David Harker - Notes 2009

2009-12-22T11:35:00.001-08:00

22 December 2009

A photograph taken in a nearby park. The three trees in the background seem just too manicured.

2009-12-09T08:32:00.001-08:00

9 December 2009

I recently visited Holland. I stayed in Scheveningen, a seaside resort near the Hague. I also went to Delft, Vermeers birthplace and the inspiration for his painting 'A View of Delft'. Vermeers work is an idealised view and not a strictly topographical record of a particular view. Nonetheless this prompted me to at least take my own photographs of the skyline.

A View of Delft
Johannes Vermeer

Delft 2009Delft 2009

The photographs are taken from the top of a water tower close to the centre of Delft. The churches are the reference points for a comparison with Vermeers painting.

2009-11-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

19 November 2009

Completed a drawing on wood. The work is made of acrylic, pencil and ink. It depicts a coastal scene. In the drawing I attempted to suggest the effect of light on the side of the buildings in the distance and a flat still sky.

2009-10-23T06:13:00.001-07:00

23 October 2009

This is the second 'sky and earth' drawing for the 'Anima Mundi' Project in Italy. It is made of pencil on paper.

2009-10-16T15:12:00.001-07:00

16 October 2009

I have spent the last week working on a larger version of the sky and earth drawing. This will be one of my drawings for the exhibition in Italy. It is made of pencil on paper.

2009-10-01T05:16:00.001-07:00

1 October 2009

Completed this pencil drawing titled 'sky and earth' for an exhibition in Italy based on Dante's 'Divine Comedy'

2009-09-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

27 September 2009

The surface texture in this painting is much more varied and more composed of marks similiar to some of my drawings.

2009-09-21T03:55:00.001-07:00

21 September 2009

This painting is finished!

This is one of my sketches for the sketchbook project in Atlanta. They are small drawings which are visual notes and ideas for paintings.

2009-09-11T14:00:00.001-07:00

11 September 2009

This is a another stage of an ongoing painting. A previous stage is in my diary entry dated 21 August 2009.

2009-09-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

8 September 2009

Okay I admit it this painting is now a bit of an obsession. I am trying to work out whether the area around the neck reads as a shadow or not. I was awake last night thinking about this.

This painting is almost completed. I aimed to use colour as well as the drawing to capture something of the subject.

2009-09-07T09:26:00.001-07:00

7 September 2009

This small sketch was made from life this evening.

With a lighter background I intended to heighten the intensity of this ongoing painting.

2009-09-06T09:28:00.001-07:00

6 September 2009

I think this painting is slowly inching its way to completion. I am painting as much detail as I can find and taking a lot more notice of the choice of colour.

2009-09-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

4 September 2009

This is the painting in progress based on the drawing which is in my diary entry 30 August.

2009-08-30T09:22:00.001-07:00

30 August 2009

These two drawings are made as studies for a new portrait painting. I like the head tilted upwards. Seems to add some drama to the image.

2009-08-29T03:53:00.000-07:00

29 August 2009

This painting is based on drawings, photographs and memory of a visit to St. Ives in Cornwall. It is made of oil painted on panel.

This painting represents another attempt to paint the waves breaking on a shore. The painting is drawn from memory and a very faded photograph.

2009-08-27T08:29:00.001-07:00

27 August 2009

A drawing made this afternoon. There is a slight sense of anxiety in the expression.

2009-08-25T04:46:00.001-07:00

25 August 2009

This is the next stage of this portrait. I think the comparison is helpful for me to see.

The objective for this painting in progress is to attempt to keep the sense of animation in the pose.

2009-08-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

23 August 2009

A drawing made this afternoon from life.

2009-08-21T08:29:00.001-07:00

21 August 2009

Two paintings in progress. The blue painting is at a further stage compared to the painting in my blog entry dated 14 August.

2009-08-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

20 August 2009

This drawing made in the studio this afternoon. This is a collection of portraits which are in pencil and approximately 20 x 15 cm.

2009-08-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

19 August 2009

This is a study from life made this evening. The model was looking past although sitting directly in front of me.

2009-08-18T03:20:00.000-07:00

18 August 2009

Worked on this life study this afternoon. A hot and quiet afternoon.

A portrait study made from life which I attempted again to bring a sense of character. Some of the markings are remnants of erased marks.

2009-08-15T06:38:00.001-07:00

15 August 2009

This another study which attempts to bring some sense of character to the portrait.

2009-08-14T04:06:00.000-07:00

14 August 2009

These are a painting and a drawing which are in progress.

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2009-08-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

13 August 2009

Another study. Trying to gather as much information about this portrait.

2009-08-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

12 August 2009

Worked on this study in the studio this evening. A study for a painting.

2009-08-07T03:22:00.000-07:00

7 August 2009

Combining the portrait and another feature, whether originally related or not, sets up a potential narrative. I think this is setting up a context in an artwork.

2009-08-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

06 August 2009

These images represent some experiments in representational painting which I am revisiting and use them as a reference point for new work.

2009-08-05T05:49:00.001-07:00

5 August 2009

Another for the Atlanta sketchbook project. I thought defining areas around the face was one way of isolating places for different tones and colours for the ongoing painting.

A self portrait sketch made this morning. Looking tired or concentrated?

2009-07-31T06:38:00.001-07:00

31 July 2009

This photograph was taken in Amsterdam. I don't remember the particular location but I liked the image because it represents a particular moment. The passage of the train in the distance. An overlooked urban space.

2009-07-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

29 July 2009

This portrait is against the backdrop of the side of a building. The pose was inspired by a painting by Vermeer.

2009-07-28T09:31:00.001-07:00

28 July 2009

This is an unusual form. I observed this tree in the grounds of a house in Cornwall. Drawn in this way it seems solid, almost like concrete.

This image is an extract from a construction site in Lincoln. A yard area. I cropped the drawing to form the basis of an abstract image.

This image is possibly a view of a harbour in a North Wales town. A viewpoint on the harbour path.

2009-07-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

27 July 2009

I found this image of a tree in a garden in the grounds of hatfield house. The drawing describes some of the unusual shape of the tree, against the globes of the topiary on the manicured hedges.

2009-07-24T13:02:00.001-07:00

25 July 2009

This is an initial sketch of a house in a residential street called the Ryde in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Details and some history of this housing cooperative are at http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3138295

2009-07-23T09:13:00.001-07:00

24 July 2009

This is another drawing for the project in Atlanta (see diary entry 4 July 2009). The drawing is part of a sketchbook.

This small drawing represents a section of the harbour wall in an image of a harbour path (see diary entry 22 July 2009). The drawing appears as an exploration of shape.

2009-07-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

23 July 2009

This image is based on a photograph of a building in Granada. The location is the Albaycin which is the oldest quarter of the town, where evidence of Islamic, North African, Moorish history is apparent. The mark at the bottom left refers to a bedframe leaning against the wall.

2009-07-21T12:48:00.001-07:00

22 July 2009

The portrait I discovered in a collection of drawings in my studio. I had in mind a profile painted by an 15th century Italian painter, baldovinetti.

The angled shape in the landscape directs the eye to the headland in the distance. I liked the abstract quality of the sea walkway.

2009-07-21T09:31:00.001-07:00

21 July 2009

The image of the leaves is an updated, more detailed version, of a previous drawing (see diary entries 12 June and 14 July 2009).

This drawing is a viewpoint on a harbour path. The location is the Dorset coast, possibly Lyme Regis.

2009-07-16T16:03:00.001-07:00

17 July 2009

This image is taken from a location on the Cornish Coast. Another of the many viewpoints of the English coastline I have in a photographic archive which I am slowly working my way through for inspiration for new work.

2009-07-14T12:54:00.001-07:00

14 July 2009

I was so struck by this tin mine image which I unearthed in my archive. For me it conjures up many facets. It is poignant, mysterious, incongruous and has an uneasy atmosphere.

The leaves drawing is the second in a series which will help me with plans for a painting. I keep enlarging each drawing to add detail.

The coastal wall and path is I think located in Lyme Regis, Dorset.......'The French Lieutenants Woman' perhaps?

2009-07-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

11 July 2009

I observed these disused tin mines paired in this way. I thought this was usual in this landscape setting.

2009-07-08T02:58:00.000-07:00

8 July 2009

So far these portraits show the subject looking away from the viewer. This project is taking a life of its own. I like the obsessiveness of it.

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The drawing of a sea wall is a clear composition. The picture is divided into three sections, the wall, sand and sky.

2009-07-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

7 July 2009

This drawing is a larger version of a previous study from a landscape in Morocco. These drawings partly are to search out a good composition for work with colour.

Another for the series of portraits for the exhibition in Georgia, 'friends of friends'.

2009-07-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

5 July 2009

The portrait project is based on people who are familiar to me. Friends of friends as well.

2009-07-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

4 July 2009

Started some portraits. I will be building up a portfolio of portraits for a themed exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. later in the year.

2009-06-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

28 June 2009

Another awkward composition. It is an attempt to show the sense of height and distance of the canal. This is the Corinth Canal which connects the Ionian and Aegean Seas.

2009-06-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

27 June 2009

This is an awkward composition. The original image is a viewpoint of a cliff face and the sea from a coastal path in Greece. I think it is awkward because it doesn't seem complete at the moment.

2009-06-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

26 June 2009

On a journey along the south coast of Ireland this view of ruined buildings by an estuary was a particularly striking view. I like the linearity of the image.

2009-06-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

25 June 2009

The edge of the lake in this drawing of parkland directs the viewpoint to the right and then to the left where the edge of the lake reaches the middle of the composition.

2009-06-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

24 June 2009

This is a single umbrella tree located in wide open scrub land in Kenya, East Africa. A single tree in a wide open, unpopulated space.

Another version of the palms drawing. The black boundary is on the card sent to me by Bury St.Edmunds Art Gallery in Suffolk. I sent the card back with the drawing.

2009-06-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

23 June 2009

The posts in this composition direct the view down the hill to the flatland in the distance. This is a view in Northern Morocco.

2009-06-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

20 June 2009

This drawing is a section of a previous image of ruins in Athens. By concentrating on sections of the image I can hope to reveal more information about the composition. The source photograph is poor quality so leaving me some room for intepretation and invention.

2009-06-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

19 June 2009

These two columns in Athens stood amongst the ancient rubble which would have formed a much larger structure. The scale of the columns against the trees, for example, is striking.

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2009-06-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

18 June 2009

Another hillside drawing. Again this is a location in Northern Morocco. I think the distant structure is a minaret. The drawn trees in this image seem packed together, almost combining.

The photograph was taken in Malindi, Kenya, East Africa. It is an image which emphasises the abstract and the realist viewpoint.

2009-06-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

17 June 2009

Another image taken from my journey to Morocco. The trees on the hillside recalled textiles stitched onto a fabric surface.

2009-06-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

16 June 2009

This drawing of palms is a fragment of a much larger image. It is an extract of a viewpoint in a street in a small town in Northern Morocco, south of Tangier. The fragmentary is a characteristic of some of my recent work.

2009-06-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

15 June 2009

This study is an attempt to show the sense of undulations of the hillside in the distance and the trees and hedgerows dividing the fields so characteristic of the English countryside. I made this drawing without too many alterations so that the flow in the landform is suggested.

2009-06-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

14 June 2009

This drawing is an attempt to make, in a graphic form, the effect of a reflection on still water. There is a stepped structure underwater in this image.

2009-06-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

13 June 2009

From my archive of tin mine photographs I came across an image of the lift shaft and stack surrounded by trees. Most of the tin mines I have seen so far, all disused, inevitably were overcome by nature. This is my sketch reintepretation.

2009-06-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

12 June 2009

In this drawing of leaves I like the sensation of movement. The leaves were attached to a wall, they are part of a climbing plant ; there is a shallow space in the composition.

2009-06-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

11 June 2009

This drawing is based on a view close to the Cathedral in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The structures through the opening are partly obscured. This sort of view is an obvious way of directing the viewers response to what is depicted ; it is difficult not to look firstly in the direction of the arch, guided by the foreground lines.

2009-06-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

9 June 2009

Selected these images again without a preconceived idea. The building is located in Granada, Spain. The image highlights the openings in and around the building and the route beyond. The figure is a statue located in a cemetery in Harrow, North West London.

2009-06-06T02:26:00.000-07:00

6 June 2009

Disused tin mines are curious structures. There are many in the South West of Cornwall. I think this structure is the lift shaft. From my many journeys to Cornwall I have collected an archive of photographs of these shafts in their landscape settings.

2009-06-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

4 June 2009

I found two photographs from a journey to Norway. The fjord is a place where the water is like glass. One drawing concentrates on the face of a fjord, the other on the nearness and farness of looking across it.

2009-06-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

3 June 2009

This ancient ruin of an arch is surrounded by stone which formed part of other structures. These remains are piled up around the arch. This image is based on a site of ancient remains in Athens.

The drawing of this landscape is in an unknown location. It is based on a coastal location . There are concreted areas which dominate this location.

The softer lines of the trees contrast with the hard edges of the land boundaries in the middle distance.

2009-06-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

2 June 2009

The ancient monuments in Athens continues to emerge as a subject. This drawing is a close up viewpoint. The abstract qualities of line against the intention to depict the stone attracted me to the image.

I thought the view of the house through the frame of leaves suggested in this drawing created a patterned and fragmented effect.

2009-06-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

1 June 2009

I came across these two different views of, I am sure, a beach in Cornwall. I liked the sense of sequence, the tide and passage of time.

Another coastal drawing. I have a seemingly unending archive of coastal images.

There is a strong angular element to this image.

2009-05-29T05:28:00.000-07:00

29 May 2009

This is a larger version of the hilltop structure. My intention is to see this work as a way of developing a drawing as well as a deeper understanding of what I am to depict in a painting.

I like the undulations in this landform and the rocks strewn across it.

2009-05-26T10:04:00.001-07:00

26 May 2009

This drawing is in the same series of locations in Greece. The structure at the hill top suggests a building with a defensive or observational function.

This drawing is I am sure a view of part of the coastline of East Africa, Kenya. There is nothing in the drawing that suggests this which I think shows that it is an abstraction of a memory.

2009-05-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

25 May 2009

These drawings are beginning to take on a life of their own. I like the sense of sprawl in the layout in these two images. They are cluttered remains. The drawings are made with an HB pencil on paper.

2009-05-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

24 May 2009

This photograph was taken in Derbyshire. Exact location unknown. The path is an ongoing theme.

One of my objectives at the moment is to produce a series of paintings which have something in common geographically.

This drawing is part of a series of images based on locations in Greece. My objective is to use them as studies for paintings. This image in its own right has a fragmentary appearance which was a characteristic of some of my recent drawings.

2009-05-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

23 May 2009

I have changed the title of this blog. It was reminding me of a sketchbook and collection of visual notes so I will continue the blog with that in mind.

This small drawing based on a photograph of a house in the Mediterranean. I don't know which country. Whilst I am researching my own photographic archive it is clear that I have not noted places and times. So with this in mind as I sift through this information I will organise it according to the subject of the photograph. This organising is an ongoing project which is open ended!

These photographs showing buildings in landscape settings. Locations uncertain! They are fragments of memory. This is a coherent collection of images.

This photograph I am sure was taken in Cornwall. Exact location unknown. The shadow is clearly the subject of the image.

2009-05-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

22 May 2009

I recently began the process of gradually sifting through my archive of photographs. The drawing is based on a photograph taken in Athens in the 1990s.The original location seems to be an elevated position looking across the city. I am unsure of the location. What attracted me to the image was the gap between the urban area and the pinnacle of this hill in the city.

2009-05-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

21 May 2009

Returned to drawings of landscapes. This might be related to the article I read about Alexander Cozens and Classification of Landscape in the late 18th Century. These drawings seem to identify a type of landscape depiction.

The classification of landscape illustrates different forms of landscape composition. The drawings above show, for example, the depiction of the land to the right of the frame and the beach and sea to the left, the position of the road in the centre of the frame and the dominance of the sky against a small part of the composition occupied by the land.

2009-05-19T02:39:00.000-07:00

19 May 2009

These drawings are taken from photographs and printed material such as newspapers and magazines.I chose these images without any preconceived idea. I am interested in the effect of combining the images from a range of source material.

2009-04-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

26 April 2009

My residency at The Collection studio in Lincoln (see http://davidharker.blogspot.com) has produced enough source material to last at least the rest of this year. I have recently completed and despatched my evaluation of the Residency to the Arts Council. By doing this I had provided a basis from which I could start work on a new portfolio arising from the Residency. Back in my usual studio environment of course my responses are going to be different.

These drawings are some notes for paintings. The shapes surrounding the Church I find curious because they are just artistic devices, graphic equivalents. I think this sense of the curious or perhaps an attempt to express something in a quirky way is what I like about drawing.

17 May 2009

The last weeks that have passed since my residency have been spent drawing. The images I have produced are not directly related to my recent residency. Returning to my studio environment has caused me to rethink how I will progress with my work. Here are some of the drawings.

A wall of graffiti, the rooftop of a mediterranean house, landscapes near water, the sea or a lake, a path in a suburban park. Randomly selected images.