Lessons learned from Anthony Wood

 
Andrew Stewart Jamieson
 
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Andrew Stewart Jamieson
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28 September 2011 17:22
 

I agree Anthony Wood was a master at diapering. He taught us that scale was everything, it should notice but should never be mistaken for charges. It is a good lesson to follow and practice makes perfect!

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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28 September 2011 17:34
 

Andrew Stewart Jamieson;87990 wrote:

I agree Anthony Wood was a master at diapering. He taught us that scale was everything, it should notice but should never be mistaken for charges. It is a good lesson to follow and practice makes perfect!


I agree completely. I made one feeble attempt at diapering on a digital emblazonment of my arms about six years ago and haven’t had the guts to try it again.

 

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeohzt4/McMillan-dpr.gif

 

But what catches my attention in your post is the past tense with reference to Anthony Wood’s mastery of diapering. Is he no longer accepting commissions?

 

(And a sincere welcome to our group, by the way!)

 
Andrew Stewart Jamieson
 
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Andrew Stewart Jamieson
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28 September 2011 18:26
 

Thank you Joseph! I hope that I might make a positive contribution and help or advise any aspiring artists.

The diaper you posted follows the ‘Golden rule’...

 

Anthony Wood suffered a stroke a few years ago and although he recovered and still paints he refers clients to Myself, Kevin Arkinstall and a few selected ex students. there is still a great demand for his work being the Master that he is. I am proud to know him and prouder still to join the ranks of those fortunates who were trained by him.

 
Donnchadh
 
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Donnchadh
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29 September 2011 11:24
 

Mr. Wood is a man among men in heraldic art and i suspect is the same in real life. as i’ve said many a time here over the past couple years, his book with all of its insights was the single greatest aid i ever had when i emblazoned. i never modelled the helmets i painted until i read his book. that alone gave life to my works in a way it never had before. i can only imagine what it would’ve been like to have been an actual student of his.

 
Andrew Stewart Jamieson
 
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Andrew Stewart Jamieson
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29 September 2011 12:33
 

Donnchadh;88007 wrote:

Mr. Wood is a man among men in heraldic art and i suspect is the same in real life. as i’ve said many a time here over the past couple years, his book with all of its insights was the single greatest aid i ever had when i emblazoned. i never modelled the helmets i painted until i read his book. that alone gave life to my works in a way it never had before. i can only imagine what it would’ve been like to have been an actual student of his.


To be a student of his? Try this, you arrive all keen on the first day expecting to paint coats of arms. No, you learn calligraphy for two terms and one day a week ALL day you draw with a Royal Acadamician. Then, when he thinks you have an understanding of calligraphy and your drawing skills are developing he lets you design heraldry and learn technique. You will work on a design for three days and be pretty full of yourself and he will come along and demolish it and make you start over and so on it goes. Do not expect praise, expect to be taught as though you are in school and expect to work extremely hard. never be late for class!

 

After three years of that you are about ready to start painting heraldry… Have a passion for the subject or he will not take you seriously.  For me my greatest moment was when as I left the school he presented me with a book that had an inscription, ‘From one heraldic artist to another’....that was better than the fact that I received one of the highest grades in the history of the course!

 

Three very long and arduous years but three of the best I have ever lived!

 
Aquilo
 
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Aquilo
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29 September 2011 13:56
 

Andrew Stewart Jamieson;88009 wrote:

To be a student of his? Try this, you arrive all keen on the first day expecting to paint coats of arms. No, you learn calligraphy for two terms and one day a week ALL day you draw with a Royal Acadamician. Then, when he thinks you have an understanding of calligraphy and your drawing skills are developing he lets you design heraldry and learn technique. You will work on a design for three days and be pretty full of yourself and he will come along and demolish it and make you start over and so on it goes. Do not expect praise, expect to be taught as though you are in school and expect to work extremely hard. never be late for class!

After three years of that you are about ready to start painting heraldry… Have a passion for the subject or he will not take you seriously.  For me my greatest moment was when as I left the school he presented me with a book that had an inscription, ‘From one heraldic artist to another’....that was better than the fact that I received one of the highest grades in the history of the course!

 

Three very long and arduous years but three of the best I have ever lived!


Any good lessons in life have to be learned the hard way no other way.

Didn’t I say something similar last year ...?  smile Never mind…thank you for sharing this one !

 
Donnchadh
 
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Donnchadh
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29 September 2011 16:41
 

as odd as it sounds, that would be an awesome education! my best coaches in life, the ones i model myself on with the student-athletes i coach, were hard-nosed/aggressive/make you do it over and over again/perfectionists like that. i think of those men as father-figures. i suspect i woulda loved and hated the class at the same time as i did my sports. smile

 
Ce Howard
 
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Ce Howard
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30 September 2011 05:47
 

Donnchadh;88025 wrote:

as odd as it sounds, that would be an awesome education! my best coaches in life, the ones i model myself on with the student-athletes i coach, were hard-nosed/aggressive/make you do it over and over again/perfectionists like that. i think of those men as father-figures. i suspect i woulda loved and hated the class at the same time as i did my sports. smile


I think so too.  I wish Coach could hold in his hands and study the piece art Mr. Wood gave you as a wedding gift the way I have.  I don’t know much about the heraldry end of it, I still have a lot to learn, but the detail is amazing.  You can tell by his artwork that he has dedicated years and years of his life to drawing and fine tuning his skill.  He must be an extremely intelligent and disciplined man.

 
Donnchadh
 
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Donnchadh
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30 September 2011 12:52
 

i can only imagine Ce. the first time i had seen one of his works i didn’t know who he was or who the artist of that piece was to be honest, but i fell in love with the detail. i know sometimes people can be too flowery with their praise or that others can think that a person can give too much praise to a piece, or a person, but i’m telling you that at that moment i knew that heraldry was something i wanted to try my hand at—at that time i was cartooning and painting landscape scenes. the study of irish surnames and and their histories and genealogy had first got me into heraldry, but being an artist, if you can call cartooning art smile so, i hope that these pieces, and others i’m having them observe, will inspire them to do more than what they are settling for.

 
J. Stolarz
 
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J. Stolarz
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01 October 2011 10:33
 

Andrew Stewart Jamieson;88009 wrote:

To be a student of his? Try this, you arrive all keen on the first day expecting to paint coats of arms. No, you learn calligraphy for two terms and one day a week ALL day you draw with a Royal Acadamician. Then, when he thinks you have an understanding of calligraphy and your drawing skills are developing he lets you design heraldry and learn technique. You will work on a design for three days and be pretty full of yourself and he will come along and demolish it and make you start over and so on it goes. Do not expect praise, expect to be taught as though you are in school and expect to work extremely hard. never be late for class!

After three years of that you are about ready to start painting heraldry… Have a passion for the subject or he will not take you seriously.  For me my greatest moment was when as I left the school he presented me with a book that had an inscription, ‘From one heraldic artist to another’....that was better than the fact that I received one of the highest grades in the history of the course!

 

Three very long and arduous years but three of the best I have ever lived!

 


First of all, I want to also say welcome to our group.  I’ve always really admired your work, and being an aspiring heraldic artist myself, I know I have a lot to learn from people like you.  This story you posted alone is intriguing as to how he had you start.  Do you know what his reasoning was for starting with calligraphy?  I imagine it was so you could have smooth, and consistent strokes?

 
Andrew Stewart Jamieson
 
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Andrew Stewart Jamieson
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01 October 2011 10:46
 

J. Stolarz;88117 wrote:

First of all, I want to also say welcome to our group.  I’ve always really admired your work, and being an aspiring heraldic artist myself, I know I have a lot to learn from people like you.  This story you posted alone is intriguing as to how he had you start.  Do you know what his reasoning was for starting with calligraphy?  I imagine it was so you could have smooth, and consistent strokes?


Thanks for the welcome! Good to be here finally.

 

Calligraphy teaches a lot about space, balance and rythm it makes you look at things in a certain way. It is a discipline that requires hours of practice and attention and I suppose if we are called upon to produce a document that needs heraldry and calligraphy then the two should somehow be harmonious and connect. Good heraldry should be balanced and spacially aware and to a certain extent have a rythm to it.

 
Ce Howard
 
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Ce Howard
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13 October 2011 15:18
 

Andrew Stewart Jamieson;88009 wrote:

To be a student of his? Try this, you arrive all keen on the first day expecting to paint coats of arms. No, you learn calligraphy for two terms and one day a week ALL day you draw with a Royal Acadamician. Then, when he thinks you have an understanding of calligraphy and your drawing skills are developing he lets you design heraldry and learn technique. You will work on a design for three days and be pretty full of yourself and he will come along and demolish it and make you start over and so on it goes. Do not expect praise, expect to be taught as though you are in school and expect to work extremely hard. never be late for class!

After three years of that you are about ready to start painting heraldry… Have a passion for the subject or he will not take you seriously.  For me my greatest moment was when as I left the school he presented me with a book that had an inscription, ‘From one heraldic artist to another’....that was better than the fact that I received one of the highest grades in the history of the course!

 

Three very long and arduous years but three of the best I have ever lived!


When I look at these I see why Anthony put such an emphasis on drawing.

 

http://jamiesongallery.com/blackandwhitelinedrawings2.htm

 
Kenneth Mansfield
 
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Kenneth Mansfield
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13 October 2011 15:24
 

Perhaps it would just be easier for all involved if we sold ad space. wink

 
 
Ce Howard
 
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Ce Howard
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13 October 2011 15:40
 

Kenneth Mansfield;88744 wrote:

Perhaps it would just be easier for all involved if we sold ad space. wink


Please note all the empty black space on the link under the images.  I took off all the text prior to posting so no one would make such a comment.  I’ll go in and disconnect the website link on this page now too.  If you like I’ll take Andy’s name off as well.

 
Ce Howard
 
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Ce Howard
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13 October 2011 15:45
 
 
Kenneth Mansfield
 
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Kenneth Mansfield
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13 October 2011 15:55
 

You did see the wink, right?