J.W.Waterhouse Sketchbooks

"The Victoria and Albert Tearoom"
24x18" via palette knife
By Johanna Spinks
For purchase
here

The block-in painted from life with that knife

Slowing working through

The background begins

Visiting the sketchbooks of J.W.Waterhouse within the vaults of The Victoria and Albert Museum. Wow!

I have long enjoyed a good scone, thick clotted cream and a nice cuppa especially in lovely British tearooms. I found myself once again in the tearoom of The Victoria and Albert Museum with its' beautiful Pre-Raphaelite windows that leave you breathless with wonder and so enjoying the moment.

I was also lucky enough to visit four of J.W. Waterhouse sketchbooks in this Musuem's collection which was a remarkable experience. Yes, I actually got to leaf through them with my bare hands. What an incredible artist J.W. Waterhouse was. I don't think anyone has yet come close to what he did with his brush and imagination.

So, all of this came together in my painting inspired by the tearoom and those sketchbooks. It was started from life painting the lovely model Amina in my teaching class and taken further during the days that followed. The windows are downplayed which I apologize for but sometimes you have to edit.

I hope you like.

More Sketching at The V&A

Blissful sketching at The V&A continues...this one a white marble winner, 'The Bather' by Albert Toft. He was obviously a very clever chap. His sculpture wasn't half bad either.

Older post:

I decided to spend more time than I ever thought possible sketching at London's Victoria and Albert Museum over the last few days...so what was I thinking as I sat there sketching watched by onlookers over four day period?

*It is so cool the V@A (http://www.vam.ac.uk/) have these little 'sketching' chairs for artists who want to sketch in the sculpture gallery - how thoughtfully British. All we need now is Union Jack sketch books for sale in the gift shop.

*The history of this great art institution - and to be sketching amid its' mind-blowing contents - is making the hairs on my neck stand out.

*People do - and say - the funniest things to draw attention to themselves and to distract the artist from drawing. Are they secretly envious? One lady explained the intricacies of breastfeeding to her seven year-old daughter loudly in front of me. NOT KIDDING! I didn't fall for it. My concentration remained intact. She was puzzled.

* How on earth did this sculptor, Aime-Tules Daleu, 1873, render this piece of a peasant girl breast-feeding her tot? It is very tender. Certainly for a mom. The crowds roaming through the V@A love it. Or is it just my drawing they are checking out? I sure got a lot of comments.

*I am so grateful that I now have the drawing confidence to sketch and copy masterpieces in museums, and I really enjoy it. Thank you to the ' 365 Days of Drawing' challenge I set myself last year. I continue to discipline myself to draw very often now, hence being in the V@A, when I could be in the local pub having a large G&T with friends. Ok...I did that too. Later.

* Simplify and connect the shapes. Know what to leave out. Hmmm...it is good to have a mentor. I think of Mr. Kinstler's words all the time, near or far. http://www.everettraymondkinstler.com/

* I must do a close-up of the sculpture's face AND another of the full figure. I have not lost my Type A personality with jet lag. DRATS.

* Why was that scone in the V@A tea room, in front of the exquisite Pre-Raphealites' stained glass windows, A, so expensive (err, derrrr!) and, B, so stale? Unforgivable. I have had better scones in America at that awful coffee chain beginning with S. That is telling you something.

Come back tomorrow to see more drawings from my serene sketching sojourn at The V&A....

Another Day Sketching at The V&A

This was a marble bust of a child called Innocence. How I wanted to take that bust home...least I got a drawing out of it.

I decided to spend more time than I ever thought possible sketching at London's Victoria and Albert Museum over the last few days...so what was I thinking as I sat there sketching watched by onlookers over four day period?

*It is so cool the V@A (http://www.vam.ac.uk/) have these little 'sketching' chairs for artists who want to sketch in the sculpture gallery - how thoughtfully British. All we need now is Union Jack sketch books for sale in the gift shop.

*The history of this great art institution - and to be sketching amid its' mind-blowing contents - is making the hairs on my neck stand out.

*People do - and say - the funniest things to draw attention to themselves and to distract the artist from drawing. Are they secretly envious? One lady explained the intricacies of breastfeeding to her seven year-old daughter loudly in front of me. NOT KIDDING! I didn't fall for it. My concentration remained intact. She was puzzled.

* How on earth did this sculptor, Aime-Tules Daleu, 1873, render this piece of a peasant girl breast-feeding her tot? It is very tender. Certainly for a mom. The crowds roaming through the V@A love it. Or is it just my drawing they are checking out? I sure got a lot of comments.

*I am so grateful that I now have the drawing confidence to sketch and copy masterpieces in museums, and I really enjoy it. Thank you to the ' 365 Days of Drawing' challenge I set myself last year. I continue to discipline myself to draw very often now, hence being in the V@A, when I could be in the local pub having a large G&T with friends. Ok...I did that too. Later.

* Simplify and connect the shapes. Know what to leave out. Hmmm...it is good to have a mentor. I think of Mr. Kinstler's words all the time, near or far. http://www.everettraymondkinstler.com/

* I must do a close-up of the sculpture's face AND another of the full figure. I have not lost my Type A personality with jet lag. DRATS.

* Why was that scone in the V@A tea room, in front of the exquisite Pre-Raphealites' stained glass windows, A, so expensive (err, derrrr!) and, B, so stale? Unforgivable. I have had better scones in America at that awful coffee chain beginning with S. That is telling you something.

Come back tomorrow to see more drawings from my serene sketching sojourn at The V&A....

Sketching at The Victoria and Albert Museum...What Was I Thinking?

I decided to spend more time than I ever thought possible sketching at London's Victoria and Albert Museum over the last few days...so what was I thinking as I sat there sketching watched by onlookers over four day period?

*It is so cool the V@A (http://www.vam.ac.uk/) have these little 'sketching' chairs for artists who want to sketch in the sculpture gallery - how thoughtfully British. All we need now is Union Jack sketch books for sale in the gift shop.

*The history of this great art institution - and to be sketching amid its' mind-blowing contents - is making the hairs on my neck stand out.

*People do - and say - the funniest things to draw attention to themselves and to distract the artist from drawing. Are they secretly envious? One lady explained the intricacies of breastfeeding to her seven year-old daughter loudly in front of me. NOT KIDDING! I didn't fall for it. My concentration remained intact. She was puzzled.

* How on earth did this sculptor, Aime-Tules Daleu, 1873, render this piece of a peasant girl breast-feeding her tot? It is very tender. Certainly for a mom. The crowds roaming through the V@A love it. Or is it just my drawing they are checking out? I sure got a lot of comments.

*I am so grateful that I now have the drawing confidence to sketch and copy masterpieces in museums, and I really enjoy it. Thank you to the ' 365 Days of Drawing' challenge I set myself last year. I continue to discipline myself to draw very often now, hence being in the V@A, when I could be in the local pub having a large G&T with friends. Ok...I did that too. Later.

* Simplify and connect the shapes. Know what to leave out. Hmmm...it is good to have a mentor. I think of Mr. Kinstler's words all the time, near or far. http://www.everettraymondkinstler.com/

* I must do a close-up of the sculpture's face AND another of the full figure. I have not lost my Type A personality with jet lag. DRATS.

* Why was that scone in the V@A tea room, in front of the exquisite Pre-Raphealites' stained glass windows, A, so expensive (err, derrrr!) and, B, so stale? Unforgivable. I have had better scones in America at that awful coffee chain beginning with S. That is telling you something.

Come back tomorrow to see more drawings from my serene sketching sojourn at The V&A....