Exercise: Study of a townscape using line
I found the instructions for this exercise confusing. What was meant by “use two sketchbook pages”? With my portrait bound sketchbook, the double portrait format wouldn’t work for my idea for this drawing. Why would I have to make notes about weather conditions? I couldn’t make sense of it and decided to approach the task in a straightforward manner.
It took me a while to decide on a view because outside it was so hot that I preferred to draw a view out of the window. I chose the backyard view because here I was able to decide on foreground, middle ground and background. I made a pencil sketch indicating my eye level first and then tried to get the angles of receding parallels correctly. When I had a rough composition on the paper, I put the pencil aside and completed the drawing using a black pen.
What I liked about the exercise was that it took up an idea I had developed during the previous sketch, of starting a drawing with a pencil outline and then completing it using a darker medium. And indeed the drawing is very sketchy which seems to reflect my timid style but in the darker colour the result is more satisfying to look at.
Exercise: A sketchbook of townscape drawings
I made several sketches of a building I can view from my bedroom window. This was a concession to the hot weather because I wouldn’t have been able to work outside for more than a few minutes. But as it was, I could sit comfortably and study my subject.
The sketches were light, as usual. I mostly focused on how much of the scene I’d include in the drawing. On the one hand, I felt a natural tendency towards selecting just a single detail of the building, for example a window or a wall edge, and develop the drawing outwards from there. On the other hand, I interpreted the task as asking me to capture a scene, rather than making a detailed study. So I abandoned details and tried to get the shapes of the building right, and included some of the adjacent buildings.
My main concern was how much to include of the two adjacent, very tall buildings. Giving them space to the left and the right created sort of a claustrophobic feeling because it squeezed the available space for the building that was my main focus. Comparing the sketches, I’d say that the one where the right tall building occupies almost half of the sheet is the most successful with respect to image composition.
I found the task quite exhausting because it required so much concentration. I also wondered whether I should proceed to a larger drawing which included colour. But I decided to leave it at that for now.
Exercise: A limited palette study from your sketches
I decided to make a new drawing on a separate sheet of paper for this study, rather than working on one of the sketchbook drawings because I wanted it to stand out a bit. After some colour trials in the sketchbook I chose colour pencils in van Dyck brown, indian red and light ultramarine, plus black. I wanted the blue for a bit of sky but also for some grey tones and reflecting windows, and intended to build on the contrast between a warm and a cold brown tone (indian red versus van Dyk).
I stopped after about an hour because I could no longer concentrate. I think the drawing has improved with respect to getting the shapes of the main and the adjacent buildings, and also the orientation of planes is better, plus some more detail of the houses, like windows and terrasses. The drawing would benefit from some more work to apply more colour to it and add some more details.
I’m less satisfied with my ability to work with the colours I chose. I think there’s not enough variation in colour intensity. For example, the indian red is either light or a bit more intense, but I did not really master the tonality or the effect of sunlight shinging from the right side onto the fronts. Maybe it was a bit too late in the afternoon and not enough light inside where I was drawing.
It might be worthwhile doing an actual monochrome study using only one dark brown tone and try to work out lighter and darker areas with bringing in more contrast. I like judging my drawing by taking a bit more distance. This one doesn’t seem to have enough contrast. Which is actually a shortcoming of most of my drawings so far. Something I’d like to improve on.
Exercise: Statues
Preparations: Deciding on a statue
I’d like to draw a statue close to my home. I live in in the Upper East Side, at 15 minutes from the Central Park, and Google revealed that there are three statues in the Park:
– Alice in Wonderland: Alice sitting on a mushroom, and personnage from the tale around her
– Hans Christian Andersen, the story teller with a book
– The Balto statue, which is a wolf-like dog statue
I had also considered drawing a horse statue close to my workplace, but this would imply taking the bus downtown. The horse was nice, but it looked a bit conventional. Whereas the Alice in Wonderland statue is so bizarre that I think I’ll just give it a try.
I think it’s a difficult statue to draw because there are several figures composed into a scene. In light of my constant problem of being overwhelmed by the richness of each drawing topic, it might be a good idea to focus on just one of the figures, rather than doing the entire statue at once. It might also be a good idea to go there early, because tomorrow is Saturday and probably lots of people and families hanging around the statue during daytime.
There are probably a lot more statues around my home, but it’ll take time to discover them. For now, I’ll try Alice in Wonderland to get started with something interesting.
Photo source: https://plus.google.com/111654232303944683798/about?gl=us&hl=en retrieved 13 September 2013
Drawing the Pilgrim’s Fathers statue, Central Park
I went to Central Park with the intention of drawing the Alice in Wonderland statue, but it was saturday morning 11 am when I arrived and the place was crowded with families and children playing and posing on the statue. I realized that it might be difficult to draw this statue unless I’d include the people or get up a bit earlier, to be there at 8 am latest to have an hour of quiet time with the statue.
I went off to look for another statue to draw. Unfortunately I could not remember where exactly the Hans Christian Anderson statue was, so just walked further and hoped some statue might turn up. I was lucky and stopped at the Pilgrim’s Fathers statue, showing a single father.
I had taken a selection of drawing paper in different qualities and sizes with me, plus a variety of drawing media, and chose a large A2 newsprint sheet and charcoal for the first drawing. That drawing was very sketchy and the first phase of drawing felt a bit like a ballet dance. I then drew in some details of the statue which made the drawing a bit more solid. My main focus was on proportions and giving the statue a bit of context by including very sketchy tree branches. I like about this drawing that it was made quickly and conveys something quite vivid. I also think that I captured well the posture of the figure.
I made a second drawing with 2B pencil on white medium-weight A3 paper. This time I wanted to draw a bit more slowly and include more detail. It was difficult because the figure was made of black material and stood under some trees. It was all a bit shady. Then my impaired acuity sight (but I don’t wear glasses because with these I cannot judge what I draw in front of me), which made it difficult to see details. I used the pencil more like a painting tool, instead of a line tool, by holding the tip very flat. This created broad, shady marks which I could then refine into darker areas. Contrasting to the first drawing, this time I focused on negative space and tonality, and left out the context completely. Again I think I captured the posture well, and I see a slight improvement in drawing skills.
I spent an hour drawing and then went home, because it was quite fresh and windy and I couldn’t concentrate any longer. I’d like to spend more time on drawing statues and townscapes. In particular I think that I’d improve by making studies of details, whichever object, to practice accurate representation of 3-D objects on the 2-D paper sheet.