David Siddall

Since the appearance of the first images taken from 'man, the design has always been a means to study and learn about the world. All artists of all time, known or completely ignored, they performed studies and sketches of the surrounding reality, looking through the drawing and 'observation to capture the beauty. If the paintings (made for clients, customers or exhibitions) are the face of "official" that the 'artist wants to give of himself, his diaries containing notes and studies are an intimate and personal aspect of his art.

To understand and appreciate the works of an artist you need to know as much detail as possible and if the internet on the one hand offers the advantage of greater visibility, from 'the other denies that very human and direct relationship that is the basis of artistic confrontation. To overcome this problem we decided to publish on this page a selection of studies and notes by David Siddle, in the case of records related to painting techniques, reflections, still life studies or projects for large paintings, travel notes . The pages here are extracted from the sketchbook reproposed accompanying the painter Cagliari on its movements and in his everyday experiences, a kind of camera sui generis. Probably you will find spelling errors or unpleasant repetition, but we hope that the spontaneity of the images to compensate for these imperfections minutes ...

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Civitavecchia is a strange city, there have been dozens of times, but I have never departed from the port area. I say strange because it is a typical city of passage, of which you do not know much and you're almost convinced that begins and ends between the quays of the dock, because you've never seen anything else.
Returning from Rome for an exhibition, I had to wait several hours 's board, but it is also full of luggage' is once I am able to move from that area that I already knew, that the edge of town between the port and the railway trains, and unable to see Civitavecchia, I have decided to study its inhabitants through the passage under the walls restored soon.
These results ...

(The pictures, taken in December 2009, were copied by some loose papers in which he had drawn the sketches of travel in November. I wanted to copy them here, because I think they are interesting and because I wish this was the end of this block, a sort of encyclopedia of the world, a camera sui generis)

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Bruno told me once (when I was already back from the trip to Bolsena) have found, quite by accident, in a forest near the town, the remains of an Etruscan necropolis, then used again in the middle of the Middle Ages as Christian cemetery. Everything was abandoned, forgotten by all but still imprinted in the collective memory of the locals, as is the case for the ancient legends with a grain of truth.
To inform him of the road were some elderly people. Bruno told me to come there in the late autumn, he found the place covered with dew, hidden behind a gray veil of mist. Every time I think of Bolsena I remember this story and I'd like to visit the necropolis, breathe in the mist ...

(Picture left) The chairs rested at the tables, the lake is calm and all the boats tied up, everything from a sense of loneliness and melancholy sadness, a sense of anticipation ...

In this city there is something old and abandoned, like an eternal sense of anticipation. In June, the city seems dead, empty restaurants, the streets empty eyes bored even of its inhabitants. On the banks of the lake at this time, it seems that we can breathe in the nostalgia and decay, but at the same time the 'aristocratic pride in a fascinating and mysterious. Walking through the village you will see that all are waiting on 'door of the coming tourist season, which restores a breath of life, lasts two months and then back to boredom, waiting and longing (XVI June 2008) ...

(Right image) The room where we slept the board was in the lower part of the medieval village, at the 'top floor and the window you enjoyed this show ...

(The images and texts are not dated 30/12/2009, the photos which are taken up watercolor painting and the text at the top right back to the three-day trip from Ferrara to Civitavecchia, held in June 2008)

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Pino bickering with the projector while I seek the will to work on the sketchbook of Sant 'Efisio ...

When searching for interesting subjects to study and take inspiration from the masters of the past, I came across this beautiful design, though not akin to that which now I try, I really enjoyed it. These days I have in mind a series of paintings on the life Christi, but failing to realize visually the subjects try to compare with the great masters who have already dealt with the issue. The research focuses not on the finished works, but on the studies, drawings, sketches that they have done to get the work finished. So far I've found this useful system by which I discovered great artists and I've reevaluated some more good (in my opinion) to paint that painting.

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Jesus is mourned by their loved ones, just like any other dead, neither more nor less. It 'actually naked as he was killed: no respect or decency. I hope soon to start the oil painting and above all I hope to organize an exhibition that addresses the life Christi from my point of view, this could be the first ...

These days I am studying Degas and seeing its statues, sculptures I understand that the matter may give new strength to the subject matter. The characters in his paintings, already full of life, it seems now that can move and walk in its own right, now free from the hand of the painter of 'artist who created them. All this makes me consider the 'possibility of addressing vitae Christi by not painting, but through the sculpture. No doubt I have to try this technique as soon as I'm doing these days with the 'oil, working on the vocation of St. Matthew ...

At the bus stop waiting for the bus ...

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Despite picture for years whenever I offer more attention to the nuances of the shadows of objects, I remain fascinated and surprised by 'infinite range of colors that nature can create in one square cm.

Unfortunately, often for as little time available and the expiry of the renditions I find myself just paint the shadows with a bistro (dark brown + blue) by filling in the colors represented objects, rather than enhance them. I believe that this attitude is unprofessional on my part, now I will study in depth the subject and, when possible, paint from life or plein air, eliminating the photograph. Painting is my profession, but I'll never be a professional painter till I'm able to paint as true artists, as depicted in past centuries (from the sixteenth to nineteenth century) now has lost his way ...

The shadows of the pitcher go from the warm earth, the dark until you get to red and purple ...

Every shade of color varies with the 'object that is formed or the surface on which is projected ...

The shadows of the apple from purple-blue (darker) to reddish-purple, dark green, bistro ...

The shadows of the box they all tend to grow on land and in the dark shade in most parts come with a reddish-purple ...

For the glass bottle, the discourse is much more complex theory of sepia brown-purple, dark shadows tend to be dark purple with more bits of very dark brown-blue or bistro, but it takes the reflected color of the objects that surround it, rendenoli However, darker and tend to bistro ...

'S label is similar to the box, but, being lighter, barely reaches the purple hues ...

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'S watercolor must be diluted enough to let see the pencil, otherwise it is a tempera or gouache, watercolor no more than ...

Technical implementation of a watercolor study, performed according to the directions of Maiotti Hector "Big manual Watercolor (pag.62)

STEPS

1) Implementation of the draft, starting from the lines and then finding the volume for geometric shapes.

2) Apply a darker pencil to define more precisely the design and highlight the shadows marked with a large hatch.

3) Water-color with a bistro adding the shadows darker parts darker, proceeding according to fusion or overlapping of the 'desired effect.

4) Once the 'shadow should go to the lands which, properly diluted, must be distributed on both shaded areas and on those in light. In this case I run several washes working only for overlapping, adding washes in areas least affected by light to darken.

5) Although the 'exercise does not require it, I marked the areas of' shadow bistro with a purplish-blue, come to think maybe the 'I ruined ...

6) I painted the background mixing the overlap and the merger, seeking to maintain the same tones of the painting (in theory this step had to be done before the third step).

These exercises make me appreciate more and more convinced the beauty, the freshness and disarming simplicity of the watercolors in monochrome.

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It 'just sketched but for me it is already complete ...

The figure shows the shadows purple (red + blue) needs to be valued then its complementary color: yellow. The result seems more than satisfactory ...

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1) primary colors.

2) Secondary colors, each color is formed by the two primary colors which is in contact.

3) Bistro pure black or pictorial, is the gray which is formed by the sum of the three primary colors.

4) Bistro, adding different doses of the primary colors you will get a bistro more or less red or blue or yellow (or the development of a secondary color).

5) All the shades of different colors.

6) These colors are in my opinion a bistro set of more or less prone to color rather than another. I think they are appropriate for the shadows ...

To find the complementary color of a primary color is enough to see the opposite color in step 2. For example, if in step 1 we choose the color red, looking at the opposite side of the circle we understand that the complement is green (located in paragraph 2), the complement of yellow is purple and so on ... Another way to understand the complementary colors is to identify which primary data is used in a secondary color.

The complementary color is obtained by adding the two different primary colors from the color chosen, ie the remaining two.

For example, if we choose the red and we want to understand what its complementary, we simply add the two primaries as well as the red yellow and blue.

Complementary colors are essential to achieve a picture quality, it is important to use them to enhance the subject. A still life of oranges and tangerines, arranged on a ledge overlooking the sea or from which you can see clearly the sky is a painting well done. It may seem random, but is the result of careful study or a sense of beauty and 'color balance.

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San Francesco a Bologna church and convent, is one of the religious sites that struck me most, just after Boxing Day. Its architecture, inspired by French Gothic, its atmosphere, everything hit me at once. In the afternoon with the sun of late summer, its arches, the windows are the temple of light, which makes it magical.

When I was in Bologna for the exhibition at the Sardinian club, I remember that I often stopped there, then unfortunately I had not done this sketchbook and a few sketches were lost, like most of those made before this wonderful gift ...

The church was begun in 1236 by 'architect Marco da Brescia in 1251 and consecrated by Pope Innocent IV.

The first time I visited Bologna with my brother, back from Ferrara, we were only a few hours and we visited for this case your church, unaware of having the old town within walking distance from us, we wandered aimlessly. Just outside the 'religious building on the side of the front, right in front of the church we found a magic shop! Every time I see this sort of thing to think 'ignorance of' man, even today, despite the beacon of science, philosophy and historical awareness that, in theory, today should be his ...

A little 'I miss Bologna, I would go back for a few days, perhaps with Valeria, I would make him know ...

The implementation of the shadows in purple was for me as the apple to Newton. This finding is evident throughout the painting my ignorance! So many things still do not know? How many do I have to learn? Maybe I'm not just a life, but certainly now I know how ...

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I had just enough time to paint these beautiful tulips in my garden, the day after the wind has broken two. How long does the little beauty