Learning to See Again – Augustus John
I have been out of action for a while - part of the process of "learning to see again" is to analyse how those that do this or had done this as a way of life see for themselves...
...your skill level on its own will only take you so far.It is so important for me to strike a balance between doing it yourself and learning from others. There is a saying in professional tennis, I think John McEnroe said it - "you only learn by playing people that are better than you". Art and design is no different in that respect for me. Unless you expose yourself to as many different styles and genres your skill level on its own will only take you so far. So, on a Saturday afternoon I decided to jump on a bus and have a spin round the Cardiff National Museum and Gallery - I often go there but most recently it was as a casual punter that enjoys a bit of art. On this occasion it was different, I wanted to see drawings and good use of line and technique. I wasn't even sure who I was going to see but I knew what I wanted. I must admit I was really excited - it was just like being a student again - I wanted soak up as much as I could. I wanted to analyse examples of use of line and construction in particular of drawings. During my quest I stumbled on a small exhibition of Augustus John’s work. It was an interesting exciting exhibition - there was so much to take in but I had to stop myself and stick to what I came for - examples of line and tone - it showed a wide variety of his work throughout his long career and also examples of work in varying degrees of completion.
Immediacy and Certainty
For me the preparatory stage of an artist’s work is often more interesting than the completed outcome. What struck me about John’s work was the spontaneity of his drawings and paintings. Nothing was overworked – it had a freshness and an immediacy to it. For example Pyramus John (1905 -13)
Nothing is overworked or wanting more.
Line and Tone

If you trust the process you eventually arrive at your chosen destination. The outcome is also ‘honest’.There is also evidence of experimentation and working out the form. Never rubbing out but working out and developing the form further – working through the problem. This gives it an added freshness and dynamism. Other key aspects of this drawing include the drawing of the hands – there is a clear structure - I suppose the main trick of drawing hands is to consider the negative space and for that matter when drawing any complex object. Also I find it easier to not think of it as the object you are trying to draw – such as hand because otherwise you preconceive what it should look like and in so doing you end up with at best a skewed approximation of what it is in front of you. Instead simply draw the shapes and importantly how the negative space interacts with those forms. It is quite liberating to draw like that - concentrating on the negative space - because its a bit like being taken on a journey of which you are not sure where you will end up. If you trust the process you eventually arrive at your chosen destination. The outcome is also ‘honest’.



