Project 3 Review

I have found this project a real challenge.  Prior to this I have mainly drawn in pencil and had my eraser handy at all times.  With the materials I have been using in this project I was stuck with my first effort. Considering my eraser dependence I am quite pleased with the results. 

There are some things that define me and one of them liking to know exactly where I am.  So it's come as a bit of a surprise to find that good things can come out of a more random approach.  For instance my dip pen gave me lovely aubergines but I didn't know where I was going with it when I started.  Generally I liked the dip pens because they gave me some say in the shape of the mark I made (the aubergine was made with an italic nib).  Felt pens were much more limiting and I didn't like the colours as much.

I was worried about the line drawing exercise but in the end happy with the result.  Once again there's nowhere to hide.  In fact, having no colour lends a drama to the image and it made me look more carefully at the marks on the branch and work out how best to portray them.

I find hatching hard work and I get little by way of satisfaction from it because my results are poor.  I find that I can create more texture and depth if my marks are more free. That is demonstrated by my final conker image.

Marks that worked for me

This is a crop of my ink drawing of vegetables.  I used long, curved strokes for the aubergine and it gave a shiny, roundness that used the white negative space as highlights.  The tomato isn't as good because it has less variety of mark.  I had trouble with the cut tomato but the small, swishy marks seemed to capture the texture of the flesh.

The crops above show how I made a continuous line to represent the different textures on a broken branch. The vertical lines have a roundness that shows the cracks on the bark and the round marks are the hard lichen growing on it.  I used the same random marks on my second conker and found it gave some life to the image.

Composition

I have found my composition skills improving now that I have a bit of background knowledge.  I ask myself questions as I arrange my objects and that helps me to get pleasing results.  Simple things like overlapping items makes such a big difference to the cohesion of a composition and allows negative space to have a shape that can be determined.  My first composition of vegetables was uninteresting but I was able to correct it with a bit more thought.

I'm finding that the course is moving very fast and wondering if I'm doing enough consolidation work.  My deadline beckons and I've a holiday during October.  I'd like to have some time to look around the corners as I did in Part 1.

Project 3 Ex 3

This is an exercise in tone.  I was a little confused by my course notes that indicated I should use pencils but showed a coloured illustration.  My tutor advised me to go with my heart so that's what I'll do.

In truth I've struggled with this.  I find the cross hatching technique difficult; I prefer to draw more fluidly. My first attempts were awful.  I chose a dry leaf and with hindsight it was beyond my skill level.  Next I tried a conker and I had a practice drawing some small ones in my sketchbook.  I did this at my art group and it was drawn with electric lighting from above.

This boosted my confidence a bit so I tried again at home on larger paper.

The texture of the lower bit of the conker was rough and a bit hairy and this extended up the split as well. There were many marks on the green skin.  I readily accept that this looks squashed but you should have seen it before!

I wasn't entirely happy with my previous image so I resolved to draw one where I felt more free.  I think this works much better; it has more depth and somehow more life.

Project 3 Ex 2

For this exercise I have to find a natural object with texture.  I have to select a "non expressive" tool and using a continuous line try to capture the texture.  I found a piece of branch from a salix contorta in the garden and parts of it were covered beautiful lichen.  

I gave careful thought to how to show the differing textures.  I used irregular wandering lines for the lichen and rounded, lines for the bare branch.  I've made it round to try to get some shape.

Bare branch

Lichen

Salix contorta with lichen - 0.7 drawing pen

I found this very difficult and had several tries.  Once again I was unsure whether or not to lightly draw an outline to work within but when I did it was so obvious I hated it.  This one was done freely and is the best of the three I did.

Project 3 Ex 1

Using inks

Marker pens

I'm not a big fan of marker pens; the colours always seem so harsh.  However, I'll try anything once. I thought the best thing to do would be to get to know my pens so I made some sweeping strokes across my A3 sketchbook.  Each section has 4 colours in it but as they mix at the intersections there are countless colours made.

Getting to know my felt pens

I cut up my paper into strips and made a sky scape that creates visual effects that make my eyes dance.

Visual effects with felt pens

My course notes suggest that the pens should be used to create images that are naturally vibrant so I took a lovely squash from the kitchen.

A squash

I like the idea of freedom so used no outline for this drawing.  I held a yellow and a red pen together and simply made long curved marks until the shape emerged.  I put some red at the top to get a bit of depth and dark brown for the hard, stubbly, stalk.  The squash was ridged and the light shone on the ridges so I decided to leave some white stripes for these highlights.  The shadow was very short and contained and I drew this using the same dashed off lines.  I was very aware of the warning about not overworking and the middle of the squash was getting very close.

The colours mixed well and its hard to see where the separate ones start and finish.  I'm going to try some other fruit and veg and see what works best for me before I commit to a group of items or media.

First I went into the garden for my physical resources of vibrant colour and I chose another squash, a baby courgette, a plum tomato and a baby aubergine.  I added a red chilli.  My felt pens are Manuscript (fine and broad) and some Edding brushpens.  I used a sketchpad with smooth 110gsm paper as opposed to the cartridge paper I had used for my first squash.

Chilli, tomato and squash

Chilli, aubergine and courgette

I found the pens unforgiving and shading was difficult.  Somehow I felt I had to work at speed.  I found I completely forgot about varying my marks in my haste and any feeling of roundness I was tricky.  My inks did not blend as they did on the cartridge paper.

I drew two chillis because I saw that the highlights were vertical  so I tried both vertical and horizontal lines. I feel the horizontal ones work best.

Dip pen and ink

I'm going back to my cartridge paper this time. I have a range of  Winsor and Newton drawing inks and little experience so this will be very experimental.  I'm going to use the same vegetables as before.

When it came down to the wire and I looked really hard I found that the marks I needed to be making were indeed linear as I has done in my haste with my felt pens.  The tomato particularly surprised me with its variation in stripy colour.

Baby aubergine and  baby courgette

It was fairly obvious to use purple for the aubergine but it looked too pink so I added ultramarine and got some lovely mixing that gave a bit of depth.  I left lots of white paper to try to get the feeling of shininess. The shadow is watery black ink applied with a brush but it's far too heavy handed.  (The rest of the veg shadows came from the same brush with no extra ink added).  Ignoring the shadow I quite like the abstract presentation of this.

The courgette is OK, better than the felt pens, but the reality is a bit more spotty.

Chilli, squash and plum tomato

My chilli is deep red and I didn't try for any highlights but rather to get a smoothness and it looks fine.  Very blank colour just like a chilli really.

I used a number 8 brush for the tomato - wet on wet, and it worked well.  The colours blended nicely which is a good learning point.

The squash almost didn't reach my blog. It looked like one of those strangely shaped veg you occasionally see.  I took the radical step of obliterating part of it with acrylic paint and trying to make the best of a bad job.  It is an experiment after all.  I dripped the green onto the squash then tilted the page so that it ran.  As time has passed I've become quite found of my squash - it looks very different from the felt pen one; much more free.

All in all I'm quite happy with these but I've a lot to learn.  Like the felt pens, tone is tricky and the use of water might be a way to change this.  I find myself embracing the abstract nature of the result and maybe this is the way to go.

Three sketches using veg

I've decided not to use my squash - cowardly it may be but the potential for disaster is too great.

I don't know what I was playing at here; all my new knowledge of composition seems to have been forgotten. No thought for balance or vectors and the courgette seems to cut the thing in two rather than unite it as I had intended.

Sketch 2

I like this much more because it looks like a cohesive grouping.  The tomato, courgette and chilli are all directional indicators and there is some balance.  I used colour on the chilli because a friend wanted me to try her crayons but it's made me think of I could contrast the reds needed in that area of the composition.  I did this at my Art Society meeting and the light was poor.

Sketch 3

I prefer sketch 3 because it is more balanced and this is the one I will pursue into a final image.  I will have to try to colour a cut tomato before I do it in anger.  Thoughts about this image

• the balance is good
• the focus is the large, central cut tomato
• the eye is guided through the chilli and courgette into the aubergine and up through the whole tomato; one thing rolls into the other easily.
• the reds are largely split up by other colours and textures.

It is suggested that I look at the possibility of using "alternative" paper of some sort.  I looked at my collection (Fat Face/Seasalt bags and some bright pink handmade paper) and there was nothing that shrieked "use me" so I did a light colour wash on some cartridge paper.

My first try in colour was in felt pen.  I wasn't sure whether I should but I drew in the veg very lightly with pencil so I could be sure of positioning them properly.  Even so i got lost and end up with the courgette looking like it is sitting on the chilli.  I wanted to do a loose drawing  and managed to an extent.  It was hard to do that with the tomato.  There is little differentiation between the reds and that is a big mistake.  Maybe if I moved the courgette a bit, darkened one of the reds or deepened the shadow it would be better.

Felt pens

Dip pen and ink (with a pea)!

Next I tried my dip pen and inks.  Once again I like the aubergine but the tomato at the back doesn't work as well as my other attempts.  I struggled to get any texture into the tomatoes and end up using felt pens over the top of my ink.  The darker shadows help to separate the reds.

Whilst I'm not overly convinced by these they look far, far better from a distance.


I've tried cropping my images and this is the composition that seemed to work best:

Marker pens

Drawing inks

Part 2 Project 2 Ex 1a

This exercise is about ways of making surface texture and so I need to think about my drawing surface and mark making.

With the last exercise in mind I decided to do a rubbing of the large stone that defeated me.  I have learnt that rubbing is also called frottage.   I used tissue paper because I could mould it a little to the shape of the stone and I gently taped it over the top.

Stone frottage

It's interesting close up as well

This provided a really good texture and if used as a collage piece it may well have solved my previous problem.  I decided to try it out.

Frottage used as a collage piece on my earlier drawing

I played with the image a bit using Paint.net.

...add some colour

Dents effect - looks like rough water

Tile effect reminds me of aerial photography

I love playing like this because you never know what's going to happen.  The patterns created here can be picked up for all manner of things.

Now back to gathering things for my textural drawings.  First I used a teddy bear.  The foot offered two sorts of fur; a short one and a longer more straggly one.  I think this is quite successful.

Lots of straight marks for the short fur
and longer softer marks going up the leg

I chose to try some boucle yarn that I had wound onto card.  I used pencil again.

I also tried to print with the yarn and while some of it was a mess I rather liked this:

I've had a burr from a wild rose pinned on my board for ages and it offers the opportunity to draw soft but spiky marks:

Next I turned my attention to the more mundane and tried to capture the texture of my washing up cloth.

The spongy cloth is full of depressions and I drew them by using lots of circles with shading to depict depth. The lower image is of the sponge dipped lightly into paint and even more lightly printed.

I thought I'd like to try something soft so I got a towel thinking it would be difficult.  I selected soft pastel because of it's texture and pulled it over the paper.  Low and behold I had something that looked like my towel.  I outlined in conte crayon but heaven knows why because it's entirely superfluous.

A pink towel

We have a sparrowhawk around our garden and there's lots of feathers distributed after it's had a meal.  I tried to make a tapering line for the central shaft and had four goes until I was happy.   I used my dip pen and placed light strokes along the shaft then I stroked the ink with a wet rigger to create some silkiness.  I'm pleased with this.

I wanted to attempt something with a rough surface so I chose my garlic pot.  It's a very rustic piece of pottery.  My first attempt was altogether too pale.  I did a colour wash (wet on wet) then just stippled with a darker colour (top).  I felt this was too pale so I wet the end of a water soluble crayon and dropped it onto the image.  This was too harsh.

Colour wash and pencil crayon

I'm much happier with this next one.  Once again I started with a wash then used the edge of a small piece of corrugated card to make a rough texture.  The background could do with being a bit darker but otherwise it looks like my pot.

I've been putting it off because I know I'll struggle but I can delay no longer.  I'm going to try to do a glass. The one I've selected has a heavy base and that makes a real difference to how the reflections work.

Not my finest hour

I decided to look to see how it should be done and found this and I just wouldn't know where to start even though I've watched it more than once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpbW3Aq0PB0

I have several slate tiled floors in my house and they offer a wealth of textures for frottage.  Once again I used tissue paper but this time my medium was wax crayon.

Slate tile, tissue and wax crayon

The floor and the crayon were both hard and the tissue needed a lot of care to stop it tearing.  However, it gave a much better result than using copy paper.  This reminds me of the ripples left in the sand by an outgoing tide.

Part 2 Project 2 Ex 1b

Famous marks

I've had a look at some famous artists mark making.  My selections were made on the basis of whether I could recognise the sort of marks I've made as I have experimented.

I found this lovely drawing by van Gogh.  He uses very basic materials to create this varied and interesting street scene.  The marks are very much the sort I might make but ordered in such a wonderful and meaningful way.

Street in Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer. van Gogh. 1888

Reed pen, quill and ink over chalk. 1

I continued to look at the drawings of van Gogh for a long time because there are lots that use marks in this way.

Cy Twombly - Untitled. 1970.  2

This Twombly piece reminds me of my temporary marks using a glow stick.  Twombly used oil based house paint and crayon on canvas for this image.

I've not come across Leon Kossoff before but I liked this work very much.

Going Home by Leon Kossoff. 1984
Drypoint, etching and aquatint on paper 3

Unlike the softer lines of the previous works this is mainly straight lines in different densities.  It has a busy, rushed feeling as people go home after work.  There is no connection between the people.

A Bridge in the Grande Chartreuse - W Turner. 1802
Chalk, gouache and pencil on paper. 4

This is very atmospheric and I think that is because of the textures Turner employs.
The text tells me that this was probably done very quickly.  It was worked with a mid tone paper and pencil , highlighted with white gouache then darkened with soft pencil and chalk. 4



1  http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/336318

2  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/arts/design/cy-twombly-an-art-who-emphasized-mark-making.html?
_r=0
3 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/kossoff-going-home-p77052

4  http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/exhibition/colour-and-line-turners-experiments/colour-and-line-room-guide/colour-and-line

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

This morning I took my Exploring Ideas work to the OCA office in Barnsley ready for assessment.  The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is so close that it really is a "must do".

There were several things I wanted to see but as always there's lots of lovely work that I hadn't bargained for.

Ursula von Rydingsvard

Ursula von Rydingsvold

This artist is renowned in the US but relatively unknown here.  This is her first large scale exhibition in Europe and it is huge with work of all sizes, indoors and outside.  The work ranges from drawings to sculptures six metres high.  Bronze Bowl with Lace was made especially for this exhibition and is placed at the entrance to the Park.

Bronze Bowl with Lace - Ursula von Rydingsvard. 2014. 1

This impressive patinated bronze work looks so at home in the landscape that I couldn't edit out the countryside around it.  Apollo Magazine reports it like this:

On press day, I saw this in broad daylight.  Heavily patinated by the artist in shades of brown, orange, blue, copper and silver, in one light it dominates the landscape.  But - in a manner that is true of much of von Rydingsvard's monumental work - from another angle, and in softer afternoon light, the piece almost disappears into the background of trees and grass.  In the evening, lights both within and around the work lend it an other worldly presence.  The combination of grandeur and discretion and the gesture towards domestic craftsmanship on quite another scale in this case lace), is the key to the powerful, unsettling appeal of von Rydingsvard's work. 2

I would really love to see it lit at night.

Many of the works are inside in the Underground Gallery and a number are made in cedar which made the gallery smell wonderful. von Rydingsvard uses 2" x 2" blocks of wood that she glues and carves into shapes that remind me of rocky outcrops or even the sea.  This is one I particularly liked.  It changed its character as I moved around it.

Scratch by Ursula von Rydingsvard. 2013/4
My image

There was work made out of the intestine of a cow, wire and paper.  My favourite indoor exhibit was "mama build me a fence"

Mama build me a fence - Ursula von Rydingsvard. 2002 3

This is a free standing work with the cedar planks simply leaning against the wall.  They are marked with chalk and graphite and heavily cut into.

Mama build me a fence - Ursula von Rydingsvard. 2002
Detail.  My image

Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin 5

Tracey Emin doesn't often make work for outdoors but Roman Standard (2013) is one of those works.  The piece is of a very fragile looking blackbird on the top of a long pole.  At certain viewpoints the bird seems to disappear.  The YSP literature says that it "presents a purposeful contrast to the eagle-topped standards traditionally carried into battle by the Roman army to symbolise power". 4

Roman Standard - Tracey Emin. 2013.  4

I must say I found it rather underwhelming.

Magdalena Abakanowicz

Magdalena Abakanowicz 5

This artist is fairly new to me but when I saw she had work at YSP I just had to have a look and it was monumental.  The YSP is just the place for such a piece because it too is vast.

Seated figures - Magdalena Abakanowicz. 2010.  My image

Somehow these made me feel quite sad.

I noticed that the cast iron the seats are made from had taken on the markings of the moulding  pattern from which it was cast.  It seemed strange to see "metal wood".

"Metal wood" from the Seated Figures
My image

I thoroughly enjoyed my day at YSP.  They always have such wonderful things to see it's a privilege to go.

1  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/galleries/p01x5rs3
2 http://www.apollo-magazine.com/review-ursula-von-rydingsvard-yorkshire-sculpture-park/
3  http://www.ursulavonrydingsvard.net/site/selected_sculpture/detail/36.html
4  http://www.ysp.co.uk/exhibitions/tracey-emin
5  http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/tracey_emin.htm
6  http://www.abakanowicz.art.pl/about/-about.php