No. 2 Tips on Drawing Portraits  ​Having established some proportions in our portrait we can also think about adding tone, or shadows, ie. the range of light-to-dark areas which help to suggest three dimensions on the flat surface of the paper. It is helpful to make a black and white scale like this...

​Shading can be done with a pencil or ball-point in a cross-hatching style or more evenly using a brush with watercolour, or charcoal. Try experimenting with different media.

​Notice the direction of the light before shading the features which are in shadow. Note that cast shadows, those that are caused by an obstruction to the light, such as the nose, will have a harder edge than shadows which describe a rounded form like a cheek. Mark the areas of darkest tone (black) then gradually add the two or three mid-tones where necessary, adjusting as you go. If all the shadows are the same tone it will tend to ‘flatten’ the drawing. Remember, you are aiming to create the illusion of forms receding in space.

​When the Booker Prize is announced and you want to read the book, you wouldn’t dream of writing to the author and asking for the original manuscript – you would be quite happy with a printed copy. But, for some reason, this is quite different in the world of art where the original is prized far above any copy. The Giclee method of making a copy of your painting involves photographing it very accurately and transferring this to a computer and then printing it out with a special large inkjet printer. Unlike your desktop printer this typically uses ten or twelve different light-proof inks and makes an extremely accurate copy of your artwork. It is printed onto high quality watercolour or art paper and if done properly looks indistinguishable from the original. Of course, not all art is suitable for copying and printing using the Giclee process, e.g. thick impasto surfaces. But many pictures do reproduce beautifully and, provided the printer adjusts the colour correctly, a suitable copy is produced. So why do so many people turn up their noses at this?

​The original work of art is clearly more valuable as, by definition, it has scarcity value. But should you be judging art by its commercial value? After all, you can sit down and relax listening to a beautiful piece of music on CD rather than going to a concert and it doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg. So why can’t you do something similar with a giclee print of whatever painting takes your fancy? It is possible to do this with prints from famous artists, but commercially they are often of rather poor quality with quite a distortion of colour. Hence, prints are viewed as something a student might put on their wall but not a suitable decoration for your adult home. Unfortunately, this then rolls through to less famous artists whose prints, even though of very high quality, are shunned in favour of originals. And this then means that their working practice becomes un-commercial. No-one wants their prints, so their price is pushed down and they cannot recoup the cost of their originals because of the long time and effort expended in producing them.

​One solution that is often tried is to produce a limited edition of the print. The buyer then thinks this is something special and exclusive and justifies a higher price. But isn’t this just pandering to snobbishness? The vast majority of people are not concerned about whether a book is a first edition or not, they just want to read and enjoy the story. So, as an artist whose paintings often take months to complete, my plea is – Buy the Giclee Prints!– these  copies of mine  are every bit as good as the originals and you can buy them very reasonably! If you would like to see them look for “prints” on my website at “ludwikart.com” or contact me via my “contact” page.

Alan’s father, Fritz, and grandfather, Otto, escaped to Britain just before the second world war. Otto lost his German citizenship in 1942 because of his jewish ancestry. Alan managed to obtain German nationality in 2020 via Article 116 legislation, which restored citizenship to those who had lost it and their descendants. His father grew up in Hamburg, and to celebrate his restored connection with the city, Alan held an exhibition of his recent paintings and drawings there. These include a suite of new drawings with themes such as music, memory and the depiction of time. ​

IT BEGINS!  After 7 months of planning and preparation the first LiterArties exhibition has started at The Jam Factory, Oxford, on Tuesday 26th February 2019.

The Jam Factory           27th February - 16th April

​Early in the morning all our art was laid out and the walls discussed. It was very clear that the largest wall would be dedicated landscapes in a free form style. A section was for abstract art and and another figurative.

Debrah and Karen left the hanging experts to it and this was the brilliant exhibition that showcases our artwork...