Part 4 Project 1 Ex 2 Form with fabric

Emphasising form with fabric

I have to to draw a seated figure paying attention to the way the clothing moulds around and covers the body.  The instructions say that the head, hands and feet should be just indicated.  I was a bit apprehensive about this as I'd found the  previous exercise hard going.

My husband promised me he could sit still for long enough - I told him half an hour.  It took a little longer than that but this is what I drew:

Richard with his Kindle

I'm much happier with this than I was with the towels in the last exercise. Although I used graphite I managed to get the shading better and used plenty of tone. I think the figure looks solid and the perspective is OK.  Perhaps the right leg is a bit iffy but generally I'm pleased.   By and large the clothing seems to give form to the body and I have managed to keep things in proportion.

I found that if I made curved marks (sort of round the body) I could achieve some shape.

Part 4 Project 1 Ex 1 Fabric

For my first drawing work in Part 4 I have to draw fabric.  This filled me with some trepidation as whenever I've tried to draw it before I've struggled.  My instructions say I should make two 15 minute sketches one using line and the other one using tone.

Whether it was my mindset I don't know but I wrestled with this for the best part of a day getting more and more frustrated.  

I think at first I made life too difficult for myself by throwing a towel onto the table.

My first attempts were not what I wanted.  This is the best of a bad bunch.

My white, fluffy towel looking more like a lump of clay

I decided to rearrange my towel and put it over the back of a chair.

Line drawing of my towel on a chair

My line drawing continued to look lifeless.

Tonal drawing of my towel on a chair

But my tonal one was a little better.  At least it looked like fabric.  I thought perhaps I should try another medium - perhaps I was getting hung up on pencil.  I tried my pastels.  I scanned it in both greyscale and colour.  

Pastel drawing of my towel on a chair scanned in greyscale

Pastel drawing of my towel on a chair scanned in colour

I wasn't particularly happy with this but when I propped it up and stood back I got a pleasant surprise. It was by far my best attempt of the day.  It has to be something to do with the soft pastels.

My next task is to identify "tricky" parts of my fabric and do a number of detailed sketches. Stupidly I returned to my graphite pencils and so to a solid looking towel.

I'm ashamed to say that at this point I snatched the towel from the chair.  I'm really starting to beat myself up over this exercise so I think I'm going to move on and keep it in the back of my mind.

I'm supposed to reflect on my experience of drawing folds but I think it's pretty clear what I found hard.  And probably why.

Part 4 Research Point 2

The depiction of the nude

Ways of Seeing

On a cold, wintry afternoon I settled down to watch "Ways of Seeing" with John Berger. (1)   This series of four programmes was recorded in 1972 which makes it well over 40 years old and I was not expecting much.  It is is a black and white, poor quality image, relies on the technology of the day, is studio bound and features John Berger giving what amounts to a university lecture with poor visual aides.  It was nothing like the slick, travelogue art programmes we get now.

And I loved it.

The dialogue was straightforward, intense, and full of ideas that at the time were new and still feel fresh now.  The idea of a man expounding a feminist viewpoint in 1972 must have been amazing.  But what did he offer that impressed me so much?

Part 1

Berger suggests that the way we interpret Western Art is determined by habit and convention.  I take that to mean that he thinks we accept what we are told without asking our own questions.  Berger believes that because (even in 1972) reproduced images were so accessible our judgement is impaired because of the manner in which they are viewed.  We rarely have the opportunity to see the original work as the artist intended.  For instance the intention might have been to inspire reverence which is difficult to capture in a newspaper reproduction placed next to advertisements. 

The main premise of Part One is that extraneous influences get in the way of our seeing paintings "properly". Berger gives us the opportunity to look at Vermeer's The Milkmaid in silence because external noise can influence our viewing.

The Milkmaid - Johannes Vermeer (1657 est)
Oil on canvas (2)

This seemed to me to be an unusual thing to do but I was amazed to find that in the silence I thought I could hear the water pouring into the bowl.  And I really looked at the image - all this and it was only in black and white.  It was a very powerful illustration.

Berger goes on to say that we view art through the mirror of our experience - there is always a personal context to viewing.  A painting I really like is another Vermeer, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter.

Woman in Blue Reading a Letter - Johannes Vermeer (1663 est)
Oil on canvas (3)

There is a lot of speculation about this painting; what is she reading, is she pregnant, why is the map of the Netherlands on the wall?  What Berger is suggesting is that the viewer brings their own baggage to the interpretation.  For instance someone who is expecting a love letter would view the painting in a different way to someone who had a son or daughter fighting in a war.  One would be welcoming the positive and the other dreading the negative.  It's all about context and the way our world view changes us.

Part 2

Part two is a discussion about the nude in art and an attempt to clarify exactly what a nude is. Kenneth Clarke has said that being naked is being without clothes and the nude is a form of art.  Berger seems to dispute this as rather simplistic and tells us that to be naked is to be oneself; and to be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognised for oneself.  A nude has to be seen as an object in order to be a nude.  I can go along with this.

It reminds me of my apprehension when I went to my figure drawing group for the first time a few weeks ago.  I couldn't anticipate how I would feel looking closely at and drawing a naked (nude?) person.  Having considered Berger's thoughts I think the completely neutral nature of the professional encounter makes the model an object.  Interestingly the model is very personable as we are eating lunch but slips effortlessly into professional mode afterwards.  The model has been the same woman each time I have attended and she is easy on the eye.  I have some concern about how I will manage a male model or someone less attractive.  There are some contradictions here about my intellectual understanding and the emotional response I have.

Berger maintains that few old masters show a woman being herself; the majority portray her as an object of male desire or idealisation.

Part 3
Part three offers a Marxist based philosophical look at the oil painting and its function and worth. The advent of oil painting gave the artist a much improved medium for depicting objects that looked tangible.  The patron could show off his valuable possessions and material wealth for the world to admire in a commissioned painting. Ironically the paintings became treasures themselves.

Berger contrasts his own opinion of Constable's Mrs and Mrs Andrews with that of Kenneth Clarke.

Mrs and Mrs Andrews - John Constable  (1750) (4)

Clarke describes Constable's painting of the countryside as "sensitive".  The enchanting landscape, says Clarke, is painted with love and mastery.  Berger on the other hand sees the painting as a flaunting of wealth and  privilege.  He believes the attitude of Mr and Mrs Andrews is one of superiority and arrogance.

I can happily accept the arguments that Berger makes but without the legacy of European oil paintings, however morally reprehensible the culture that gave us them might be, we would be the poorer in many ways.

Part 3 didn't hold my attention as Parts 1 and 2 did probably because it has a little more distance from what I am currently studying.  It's stimulating all the same to hear a view other than the traditionally accepted one.

Part 4
Part 4 suggests that we are surrounded by publicity images that offer us a better way of life.  It goes on to look at the subliminal impact of such material and the message it might give to those who cannot attain the desirable objects.  In 1972 when Berger recorded these programmes he can have had no idea how consumerism was going to develop.

Berger spends some time looking at the concept of "glamour" which he says is "a state of being envied" and "publicity is the process of manufacturing glamour".  He suggests that glamour is a new idea and that when everyone knew their place in society and no one had was aspirations there could be concept of glamour.  I'm not sure that I agree with Berger - there have always been people who want more or better and I think this is demonstrated in a lot of art.

Our attention is drawn to the similarity between oil painting and publicity saying that they use many of the same references.  Berger gives a multitude of examples where the advertising world has drawn heavily on the tradition of painting using poses and images based on paintings we are very familiar with.

There is a major difference in oil paintings and publicity however,  Oil paintings celebrate what the commissioner had - it consolidated his position whereas publicity appeals to our aspirations and what we might have if we have the money.  The consequent feeling of inadequacy if we fail to reach our expectations makes us what Berger calls "faceless".

The final section of Part 4 deals with the uncomfortable or even untenable position we are often put in by publicity.  His example is the turning of a couple of pages in the Sunday Times Magazine.  First we see a frivolous advert then a heartrending article pleading for help for Pakistani refugees.  This is followed by more frivolity.  I think what Berger was identifying was we now know as "charity fatigue".

Afterthoughts
Whilst I don't go along with all that Berger asserts the general thread of his thinking sits very well with me.  I have the doubtful benefit of over forty extra years to see how things have developed. Women are still seen as objects and consumerism is even more rife.  There are still the haves and the have nots and people are made very miserable if they can't have the latest must have gizmo.

What will stay with me most though is the feeling that there is another way to look at paintings and that although the societal context is always a huge factor one of the most powerful influences on our interpretation is our own life experience.  What is amazing is that what has set me buzzing is over 40 years old. This has made me really think hard in new ways.

(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utEoRdSL1jo

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Milkmaid_(Vermeer)

(3) http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/vermeer/

(4) http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/thomas-gainsborough-mr-and-mrs-andrews

RAS Exhibition

Retford is a small market town and it doesn't have an art gallery.  The Art Society Exhibition before Christmas was held in a Church and figure drawing pieces were not permitted.

However, just as I am embarking on Figure Drawing the Art Society is holding its annual Life Class Exhibition in Bassetlaw Museum.  There is dedicated gallery space so the lighting is good but I'm afraid that being small many of the paintings were a little high for me.

The exhibition showed the nude in a variety of styles and media and I was able to take photographs of what I liked best. When I got home I realised that out of all the coloured images I could have taken I'd actually taken none.  These were my favourites.   I seem to have unconsciously chosen modest poses. 

Seated Nude - Ann Everitt
Line and wash

This resonates with my current tasks.  It is line and wash and also has some contextual fabric which at the moment I'm finding hard to draw.  I particularly like the tones of the wash as they show the definition of muscle (the arm) and the way the skin folds as the model is slightly bent. I have tried using an ink wash and found there was little room for manoeuvre if things go wrong.  It is a very spare image but very sensitive.

Life Drawing 1 (Male) - Michael King
Charcoal and chalk

I like this pose because it has lots of shapes that give long sweeping lines - the back is a case in point. However, the image owes as much to tone as line. The chalk highlights are very pronounced and I think this sits well with the general darkness of the picture. The darkness of the outlines varies throughout the drawing from dark to almost not there at all.  The background is indeterminate but indicated in charcoal in three ways, straight sweeps, a hatching and the model is on a scribbly seat. This gives additional interest.

Life Drawing Kim - Michael King
Charcoal

The torso of "Kim" is also by Michael King.  This time he uses the paper as his way of indicating the highlights and charcoal to show the shadows - it's an altogether lighter picture than the one above.   There is some darkness around Kim's right shoulder and this adds both definition and interest,  There is almost the same tone under the right arm leaving just a sliver of highlight on the top.  I'm wary about getting things too dark but this shows that it works.

I've looked closely at the marks that King makes for the hair because it's very textural.  The male model has very short hair and this is shown with short, even marks of different densities.  The skull can be seen below the hair.  I think I know what it feels like.

Kim's hair is different, a little longer but springy and ruffled probably with some gel on.  I think this because of the spikiness shown with dark uneven marks.

Pensive - Sally Telfer
Ink and pencil

Even if I didn't know this drawing is called "Pensive" that's what I would have called it.  Somehow it just gets the mood.  Maybe it's the uncertainty of the washes (I'm sure intentionally) and the way it is cropped.  There are no indications of creases in the skin and the image looks smooth.  The context is not distracting; just a square cushion briefly sketched in.  I am drawn in by his thoughfulness.

After the Shower - Margaret Presley
Pen and ink

 "After the Shower" is different to the other images I have chosen.  It is far less textural, almost like an illustration.  Although the hair is a few curvy lines somehow I know it is damp.  Even being so insubstantial it evokes a mood of  repose and some wistfulness.   The context here is the couch which is drawn with the same precision and emphasis as the figure. I wish I could be so accurate with ink.

This is a lovely exhibition and I've probably not done it justice.  I seem to have chosen from the heart instead of looking more widely at what was shown.  Whilst I have been doing Drawing 1 I have involved myself in various art activities locally and been amazed at how much talent there is even in a small market town.  Who knows I might even exhibit in next years show! 

Part 4 Research Point 1

I feel that I would like to put figure drawing into some sort of historical context so I'm planning to look at the nude study as it has developed over time.

I have taken much of my information from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/genres/female-nudes-art-history.htm
as it is concise but gives me pointers for further investigation.

Nakedness is an ever present condition for human beings and is dependent on the climate, circumstances, beliefs and culture of a given particular society.

The nude has been a recurrent theme in art ever since man started to draw.  The nude had a place in cave drawings, ancient Greek art, Roman art and more recently European art.  The depiction of the nude tends to follow the social mores of the geographical area and the era.  As society changes so do the norms.

Carving showing the story of the Ramayana at Borobudur, Java
My photo

I took the above photo in Java at the archaeological site at Borobudur. Borobudur is a 9th century Mahayana Buddist Temple complex and all around the largest building is carved the story of the Ramayana.  There are many nudes and explicit sexual images in what is a site of religious devotion.

The Greeks and Romans accepted nudity as a fact of life and were not worried by it.  The Greeks particularly revered the naked male body. Sportsmen competed unclad and the gymnasium was literally "a place to be naked".   Statues and paintings of nudes were usually of gods and goddesses or famous athletes. (1)  Attitudes to female nakedness were quite different and for many centuries women were portrayed clothed.  Thereafter depictions of women were usually idealised and had strategically placed covering for modesty.  They were aesthetically beautiful and intended to be gazed on. (2)

In Byzantine art the naked female figure rarely seen.  If it is seen it is to depict shame, guilt or smutty humour.  The image of a barely clad Christ at his Crucifixion is prevalent and aims to show suffering. There was a hardening of attitudes towards the nude because of its association with paganism.

This hardening of attitudes was reinforced in the Middle Ages.  While art of all kinds flourished the nude became sinful and pinned firmly at the door of Adam and Eve.  In a curious twist the naked female was sometimes depicted in Church art to indicated the purity of the virgin.  There is a celebrated carving by Gregor Erhart (c.1470-1540) showing a serene and undoubtedly pure (?) Mary Magdalene.

St Mary Magdalene - Gregor  Erhart (1510)
Wood carving (2)

In the Renaissance there was a cultural shift and attitudes to the nude changed again.  This time the perfection of the proportion of the Greeks gave way to depictions of sensuality and voluptuousness. In fact the Church became concerned that things were getting out of hand and they tried to call a halt to what they saw as licentious and depraved.

From this time we have images like Susanna and the Elders by Tintoretto (1555).

Susannah and the Elders - Tintoretto (1555) (3)

Tintoretto's painting shows a Bible story where the pure (and naked) Susanna is threatened by  older men and she is unaware of them.  The clothed men are barely discernible in the bushes and the focus is firmly on Susannah as she completes her bath.  We are witnesses and voyeurs.


Titian's Venus of Urbino is instantly recognisable as the archetypal reclining nude.  This image is so different - the self absorption of  Tintoretto's Susannah is replaced by open sensuality in Titian's painting.

Venus of Urbino - Titian (1538) (2)

Itself an interpretation of the work of Giorgione (1510) Venus of Urbino has been re-interpreted many times by artists like Manet who based Olympia on it in 1863.


In Baroque art figure drawing was seen as the way to learn to draw and academies were set up for the purpose.  Rubens set great store by drawing and in some of his paintings he only took responsibility for the "hard" bits like faces and hands because he was so good at it.  The Three Graces is a painting everyone knows.  There are several versions but the one we know so well is one of his later paintings.

The Three Graces - Rubens (1639) (4)

The painting gives the opportunity for three studies all from different angles and they seems to have a really good relationship with each other.  There is no attempt to hide parts of the body that had previously been (sometimes awkwardly) covered.

Interestingly Rubens also painted Susannah and the Elders (1607) but in his version Susannah is being openly threatened and looks afraid.

Susannah and the Elders - Rubens (1605) (5)

As time went on the nude stayed high on the agenda and became more sensual and suggestive. The French Rococo style gave us paintings like Jupiter and Antiope by Watteau.

Jupiter and Antiope - Watteau (1714-1719) (6)

In this painting the sleeping Antiope is clearly the object of Jupiter's lustful gaze - he is even lifting the cover to peer at her more closely.  It is very suggestive of the coarse and dark having power over the pale and vulnerable.  Society must have changed to allow such a depiction.

At this time there was something of a return to the classical style of the Greek style. Maybe it was some sort of denial about the more explicit nature of other work.

Venus, English -   Joseph Nollekens (1773) (7)

In this statue there is much more of a distance between the viewer and the model.  There is no obvious story and no emotion.

During the 19th century the nude was painted by many artists but the styles varied considerably. Whilst most nudes were shown  modestly La maja denudan by Goya pushed the boundaries into something quite new.  The model unapologetically  makes eye contact with the viewer and for the first time pubic hair is shown with no negative intention.

La maja desnuda - Goya (1800) (8)

This image upset the Church and titillated the public.

This is the point at which Manet painted Olympia (1863).  Remember Titian?  This is rather less coy.

Olympia - Manet (1863)

La Sommeil by Courbet (1866) shows two women lying entwined the inference being they have just made love.  This really was going too far and the image caused a scandal and became the subject of a police report.  It was not permitted to be shown publicly until 1988.

La Sommeil by Courbet (1866) (9)

Undaunted, the same year Courbet painted L'Origine du monde which is a close up view of the genital area and stomach of a woman.

We are steadily moving towards a discussion about the place of sensuality and eroticism in art and more specifically when it becomes pornography.  Interestingly the image of a pubescent girl by Munch (Puberty, 1893) is probably more unacceptable today than when it was painted.  The voyeur is well provided for with these paintings.

During the 20th century the nude kept pace with the rapid changes that all art confronted.  Cezanne, Picasso and  Klimt all painted the female nude. 

Nude Woman in a Red Chair - Picasso (1932)

Balthus continued the tradition of pushing the boundaries with The Guitar Lesson (1934) which graphically depicted child abuse. 

How does all this apply to me I wonder?  Over the last few weeks I have become familiar with some contemporary painters who follow the tradition of using nude models.  They all owe something to what went before.



Augustus John (1878-1961)

Two Nude Studies - Augustus John (1920-26) (10)

John might not be exactly contemporary but these are very serious drawings and the sorts of studies I have the opportunity to do at my figure drawing group.  Sometimes I have to concentrate on proportion and have plenty of time but at other times I have to draw in a  fast gestural way.


Ramon Kelley (b 1939)

Ramon Kelley - pastel  (11)

Kelley is an American/Mexican artist. I aspire to his use of pastel blends in his background. They are exuberant and interesting. However, he uses his pastels very differently in his figure; it is very considered, the tones are more subtle and emphasise the softness of the skin and the roundness of the limbs. Lovely.


John Wonnacott (b 1940)

Watching the Beautiful Women - John Wonnacott  (12)

In this painting the model is being watched through a mirror.  We see her with her head turned away yet looking at us as well.  The surroundings are a large part of the context and give us a lot of information.  They are almost as important as the figure.


Ken Howard (b 1932)

Ken Howard (13)

Ken Howard is a Cornwall based artist who is renowned for his figure drawing.  In this painting we know clearly that the model is in a studio but she is undoubtedly the central point of interest with little distraction from other information.

This has been something of a whistle stop tour of the nude in history.  I can see a process of development and then years of regression as society changed.  It has been important for me to make the link with my own work but I have some serious questions to ask myself about the art versus pornography/abuse debate.

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depictions_of_nudity

(2) http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/genres/female-nudes-art-history.htm

(3)  http://www.wikiart.org/en/tintoretto/susanna-and-the-elders

(4) http://www.peterpaulrubens.net/the-three-graces.jsp

(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanna_and_the_Elders_(Rubens)

(6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_and_Antiope_(Watteau)

(7) http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/1157/joseph-nollekens-venus-english-1773/

(8)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_maja_desnuda

(9) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Origine_du_monde

(10)  http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/john-two-nude-studies-n05299

(11) http://www.kelleyfamilyfineart.com/Ramon1.htm

(12)  http://www.nua.ac.uk/

(13) http://www.redraggallery.co.uk/

Part 3 Reflections

Demonstration of technical and visual skills

Observation is key to good drawing and I've sometimes found these skills sadly lacking.  When I've been drawing outdoors I've sometimes not put in enough detail to carry me through the development of my work.    It's to do with confident selection of content and I think this will probably come with experience. I always have photographic back up but at times this has led me up blind alleys by giving me more information than I actually need.  Gainsborough Old Hall is a case in point where I zoomed in to the window and there was no need. 

It has taken some time for me to be able to apply the rules of perspective to my work; particularly 3 point perspective.  My eyes and brain constantly deceive me.  However, I'm getting better at sorting it out quickly rather than having to work it through laboriously .

Quality of outcome

Because I started this course from a low base I can't help but be pleased and proud with what I've achieved.  However, I find it hard to integrate all my learning (I note I said this at the end of Part 2 as well).  An example from Part 3 would be overlooking composition when my focus is perspective.

I have a tendency to get too involved with detail and ignore the mark that will indicate my meaning.

I have found tone difficult in my outdoor work and there's a long way to go with using it confidently.

Demonstration of creativity

I have the desire to be creative but often not the technical skill to achieve my aspirations.  Assignment 3 is a case in point.  I really wanted to test myself with watercolours but ended up so frustrated that I abandoned it in favour of charcoal.  Sometimes my lack of experience is a great hindrance but in some ways it can be liberating as I can try things without baggage; for instance drawing sheds with bits of card.  It might not have worked so well this time but another time it might.

Context reflection

I have tried to use the work of contemporary artists both to develop my thinking and learn from. I find that some work (like that of John Virtue) can be hard to understand but falls into place as my knowledge increases.  I used my research to inform my thinking about Assignment 3.

I am trying to be more analytical in my approach and trying to tease out what is relevant to my own work.

General

I have struggled with outdoor work because of the season. I have arthritis which adds to the difficulty - getting cold can make me quite ill. But in an odd sort of way I loved sketching outdoors and this is something I will pursue as the summer approaches.  I find my quick sketches are often more pleasing to me than the work I develop from them.  It's a freedom that I seem to lose once I'm "trying hard" to be creative.  Some of the content of Part 3 relies on practising theory and maybe that has got in my way a bit and stopped me being free.

I've been going to a Figure Drawing Group where speed is often of the essence and been amazed at the feeling that can be captured in just a few short minutes.  It seems that things can easily be overworked.

Part 3 - Assignment 3 - Final piece

I've been pretty frustrated about my success rate for Assignment 3 so I'm changing everything in the hope that I can kick start myself into a decent piece of work that feels satisfying.  I need to stop messing about and just get on with it.  Have I wasted my time with the water colour I wonder? Maybe not from an experimental point of view but certainly I have when I've an assignment to complete. 

I'm returning to the sketch I did of the Tumbledown Shed in Treswell Wood.  First there was an outdoor sketch and then a drawing completed at home.

Initial sketch of Tumbledown Shed

Drawing 1 of Tumbledown Shed

Having made the decision to pursue this I had one or two thoughts

• my tonal work wasn't wasn't good enough
• the foreground tree saplings looked as though they were crossing out the shed
• the large trees were ill defined so lost their impact (another tonal problem)

I set about working on the drawing adding dark tones and lightening up the pale areas.  While I was doing this the foreground saplings reduced in impact a bit.

This is where I ended up:

Tumbledown Shed with more definition

I think this is much improved by the additional tones and I'm going to use it to base my assignment on.

I had another go at watercolour but produced a piece of work my tutor will never see!  It can join the pastel I've not owned up to! 

I usually try to challenge myself (hence the water colour attempts) but an artist friend suggested that as I was working on an Assignment I should work with what I feel most comfortable with so I'm going to use graphite and charcoal. 

I have suitable A2 paper which is a bonus.

I have spent some time looking at the mark making of famous artists like van Gogh, Nicholas Herbert and Turner.  So I turned back to that work for a refresher before I began.

This work went well and I enjoyed every minute.  I can see where it might be better but generally I feel that the medium has suited the subject and that I have managed to make a wide variety of marks and tones.  There came a point towards the end where I felt I needed to stop introducing new elements for fear of making it too fussy.  For this reason the foreground logs disappeared.

The Tumbledown shed in Treswell Wood
Charcoal and graphite