I was very enthused after the first set of studies, but the next set went less well. I was struggling a lot with proportions and details and somehow nothing seemed to work. I was questioning everything and seemed to be running against that old wall. The studies aren’t particularly successful but I’ll include them anyway because they’re steps towards the final drawing. I consoled myself with the idea that difficult days are often the most fruitful, with hindsight.
14) Face study, pencil in A4 sketchbook (15 October)
Aims: try to achieve more resemblance by studying details, focus on line
Result: Slight improvement over earlier attempts but still not very much resemblance.
Identified problems, possible solutions
– It is very difficult to achieve resemblance when using *only* line because every error is immediately visible. This perception of error is probably a result of human’s highly developed face recognition capacities.
– My photo source is a difficult because my eyes are half closed, since I was looking towards the sun. Maybe at this point I must go away from detail since the image quality does not permit close up – the only thing to be seen are pixels. Will try whether a more generous approach on the face works with the drawing. I think I’d rather try to resolve the difficulty instead of exchanging the photo.
– Drawing the hair is also very difficult using only line. It doesn’t seem to work out.
15) Face study, pen & ink and wash, A4 sketchbook
Aims: Try whether a division in line work (with pen) and adding tonality (with a wash) works for the face
Result: Tonality was difficult to handle with the dark ink I used. The contrast between lit and shaded areas created a hard line which I don’t like. But overall resemblance seems to gradually improve.
Problems and Solutions: The sketchbook paper buckles when I use washes… better switch to heavier paper when using wet media. I have that available on pad.
16) Hand study, pencil in A4 sketchbook (15 October)
Aims: Get to grips with finger positions of the relaxed hand
Result: I’m afraid I ran against the limits of using photographs. I can’t close up the picture because it gets pixelated. This seems to be a general problem because it keeps reappearing whenever I intend to make detail studies.
Open issues
To practice hands, face and other details I think I must find a better solution than enlarging the main picture on screen. But I can’t add up detail photos now because they wouldn’t exactly correspond to the positions in the main photo. I think I must postpone resolution of this issue to a later time.
Maybe when I’m doing the pictures for the second drawing, I can supplement the main photo with detail photos of the difficult areas and this will permit close-up studies. But the problem is that I have to get up and trigger the self-shot mechanism of the camera after each photograph, so each photo tends to be different. The approach might work when having a model which holds position until all photos are made. So probably the better way to go would be to practice drawing objects like hands, face, folds from the real world and then memory of how things should be can supplement drawings from photograph.
I realize that I need more practice and more detail studies, but this requires a larger time frame than available for this assignment. I think I will do my best for now and try experiment with media as well.
17) Figure, quick experimental sketch in pen & ink (umbra and indigo), 24×32 watercolour paper
Aims: Try out pen & ink with washes in a different colour combination. Test the effect of a dark wash for the unlit areas
Result:
– Overall proportions and details of the figure are not well executed.
– The dark wash for the metal band behind the chair works for me. It also works on the hair. Not sure whether the approach is in line with the central idea of this task, to focus on line.
– The colour selection doesn’t convince me, I found the blister/yellow combination more interesting.
– The composition works for me. The size of the figure on the paper is good and the context I included creates a bit of space but doesn’t divert attention
– This drawing looks a bit cluttered, compared to my detail studies. I guess this comes because I tried to include too much detail for the small scale (A4 sketchbook.
Open issues
I seem to have problems with drawing the entire figure. I tend to feel overwhelmed very easily, it is apparent in this study. While I have pleasure drawing just sections, I’m not comfortable with drawing the whole. I need a technique how I can “divide and conquer”. I thought that making an overall sketch to get the proportions right, then drawing in details would work, but somehow I don’t get proportions right when I don’t look at the details to guide me. Maybe the “simple shapes” approach is a technique that helps to overcome the problem. I could try to get proportions right using the complete photo, but only look at simple shapes, then enlarge my photo on screen and work out the details.
This may not be my day for detail work, I have been impatient all the time and that’s not the right attitude for this kind of task. But the idea of a dark wash over the unlit area itself seems to work in exactly the way I wanted. It is particularly the dark metal band behind the chair for which I searched a solution. Will have to try out whether I should leave that white and “invent” those lines of the chair which cannot be seen, or whether I tint the area dark over the invented lines, which would be closer to accurate representation.
18) Complete figure, pencil in A4 sketchbook
Another try to get proportions about right.
19) Folds of cloth on the belly, black felt pen in A4 sketchbook
Aims: Study the folds, experiment with media. What will work for bold lines in A2 size?
Result: This was done with a fineliner, then worked over with a big soft felt pen, because I wanted to try out whether bold lines of different thickness worked better than hatching with the fineliner.
Open issues
I like the drawing but am not sure about both hatching and thick lines for the final drawing. I think it is extremely difficult to use only line for the folds and so far I think this did not work very well in my studies. But adding a little colour greatly improves the understandability.
I’m not sure whether I want to use pen and ink on A2 size. Somehow I don’t feel comfortable with the idea. To me, pen and ink fits better with a smaller size of paper, like A4 or A3. Not sure which medium I like for the larger size. This motivated my experiment with the big felt pen, because it would work for the large format. I could use it to vary line thickness. But I wouldn’t want to use it for hatching to indicate tone, the lines are too bold.
20) Complete figure, black pen over pencil, A2
Aim: To get proportions right in large scale
Result: I termed the drawing “big-headed woman”, because the head is much too large compared to the rest. Pun intended. I won’t finish the drawing because the proportions look too ridiculous. Go back to the basics. Any technique to develop skill with proportions? My earlier more successful attempts seem to have been sheer luck. On a more positive side: I’m beginning to take risks.
21) Complete figure, 9B graphite and 4B pencil, newsprint 45 x61 cm
Aim: Improve on proportions
Result: The drawing developed nicely and I felt that I got the figure right on the chair, but then I began working on the face and tried to make the drawing more solid, and this introduced errors. In the end, this drawing got out of control. The upper body too dominant and the face too small. Despite these errors, the composition as such and the space the figure takes on the paper are well done, it fills the format.
22) Complete figure, HB pencil on A2 paper (15 October)
Aim: Improve on proportions
Result: Same as the drawings before, I’m fine with developing a broad outline but when I begin to make it solid, the errors become apparent. But the overall proportions are better in this drawing than in the two large studies before.
I chose the heavier smooth white paper with the idea of practicing a technique to build up the final drawing from a proportional study. I thought that once I have the proportions right, I can use darker colour for definite lines and details. Maybe I’ll try this out tomorrow. But it is possible that I’d better stay with pencil until I have found the definite lines.
Reflections: Where am I now?
I made several studies and I have a rough idea of what I want. I’m still having problems with proportions but there seems to be slight progress. I could use some more experimentation with media because I’m still undecided between black pen and marker or pen & ink with washes, or maybe do something completely different. So far I like my pen and ink studies best but I don’t feel comfortable with it for the large format.
I’m also not very comfortable with the entire project of “detailed observation” to demonstrate skill in depicting details. I prefer a more generous approach and sometimes it feels like a real chore to do so much detail work. But actually this is more a problem of scale, because I thoroughly enjoyed my detail studies in A4 format. It may also have to do with my deteriorating eyesight, since I have real trouble with visual details. For example, when there’s a number with several zeros, not grouped by spaces, I literally can’t tell how many zeros there are because my eyes cannot focus. I have to use fingers and cover them 2 by 2, then count.
The eye problems make observing details for drawing really difficult. Using glasses improves sight, but imposes a different kind of problem. For example, when I use my distance glasses, the view on distant objects is improved, but everything close, including the drawing pad before me, is blurred because my eyes don’t adapt in a way they could when I was younger.
I need to find ways how I can cope with this problem. I considered employing a technique that was introduced quite early in the course: enlarging an image. I did not like it… it may be the way to go to arrive at correct representation. But I really don’t like this kind of work because it’s a purely technical approach. I’m very dissatisfied with my options at the moment. And time is running away.