I made a series of preparatory studies over a few days.
1) Compositional sketch of complete scene, black pen in A4 sketchbook (9 October)
– The section of the original image works very well for me
– Would leave out the second chair, but am not sure about it. Might convey more intensely the idea of “no partner, but a cat” which I readin the original photo
– Lowered the cloth of the umbrella for compositional reasons
Thought about making sketches of t~t select to verify whether the one I chose works indeed best. Would correspond to making several sketches of a model to find out the best view. But I have made my decision and am quite sure that I want to draw this view and none of the others. Would rather get back if I get stuck. It’s also a matter of economic treatment of the time I have available. If I were unsure, I’d certainly try out different photos. But I feel that I have done this process already when I analyzed the photographs and made my choice.
Next step: Selecting the media to use. Might need some more experimentation! Considering some alternatives:
– Coloured pencil: would work nicelz to build up tonal values. But here it’s about line, so probably not the best choice
– Coloured felt pen: to make coloured lines? Might look a bit childish and appropriate for lighter tones.
I realiye that there’s also a decision about colour and tone to make. But I think the task implies a line drawing, maybe with hatching to indicate what is in front and what is behind.
– I like black pen. I used it for the first sketch. But it doesn’t permit corrections. I tend to not like overdrawn erroneous lines.
– Pencil to permit erasing or gradually develop the correct line?
– I’d also like to use lines of different thickness because I realized that I can indicate three-dimensionality with that and it’s also nice for fine details like traits of the face.
I think I’ll start with some studies of selected elements in pencil to learn about the forms. Then later decide upon the media.
More studies
Was again at odds with instructions because am finding it difficult to focus on line and leave out tonality and colour because for me line is not important, but tonality and colour are. Makes me feel uncomfortable to work solely with line. Switched to working off the computer screen because it was more flexible for enlarging what I wanted to study.
2) Pencil sketch of face and cat: 2B pencil in A4 sketchbook, focus on line (9 October)
3) Upper body and cat, Soft felt pen in A4 sketchbook. (9 October)
The idea was to make lines of different width. Worked over initial sketch in pencil. Pencil outline helped to overcome fear of making bold marks at the wrong place. Second go with felt pen was accompanied by much analztical thinking
4) Complete scene, A3 Study in 4B Pencil (10 October)
Aim: Study proportions, try to find the final lines from tentative light lines, prepare switch to larger format
Problems and solutions
– 4B pencil too soft – tentative lines became too dark. Will switch to harder pencil
– Proportions not correct. Prefer to do another study instead of rubbing over and correcting. Idea of construction the drawing as if it was an architectural sketch.
– Photograph is too dark in many areas, for example the entire left part of the figure – can’t see cloth details and folds. Might try whether I can increase brightness of the picture I use as basis. Would like to stay with the picture because it has an atmoshphere to it that I found worthwhile capturing.
Impact: Began developing ideas for the final drawing. Discovered the different nature of the linear elements in the picture, for example the rough shadow contours of the square terrace stones. Had the idea to lay out broad coloured washes to indicate terrace wall, floor, houses in background and umbrella in plain colour and overlay with a linear drawing.
Open issues
– Feeling that the instruction to focus on line hinders me to draw naturally and instinctively. Inner perturbation results in distortions and quick exhaustion while drawing. Don’t know what to do about this. Might try to leave instructions aside for a moment and see if I get along better just drawing like I want to. But this causes again inner conflict because it means ignoring the authoritative nature of the instructions. This seems to describe the core of my problem with this course. But I want to develop skills, so must find a solution that works for me.
– Some decisions required what to include and what to leave out in the drawing. Have a tendency to leave out the black fence because it is so dominant and the drawing looks much softer and peaceful without. Another question is how much detail of the background buildings to include. I’d like to leave them in because they have a meaning in the drawing (inside my terrace – outside are the buildings, I’m protected in here), but want them to optically recede, not dominate. On the other hand – this assignment is about figure drawing. Might be better to focus on the person and make it larger. Having just the cat and my coffee and my dreamy view into the morning sun for central theme.
– Instruction to do studies in the sketchbook and the need to make the final drawing in at least A2 side does not take into account the difference between drawing at different scale. I think I’ll need to do studies in the larger scale as well. On the other hand, selecting a detail and drawing this in A4 is already an enlargement that might fit with the final drawing scale. Will observe how the different paper sizes work for me.
5) Figure on chair without props, 2H pencil study in A4 skechbook (10 October 13)
Aim: Improve proportions of the figure, try constructing the chair and the figure in perspective, focus on line to create dimensionality
Problems and solutions
– Details of feet and face less successful – needs extra study
– Some problems with placing the chair correctly in perspective. Looks ok in the drawing, but isn’t correct compared to the photograph. May not be an issue.
Impact: Slight improvement over previous study in proportions. Line works well on the upper part of the body and on the chair. Realized that pencil lines permit tonal variations. This can be used to emphasize or de-emphasize elements of the drawing.
Open issues: Would like to experiment with different media, on the other hand do not want to work over this study and definitely need more practice with the pencil. Might develop both in parallel
6) Face study, A4 sketchbook, soft felt pen over HB pencil (13 October)
Aim: To try out purely linear drawing based on tentative study with pencil, achieve more resemblance with the person
Result: Indeed more resemblance than earlier attempts, lines still a bit messy/insecure
7) Compositional sketch I: figure and props, large format (45×61 cm), charcoal on newsprint (13 October)
Aim: To try out whether the image idea works on large scale. Assess the effect of the black metal fence in the background
Result: The figure appears well in context, but I’m unsure whether that’s appropriate to the task because the image is composed of 50% context and 50% figure which may be too much emphasis on the context.
8) Compositional sketch II: figure only, large format (45 x 61 cm), charcoal on newsprint (13 October)
Aim: To test whether the figure can be successfully become the dominant image element, which means enlarging the figure and leaving out context
Result: I think this works much better compositionally! It’ll permit to enlarge details of the figure. Not sure if the lack of context doesn’t strip away part of the atmosphere and meaning I wanted to convey. It’s a clear tradeoff. But I think the core of the task is to focus on the figure, not on context details.
9) Figure only, line study in pencil on paper, A2 format (14 October)
Aim: To work on proportions and perspective in large scale, trying to focus on line
Result: Real improvement on proportions. Detail study of face shows effect, but face still needs improvement to resemble me more. Need some detail study of face, ear, hands and feet.
Open issues:
– Whether or not to include cat, houses in the background, pottery and other props. If not, the figure could be drawn larger on the paper
– Which technique to choose for the final drawing. Had several ideas, but feel that I definitely need pencil practice, *because* it is so unforgiving.
– How to indicate shadows. Closely related to choice of medium. What I’d like to do would be a drawing of pen and ink with washes – dark tones in the deep shadows and very transparent for the rest. Problem is that ink permits no corrections at all, and the question whether the idea fits into the task description to “focus on line”. Might make some experiments and just try out how it looks and whether it might work for the final drawing.
10) Study of the feet, pen & ink and marker (blue and brown), A4 sketchbook (14 October)
Aim: to experiment with techniques for the final drawing, take a closer look at details (chose feet for this studz)
Result: Employed sort of bottom-up approach to proportions, using negative space and relative sizes of adjacent elements to get dimensions and orientation correctly. Drawing only a section of the whole was less intimidating with the uncorrectable pen and ink. I like the pen & ink technique for this motif. I chose a blister (dark brown-green tone) which is softer in contrast than plain black. My sketchy approach creates a very lively and energetic overall impression, and the intense marker colours add to this. Advantage of markers over watercolours is that the paper doesn’t buckle.
Open issues
– Treatment of the dark areas behind the chair. My spontaneous approach would be to tint this area real dark and do no line work at all there, just construction lines to be sure that the wooden chair legs are correct in perspective. Would work in a painting, but I don’t know how to solve this in a line-oriented drawing without creating holes in the composition.
– Technique: Not sure whether I’ll stick with markers for adding colour, not entirely satisfied. Might be too irregular on a larger drawing and get into concurrence with the ink mark. I’d prefer the colour to support the ink in a more subtle way. Might be a question of technique, might look better if applied more evenly. But then again, a different medium might be more appropriate.
11) Study of the hand with mug, Pen & ink with wax crayons, A4 sketchbook (14 October)
Aims: Closer look at the left hand with the mug to understand details, experiment with media
Result: The intermediate phase without colour, line only, was interesting in itself. It worked well for the hand, less well for the folds of the cloth. Proportions in the section are fine. Experimented with watersoluble wax crayons but applied them dry. Without water they tend to remain light unless applied as a thick layer. I like the effect, but it’s not really what I was looking for.
Open issues
– Still not satisfied with choice of media, need more experimentation
– More studies of detail warranted, this seems to help me concentrate and obtain better results.
12) Study of the relaxed hand, Pen & ink with wash, blister and yellow, 32 x 24 cm (14 October)
Aims: Studying the details of the other hand, experiment with ink washes
Result: It is an unusual colour combination which I find quite interesting. I like the technique, but I think how I applied it here wasn’t appropriate to the focus of the task: line work. I had begun painting the folds, rather than indicating them with line. Need more experiments and more detail studies
Open issues
– The folds on the belly and the jeans need closer study.
– The hand needs still more study. Problem is that I can’t enlarge my photo any further because it becomes pixelated. Maybe try again in pencil until I’ve understood the structure. Makes me more aware why anatomy is indeed helpful for drawings (what I tended to neglect).
13) Details of folds on belly, 9B Graphite pen, A4 sketchbook (14 October)
Aims: Study the folds on the belly
Result: Developed into a tonal study. Not directly addressing the task, but I let myself go because I felt comfortable with what I was doing.
Open issues: Still not sure how I can appropriately depict the folds on the belly using only line
Some reflections on my process
– I made real progress! I think proportions are getting more accurate overall, and the depiction of details in hand and feet as well. Of course I need more practice, but I’m really happy that for the first time I see that I’m actually developing some skills.
– I developed a technique to keep track of what I wanted, what I achieved and how I might further improve: Aims of a study, result and open issues. It might be much to read but writing these sections really helps me to focus on how I might build on the preparatory studies and develop topic and technique towards the final drawing.
– I also think that I’m addressing the issue my tutor brought up in feedback on assignment 3. She found that my studies led to nowhere, they were incohesive. This time I’m trying to tackle the problems I see, with a clear focus on progressing towards the final drawing! Very glad that I made this step forward.