David Hockney A Bigger Picture exhibition and new sketch.

Ruth and I went to see the new David Hockney exhibition A Bigger Picture,at The Royal Academy this week. RA link here
I have always liked Hockney's work and was pleased to see a few years ago that he was painting a lot of trees and using bright colours too. His Yorkshire landscapes are beautiful, and in this exhibition where a lot of them are gathered together, the result is impressive.



There's a range of work from very realistic charcoal drawings, to watercolours and large oil paintings and new prints made from Hockney's work on the i-pad. The landscapes in the dales with their swooping roads and bright fields take you with them on their journey. The joy and delight in the landscape is palpably communicated and meant I was not as exhausted as I can be after seeing a large exhibition. There's something about the use of colour and the strong bright colours that are energizing as well. I could feel myself drinking them up.



The detailed recordings of the changes through the seasons is a main part of Hockney's latest body of work. Painting from the same view point through the year. From snowy lanes to spring greens, heavier dark green summers to Autumn colours and corn fields. As you turn round you are surrounded by the seasons in all their rich variety.

Compared with the vibrancy of the paintings, the prints from the i-pad are much flatter and less intense. It was interesting to compare the different mediums. I always admire Hockney for his obvious delight in new technology and would follow his example if I had more money. So I was pleased to see his working with the i-pad, which no doubt takes some mastery with it's methods.
some of the effects the pencil type lines and soft brush effects were brilliant. But there is something very different about the effect of the hand/brush with paint.

The exhibition has been booked up for a while I think, but you can que for tickets about a 2 hour wait mostly the RA are saying. I'm not sure if I will be able to get back before it finishes on the 9th April. But I was inspired when I got back home to do the sketch of the Siver Birch tree with a golden light on it's branches below, out of the kitchen window. I also sorted out some of my tree photographs that I'd meant to print. So I can see some more trees arriving before too long.