I very rarely draw outside.  It is a question of attitude, commitment and also medium.  I like using oil 
paint best which means an expedition to paint outside is a real endeavour and requires much time and planning .

I have of course sketched or drawn outside but only as an adjunct to another activity.  For the first 
time recently I went outside solely for the purposes of painting and drawing. I have just joined the Law Society Art Group.  They organise occasional trips and one of these was to the south bank in London to draw and paint, well whatever you like. What I like is the blocky modernism of the City of London School on the far back with the awesome  dome of St Paul’s towering over it, so that is what I chose to draw. 

It is strange drawing outside,  particularly in such a public space.  I initially felt quite self-conscious.  There is an undoubted performance element to it as passers by, who gradually increased in number as the day progressed, stopped to gawk (and if below the age of 12, openly comment). 

This then generates a special kind of concentration.  After  a while the world falls away and all that 
remains is what you are trying to draw.  There are other sensations though, the weather and the sun 

all of which through the mood they evoke have an effect on what you produce. I produced two works,  a pencil sketch (above left) and a water colour.  I find watercolour difficult and counter intuitive.  I apply too much and to heavily.  In this piece I became to obsessed with trying to replicate the sparkling muddy ooze which is the Thames in central London which became too muddied and dominated the picture  The other difficulty is of course the light and shadows shift throughout the day and what was in stark sunlight in the morning is sheathed in shadow after lunch.  

Still I enjoyed it and would probably do it again. It provokes a special kind of calm which particularly in nice conditions is most endearing.

The Law Society Art Group incidentally is having an exhibition at the Law Society on Chancery Lane 
on 12th-22nd January 2016 and I shall be exhibiting.

...or a tale of two exhibitions.  In this case E H Shephard at the House of Illustration and Giacometti at the National Portrait Gallery. Very different artists with very different styles squeezed together into the same blog by an ill-thought-out comparison.

E H Shephard was the illustrator of the Winnie the Pooh stories.  This is not what the exhibition shows though: it shows the illustrations, both comissioned and private, that he produced during the first World War. It is on display at the House of Illustration, which - and I mean this as a compliment - is the perfect lunchtime gallery, nestling as it does to the right of Granary Square in King's Cross.  I am a big fan and have been to several of its exhibitions.

Mr Shephard was clearly one of those people who can make the best of any situation.  He deployed his wry humour and economical use of line to produce cutting propaganda (one example of which can be seen top left). These are interesting in themselves and many of the images, particularly of the rotund German general with the spiky helment, were very familiar. 

Of perhaps even more interest were the drawings and illustrations he produced for himself. Diagrams of battlefields, watercolours of dugouts and - for me the most haunting and provocative - a watercolour of a large cruxifix on top of which the Germans had built an observation point.  It is an interesting exhibition and I recommend you go.  There is something strangely life-affirming about his work.

Across town in the National Portrait Gallery is Giacometti.

I went on Thursday evening when the National Portrait Gallery is open late. It was my first late-night visit.  They have a DJ, drinks for sale and lots of braying people called Anastasia and Terrence in attendance. 

Move past all that and at this time of night the paid exhibitions are sparsely occupied, which makes for a nicer, more relaxed experience.

It is a good exhibition, sensibly  dividing his Swiss and Parisian work and then sub-divided by model.  The only criticism I have is that it is a little small, and one room is given over to photos, which feels too much like filler (although is quite informative).

The exhibition is called Pure Presence.  This is not what Giacometti's work does for me.  I find it striking and evocative but there is no sense of the presence of the person.  Rather I feel it is just their structural form;  the subject is absent and you can pour yourself into it. 

Bust of Annette (above right) is one of my favourite pieces of his but is, for me, an example of this.  It reminds me very strongly of the automaton from Metropolis.

The sculptures, of which there are several on display,  don't have this issue.

A good exhibition that could have done with more.  However I recommend it.

Of the two, if you have to choose, choose the Giacometti.  It wrenches more stongly at the soul and, frankly, is just better art.

If you don't have to choose, go to both, obv.

Time and Tide.  It's all about timing in the art game.

After what type the next question is when.   When is of course very tied in with where as the availability of the various and preferred wheres will dictated the when.  But I am talking slightly in abstract here; when is the ideal when?

Now there are a number of restrictions in relation to this.
1) The time it will take to set everything up;
2) I don't want to have to wait to long (so not past March 2016, I'm not that paitent)
3) Since writing my last post I have entered to exhibit in the Law Society Art Group annual exhibition which is 11th -19th January 2016 so I don't want it to clash with that.

Bearing these in mind when?  Now of course if I get it set up soon then I may benefit from the Christmas rush for gifts.  People are looking for presents and art makes a good present.  However once you hit November and into December there are a plethora of art fairs, christmas fairs, possibly even fayres, open studios, special exhibitions and so on and so on.  This can make for a crowded market and tempting people in can perhaps be tricky. For this reason exhibition space is likely to be more expensive, perhaps even impossible to come by.

On the other hand, do it right, time it right and you can tap into a large amount of passing trade.

I think November is better than December, especially November.  In fact October would be even more preferable but it is half way through so that's not going to happen.  You are in the run up to Christmas but the true maddness has yet to start.  Friends are not committed to the round of parties and so more likely to attend, yet the shoppers are out and so passers by are a possibility.

January is out, and everyone is so depressed and poor in February that what weary and frozen souls you manage to coax into the studio will merely shuffle around dripping slightly before shuffling up again.  I think then March is the thing.  Spring and the prospect of new things, money is back in the bank and something is needed to revive the spirits after another curshing season of darkness.

So I think option 1) November option 2) March.

Next is to tackle where.

I am going to set up my first exhibition.  When thinking about doing this a number of questions come to mind;

• Do I do it myself or do I join someone else’s?
• What kind of exhibition do I want?
• Who else should be involved?
• Where do I want it?
• When should it be?
• Should I actually look to sell anything?

The only thing I am sure of at the moment is that other people should exhibit along with me.  This is both because I am not sure I have enough work to show and also (and more significantly) this being my first exhibition I am much too self-conscious to go it alone. 
So today I am going to think about the following question: What kind of exhibition do I want?
It seems to me there are the following types:

1. The Café;
2. The Student;
3. The Amateur;
4. The Semi Pro;
5. The Group;
6. The Trendy;
7. The Kooky; and
8. The Pop-up.

1. The Café
This is the easiest in many ways and just consists of persuading a café to put your and others work up for a bit and having a semi-official launch day where you sit around hopefully under your work while people drift in and out. 
2. The Student
This is not really about selling the work but more about showing people what you can do.  Often in a sparse white space with only one or two pieces per artist.  There is a degree of earnestness about it and often ornate, but barely legible business cards to take.  The artist themselves will often not be in attendance and if they are, they will be amazed to find that you, a non-family member, have come to the exhibition.  The room will be sparse and probably white. The images on the top right is a perfect example and is from a recent exhibition at Central Saint Martins
3. The Amateur
The aim of the exhibition is not to sell but just to show off.  The best example of these I ever went to was at the Gallery behind the library on Stoke Newington Church Street.  The art was quite good and when enquired of the artist how much one piece was she gave me an arch look and said “I don’t know really, I wasn’t thinking of selling and isn’t it a bit big?”   I think I had committed some kind of faux pas by attending in the first place without a previous formal introduction.
4. The Semi Pro
Lots of booze, lots of people you know with the possibility of passing strangers.  The aim here is to sell but mainly just to exhibit.  Much excitement greats a sale.  The hope here is not so much sales but that you will be discovered. It probably only lasts a couple of days.
5. The Group.
There must be at least 4 artists, preferably in a space that is slightly too small for them.  The artist hovers hungrily near their work, trying almost by shear will to get you to come over.  If you do by something the person who sells it to you will inevitably be not the artist but a friend covering because Jocasta has just popped out, or more embarrassingly, one of the other artists whose work you have spurned.
6. The Trendy
Lots of pieces, at least two artists, probably in a basement or bar with music, drink, djs and possibly poetry or dance or heavens preserve us, video art.  The music will be obscure and prosaic and there will be at least one man there with improbable hair.  It will be fun but you won’t sell much and no one serious will come.
7. The Kooky
A bit like the trendy but with quieter music both in terms of volume and genre.  The venue will also be somewhere improbable like a dress shop or a house boat.  Allot of people who said they will come won’t just because they can’t find it.
8. The Pop-up
You just role up somewhere and set up your stuff in a hastily arranged display.  The key here is the geographical setting.  You can either go for Brompton Road or Shoreditch.  Either way it will rain and it will be a desperate and lonely time.
 
I think I will go for the Semi Pro.