the mood takes me. This particular media happens to be virtual! I've been playing in Corel Painter X (it's X1 now) with pastels.
The idea is too see if I can print it out on to fabric and then work something textile/stitchy on it.

I think that will have to wait until tomorrow now as it will mean a lot of fiddling with glue and such.

I'll let you know what happens and it might turn up on my other blog Lazi Dazi . Then again it might not work so in that case it won't!

Stay warm, cosy and rosy.

Something Cheery for a Foggy November

2010-11-16T19:22:00.003Z

Suffolk Hay Bales Acrylic on board 28"x24"

Hello Peoples

I have a new follower after all this time. How nice and welcome!

I'm not sure if this is finished but I'd thought I'd post it as it reminds us of heat and sun which we occasionally get in an English summer. I'm indebted to Su (her lovely blog is su-livingontheedge.blogspot.com) for this one as one day last summer she very kindly turned the car around and parked up a leafy lane in order for me to take a photo. So thank you, Su.

Looking at this painting as I write this post and being able to see it much smaller in front of me (rather than on the end of my nose in the studio), I think that I'll have to adjust the ratio of pink and orange on the biggest bale as it's almost 50/50. Just a thought . . .

Funny How Things Change

2010-10-21T20:55:00.000+01:00

Lately I've been fiddling around with fabrics and threads. I've even done a bit of felting too.

It seems my love of texture has now been expanded to include all these lovely goodies. As for materials I thought I had everything one could ever need for mixed media work and then I realised how wrong I was, especially after visiting The Knitting and Stitching Show a couple of weeks ago. I bought shiny silks, embroidery threads, wonderful Wensleydale curls and wool tops. I bought feathered yarn and Lutrador and microwave dyes!

I haven't done a 'painting' for weeks and I'm now thinking of a different blog to encompass my latest love.

I'll let you know when it's ready although you never know, it may be just a fling, just a fleeting infatuation! Somehow I don't think so. Funny how things change!

Textile Art - My First Piece - Secrets of the Sea

2010-09-07T19:49:00.001+01:00

Secrets of the Sea 24cm x16cm

I find textiles quite compelling these days.

You need to look a bit closer and then I'll tell you what I did. (click on image)

For this piece I painted layers of garden fleece and ironed it in between baking parchment. The edges have been shaped with a soldering iron too. I added silk organza and then a mussel shell previously covered in gold leaf and a little 'secret' of threads was encapsulated (using running stitch) inside a 'bubble' (heated blasted) of polyester organza.

The whole thing was then free motion machined on to painted pelmet vilene. To finish I added a few seed stitches, loose threads and beads. The organza hiding the shell was pierced with a soldering iron to reveal the sparkle of the threads inside!

Phew! Well there we are. I think I'm hooked.

Embracing My Romanticism (briefly!)

2010-08-13T20:22:00.000+01:00

I haven't been here for ages I know. Ah, but I've not been idle!

Rose Arch (oil on canvas- 16"x 20")

I've been skipping down the leafy lane of textile art! That is I've ironed garden fleece, painted it, blasted it it with hot air, melted cellophane, painted that, free motioned (machine- drop the feed dogs stuff) and embroidered different fabrics. I've wet felted, dry felted and broken all the needles in one go on my little needle punch gadget. All in all I've had a lot of fun but in between I've still not drifted from my beloved oil paint.

As May took a bow and June made her entrance my beautiful roses whispered gently to please be painted. Briefly embracing my romanticism I gladly obliged and I'm glad I did because as I was playing with colours, as I've done so for so many years trying to find a good combination, I happened upon my now colour palette. Instead of putting out a blob of every colour I own I now have a select few to place exactly in the same position on my palette. "How very ordered of you," I hear you say. Yes indeed and I fondly call them my 'heart colours'!

A Few I Did Earlier

2010-05-05T16:33:00.005+01:00

White House, White Moon 22"x 18" acrylic on paper

Monet's Bridge 23"x18" acrylic on paper

Three Tulips 11"x15" acrylic on paper

These paintings were worked incorporating my own printing blocks which I make specifically for each painting.

Have lost my way a little lately and have wandered into a whole new world of textile art! There's a mind boggling array of materials and techniques to get to grips with. Of course the paint is there too lurking in the background with threads, wools, free motion machine embroidery and all sorts on top. I've only been experimenting so far but you might get to see some. That is if I don't get bored first which I'm prone to do!

Appointment in Venice

2010-03-09T21:03:00.001Z

Appointment in Venice
22"x16" acrylic on watercolour paper

Well I told you it would be very different! I might put it away and let it cook for a bit.
I've been busy on The Treasure Tree doing SEO- challenging but interesting! Also I'm building another fine art website for all my paintings.

Oh and I've wandered back to oils and that's on my easel at the moment.

Appointment in Venice- Step 1

2010-01-22T14:39:00.001Z

First things first- the bare bones. Step 1

This is a start for my next painting. Using runny acrylics rather like you would use watercolours I have blocked in my colours and tones. There is already a strong tonal (lights and darks) pattern which will act as a plan for me. I will go in refining shapes but keep to my plan of tones with little variations here and there.

I'm using 140lb not watercolour paper.

There are some gorgeous colours here- burnt orange, quinacridone magenta, ochre, cobalt violet. The deep reds compliment the greens and the cobalt violet the yellow ochres.

My next thing to do will be to make some printing blocks. Venice abounds with wonderful shapes so I'll have lots to choose from. I'll be doing some arches and railings, foliage for the walls and the gondolier of course. I might just paint him though.

The finished painting will look quite different to this!

A Time to Paint

2010-01-15T19:29:00.000Z

Well Christmas has come and gone and 2010 has poked its head above the snow and somewhere along the line I have tired of the impasto oils I was so enraptured by before!

I'd started another oil of a garden and just found myself becoming bored, very quickly. Since then I have ventured back to acrylics and discovered that texture, of which I am so fond, can equally be portrayed by pattern.

In the image from the previous post parts of the painting have been rendered using my own personal 'stamps' or printing blocks. These I have made from dense foam by drawing into it (melting it) with a stencilling iron.

Each painting has some unique symbols which I make specifically and possibly others I have already made and can be used often.

I have done a few but they are not photographed yet. I'll put some up soon so you can see what I'm talking about.

We are surrounded by patterns! Did you notice the fabulous patterns in the snow before it became slush? Even some tyre tracks were things of beauty!

November Art Tips

2009-11-27T11:28:00.000Z

Three Clouds in June

mixed media on paper 7"x7"

If you feel like giving up, then give up, but just for a day. Tomorrow is a new day and hope springs eternal.
I always have an old rubber glove in the studio to get a grip on those lids on paint tubes.
Give your paintings a line dominance- straight lines against curved or curved against straight.

Under The Influence

2009-10-28T18:22:00.003Z

Crescent Moon acrylic on canvas (12"x 10")

I've always admired the work of Mary Fedden and Winifred Nicholson. Their use of colour and beautiful simplicity of subject matter excites me. So I waited with longing for my Winifred Nicholson book to arrive.
When it did I pleasurably feasted upon her colours, lyrical lines, her soft blending of sky to sea and was transported to where she had been, to her very life and there we became friends, her and I.

Somehow I'm always looking to my next work, new work, a new way of expressing my choice of colour and subject matter. One day I like what I've painted the next day it's 'old hat' and I must go on searching for that which satisfies. Of course I realise that will never happen. 'But it's the journey' I hear you cry and you're right- so on I go!

Spring Light acrylic on gessoed board (9"x7")

I wandered back to acrylics for these two. For 'Crescent Moon' I used acrylic gel with the paint and a knife in the final stages. For the above I already had a lovely textured ground by previously covering a piece of hardboard with texture paste. This meant I could use brushes and still have my texture.

P.S I sanded this one a little, when it was dry, to bring out the relief of the ground.

October Art Tips

2009-10-19T13:57:00.008+01:00

Resting,Cambridge Botanic Gardens. Oil on canvas 24"x18"

Give your paintings a temperature dominance- make either warm dominate with cool accents or vice versa.

Overlap objects in a composition- they must never just touch/kiss. This will give you interesting shapes with innies and outies!

Odd numbers of things, for instance, fence posts, trees, etc are always more interesting in a painting than even numbers.

How to Make Reed/Dip Pen

2009-10-06T20:59:00.001+01:00

When you want a bit of a change, something to make you loosen up your drawings, try a reed pen.

While tidying up the garden I was cutting back some leycesteria formosa and thought it would make a perfect pen as the stems are hollow. You could use anything with a hollow stem such as bamboo.

Here I have gone into the wet ink with plain water and a brush to give the sketches tonal value.

Step One

Slice off the top of the stem with a sharp scalpel or craft knife revealing the inside. (I cut one and there was an earwig inside! It's all right I missed it.)

Step Two

Sculpt the edges down further.

Step Three

Slice across the top

Step Four

Make a cut into the top if it's quite wide. If you've made a narrow top leave it.

Have fun but please mind you fingers!

Busy, busy, Treasure Tree, busy.

2009-09-29T20:28:00.005+01:00

Well I've been so busy with animations on The Treasure Tree that I haven't had time to paint with the real stuff. I'm getting a bit crabby so I must do so soon!

This is the end of a scene from Daniel in the Lion's Den. King Darius can't sleep because Daniel is in with the lions and he thinks he's being eaten.

The scene starts in the dark with the king tossing and turning, losing his pillow, etc until morning. All the odd shapes (round the edges) don't show on the animation stage just on this image.

I do some illustrations in Adobe Illustrator CS3 and bring them into Flash CS3. It's CS4 now.
The remainder are done in Flash and animated there too.

Do you get grumpy when you can't paint? I'd love to know that I'm not the only one. Perhaps you have ways and means of dealing with it? Please do tell.

Sir Cedric Morris Iris's

2009-09-25T12:09:00.006+01:00

Sarah Cook at Breulingen Botanic Garden, Basel

Iris 'Benton Dierdre' (watercolour 12"x11")

I did a quick watercolour to illustrate this post. It's nice to go between different media. I used 140lb rough paper for this but had tried out colours on a cheaper 90lb paper watercolour pad. I tend to keep the pad for my for 'fiddling' as I call it. Somewhere where I can just paint and play about, test colours and generally get to know better how watercolour reacts, without the pressure of producing a painting as such.

This is one of the irises I bought last Sunday at the NCCPG (National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens) plant sale at Helmingham Hall from Sarah Cook. Sarah was head gardener of the beautiful National Trust owned gardens at Sissinghurst in Kent for 14yrs. After finding one of Sir Cedric Morris's iris seedlings in a border her passion began. Sarah, upon early retirement, decided to search high and low for lost Sir Cedric Morris irises. Many iris seedlings were bought at Benton End where Sir Cedric Morris opened the East Anglian School of Painting in 1937 and held annual sales of the irises he had bred. You never know you may have one in your garden! I'm sure Sarah Cook would like an email if you do as she holds the national collection of Sir Cedric Morris iris introductions.

The irises I bought are pretty much just rhizomes at the moment but I'll be painting them in oils, in situ, when they are in all their glory next spring (as ever in gardening though, hopefully!).

My Easy Clean Palette

2009-09-21T19:50:00.002+01:00

I thought I'd share an idea I had which seems to work well. I use a piece of perspex (clear acrylic sheeting) as a palette. The trouble was that I had to scrape all the dried oil paint off, far too often for my liking so now I just cover it in cling film (food wrap). Wrap it right round, that's easiest. When it gets too messy I just cut down a couple of sides with a craft knife and throw it away. The sheet is then ready for some more wrap.

Don't forget to save any spare workable paint first on scrap of paper or something.

I spent a beautiful afternoon at Helmingham Hall Gardens in Suffolk yesterday at a plant sale but I'm going to tell you about that later this week. It has a lot to do with Sir Cedric Morris and tall bearded irises.

Sticky Fingers

2009-09-15T15:59:00.005+01:00

Remember when you were a child and you thought nothing of sticking your fingers or hands into the wet, sticky paint and splattering, smoothing or streaking it across whatever surface was available?

Well there comes a time, in the process of making art, when there is nothing for it but to stick your fingers in the paint and apply with great and wonderful abandon!

I do it all the time. Go on I dare you. Could you?

The Artist's Cat in the Artist's Garden

2009-09-14T19:22:00.014+01:00

The Artist's Cat in the Artist's Garden
Oil on board 28"x 24"

It's not a matter of changing one thing for as soon as you make a mark you have to make another somewhere else to balance the first one.That's why painting isn't as simple as some people think!

I worked on the painting as a whole rather than just the seat and ground underneath.
Our cat is actually white (mostly) but because here he is in the shade with only little patches of light on him he actually looks far from white.

Delete!

2009-09-09T16:20:00.017+01:00

Quote by Andrew Wyeth "Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art. It is important to forget about what you are doing – then a work of art may happen."

Don't be precious about your work. If you have worked on a painting, it's not good and you know it, throw it away or paint over it.

The next one will be all the better for having worked that one.

If you think it's good keep it for 6 months. If it's still good frame it. You may find your idea of good has changed though. Then throw it!

Right For Now

2009-09-04T19:26:00.009+01:00

Here I've used the painting knife so the whole is unified. I like the reflected light (I'll talk about that another time) under the seat and patches of light on the cat. I'll leave it a while and see.

My Father

2009-09-03T19:46:00.000+01:00

15 years ago today my artist father, Cyril Hamersma, died. He was an amazing, encouraging, innovative and complex character. http://hamersma-uk.blogspot.com/ This site created by my sister Bern Ross http://artontheburn.blogspot.com/ shows much of that. . . Miss him.

September Art Tips

2009-09-03T19:30:00.001+01:00

* Always look at your painting in a mirror. Any mistakes will show up more easily.

* Squint at your painting. You'll see tones better. Always light against dark, dark against light.

* Use baby wipes to clean oil paint from your hands. It's much kinder :-)

Still Putting it Right

2009-09-03T19:23:00.000+01:00

I've almost finished 'The Artist's Cat in the Artist's Garden' but the photo was blurry so I'll take another one tomorrow. I expect I'll have to leave it a while to 'cook' where I can't see it and then when I look at it again with fresh eyes, anything that jarrs will stand out.

Putting it right.

2009-08-28T19:59:00.000+01:00

Here I have started to remodel the seat and cat- just with a brush for the time being.

Bad drawing. My very 1st blog post!

2009-08-28T19:45:00.000+01:00

Now here's the thing; when I start a painting I get all excited and 'gung ho' about it and don't draw things properly. So when I calm down and realise what I've done I have to change it. Very annoying it is too. Do any of you have the same problem?

So this is showing that I've had to scrape back the seat and the cat.