Oil on Canvas (6 Parts)

Synopsis

Series examining how ppinters paint. Contemporary artists share their secrets and skills and reveal how they were influenced by the masters. Each programme follows a work from start to finish.
1: London figurative artist Ray Richards tackles problems of composition on a long, narrow rectangular-shaped work that presents several obstacles.
2: British artist Tai-Shan Schierenberg demonstrates how to paint portraits when he creates a likeness of Lort Hartington, the heir to Chatsworth House, in a day.
3: John Greenwood uses a studio setting to analyse the way light falls on still objects, while Len Tabner faces the challenge of rapidly changing light when he straps his canvas to a boat.
4: Problems of perspective: Ben Johnson uses a computer and making tape to create his cityscapes and interiors, while Patrick Hughes subverts the rules to unsettling effect.
5: Scottish artist June Redfern travels to Venice to look at Titian’s ‘Assumption’, especially its fiery colours, and to make preliminary sketches for a painting designed to convey the atmosphere of the city.
6: Landscape artist John Virtue regards the brush as the most powerful tool in picture-making. While taking the same walk in Devon each day for ten years, he works on his 313th painting of the changing view.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. Standard formats. 6 x 30 min.

Year of production

1993

Availability

Hire
Sale; 1998 sale: £50.00 (+VAT +p&p) each (VHS)

Notes

Broadcast on BBC2 from 8/9/97.

Subjects

Art

Keywords

Greenword, John; Hughes, Patrick; Johnson, Ben; Redfern, June; Richardson, Ray; Schierenberg, Tai-Shan; Tabner, Len; Virtue, John

Credits

Producer

Ian Duncan

Sections

Title

Composition

Synopsis

1: London figurative artist Ray Richards tackles problems of composition on a long, narrow rectangular-shaped work that presents several obstacles.

Title

Portrait

Synopsis

2: British artist Tai-Shan Schierenberg demonstrates how to paint portraits when he creates a likeness of Lort Hartington, the heir to Chatsworth House, in a day.

Title

Light

Synopsis

3: John Greenwood uses a studio setting to analyse the way light falls on still objects, while Len Tabner faces the challenge of rapidly changing light when he straps his canvas to a boat.

Title

Perspective

Synopsis

4: Problems of perspective: Ben Johnson uses a computer and making tape to create his cityscapes and interiors, while Patrick Hughes subverts the rules to unsettling effect.

Title

Colour 1

Synopsis

5: Scottish artist June Redfern travels to Venice to look at Titian's 'Assumption', especially its fiery colours, and to make preliminary sketches for a painting designed to convey the atmosphere of the city.

Title

Brushstroke

Synopsis

6: Landscape artist John Virtue regards the brush as the most powerful tool in picture-making. While taking the same walk in Devon each day for ten years, he works on his 313th painting of the changing view.

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Sponsor

Name

Arts Council

Phone

020 7973 6820

Fax

020 7973 6449

Notes

Contact: Will Bell (7/99), e-mail will.bell@artscouncil.org.uk

Name

BBC Education

Web

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools External site opens in new window

Phone

020 8746 1111

Fax

020 8752 4398

Address

White City
201 Wood Lane
London
W12 7TS

Distributor

Name

Arts on Film Archive, University of Westminster

Notes

Arts on Film Archive offers on-line access to a large range of films on art produced in the United Kingdom since the 1950s, and is a unique record of British and international post-war art, as well as of documentary film-making in the UK. In its first phase, the archive offers a complete database and an on-line video streaming of all 450 films made by the film department of Arts Council England between 1953 and 1998 and several films produced till 2003 by the dance Department of ACE. The collection is only available streamed to ac.uk domain addresses.