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The Burial of the Dead

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The Burial of the Dead

Another New Studio

‘April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.’

TS Eliot: The Waste Land 

April has been a great big steaming waste of time. Everything I’ve tried has turned out badly and in the end I’ve had to put everything away and start again. I ended the month reading an article online that takes a very jaundiced view of the art school in the UK and is extremely difficult to argue with. 

d’Alancaisez, Pierre. ‘Art School Hotel California’. Elementy, no. 6 (2024). https://doi.org/10.52652/e.6.24.12.

The succession of photographs that follow present a view of my efforts over the month to prove to myself that I was active even though the evidence will be destroyed.

Horse Parts Template 04 April 2025

I drew out the parts on insulation foam

Horse Parts Cut Out 04 April 2025

Cut them out

Leg Parts Bandaged 09 April 2025

Wrapped them in plaster bandage – the mummification never mind the burial of the dead

Horse Body Bandaged 11 April 2025

Assembled the body, the problem is becoming more apparent I think

Horse Parts Positioned 14 April 2025

Positioned the parts, held them together with steel rod

Horse Parts Assembly 16 April 2025

Bandaged them again to hold the legas together as individual units

The burial of the dead

Horse Parts Head 18 April 2025

I’d already made the head and tail. Watched the whole piece fall apart because the joints won’t hold

Horse Parts Fixings 21 April 2025

Strengthened the joints so I could tighten them together

Horse Parts Connections 23 April 2025

Assembled the horse again and watched it collapse.

Horse Legs Remade 25 April 2025

Decided to join the two legs from each side of the horse together to see if I could build it differently

Horse legs abandoned 28 April 2025

Stopped flogging the dead horse when this failed, tidied the studio, reorganised so I could reach the blue foam.

The month wasn’t a total waste, I did this drawing at the satart of the month,

Mare and Foal 02 April 2025

and I made a small version of the horse to illustrate what I’m aiming for.

The Burial of the Dead

Circus Horse (after Seurat) 02 May 2025

Drawing

I’ve continued to draw every day;

The April drawings can be seen here

  • Draw Every Day – April 25
    Draw Every Day – April 25
    Draw Every Day - April 25 Continuing to draw every day in Fabriano artist's Journal with ...
    See photo »

…and the March images here

Draw Every Day - March 25 Continuing to draw every day in Fabriano artist's Journal with coloured pages. On the 25th December I received a set of coloured brush pens from my wife and have used them since. The drawings are made any time from 9:00 am at the breakfast table and occasionally later in the day if I'm away from home. The drawings have been posted since the beginning, 6th May 2020, on instagram https://www.instagram.com/latham_1959 You can see previous months through the galleries page https://www.ian-latham.com/blog/galleries or you can go straight to  February's drawings here -
  • Draw Every Day – February 25
    Draw Every Day – February 25
    Draw Every Day - February 25 Continuing to draw every day in Fabriano artist's Journal with ...
    See photo »

There is a link to the previous month’s Gallery on each page.

Or you can go the Galleries page on the top menu

The drawings are posted to  Instagram each day.

Too Much Space

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Too Much Space

Another New Studio

I’m currently torn between the idea of having a strong narrative that is followed through a particular space and the idea of a truly non-narrative space that awaits the visitor to build a story. In a sense like Homo Sapiens Nikolaus Geyrhalter‘s film from 2016 where the earth is seen to be slowly reclaimed by nature. The construction of a story, or do I mean ‘meaning’?, from an experience is something I’d imagine most of us do all the time. I have found that visitors to my virtual environments find it extremely difficult, as if the media itself leaves them demanding to be led.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5450084/

‘Solitary’ 03/01

At the beginning of the month I’d started this drawing while struggling with Unity, so I carried on. First washing then the background over in a filthy grey,

‘Solitary’ 06/01

then building the front tree back out and adding extra branches and twigs.

‘Solitary’ 08/01

Too Much Space

‘Solitary’ 13/01

Adding some lighter hues to the background between the trees and working to create a slight corona effect.

‘Solitary’ 31/01/25

In the end the tree, ‘Solitary’, looks like this and it might be finished.

Flower Painting 2 06/01

I worked over the second flower painting, darkening some of the background and adding depth.

Flowerbed 15/01

As I was still waiting for downloads at various parts of the month I started a new drawing from the flower bed.

Flowerbed 17/01

Flowerbed 20/01

The work is reaching for the multi layered and complex feeling of the overgrown bed while retaining sufficient separation between the plants. Also, hopefully, respecting the qualities of drawing with pastels.

Flowerbed 31/01

Still a lot of work required.

Abandoned Flower painting

Abandoned Flower Painting

Abandoned Flower Painting

I worked on a third square painting from the flower beds but it wouldn’t behave itself, three stages above and below the one I painted out, it’s white now.

Abandoned Flower Painting

Once I got to grips with the HDRP rendering in Unity I started to work through the scenes I wanted to place in ‘Woolgathering’

The first attempt at a meadow.

The second, attempting to get closer to the text of John Clare’s ‘Helpstone Green’

A walk up and down the hill in the second version.

And a very quick run through of the piece as it is at present. I’ve added the red gardens pieces into the mix as well at the back of the original garden. Ultimately there will be more development of that world as I move the sculptures and new ones I building now into the various scenes.

Drawing

I’ve continued to draw every day;

The January drawings can be seen here

  • Draw Every Day – January 25
    Draw Every Day – January 25
    Draw Every Day - January 25 Continuing to draw every day in Fabriano artist's Journal with ...
    See photo »

…and the December images here

Draw Every Day - December 24 Continuing to draw every day,  i completed book 20 on the 7th December using brush pens and a mixture of black, grey, sepia and sanguine ink, as well as the occasional graphite drawing. i then moved into a Fabriano artist's Journal with coloured pages. On the 25th December I received a set of coloured brush pens from my wife and have used them since. The drawings are made any time from 9:00 am at the breakfast table and occasionally later in the day if I'm away from home. The drawings have been posted since the beginning, 6th May 2020, on instagram https://www.instagram.com/latham_1959 You can see previous months through the galleries page https://www.ian-latham.com/blog/galleries or you can go straight to  November's drawings here -
  • Draw Every Day – November 24
    Draw Every Day – November 24
    Draw Every Day - November 24 Continuing to draw every day in book 20 (a larger sketchbook) ...
    See photo »

There is a link to the previous month’s Gallery on each page.

The drawings are posted to  Instagram each day.

 

Some Space in the Garden

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Some Space in the Garden

Another New Studio

 

I made a trial VR space for the Woolgathering project. The close up fllower bed will be sited in the full garden and accessedby proximity as the player progresses towards the top of the garden. Wandering through the flower bed will eventually lead the player back to the normal scale garden.

 

I also made a 360 video version of the real flower bed to use juxtaposed with the sculpted environment. You can watch the video on Vimeo here.

I spent the rest of the month working on two big drawings of the four sculptures.

Some Space in the Garden

woolgathering view 18 10 2024

This is a big drawing done in pastels and water based media.

woolgathering flowers 1234 04102024

The final orientation of each piece will depend on the display environment.

Some Space in the Garden

blog_woolgathering_detail_a_181024

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Some Space in the Garden

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Some Space in the Garden

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The pastels are varnished to keep the colours strong and the texture can be seen moire clearly in the details.

Some Space in the Garden

blog_woolgathering_new_view_181024

Drawing

I’ve continued to draw every day;

The October drawings can be seen here

  • Draw Every Day – October 24
    Draw Every Day – October 24
    Draw Every Day - October 24 Continuing to draw every day, began book 20 (a larger ...
    See photo »

…and the September images here

Draw Every Day - September 24 Continuing to draw every day, began book 19 on 25th August and continued using brush pens and a mixture of black, grey, sepia and sanguine ink. The drawings are made any time from 9:00 am at the breakfast table and occasionally later in the day if I'm away from home. The drawings have been posted since the beginning, 6th May 2020, on instagram https://www.instagram.com/latham_1959 You can see previous months through the galleries page https://www.ian-latham.com/blog/galleries or you can go straight to  August's drawings here -
  • Draw Every Day – August 24
    Draw Every Day – August 24
    Draw Every Day - August 24 Continuing to draw every day, finished book 18 on 24th August and ...
    See photo »

There is a link to the previous month’s Gallery on each page.

The drawings are posted to  Instagram each day.